UConn overpowers Purdue to win back-to-back NCAA Men’s Basketball titles

The UConn Huskies made historyMonday night by becoming the first team since 2007 to winback-to-back NCAA Men’s Basketball championships after defeatingPurdue 75-60 at the State Farm Stadium in Phoenix,Arizona.

The last team to do the samefeat was the Florida Gators, who won back-to-back in 2006 and 2007.They were led by then-head coach Billy Donovan and eventual NBAstars Al Horford, Joakim Noah, and Corey Brewer.

UConn capped off one of the mostdominant runs ever in college basketball history with the bestpoint differential in a single NCAA tournament all-time with a +140spread. They beat the previous records set by Kentucky in 1996(+129), Villanova in 2016 (+124), and Duke in 1999 (+123). This istheir sixth championship in program history.

The Huskies were only up 36-30after a tight first half but then poured it on after the break,showing why they were the defending champions from a yearago.

UConn used every offensive setthey ran to perfection and executed their defensive game plan: letZach Edey score and stay home on shooters. This limited Purdue toonly one three-pointer made on just seven attemptsoverall.

The two-time National Player ofthe Year feasted with 37 points and 10 rebounds, but the rest ofthe team only managed to score 23 points.

"We didn't want to give up 3's,"UConn head coach Dan Hurley shared. "We didn't care if Edey took25, 28 shots to get 35 points. The gameplan was no Smith, no Loyer,no Gillis, no Jones. Keep that collective to under 20 points as agroup and they had no chance to win no matter what Edeydid."

Tristen Newton, who was namedthe tournament's most outstanding player after the game, led UConnwith 20 points on an efficient 6-of-13 shooting from the fieldalong with 7 assists and 5 rebounds, while projected 2024 NBA draftfirst-rounders Stephon Castle and Donovan Clingan added 15 and 11points respectively for the Huskies.