UConn clinches its fifth national chip.
In the battle of opposites for the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball crown, it was the mighty University of Connecticut Huskies who prevailed on Tuesday. With a wire-to-wire 76-59 win at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, the no. 3 seed ended the San Diego State Aztecs’ surprising run to the finals.
San Diego State ignited its dream run in the tournament with an upset of top seed Alabama in the Sweet 16. The Aztecs then followed it up with two consecutive one-point wins over the Creighton Bluejays and the Owls of Florida Atlantic University. In the Final Four, it took a highly dramatic Lamont Butler walk-off game winner to make it to the championship game.
The Huskies took a different route to the last dance. They had five straight double-digit victories entering the finale. And they made it six dominant victories in a row as they captured their first NCAA title since 2014. The trio of Jordan Hawkins, Adama Sanogo, and Tristen Newton came up big in the championship match to ensure that no upset was going to happen.
Newton, who only averaged 9.8 points for the season, led Connecticut in scoring with 19 markers. Hawkins lived up to the hype of being a potential first round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft as he added 16 while going 2-of-4 from three. Taking care of the inside play for UConn was the 2023 NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player awardee Adama Sanogo who finished with an impressive double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.
For the tournament, the Mali-born forward scored 20-plus points three times. He dropped 21 in the Final Four contest versus the Miami Florida Hurricanes.
Connecticut’s conclusive win is best reflected on the disparity of their field goal percentage. The Huskies had a decent 43.4% clip, while the Aztecs were forced to settle for 32.2%. On the sidelines, the champs were guided by first-time national champion coach Dan Hurley.