UConn Is Looking To Improve To 5-0 In NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament National Title Games

Entering this season, the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team hadn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2016. That’s an eternity for a program that won four national titles from 1999 to 2014 and its longest stretch without an NCAA tournament victory since the 1980s.

The outlook for this season wasn’t too bright, either. The Huskies weren’t ranked in the preseason Associated Press media poll, and the Big East conference’s coaches selected them to finish fourth in the league. Center Adama Sanogo and guard Andre Jackson were the only starters returning from a team that lost in the NCAA tournament’s first round.

Still, coach Dan Hurley, in his fifth season, has UConn exceeding expectations and back among the sport’s elite.

On Monday night, the Huskies (30-8) face San Diego State (32-6) in the NCAA championship game and are 7 point favorites, according to Caesars Sportsbook. If UConn wins, it would tie Duke and Indiana for fourth all-time with five national titles. UCLA (11), Kentucky (8) and North Carolina (6) have the most championships.

To complement Sanogo and Jackson, Hurley and his staff added transfers Tristen Newton (East Carolina), Joey Calcaterra (San Diego) and Nahiem Alleyne (Virginia Tech), signed 7-foot-2 freshman center Donovan Clingan and oversaw the development of Alex Karaban, who redshirted last season after joining the team at the start of the second semester, and Jordan Hawkins, who was mostly a reserve as a freshman last season.

The roster, for the most part, has clicked all season save for a stretch in January. The Huskies started 14-0 and rose to No. 2 in the AP poll before losing six of their next eight games and dropping to No. 24. But since Jan. 31, they have gone 14-2 with their only losses coming by three points at Creighton and by two points in the Big East tournament semifinals to Marquette.

During the NCAA tournament, UConn has been dominant, winning its five games by an average of 20.6 points. The closest outcome was on Saturday night when the Huskies defeated Miami, 72-59, in the Final Four.

UConn was the No. 4 seed in the West Region despite ending the regular season ranked 10th in the AP poll and fourth in analyst Ken Pomeroy’s ratings. Now, the Huskies are No. 1 according to KenPom and the only team ranked among the top 10 in adjusted offensive efficiency (third) and adjusted defensive efficiency (eighth).

On Monday, UConn will look to improve to 5-0 in national title games. No other program with at least three NCAA championship game appearances is undefeated in those games.

Here’s a look at the four previous times UConn has played for a national title:

March 29, 1999 – UConn defeats Duke, 77-74, in St. Petersburg, Fla.

During the 1990s, the Huskies were among the nation’s elite programs under coach Jim Calhoun, earning No. 1 seeds in 1990 and 1996 and No. 2 seeds in 1994, 1995 and 1998. But UConn was accustomed to heartbreak in the NCAA tournament, including a one-point overtime Elite 8 loss to Duke in 1990, and an overtime loss to Florida in the 1994 Sweet 16.

Entering the 1998-99 season, UConn was No. 2 in the preseason AP poll and lived up to the hype, winning the Big East regular season and conference tournament titles. The Huskies entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the West Region and advanced to the program’s first Final Four, where they defeated Ohio State, 64-58, setting up a highly anticipated championship game against Duke.

Duke finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, while UConn was No. 3. The Blue Devils had four players (Elton Brand, Trajan Langdon, Corey Maggette and William Avery) who would be selected among the top 14 picks in that year’s NBA draft. Meanwhile, Richard Hamilton, the No. 7 selection, was the only UConn player drafted that year.

Still, Hamilton was the best player on the floor in the national title game, scoring a game-high 27 points and adding 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 assists. Sophomore point guard Khalid El-Amin added 12 points, including making two free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining to clinch the victory and end Duke’s 32-game winning streak.

April 5, 2004 – UConn defeats Georgia Tech, 82-73, in San Antonio

UConn entered the season ranked first in the AP poll for the second time in school history. And despite losing six games, the Huskies were in the top nine of each poll all season. They were the No. 2 seed in the Phoenix region, having won the Big East tournament title.

The Huskies won each of their first four NCAA tournament games by at least 16 points and advanced to the Final Four for the second time, where they faced Duke. The Blue Devils, the No. 1 seed in the Atlanta region, went ahead 75-67 late in the second half before UConn turned the game around, scoring the next 12 points to go up 79-75. Duke guard Chris Duhon made a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but UConn won, 79-78.

The national title game wasn’t as close as UConn defeated Georgia Tech by nine points. Center Emeka Okafor had 24 points and 15 rebounds, while guard Ben Gordon scored 21 points. Okafor and Gordon were the second and third picks, respectively, in that June’s NBA draft. UConn’s roster had four other players who would become first round NBA draft picks: forward Charlie Villanueva (2005), guard Marcus Williams (2006) and centers Josh Boone and Hilton Armstrong, Jr. (2006).

April 4, 2011 – UConn defeats Butler, 53-41, in Houston

This was the most unlikely of UConn’s national titles. The Huskies were unranked in the preseason AP poll and lost four of their past five games entering the Big East tournament. But over a five-day stretch at Madison Square Garden, point guard Kemba Walker led the Huskies to five victories and the league title, including a two-point win in the quarterfinals, five-point overtime victory in the semifinals and three-point victory in the championship game.

UConn was the No. 3 seed in the West Region and defeated No. 2 seed San Diego State and its star, Kawhi Leonard, in the Sweet 16 and No. 5 seed Arizona by two points in the Elite Eight. Arizona had a shot to win it, but Jamelle Horne missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

In the Final Four, UConn had another close game and defeated Kentucky, 56-55, when Wildcats’ guard DeAndre Liggins missed a 3-pointer at the end. The championship game didn’t come down to the final seconds as UConn defeated Butler, which was making its second consecutive national title appearance.

Walker, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, scored a game-high 16 points and added nine rebounds, while Calhoun at age 68 became the oldest coach to win a national title and joined John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight as the only coaches to win at least three NCAA championships.

April 7, 2014 – UConn defeats Kentucky, 60-54, in Arlington, Texas

Like with Walker three years earlier, the 2014 Huskies were defined by their point guard, Shabazz Napier, a first-team All-American who shined in the postseason.

UConn was ineligible to compete in the 2013 Big East and NCAA tournaments because it did not meet the standards for the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate. A year later, they had a first-year coach in former UConn star Kevin Ollie, were members of the American Athletic Conference and entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 7 seed in the East Region.

In its opening game, UConn defeated Saint Joseph’s, 89-81, in overtime as Napier scored nine of his 24 points in the extra session. The Huskies then defeated No. 2 seed Villanova, No. 3 seed Iowa State and No. 4 seed Michigan State to advance to the Final Four, where they faced No. 1 overall seed Florida.

The Gators were ranked first in the AP poll and had a 30-game winning streak. But UConn, which had defeated Florida by one point in December, snapped Florida’s streak with a 63-53 victory. In the final, the Huskies faced a young, talented Kentucky team that was seeded eighth but had three first round NBA draft picks. Napier was again the star, scoring 22 points with six rebounds and three assists and winning the Most Outstanding Player award. The Huskies were the lowest seed to win the tournament since No. 8 seed Villanova won the 1985 national title.