UConn beat Purdue to make history of defending NCAA Championship title

The UConn Huskies beat the Purdue Boilermakers 75-60 in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball tournament's final at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Monday, defending the title for the first time in team history.

Having reached the "March Madness" final six times, UConn won all of them, matching the NC State Wolfpack with the third-most national titles among all universities.

UConn's Tristen Newton was named the Most Outstanding Player (MOP) after dropping 20 points, five rebounds and seven assists in Monday's game. He led his side in points, assists, 3-pointers made as well as free throws earned and made. He also matched Stephon Castle in field goals (FGs) made and Alex Karaban in offensive rebounds.

Besides Newton, UConn had another three players, Castle, Karaban and Donovan Clingan, who scored double-digit points. Every of the four grabbed at least five rebounds, but the team's rebounds leader was Cam Spencer (eight). Castle and Karaban delivered three and four assists respectively.

Such excellent teamwork and well-rounded starting lineup were behind UConn's dominance in the tournament this year. They won their six NCAA games by 20 points per game in 2023 but performed even better in 2024 by beating their final six opponents with an average scoring margin of 23.3 points per game.

"What could you say? We won – by a lot again," UConn's head coach Dan Hurley said after Monday's game. "I think it's up there in terms of the greatest two-year runs that a program maybe has ever had. I just think it's the best two-year run I think in a very, very long time just because of everything we lost from last year's team. To lose that much, and again, to do what we did again, it's got to be as impressive a two-year run as a program's had since prior to whoever did it before Duke."

Purdue struggled to beat a double-digit deficit during most time in the second half against UConn. Their starting center Zach Edey shot 15-for-25 from the field to score a double-double of 37 points and 10 rebounds, both court highs. However, allowing him to get numbers like this was part of the opponents' plan. Edey made seven of his first nine shots, but then missed seven straight consecutive attempts when UConn began to keep him from receiving the ball easily when he rolled toward the rim.

Coach Hurley sent a small-ball squad early in the second half with the intention to further exhaust 2.24-meter-tall, 129-kilogram-heavy Edey at a much faster pace. This policy worked well as UConn soon extended their lead to over 10 points. As for Edey, he played 39 minutes in Monday's game, longer than anyone else. There were clear signs of him feeling run down in the second half, but Purdue had to continuously count on him for most of their attacks because the rest of the team combined to get no more than 23 points.