The men’s NCAA national championship game was a battle between the giants – in physique and ranking –and although the No.1 ranked Purdue Boilermakers had the bigger man on their squad, their team came up short against the No. 1 Connecticut Huskies, 75-60.
This victory marks UConn’s sixth championship win, all of which have come since 1999, and they are the first team to achieve back-to-back titles since Florida accomplished the feat 17 years ago.
“We’ve been running college basketball (for) the last 30 years, let’s go!” UConn coach Dan Hurley exclaimed as he stood on the podium hoisting the trophy for the second consecutive year. He then embraced the sensation of winning, “I’m starting to get used to this, the confetti, the trophy. Number six, baby!”
Last year, UConn had one of the most dominant NCAA tourney runs in history, beating all six of its opponents by 20.0 points per game. This year, the team was even more unbeatable. Their average scoring margin of victory was 23.3 points in their six wins.
Once again, all six wins came by double digits, making it 12 straight NCAA tournament wins by at least 10 points dating back to last season. No team has ever done that.
Hurley continued to speak on his team’s superiority, “The message was that we were the best team in the country,” he said. “Purdue is clearly the second-best team in the country. Play to our identity, be who we’ve been all year and we’ll win.”
Tristan Newton was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four for the second straight year, leading UConn with 20 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. After the game, amidst the falling confetti, he elaborated on what makes big games bring out the best in him.
“I just go for the moment,” said Newton accepting his award.”I credit my coaches and my teammates for putting me in the right position to make plays, score, get people involved, and get the win tonight.”
Last year, he recorded 19 points and 10 rebounds. He also discussed the feeling of winning back-to-back championships.
“We made history today,” he said. “All year we sat out to make this a goal to go back-to-back and you know that’s what we did tonight.”
Newton, who played his last game for the Huskie, will now prepare for the NBA Draft. The 6’6 guard had an outstanding season for Unconn as he led the offense by averaging 14.9 points and 6.2 assists per game. He was a consensus first-team All-American and won the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s best point guard. His consistent play transitioned to the tourney, as he averaged 14.5 points and 7.2 assists through the six March Madness games and reached the 20-point mark twice.
Purdue’s 7-foot-4 dominant big man, Zack Edey, gave it all on the court. Despite losing, he played exceptionally well. He finished with 37 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, out-dueling UConn’s 7-foot-2 big man, Donovan Clingan, who is projected to be a top-five pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
After playing his final game as a Boilermaker, Edey, first-team All-American and two-time Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year, spoke at the post-game press conference about the legacy he’ll leave at Purdue.
“You can say whatever you want to say about me, but you can never say I didn’t give it 100 percent every single time I stepped on the floor, every single time I went to practice. That’s what I will always hang my hat on.”
Edey averaged 29.5 points and 14.5 rebounds during the tournament. His 37 points scored during the championship game notched him in the record books by tying for the fourth-most in a championship game. His 177 tournament points tied Bill Bradley for the second most points scored during a single March Madness run, only trailing Glen Rice’s 184.
Throughout the season, Edey was nearly unstoppable. He played a pivotal part in leading the Boilermakers to a Big Ten regular-season championship and national championship game appearance. He had an impressive average of 24.9 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, and 2.1 assists per game while maintaining a shooting percentage of 62.5 percent from the field.
Edey also became the first player in NCAA history with at least 800 points, 400 rebounds, 50 assists and 50 blocks in a single season and the only player outside Hall of Famer David Robinson with at least 2,200 career points, 1,200 career rebounds and 200 career blocks with a career field-goal percentage of over 60.
Even though Uconn beat Purdue by 15 points, Huely spoke highly of Purdue’s most accomplished basketball player of all time.
“You may coach or play your whole career and never coach or play against somebody of his stature,” Hurley said. “Truly a giant player.”
Purdue started the game strong with a jump shot by Trey Kaufman-Renn, but Uconn responded with a three-pointer from Cam Spencer. The game see-sawed as both teams took turns taking the lead. Uconn managed to neutralize most of Purdue’s players, except for Edey. In the first half, Edey dominated the game. He went on an 11-minute scoring stretch. He scored in several different ways, through contact, catching lobs, making jump hooks, and hitting free throws. With 8:08 left in the first half, Purdue held a two-point 23-21 lead and Edey had already scored 14 points. Then, after a media timeout, Uconn limited Edey to only two points while going on an 11-2 run with 3:29 left in the half. The Huskies went into halftime leading 36-30.
During the second half, Uconn maintained the momentum they had gained in the first half. Within the first four minutes, they extended their lead to nine points and held on to it for the rest of the game. By the middle of the half, they were ahead by 16 points with a score of 56-40. Despite Edey’s heroic effort, Uconn proved too strong for their opponents.
Although the Boilmakers didn’t get the victory, Purdue’s head coach Matt Painter spoke optimistically about their season.
“We won our league back-to-back seasons by multiple games,” Painter said. “The first time that’s happened in the Big Ten since I’ve been in kindergarten. We got to the championship this year after a disappointing loss last year. People have no idea the burden you carry.”
