In the NCAA men’s basketball national championship game on Monday night, the Connecticut Huskies defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 75-60 to reclaim the top spot for the second straight year.
The Huskies have not only won 12 straight games in the NCAA tournament, but they have also maintained a double-digit lead against their opponents, demonstrating their deadly basketball team.
With the last two coming under head coach Dan Hurley, this is the school’s sixth NCAA men’s basketball championship.
The narrative leading up to this game concerned the matchup between the big men, Donovan Clingan of UConn and Zach Edey of Purdue. Even though Edey, who finished with 37 points on 15 of 25 shots and 10 rebounds, played the part of Purdue’s star, UConn’s guards eventually decided the game on the scoreboard.
The Huskies were led by Tristen Newton, who scored 20 points on 6-of-13 shooting and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Cam Spencer added 11 points, and Stephon Castle scored 15 points, making six of his 13 shots.
It was to be expected that Clingan would not be used as often as Edey, but he still managed to record 11 points, five rebounds, and one block to become the fourth Husky to score in double figures for the game.
As both players fought for position in the paint and the points on the scoreboard alternated, the game began as a low-post brawl between Edey and Clingan.
Even though Purdue had too much time between baskets, the Huskies still led by six points at the half. This ultimately played a significant role in the second half.
With his first three-pointer of the game in the second quarter, Newton gave UConn an early advantage that grew to 39-30. Then, with 15:24 remaining in the half, Samson Johnson, coming off the bench, made it 45-34 with an alley-oop slam assisted by Newton, giving UConn a double-digit advantage.
The Boilermakers went on a scoring drought that saw them score zero points for more over three minutes until Braden Smith converted two free throws following an Edey layup that put the score at 47-38. At that point, UConn led by 13 points, a margin they would never give up.
Upon closer inspection of the stat sheet, Purdue managed to make just one of their seven three-point attempts during the game. It clarifies the reason Edey had such a high shot total.
While UConn’s shooting percentage from beyond the arc was only 48.4%, they did manage to make six of their 22 attempts at three-point range. Moreover, they outrebounded Purdue 35–28.
