The Uconn Huskies men’s basketball team returned to the big stage to take on the Purdue Boilermakers on Monday, April 8, 2024, at the State Farm Stadium in Phoenix Arizona.
After defeating the Boilermakers 75–60, the Huskies became the first team since the Florida Gators in 2006 and 2007 to win consecutive national championships. The Huskies have won six national titles and cemented their place among the top teams in the NCAA in the 21st century with their overwhelming victory.
The Huskies set out on a 15-7 run to turn a 2-point deficit into a 36-30 advantage at the half after the game was close the whole first half. In the second quarter, Triston Newton scored 11 points. With an 8-2 surge in the second half, the Huskies took a double-digit advantage. More crucially, they contained Purdue’s Zach Edey, keeping him scoreless for over 12 minutes, including six at the close of the first and the start of the second halves. The Boilermakers only made one of their seven attempts from outside the 3-point line during the game.
According to NBC Connecticut, UConn was the top overall pick for the season. Over the past 25 years, UConn has dominated men’s collegiate basketball, taking home six trophies, nearly a quarter of all titles played for since 1999. This year, UConn showed their tournament ability by crushing team after team while in route to the championship.
Uconn had the best scoring margin in the country thanks to their top-five defense and most effective offense. In an attempt to win the title again, UConn won all six games in one NCAA tournament by a margin of more than 13 points for the second year in a row. The Huskies accomplished the feat last year, making history as the first men’s division I program to do so.
