Back-to-Back Champs!

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Huskies are inevitable.

The UConn men's basketball team (37-3) became the third program since 1973 to win back-to-back national titles, taking down one-seed Purdue by a score of 75-60 on Monday night in the 2024 National Championship at State Farm Stadium. Tristen Newton led the Huskies with 20 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the triumph, giving Connecticut its sixth national title.

UConn is now tied with North Carolina for the third-most national championships of any program in NCAA Tournament history. The back-to-back titles are a first for Connecticut in their storied program history. All six national championships have come in the last 25 – doubling up any other program in that span.

Newton was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player after averaging 16.0 points, 8.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds in UConn's two double-digit wins in Phoenix. He became the first player to ever record 20 points, five rebounds and five assists without a turnover in an NCAA Championship game. Newton was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Donovan Clingan, Stephon Castle and Cam Spencer. Castle recorded 15 points and five rebounds against the Boilermakers on Monday night, while Spencer added 11 and grabbed eight rebounds.

UConn led by six after a half, then turned on the jets in the second to push its lead to double-figures and not relent. The Huskies held a top-five offense to 60 points or fewer for the second time in the NCAA Tournament and won all six games in the Big Dance by double-figures – giving Connecticut a record 12-straight such wins in March Madness.

How it Happened

The contest started with a fast pace, as UConn took an 11-9 lead into the first media timeout behind seven early points from Spencer. Midway through the opening frame, a Hassan Diarra triple gave the Huskies a 21-18 advantage.

At the five-minute mark of the opening stanza, a slick feed from Castle to Newton gave the Huskies their largest lead of the first half at 30-25. In the final minute of the half a tip-in from Castle gave Connecticut a 36-30, an advantage it to the break.

Newton got the scoring started in the second half with a triple to push the lead to nine, and at the 15:23 mark he hit Samson Johnson for an alley-oop to give Connecticut its first double-digit lead at 45-34. At 12:06 of the second Newton connected on a wild lay-in through traffic to stretch the lead to its largest of the day at 51-38.

A 3-pointer by Alex Karaban and driving lay-in from Diarra pushed the advantage to 56-40 at the 9:27 mark of the second half and forced a Purdue timeout. At 5:12 of the second a Spencer jumper in the paint gave Connecticut its largest lead at 65-47. From there the contest was never in doubt as the Huskies closed out the 15-point lead.

Inside The Numbers

• UConn shot 30-of-62 (48.4 percent) from the floor and held Purdue to a 24-of-54 (44.4 percent) mark
• The Huskies allowed Purdue to only take seven 3-pointers, making one
• UConn held a 35-28 edge in rebounding
• Connecticut dished out 18 assists against eight turnovers – in two Final Four games, UConn recorded a 38:12 assist/turnover ratio
• The Huskies out-scored the Boilermakers 44-40 in the paint and 13-2 in bench points

News and Notes

• UConn's six national titles are tied with North Carolina for third-most all-time, trailing only UCLA (11) and Kentucky (8)
• Connecticut improved to 12-1 all-time in the Final Four, the best mark of all-time
• UConn is now 6-0 all-time in title games
• Connecticut became the first No. 1 overall seed to win the NCAA Tournament since Lousiville in 2013
• The Huskies are the third team to go back-to-back since 1973, joining Duke in 1991 and 1992 and Florida in 2006 and 2007
• Dan Hurley is now 14-4 in the NCAA Tournament
• With a jumper in the paint at 7:12 of the first half, Newton hit the 2,000 career point mark
• UConn's +140 point differential this tournament is the highest of any team ever to win the title

The Huskies finish a historic 2023-24 campaign with a program-record 37 wins.