Rob Issa, FISM News
Six games. Six double-digit wins. One more national champion for Connecticut.
The Huskies completed a dominant run through March Madness with a 76-59 victory over San Diego State on Monday night to capture the university’s fifth men’s national title and first since 2014.
THE UCONN HUSKIES ARE YOUR 2023 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 🏆@UConnMBB #NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/b9jUkbkNM2
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 4, 2023
Adama Sanogo scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, earning Most Outstanding Player honors. Tristen Newton had 19 points and 10 boards.
UConn is the fifth team to win all six NCAA Tournament games by double-digits on the way to a championship. The average margin of victory for the Huskies was 20 points.
The Aztecs used a 19-4 run to get within five points in the second half but Connecticut pulled away and cruised to victory in the final minutes.
“We knew we were the best team in the tournament going in, and we just had to play to our level,” Huskies coach Dan Hurley said.
Jordan Hawkins sparked a 9-0 spurt for the Huskies with a 3-pointer after the Aztecs closed to 60-55. Hawkins, who finished with 16 points, saw his cousin, Angel Reese, win Most Outstanding Player honors Sunday night while helping LSU win the women’s title.
“It’s absolutely amazing that we both get this opportunity,” Hawkins said. “The family reunion is going to be crazy.”
Hurley joined Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie as the third coach to lead UConn to a title. The Huskies lost to New Mexico State in the first round last season and entered this season unranked and were a No. 4 seed going into the tournament.
“We came into the season unranked,” Hurley said. “So we had an edge to us to start the year to prove people wrong.”
AZTECS SO CLOSE
Keshad Johnson led San Diego State with 14 points and Darrion Trammell and Lamont Butler had 13 each. The Aztecs played in the Final Four for the first time in school history.
“We had to be at our best. We weren’t at our best,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “A lot had to do with UConn. We cut it to five. I think there were people in the stands that thought, ‘Hey, they’re capable of doing it again,’ and we were. But we ran into too good of a team.”
For UConn, the men’s program — despite leading the nation with five titles since 1999 — has long lived in the shadow of the women’s team. Under coach Geno Auriemma, the women have won 11 national titles, including four straight from 2013-2016. They’ve reached the Final Four five times since their last title in 2016 and played in the championship game last season against South Carolina.
“If you ever come to our practice facility, you see banners and trophies — the women have 11 (championships) — so it’s big shoes to fill,” UConn guard Andre Jackson Jr. said.
Monday’s victory over San Diego State puts UConn in a tie with Duke for the fourth-most titles on the men’s side. The men’s program has been overhauled since Ollie was fired in 2018 after an NCAA investigation found multiple violations during a four-year period ending in 2017.
Hurley’s leadership has been the right fit for the Huskies. They gradually increased their win total each season since his arrival — except for the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season — and cruised through this year’s bracket with five double-digit wins.
The men have a long way to go to catch the women, who have more than double the championships. But there’s space for championship banners in the rafters for both teams
“What Coach Geno had done for the women’s program, he built it up to become the most dominant program in women’s basketball, so it’s special,” UConn forward Alex Karaban said. “And we really do have to look up to it … they’re a huge standard for us.”