Let the dynasty talk begin. UConn completed its incredible season with a 75-60 victory over Purdue in Monday's national championship game of the 2024 NCAA men's tournament. It was the heavyweight showdown between No. 1 seeds that fans were expecting throughout the Big Dance, but the Huskies were clearly the better side and took home their sixth national championship in program history. They also became the first men's college
basketball team to win back-to-back titles since the
Florida Gators did so in 2006 and 2007. While Purdue had Zach Edey (37 points and 10 rebounds), UConn had far more overall firepower. Tristen Newton stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, seven assists and five rebounds, while Stephon Castle (15 points, five rebounds and three assists) and Cam Spencer (11 points, eight rebounds and two steals) played well in support.
Social Media had nothing but praise for the new champions: UCONN GOES BACK-TO-BACK AS CHAMPIONS 🤯🏆TAKE DOWN PURDUE. pic.twitter.com/DTJg5Qzuu6 This UConn squad is on its way to being in the company of some of the best teams in the history of the sport. It's not about future NBA careers or all-time individuals, it's about the way they've dominated the competition over the last two years. Not many parallels in history. We are done here. UConn simply REFUSES to search for a competitive game. All-time team. UConn's dominance is both incredibly impressive — they can beat you in different ways, they've truly been bulletproof as Hurley likes to put it — but also boring. It was hard for me to talk myself into *anyone* even pushing this team over the full 40 minutes. Dear America,Remember this day.We just saw the most dominant UConn team EVER win the NCAA Tournament.Sincerely,JR https://t.co/8s5qvS17K0 This two-year tourney run is insane. UConn won every single game by at least 13 points. In this era, this is absolutely incredible. Since the last time a West Coast team won the tournament, UConn has won six national titles. Since the last time a Big Ten team won the tournament, UConn has won five national titles. Stephon Castle has been so damn good on defense. Braden Smith has had to fight for every single inch of space he gets. Connecticut's doing what Tennessee did with Edey. Shut off the water for all of the shooters. 1 on 1 on the block.Strategy was right, but Edey went for 40 because Aidoo/Awaka were too smallGame is tight when Edey is scoring on Clingan. Gets a bit more separation when he's not Tristen Newton (11 PTS) was LOCKED IN for UConn 🔥Huskies lead Purdue, 36-30 pic.twitter.com/pJQ068CJZ0 This game is devolving into what I feared: Purdue's guards getting utterly destroyed. UConn is absolutely smothering Purdue's perimeter offense. Men's game having a ton of similarities to the women's game yesterday.National Player of the Year gets hot early but the better overall team eventually sustains it and wins comfortably UConn defense is just airtight. Huskies have the size to battle Edey one-on-one while blanketing the perimeter and pressuring drivers. Just no easy options for Purdue. UConn completely changing their defense when Samson Johnson comes in. Doubling Edey on the catch, hedging hard, trusting in their ability to locate shooters in scramble/close out situations. UConn looked every bit the part of inevitable back-to-back champions as it won its first five games of the tournament by an average of 25 points, but Edey had other plans out of the gates for the Boilermakers. He initially overwhelmed a Huskies frontcourt that included its own star in Donovan Clingan by swatting shots at the rim, creating space with his physicality, and mixing in some pump fakes and soft touch at the rim. UConn had no answers for the star big man as he poured in 16 points before intermission. Yet even that was an indication of how dominant the Huskies are, as they still built a six-point halftime lead even as Purdue threw its best punch with Edey setting the tone. UConn by six at intermission. Huskies did a better
Job on Edey in the final stretch of that half after he completely took over early. Huskies have been sharp offensively though and executed the game plan well on not letting Purdue shooters go off. That set the stage for the UConn onslaught, and it quickly arrived. The Big East representative extended its advantage to double digits in the first five minutes of the second half with consecutive lobs from Newton to Samson Johnson. It also started going right at Edey with pick-and-rolls and drives, and the big man was too slow to react far too many times as the deficit expanded. HUSKIES COMING OUT HOT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/MPO4SWqjNM UConn ALLEY-OOP to extend their lead over Purdue 🔥 pic.twitter.com/9OmVcliUWT Verticality!!! Clingan has been playing GREAT Defense on Edey for the entire 2nd half. 🔒 While Camden Heide had a monster dunk for Purdue, the Big Ten team was largely Edey, Braden Smith or bust on a number of possessions. The Huskies simply had more threats with Newton spearheading the effort by facilitating and attacking himself when the opportunities presented themselves. CAMDEN HEIDE PUTBACK DUNK FOR PURDUE 😱🤯 pic.twitter.com/iZ2VVOxJK1 Hassan Diarra provided a spark off the bench, Castle aggressively looked for his shot, Spencer helped rebound from the backcourt and played excellent defense, and Clingan at least frustrated Edey. UConn felt invincible by the middle of the second half, and it came as no surprise it was the one cutting down the nets after the final whistle.