The Connecticut Huskies are the 2024 NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball champions after defeat the Purdue Boilermakers 75-60 in the Championship Game on Monday night.
The Huskies entered halftime with a six-point lead, but a dominant defensive performance early in the second half, which limited Purdue to just 10 points in more than 10 minutes of play, allowed Connecticut to escape. The Huskies won every game in the tournament by more than 10 points.
This is UConn’s sixth men’s basketball title and second consecutive championship. The Huskies are the first men’s basketball team to repeat as champions since the Florida Gators in 2006 and 2007.
Photos by Brett Wilhelm/NCAA via Getty Images
Tristen Newton led the Huskies with 20 points. Zach Edey, Purdue’s star big man, led all scorers with 37 points.
Purdue has never won an NCAA men’s basketball title. Last year, they became the second No. 1 seed to lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They came tantalizingly close to matching the comeback of the 2019 Virginia Cavaliers, who won the national title after their historic loss to No. 16 UMBC in 2018.