Zach Edey and Dan Hurley. These two men have been the faces of the college basketball world, but only one came out victorious in the final game of the 2023-24 season. On Monday, April 8th, the 36-3 UConn Huskies faced off against the 34-4 Purdue Boilermakers. The crowd of 73,423 fans who watched at State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals, was the third largest in championship game history.
Kaufman-Renn started the scoring one minute into the game with a push-off two from inside the key. UConn regained the lead with a three from Cam Spencer. The game was tied at least ten times throughout the first half, courtesy of Edey, Spencer, and Newton’s outstanding performances. Especially impressive was Zach Edey’s ability to guard in the paint, as his multiple aggressive shot-rejections made it difficult for UConn to break the game open. Heading into the half, Dan Hurley and his Huskies commanded a modest six-point lead: 36-30.
The scoring in the second half began with a Newton wide-open three. Kaufman Renn backed that up with a pump fake layup that eventually fell through the net. Spencer from UConn delivered a beautiful pass to Castle, whose layup gave the Huskies a nine-point lead.
Then, in one of the most impressive plays of the game, a flying Camden Heide rebounded Zach Edey’s missed layup, who completed the two points with a one-handed slam dunk.
Spencer and Newton continued to dominate the Huskies’ offensive game, extending their team lead to a convincing 11-point lead with 12 minutes to play.
UConn continued their strong defense on Zach Edey, who only broke the Boilermakers scoring drought with 9:14 to go in the second half. Castle and Edey continued to battle as Edey’s dunk and Castle’s two kept the UConn lead where it was. Edey, who was noticeably becoming frustrated, hugged the paint possession after possession and took command of that space. His numerous field goals included many push-off layups and dunks that got his team back in the game.
The Huskies did not lose steam, though. Good passing by Karaban pushed their lead to 15 as time expired. Coach Dan Hurley improved his lifetime coaching record to 292-163 and his outstanding winning percentage to .642.
UConn became the first team in 17 years to win back-to-back titles and hopes to make it a three-peat in 2025.
