UConn clinched back-to-back NCAA men’s basketball championships Monday, defeating Purdue 75-60 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Tristen Newton paced UConn with 20 points, while Stephon Castle added 15 points. After a back-and-forth first half, the Huskies gained their first double-digit lead near the midpoint of the second half before they pulled away.
“You can’t even wrap your mind around it, because you just know how hard this tournament is,” Huskies coach Dan Hurley said after the win. “What a special group of people.”
Purdue’s 7-foot-4 center, Zach Edey, had a game-high 37 points and 10 rebounds in defeat.
UConn became just the eighth team in NCAA men’s basketball history to win back-to-back national championships following its victory last season against San Diego State. The most recent team to accomplish such a feat was Florida in 2007.
This is UConn’s sixth national championship. The only other programs to win six or more NCAA men’s titles are UCLA (11), Kentucky (8) and North Carolina (6).
Purdue has been to the Final Four three times, reaching the championship game once, but has never won the NCAA Tournament.
“We’re kind of getting used to this up here, the confetti, the trophy,” Hurley said postgame. “Number six, baby!"
Same time, different places next year
It's never to early to start thinking about next year.
In 2025, the NCAA Tournament finals will be in April in Texas and Florida.
The women’s Final Four is scheduled for Amalie Arena in Tampa on April 4 and April 6.
The men’s will be at the Alamodome in San Antonio on April 5 and April 7.
This year, the women's final was in Cleveland, and the men's final was in Glendale, Arizona.
UConn men have some ground to make up in Huskies title chase
UConn’s back-to-back tournament titles give its men’s basketball program six national championships — an impressive feat given that only two schools (Kentucky and UCLA) have ever won more than six in the men’s game.
But the UConn men still stand quite short of the squad with whom they share a campus, the UConn women’s program. Those Huskies have 11 national titles and show no signs of slowing down, having gotten to a Final Four this season.
National titles have been free-flowing in Storrs, Connecticut, as the two teams have come home with a combined 17 titles in the last 30 years.
Newton is tourney's most outstanding player
Tristen Newton has been named the most outstanding player of this year's NCAA Tournament. The senior guard led his team in its pursuit of a second consecutive title, ending with 20 points and 7 assists in tonight’s title game.
Newton ends his career at UConn by averaging 14.5 points and 7.2 assists per game during the 2024 tournament, getting to 20 points twice — against Northwestern in the second round and tonight.
With sixth title, UConn men join exclusive club
UConn’s sixth men’s Division I title puts the Huskies in elite company. UConn ties North Carolina for third most titles in program history. The Tar Heels and the Huskies trail only Kentucky (eight titles) and UCLA (11) for the most.
Huskies are champs again
UConn has won its second consecutive and sixth all-time NCAA title, beating Purdue 75-60.
UConn a solid free throw shooting squad
UConn will most likely clinch its title on the free throw line, where it shot 74% during the regular season, 81st in the country.
Edey among all-time scorers in a single tournament
Edey's 31 points tonight have helped to put him in some elite company — he has now scored 171 points across tournament play this year. As the broadcast pointed out, that is the third-best mark for total single tournament points all time, behind only Princeton’s Bill Bradley in 1965 (177 points) and Michigan’s Glen Rice in 1989 (184).
Bradley’s Princeton ended up third in the 1965 tournament, while Rice’s Michigan won the tournament in 1989.
Huskies dealing with some foul trouble
As UConn has aggressively built its second-half lead, the Huskies have paid a bit of a price. Four Huskies are in foul trouble, including the two big men tasked with defending Edey: Johnson and Clingan both have four fouls.
Senior guards Cam Spencer and Hassan Diarra also have three personals.
And now Johnson has fouled out. He finishes with 4 points.
With less than 10 minutes left, UConn leads by 14
UConn leads Perdue 45-40, the Huskies' largest lead of the night, with a little less than 10 minutes remaining.
UConn starting to pull away
There's 11:45 left in the second half, and UConn is starting to think about cutting down the nets as it leads Purdue 51-38. Newton now has 16 points. Edey has 20 for Purdue.