NCAA men’s basketball final: UConn tops Purdue to repeat as champions

Purdue finished its season at 34-5.

The Huskies’ sixth national title broke a tie with Duke and Indiana and ties them with North Carolina for third place on the all-time list. UConn trails only UCLA (11 titles) and Kentucky (eight).

The championship game featured a battle of big men, with 7-foot-2 Donovan Clingan for Connecticut and 7-foot-4 Edey of Purdue. But it was UConn’s backcourt that proved to be the difference, combined with Purdue’s cold shooting (4 of 14) to start the second half and a penchant for turnovers.

The Huskies also dominated on the offensive boards in the second half despite Edey’s presence. They also played tight defense, holding the Boilermakers to one 3-pointer in seven attempts.

Edey, the back-to-back national player of the year, had 10 rebounds and two blocks to go with his 37 points. Teammate Braden Smith added 12 points.

But UConn guard Tristen Newton, named the MVP of the Final Four, led the Huskies’ fast-tempo offense with 20 points. Fellow guard Stephon Castle added 15 and Cam Spencer had 11 points. Clingan also finished with 11 points and five rebounds.

The Huskies took control early in the second half and led by 13, 52-38, with 11:30 to play. They continued to apply the pressure, forcing the Boilermakers into turnovers and cold shooting.

During a tightly contested first half, UConn went into the intermission leading 36-30. Heading into Monday’s game, the Huskies were 47-1 over the past two years when leading at the half.

Edey was a force for Purdue in the opening half, scoring 16 points -- including 11 of the Boilermakers’ first 16. Edey also had five rebounds and blocked a pair of shots during the game’s first 20 minutes. But he did not have a block in the second half.

Newton led the Huskies in first-half scoring with 11 points, as UConn’s backcourt outscored Purdue’s 29-12.

Purdue advanced to its first title game since 1969, a year before coach Matt Painter was born. The Boilermakers ended that 1969 season with a 23-5 record after losing 92-72 to UCLA (29-1), which won an unprecedented third straight national title and fifth in six seasons. That UCLA dynasty was led by Lew Alcindor, who would change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Purdue advanced to this year’s final after it was stunned by No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the first round of last season’s tournament.

UConn became the eighth program to repeat as the men’s national champion. The other programs to repeat were Oklahoma State (1945-46), Kentucky (1948-49), San Francisco (1955-56), Cincinnati (1961-62) Duke (1991-92) and Florida (2006-07). UCLA won 10 consecutive titles between 1964 to 1973.

Both teams were in the top five of The Associated Press basketball poll during the 2023-24 season, according to The Athletic. UConn was No. 1 for seven weeks, while the Boilermakers spent five weeks atop the polls.