It was supposed to be the battle of the big men as UConn’s 7-2, 280-pound center Donovan Clingan took on Purdue’s 7-foot-4, 300-pound Zach Edey, but the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship didn’t turn out that way. It was Huskies’ guard Tristan Newton who led his team with 20 points and 7 assists, and in so doing earned Most Outstanding Player honors for the Final Four for a second year in a row.
Sure, Edey had a dazzling 37 points, scoring more than half of his team’s 60 points, but it wasn’t enough against a team effort from UConn, which outrebounded the Boilermakers 33-27, and ended up scoring 75 points in a well-distributed effort which saw four players in double figures to Purdue’s two.
The first half ended with a score of 36-30 in favor of UConn, and the Huskies took over in the second half, broadening their lead in the first few minutes after halftime, which they never came close to relinquishing.
With the victory, UConn (36-3) became the first program to repeat as national champion since Florida in 2006-07.
The win notches the Huskies’ sixth NCAA title, moving past powerhouse Duke and into a tie for third all-time with North Carolina. Only UCLA (with 11) and Kentucky (with eight) have more.
Huskies coach Dan Hurley was not shy about the program’s surging status.