GLENDALE, Ariz. – UConn's men are at the top of the basketball world. Also.
For the second year in a row, Dan Hurley and the Huskies cut down the net on the sport's biggest stage, hoisting the National Championship trophy and securing a 75-60 victory in a huge matchup against Purdue, capping an impressive run as reigning champions. finished. Monday night.
“What can I say? We won. By a lot. I'll say it again,” Hurley said after the program achieved its 12th straight double-digit win in the NCAA Tournament.
UW will be the eighth repeat men's national champion since the 2006-2007 Florida Tournament, and the third time since the NCAA Tournament was expanded in 1985 (Dan's younger brother Bobby Hurley won the title). Guard (including Duke University in 1991 and 1992, when they won championships).
They currently have six championship game appearances since 1999, the third-most among programs in the nation behind UCLA (11) and Kentucky (eight). It is tied with North Carolina for the title.
“For the last 25, 30 years, UW has been running college basketball,” Hurley said from the stage.
“It's crazy. I'm speechless,” Donovan Clingan, from Bristol, said at his locker. “It's been the best two years of my life. Coming to UConn was the best decision I've ever made. Especially after today, I couldn't feel any better to leave the court with no regrets. I just know I left everything out there and won everything I could.”
The national title capped off a 37-3 season, the best in program history, including Big East regular season and tournament titles.
The 7-foot-2 Clingan faced Purdue's 7-4 Zach Eady, but the game was only the second time in history that 7-foot starters faced each other in the national championship game, and there have been others. was only a battle between Georgetown's Patrick Ewing and Houston's Hakim. Olajuwon in 1984.
The UW star sophomore finished with 11 points and five rebounds to Eady's 37 points and 10 points, but All-American point guard Tristen Newton led the way with 20 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. The support team also had the advantage of recording . Freshman Stephon Castle had 15 points with five rebounds, and Cam Spencer had 11 points with eight boards. University's backcourt outscored Purdue 55-17.
The Huskies were just 1 minute, 36 seconds behind.
Newton was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, as Spencer, Castle, and Clingan earned recognition on the all-tournament team.
Spencer started the game with a 3-pointer and scored seven of his first 11 points, while Eadie, a stalwart in the low post, scored 14 of Purdue's first 23 points. Obtained.
Clingan got the Huskies off to a 6-0 run with 3:29 left to take the team's largest lead (32-25) at the half. Braden Smith, who scored nine points in the first half and finished with 12 points for the Boilermakers, made a mid-range and 3-point jumper (Purdue only made 3 of 7 attempts) and finished with two points. I returned it to . Newton and Castle scored the only points in the final two minutes to put the Huskies up 36-30 at halftime.
Newton, who scored his 2,000th career point in the first half, put the Huskies ahead with a 3-pointer in the second half, and after Clingan was called for his third foul, Samson Johnson scored two points with back-to-back alley-oop dunks. head.
“We knew they were going to be tired. I watched them at the end of the first half and they don't play this type of game,” Newton said. “If you keep your foot on the gas, you'll win the game.”
Foul trouble continued to hurt the Huskies. Johnson got his fourth whistle around 14 minutes into the game, and Clingan picked it up with 7:52 left, forcing Hurley to go back to Johnson. University began to pull away on Alex Karaban's first triple and Hassan Diarra's layup in transition, leading by 17 points when Johnson fouled out with 5:38 left.
Hurley took a gamble with a small-ball lineup, giving the 6-foot-9 Karaban the role of Edie for the next three minutes, and the Huskies held a 13-point advantage.
“I was definitely a little stressed out just because he's been winning back-to-back Most Valuable Player awards. He's almost a foot taller than me, so he probably automatically comes in second place every time. We had to be smart,” Karavan said.
“The plan was to have (Eday) score 70 points and beat us,” Clingan said. “Let him hit jump hooks without fouling, just try to force shots from the center and out of the restricted area. And just don't give up 3-point shots.”
Eadie continued to score for the Boilermakers, making 15 of 25 field goals, his most in a game all season, but the Huskies were able to wind up the clock. Hurley emptied the bench with 36 seconds left and each starter received a bear hug.
“We're going to try to recreate that again. We're going to maintain a championship culture. We're bringing in some very talented high school freshmen. The returning players will make great strides through player development. We'll be adding more strategically through the portal,” Hurley said. “I don't think we're going anywhere.”