What seemed inevitable became reality Monday night at NRG Stadium as UConn completed its dominant march to the top of college basketball with a 76-59 win over San Diego State in the national championship game. The No. 4 seed Huskies earned their fifth title by suffocating the No. 5 seed Aztecs' offense and systematically finding good looks against SDSU's typically strong defense.
In the end, they were required to hold off a vigorous San Diego State rally in the second half in what amounted to the toughest challenge the Huskies faced in the Big Dance.
The win draws UConn even with Duke and Indiana in a tie for fourth-place in the race for most titles in college basketball history. All of the Huskies' championships have come in the past 25 years, extending UConn's edge as the most-decorated program of the past quarter-century.
Over that span, the Huskies have now won titles with three different head coaches as Dan Hurley joined predecessors Kevin Ollie and Jim Calhoun in taking UConn to the sport's zenith. Eight players from the roster he constructed following last season's first-round NCAA Tournament were part of Monday's rotation, and each of them scored in the first half alone as the Huskies built an early 16-point lead.
San Diego State used a 9-0 run to draw within 56-50 with 7:40 remaining. But the Aztecs did not have enough in the tank to replicate the double-digit comeback against FAU from Saturday night that propelled them into the title game.
This story will be updated with takeaways from UConn's victory vs. San Diego State