HOUSTON – This wasn’t a national championship game. It was a coronation.
It was another one-sided NCAA Tournament game in which Connecticut and its opponent didn’t look like they belonged on the same court for extended stretches.
Another contest in which the Huskies always had an answer.
Another 40 minutes that made you wonder how UConn was a No. 4 seed and not a No. 1, and how it looked so mediocre during a January swoon in which it lost six times in eight games.
Really, Monday night was apropos of this tournament: It was Dan Hurley’s Huskies and everyone else.
Connecticut was dominant for 30 minutes, then made plays in the clutch to hold off dogged No. 5 San Diego State to win its fifth national championship and first since 2014, 76-59, at NRG Stadium.
It won each game of the tournament by double figures, joining select company of elite teams.
HOUSTON — It’s now been five games of this. Five games of routs. Five games of blowouts. Five games in which Connecticut hasn’t broken a sweat, five games in which the opposition has looked like it didn’t belong on the same court.
It was more of the same Saturday night.
Fifth-seeded Miami, coming off impressive wins over No. 1 Houston and second-seeded Texas, was overwhelmed.
It was never really in the game over the final 30 minutes, as the fourth-seeded Huskies cruised to a 72-59 national semifinal victory and booked a title game meeting with No. 5 San Diego State Monday night.
This run is starting to become reminiscent of Villanova’s title in 2018, when the Wildcats won their six tournament games by an average of 17.6 points.
In five games, Connecticut is winning by 20.6 points per contest.
It entered the Final Four the overwhelming favorite, and it certainly looked the part in the nightcap.
Adama Sanogo continued his fantastic tournament, producing 21 points and 10 rebounds, and when Miami converged on him, UConn made them pay from the perimeter, hitting nine 3-pointers.
Undersized and too thin up from, the Hurricanes had no answer inside, out-rebounded by nine and outscored in the paint, 38-24.
Their three-headed guard monster of Isaiah Wong, Jordan Miller and Nijel Pack were held in check.
They scored 34 points on an inefficient 30 shots. Miami was held to a season-low 59 points.
After two rounds defined by shocking upsets, three of the four favorites in Thursday’s opening night of the Sweet 16 are vulnerable to a late scare or even an outright upset.
The Huskies have been one of the most dominant teams in this tournament, beating Iona and Saint Mary’s by a combined 39 points ahead of Thursday’s matchup with Arkansas.
That’s nothing new for Danny Hurley’s group, which ranks fifth in average scoring margin (+13.8) despite facing one of the toughest schedules in the country.
That hasn’t been a deterrent for this team, especially over the last month.
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UConn ranks No. 1 in T-Rank across its current 8-1 run thanks to its elite offensive rebound rate (41.6 percent) and two-way dominance inside.
It’s one of just three teams (Houston, Texas) to rank in the top 15 across the entire season in offensive efficiency (third) and defensive efficiency (14th), per KenPom.
Arkansas deserves credit for outworking Kansas on the boards on Saturday, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds — tied for its third-most all year — to pull off the second-round stunner.
But the Razorbacks will be hard-pressed to exert their size advantage against the Huskies and superstar center Adama Sanogo (6-foot-9, 245 pounds), who is playing like the single-most dominant force in college basketball.
Since 2021, the Huskies are a perfect 19-0 when Sanogo scores at least 20 points, as he’s done in each of the last two rounds.
If the Hogs can’t slow him down on Thursday, this one won’t be close.
ALBANY — Iona is walking into MVP Arena with its eyes wide open.
It understands the challenge.
It knows how difficult an upset will be.
It hasn’t seen anything like Connecticut, Friday afternoon’s West Region opening-round opponent.
“We know there’s a small margin of error for us in this game,” said starting guard Daniss Jenkins, the MAAC Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. “We have to almost play perfect.”
As Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino said Thursday, Connecticut isn’t a typical four-seed.
It has national-championship potential.
It owns wins over the overall No. 1 seed, Alabama, and Big East regular-season and tournament champion Marquette.
It is one of four teams in the country ranked in the top 20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
“We’re going to have to play great,” Pitino said, “to beat them.”
Added Jenkins: “We love this challenge. In life, they throw all types of challenges at you, so you just have to be ready. You got to want this challenge.”
The Huskies (25-8) may actually be under-seeded.
But, Pitino also noted, his team is pretty good, too.
The 13th-seeded Gaels enter the tournament having won 14 straight games, 11 by double figures.
They won their three MAAC Tournament games by a combined 53 points and played the 60th-ranked non-conference schedule in the country — facing CAA regular-season champion Hofstra, America East winner Vermont, and quality Atlantic 10 programs St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis.
Pitino’s team survived key injuries to starting power forward Quinn Slazinski (out for the season), leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. and starting guard Berrick JeanLouis.
It didn’t deter the Gaels.
They got better as the season progressed and have their most wins (27) since the 1997-98 season.
“These guys didn’t let it stop them. They just kept winning, and the next-man-up mentality helped us,” Pitino said. “Through all that adversity, they only got stronger as a basketball team.”
For Iona (27-7) to follow in the Peacocks’ footsteps, it will need to hold its own in the paint against bigger, deeper and more athletic UConn.
The Huskies, led by physical big men Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan, are the No. 1 team in the country in offensive rebounding percentage (38.0).
They pound their opponents on the glass, ranked second nationally in rebounding margin at plus-nine.
“I have the confidence to play against any competition,” said junior forward Nelly Junior Joseph — the anchor to Iona’s frontcourt who is averaging 15.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
“We just have to play hard and get them off the backboard as much as possible.”
When the season began, Iona had several team goals.
One was winning the MAAC regular-season title.
Another was winning the postseason tournament.
But it didn’t end there.
The Gaels wanted to win the school’s first NCAA Tournament game, too.
This will be Iona’s 16th NCAA Tournament, and the lone win (in 1980) was vacated due to NCAA violations.
Friday afternoon will be another chance to get on the board.
“The excitement level is through the roof,” JeanLouis said. “We’re ready to play and show everybody what we can do. It’s March.”
Three keys to victory
A look at what 13th-seeded Iona needs to do to upset fourth-seeded Connecticut on Friday.
Protect the defensive glass
Iona’s focus all week has been gang rebounding, trying to limit Connecticut’s second-chance opportunities.
It’s easier said than done, of course.
The physical Huskies lead the nation in offensive rebounding percentage at 38.0.
The Gaels, meanwhile, are 260th nationally in defensive rebounding percentage at 71.7 percent.
This area of the matchup feels like a mismatch.
Stay close
UConn has lost as the higher seed in the last two NCAA Tournaments.
Under coach Dan Hurley, the Huskies have yet to have a breakthrough March.
If Iona can hang around deep into the second half, Connecticut could get tight, and think back to past March failures.
Keep Nelly on the floor
Iona forward Nelly Junior Joseph has to stay out of foul trouble.
Coach Rick Pitino doesn’t really have another option to deal with Connecticut’s size inside other than the 6-foot-9, 240-pound junior.
Fellow starter Osborn Shema is tall at 7-foot, but lacks the strength needed to handle Huskies duo Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan, who average a combined 23.9 points and 13.0 rebounds per game.
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