UConn concludes a dominant run to its 2nd straight NCAA title, beating Zach Edey and Purdue 75-60

Mon, Apr 8, 2024
NCAAB News (AP)

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - UConn delivered the latest of its suffocating basketball beatdowns Monday night, smothering Purdue for a 75-60 victory to become the first team since 2007 to capture back-to-back national championships.

Tristen Newton scored 20 points for the Huskies, who won their 12th straight March Madness game - not a single one of them decided by fewer than 13 points.

UConn was efficient on offense but won this with defense. The Huskies (37-3) limited the country's second-best 3-point shooting team to a mere seven shots behind the arc - Purdue only made one - while happily allowing 7-foot-4 AP Player of the Year Zach Edey to go for 37 points on 25 shot attempts.

UConn joined the 2006-07 Florida Gators and the 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils as just the third team to repeat since John Wooden's UCLA dynasty of the 1960s and '70s.

Purdue made it this far a year after becoming just the second No. 1 seed in the history of March Madness to fall in the first round. But the Boilermakers (34-5) left the same way they came - still looking for the program's first NCAA title.

In what was supposed to be a free-for-all in this new age of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness deals, UConn has figured out how to dominate.

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The 2024 Huskies are the sixth team to win all six tournament games by double-digit margins. They won those games by a grand total of 140 points, blowing past the previous high of 121 by the 2009 North Carolina team for the highest margin among that exclusive club.

Cam Spencer, a transfer from Rutgers, Stephon Castle, a blue-chip freshman, and Alex Karaban, a sophomore from last year's team, spent the night guarding the 3-point line and making life miserable for Purdue's guards.

This was only the second time this season Purdue didn't put up 10 3-point attempts, and how 'bout this final score: Edey 37, the rest of the Boilermakers 23.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness