cnn
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The University of Connecticut won its fifth national men’s basketball title with a 76-59 victory over San Diego State University on Monday night at NRG Stadium in Houston.
Senior guard Tristen Newton led UConn (31-8) with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Final Four Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo, a junior forward, contributed 17 points and 10 rebounds.
“We weren’t ranked at the beginning of the year, so we had a chip on our shoulder,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley told CBS. “We knew the level we could play at, even in those dark times.” he added, referring to the team six defeats in eight games during the regular season.
He said coming into the tournament, his group had gained confidence throughout the season.
“And when you have the kind of leaders like Andre Jackson (six assists on Monday) and Adama Sanogo, they kept this team together, got us back on track and we knew we were the best team in the tournament and we just had to play at our level,” he added.
San Diego State (32-7) was led by Keshad Johnson, who scored 14 points.
UConn trailed early, but San Diego State was defeated for a stretch of 11 minutes and eight seconds in which they made just five free throws and missed 12 consecutive field goals. The Huskies went from being down 10-6 to up 36-24 at halftime.
The Aztecs pulled ahead midway through the second half and cut the deficit to five at 60-55 with 5:19 left, but the Huskies scored the next nine to take a comfortable lead in the final two minutes.
“We fought. We fought to get back within five in the second half, but we gave them too much separation,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “We had to do our best. We weren’t at our best. A lot of it had to do with UConn.”
Senior guard Adam Seiko told reporters that they gave themselves a chance with their second-half comeback, but UConn “just made a little more plays” at the end.
“They have a lot of weapons. They were pretty good,” said Matt Bradley, also a senior guard. “To beat them, we had to make shots. I shot poorly. And you had to play a really good game to beat those guys on the offensive end.”
UConn won each of its six tournament games by at least 10 points, and its closest game was a 13-point victory over the University of Miami in the national semifinals.
“I just want to thank my teammates, my coaches who believed in me. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here right now,” Sanogo told CBS.
Jordan Hawkins, who scored 16 points for UConn, talked about winning the crown a day after his cousin, Louisiana State University’s Angel Reese, won the women’s title.
“I mean it’s absolutely amazing that we both have this opportunity and I mean the family reunion is going to be great, so that’s all I know,” she said.
UConn enters rarefied air as just the sixth team to win five NCAA men’s basketball championships, joining UCLA (11), Kentucky (eight), North Carolina (six), Duke (five) and Indiana (five). All of UConn’s titles have occurred since 1999 and the most recent before Monday occurred in 2014.
UConn women’s teams have won 11 national basketball titles.
