UConn tops San Diego State to win 2023 national championship
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HOUSTON — This wasn’t a national championship game.
It was a coronation.
It was another one-sided NCAA Tournament game in which Connecticut and its opponent didn’t look like they belonged on the same court for extended stretches.
Another contest in which the Huskies always had an answer.
Another 40 minutes that made you wonder how UConn was a No. 4 seed and not a No. 1, and how it looked so mediocre during a January swoon in which it lost six times in eight games.
Really, Monday night was apropos of this tournament: It was Dan Hurley’s Huskies and everyone else.
Connecticut was dominant for 30 minutes, then made plays in the clutch to hold off dogged No. 5 San Diego State to win its fifth national championship and first since 2014, 76-59, at NRG Stadium.
It won each game of the tournament by double figures — the Huskies’ average margin of victory was an even 20 points — the first to do it since Villanova in 2018, joining a select company of elite teams.
“We had the four national championships coming in,” a fired-up Hurley said shortly after receiving the trophy. “We’ve been striving for No. 5. Now we’ve got our own.”
He added: “It’s great to come through on promises made to players and to this university.”
After losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the previous two years, UConn (31-8) returned to college basketball’s mountaintop with relative ease.
The road was easy. Well-rounded Connecticut didn’t face a No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 seed.
It didn’t trail in the second half of its last four games and led by at least 18 in all six tournament games. It wound up 17-0 in non-conference contests this season, with each victory by double figures.
“We were the most successful [league] in the NCAA Tournament, and we have the national championship,” Hurley said. “[The Big East was] the best league in the country this year, and I don’t think that’s gonna change. I don’t think we’re going anywhere. I know we’re not.”
It was a performance typical of this run for the Huskies: Efficient and balanced on offense, stingy on defense and overpowering inside.
Tristen Newton enjoyed a breakout performance, notching 19 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, Final Four Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo had his way inside against the physical Aztecs (32-7) to the tune of 17 points and 10 rebounds and Jordan Hawkins followed with 16.
UConn limited offensively challenged San Diego State to 32.6 percent shooting and only 16 points in the paint.
“They were really something special to watch,” said Emeka Okafor, one of many championship-winning UConn alums in attendance, along with Ray Allen, Caron Butler, Kemba Walker and Rudy Gay.
The celebration started to kick into gear with just over a minute left. Hawkins implored the crowd to get louder. Sanogo clapped his hands in jubilation. Chants of “Hus-Kies, Hus-Kies,” began to echo throughout the building.
Hurley emptied his bench with 30.2 seconds left, inserting his son, Andrew, among others. Andrew Hurley dribbled the clock out, then spiked the ball at the buzzer before jumping into his father’s arms.
Taking advantage of an 11:26 San Diego State drought without a made field goal in the first half, Connecticut built a 16-point lead.
The Aztecs did make a run deep into the second half, ripping off a 12-3 spurt to get within six with 7:40 left.
But Sanogo tipped in a Newton miss and Hawkins sank a 3-pointer, restoring order.
“I knew as soon as we lost that Marquette game at Madison Square Garden [in the Big East Tournament] that we were going to win the national championship,” Hawkins said. “We were so devastated after that. We didn’t want to feel like that again.”
This weekend was billed as the Connecticut Invitational: The Huskies and three unexpected participants. It lived up to its underwhelming billing. UConn played the part as the heavy favorite, trouncing its two opponents. Miami couldn’t stand up to the Huskies in the paint and San Diego State didn’t have nearly enough offense to push Hurley’s loaded team.
“We knew we were the best team in the tournament going into it,” he said.
They showed it in convincing fashion.
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