GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — A basketball beatdown. A training clinic. A double-digit domination.
Take one guess who completed off a romp via school basketball once more. You wager, it’s UConn — a group constructed to win now, and infrequently, and by rather a lot each time it takes the court docket.
Coach Dan Hurley’s Huskies delivered the newest of their suffocating hoops performances Monday night time, smothering Purdue for a 75-60 victory to develop into the primary group since 2007 to seize back-to-back nationwide championships.
Tristen Newton scored 20 factors for the Huskies, who gained their twelfth straight March Insanity sport — not a single one among them determined by fewer than 13 factors.
UConn was environment friendly on offense however gained this with protection. The Huskies (37-3) restricted the nation’s second-best 3-point capturing group to a mere seven photographs behind the arc and solely a single make, whereas fortunately permitting 7-foot-4 AP Participant of the Yr Zach Edey to go for 37 factors on 25 shot makes an attempt.
UConn gained its sixth general title and joined the 2006-07 Florida Gators and the 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils as simply the third group to repeat since John Picket’s UCLA dynasty of the Nineteen Sixties and ’70s.
“I simply suppose it’s the very best two-year run in a really, very very long time, simply due to the whole lot we misplaced from final 12 months’s group,” mentioned Hurley, whose prime two scorers from final 12 months now play within the NBA. “To lose that a lot and do it once more, it’s received to be as spectacular a two-year run since at the least previous to Duke.”
The 2024 Huskies are the sixth group to win all six event video games by double-digit margins. They gained these video games by a grand whole of 140 factors, blowing previous the 1996 Kentucky group, which gained its six by 129.
In a matchup of two prime seeds, they wore down the Boilermakers (34-5), who made it this far a 12 months after changing into simply the second No. 1 within the historical past of March Insanity to fall within the first spherical. However Purdue left the identical means it got here — nonetheless searching for this system’s first NCAA title.
A lot for the free-for-all this new age of the switch portal and identify, picture and likeness offers was speculated to develop into. UConn has found out easy methods to dominate and replenish its roster with gamers who perceive their roles.
Cam Spencer, a switch from Rutgers, Stephon Fortress, a blue-chip freshman, and Alex Karaban, a sophomore from final 12 months’s group, spent the night time guarding the 3-point line and making life depressing for Purdue’s guards.
“They only decided — we will defend the perimeter, and we will take this away from you, you’re going to get the ball to your greatest participant, he’ll be 1-on-1, and that’s that,” Purdue coach Matt Painter mentioned.
This was solely the second time this season Purdue didn’t put up 10 3-point makes an attempt, and the way ’bout this closing rating: Edey 37, the remainder of the Boilermakers 23.
How severe was Hurley about defending the perimeter? When Braden Smith wiggled free for a semi-open look to make Purdue’s first 3 of the sport with 2:17 left within the first half, the coach bolted onto the ground and referred to as timeout.
And that was that from behind the arc.
“Coaches made some extent that we’d be actually locked in if we managed their 3-point makes an attempt,” Spencer mentioned. “Holding them to seven reveals we have been locked in on ensuring their guards didn’t get entangled within the sport.”
Along with his Xs-and-Os masterpiece, Hurley joins former Florida coach Billy Donovan within the back-to-back membership, and is in firm with Invoice Self and Rick Pitino as solely the third lively coach with two championships. Information broke over the weekend that it seems there’s a job opening at Kentucky, and the UConn coach’s identify has come up there.
“I don’t suppose that’s a priority,” Hurley mentioned. “My spouse, you need to have her reply that.”
No means the Huskies would need to lose him.
Hurley earned each penny on this one. Within the first half, he begged with, swore at and usually berated the refs about over-the-backs, elbows and hip checks that weren’t referred to as.
As soon as, when that didn’t work after Edey set a tough (and doubtless authorized) decide in opposition to Fortress, Hurley began in on Edey himself as the middle walked towards the Purdue bench for a timeout.
However the coach’s greatest work got here in no matter resort room he used to attract up the sport plan.
“The entire sport plan was no Smith, no Loyer, no Jones, no Gillis,” Hurley mentioned, as he ticked off the final names of the Purdue guards. “We knew if we preserve them beneath 18, 20 factors as a bunch, and so they had no likelihood to win, irrespective of how nicely Zach performed.”
It’s no slight on Edey, who battled gamely, ending with 10 rebounds to file his thirtieth double-double of the season. However this sport proved the quantity crunchers and analytics specialists proper. UConn let Edey again in and again down all night time on 7-2 Donovan Clingan, giving up tough 2s within the put up in trade for any 3s.
“They solely doubled late within the second half, however by that time we had dug ourselves too deep of a gap,” Fletcher Loyer mentioned.
The defensive dominance put the of entirety on a event during which UConn’s common margin of victory was 23.3 factors. Positive, Hurley might need to switch two or three of those gamers, however the coach mentioned he’ll fear about that in per week or two.
“Clearly, what are you able to say?” he mentioned. “We gained — by rather a lot — once more.”
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AP March Insanity bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and protection: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
