UConn wins first back-to-back men’s NCAA basketball titles since 2007

Connecticut became the first Division I men’s college basketball team to win back-to-back championships since Florida 17 years ago, as the Huskies downed Purdue 75-60 in the NCAA title game Monday.

The Huskies (37-3) have now won six national championships since 1999, more than any other men’s team in that span and second only during that time to the school’s women’s team (10).

Connecticut was led by guard Tristen Newton with 20 points and seven assists. Guard Stephon Castle had 15 points.

National player of the year Zach Edey scored 37 points and had 10 rebounds for Purdue, which finished the season 34-5.

The game was close throughout the first half before the Huskies went on a 15-7 run to propel themselves from a 2-point deficit to a 36-30 lead at the intermission. Newton scored 11 points in the period.

Edey had 16 first-half points, and during one stretch early in the period the 7-foot-4 center scored all 11 Purdue points. But the deficit at half was the first time the Boilermakers trailed after the first 20 minutes in the tournament.

UConn shot 48.4% in the first half while Purdue hit 46.4% of its efforts. The rebound battle was practically even with UConn grabbing 16, one more than Purdue did in the half.

Everything went right for UConn in the second half as the Huskies pulled away to join Cincinnati, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma State, UCLA and San Francisco as schools that became repeat champions.

Back-to-back

UConn has been the dominant force in men’s college basketball in the last 25 years, winning six titles since 1999, nearly a quarter of the championships contested. Its tournament prowess was on show this this year, outclassing team after team as it bulldozed tits way to the final.

UConn’s Final Four 86-72 win over Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday was its 11th straight NCAA tournament game by double-digits, even after much of the game had been closely fought.

UConn boasted the nation’s best scoring margin as a result of the most efficient offense in the country and a top-five defense.

Its dominance on both sides of the ball was on full display in the Elite Eight against Illinois. With the score tied at 23 in the final minutes of the first quarter, the Huskies went on a relentless 30-0 run to completely shutout Illinois for almost nine minutes en route to a 77-52 victory.

A chance at history

The Midwest Region champion, Purdue, was trying to banish prior demons in a quest for its first national championship title. The Boilermakers last appeared in the NCAA championship game in 1969, where they were runners-up.

They had a point to prove this year after crashing out last season in the tournament’s second-ever 16-over-1 upset defeat. That disappointment continued 44 years of continuous heartbreak for Purdue, who have consistently fallen short of expectations, succumbing to bad luck and shock defeats.

“We didn’t run from it. We talked about how we felt about losing, we talked about how we were going to grow from it,” Purdue forward Mason Gillis said after the Final Four game, per the NCAA.

“We didn’t just talk about it, we walked the walk. I don’t want to say we wouldn’t be in this situation if we didn’t lose to them, but it definitely fueled us; sitting in that loss, seeing it on social media 24/7, seeing it on TV.”

The Boilermakers flipped the narrative this year, blowing out Grambling State and Utah State in the opening two rounds before defeating No. 5 Gonzaga 80-68 in the Sweet 16.

Then they narrowly took the win against No. 2 Tennessee in the Elite Eight and downed No. 11 NC State in the Final Four to earn a shot at the first national championship in program history.

But once again the Big Ten champs came up short in the final game of the season.