Connecticut‘s men’s team won the 2014 NCAA Basketball Championship, with a 60-54 win over Kentucky on Monday night. Then their women’s team did the same thing, routing Notre Dame 79-58, and finishing their season 40-0 on Tuesday night. This was only the second time ever, that the men and women from the same college each won national championships, and the last time was also Connecticut (UConn) in 2004.
Another similarity between the men and women of UConn is that they are both undefeated in title games, the men are 4-0, while the women are 9-0. This was the 5th undefeated season for the women, and the rest of the country only has 3 undefeated seasons combined ever. Geno Auriemma has been the head coach for all 9 championships, and now holds the record for the most women’s titles.
Let’s go back to the men’s final. UConn won their 4th title since 1999, which is the most of any college. They also set the record for the highest free throw percentage in an NCAA tournament at 87.8%, and made all 10 free throws in the final game. Kentucky was only 13 of 24 on their free throws. Neither team shot very well from the field (UConn – 42%, Kentucky – 39%) but UConn point guard Shabazz Napier scored 22 points and won the Final 4 Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
UConn came out strong to start the game, opening up a 30-15 lead, before Kentucky went on a 16-5 run, to end the first half with UConn leading just 35-31. UConn, who led the entire game, caught fire at just the right time. They seemed like a very unlikely title contender after losing their final regular season game 81-48 to Louisville. But after beating St. Joseph’s 89-81 in overtime in their first round tournament game, UConn proceeded to defeat 5 straight higher seeded teams to win the championship.
A nice return to the tournament for the Huskies, after being barred last year because of poor grades. I think it’s good for the tournament when a 7th seeded team in their region, with 8 losses, goes on to win 6 straight games including the national championship. It will be interesting to see how many of Kentucky‘s 5 freshman starters will return, and how many will go to the NBA now.
The UConn women are the more dominating of these 2 national champions on campus. Not only have they won back-to-back titles, but they crushed a previously undefeated Notre Dame team. UConn dominated in the paint, outscoring Notre Dame 52-22. The absence of forward injured Natalie Achonwa proved to be disastrous for the Irish.
At halftime UConn held a 45-38 lead, but put the game away early in the with an 18-4 run to start the 2nd half . UConn shot 47% from the field, and held Notre Dame to under 36%. The last team to beat UConn was Notre Dame in their conference tournament last year, when both were members of the Big East. UConn is now in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) and Notre Dame is in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Notre Dame has now lost the championship game in 3 of the last 4 years.
What a year for Connecticut in their new conference, winning both NCAA Basketball championships. Their men’s team will lose at least a few of their starters to the NBA, including Napier, and the women’s team will lose some starters too, but tournament MVP Breanna Stewart is only a sophomore. I wonder how long their winning streak will continue. Their team and NCAA record is 90 consecutive wins. Stewart will be a senior if that record falls.
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