UConn is 5-0 in title games, winning their fifth championship in the past 25 seasons. The Huskies defeated San Diego State University with a score of 76-59 on Monday night at NRG Stadium in Houston, becoming the first team in tournament history to win each of their six games by 13 or more points.
Senior guard Tristen Newton led UConn with 19 points and 10 rebounds while junior forward Adama Sanogo — a Final Four Most Outstanding Player –scored 17 points and 10 rebounds. Sanogo said after the game: “I just want to thank my teammates, my coaches who believed in me. If it were not for them I would not be here right now.”
UConn head coach Dan Hurley said after the game: “We weren’t ranked going into the year so we had the chip on our shoulder. We knew the level that we could play at, even through those dark times,” referencing the team’s six losses in eight games during the regular season. Hurley added:“And when you have the type of leaders like Andre Jackson (game-high six assists Monday) and Adama Sanogo, they kept this team together, got us back on track and we knew we were the best team in the tournament going in and we just had to play to our level.”
UConn won each of its six tournament games by at least 10 points, with its closest game being a 13-point win over the University of Miami in the national semifinals. UConn is only the sixth team to win five NCAA men’s basketball championships, joining UCLA (11), Kentucky (eight), North Carolina (six), Duke (five) and Indiana (five). All of UConn’s titles have come since 1999.
Editorial credit: fitzcrittle / Shutterstock.com