The University of Connecticut beat Kentucky 60-54 Monday night to become only the second team in NCAA men’s basketball history to win in their coaches’ first attempt at the dance. Their run to the title was a familiar story with new faces as UConn rallied behind their best player in order to become the kings of college basketball.
Fresh off of NCAA sanctions banning them from post-season play, coach Kevin Ollie guided the Huskies to their second title in four years. There was little doubt who the best player in game was, since Shabazz Napier led all players with 22 points. Napier’s tournament may go down alongside one-time teammate Kemba Walker’s as one of the greatest individual tournament performances in recent memory.
Kentucky was hoping it could once again regain its late-game magic, having come from behind in each tournament game they played this year. It looked like a real possibility at times, as the Wildcats cut the lead to a single point three separate times throughout the game, but they were never able to take the lead.
The game itself was a classic match-up in several respects. Calipari has proven himself to be one of the best, if not the best, recruiter in all of sports. He not only constantly has a surplus of top recruits every year, but he has mastered producing top end draft picks that legitimize his process. Kentucky was by far the more physically imposing team, but something about the way UConn played as a team set them apart.
UConn was led by Napier, a senior who is very skilled, but who may not have the physical tools to excel at the NBA level. The Kentucky big men rendered UConn’s youngest starter, sophomore Phillip Nolan, effectively useless, but his upperclassman teammates picked up the slack.
Conversely, Kentucky became the second team ever to start five first-years in a national championship game, with only one sophomore stepping onto the court as their most experienced player. The freshmen did their best to compete with the older more experienced UConn, but eventually they came up short.
During the game it became pretty clear what each team needed to do in order to win, and whoever executed more effectively would walk away a champion. UConn needed to push the pace, let Napier be a floor general and force Kentucky into silly turnovers. Kentucky needed to use their size to dominate the rebounding battle and limit Connecticut’s transition opportunities.
Kentucky would have had a real shot at winning if not for an Achilles heel that has plagued Calipari in title games before. Free throw shooting, which is typically a skill taken for granted, was not Kentucky’s strong suit. Kentucky shot only 55 percent from the line, triggering flashbacks to Calipari’s 2008 runner up season where his team shot 64 percent from the line en route to blowing a late lead to Mario Chalmer’s Kansas Jayhawks.
In the end, however, Napier would not be denied as he and his backcourt partner Ryan Boatright combined for 36 of UConn’s 60 points.
Now the Huskies are only one game away from becoming the only school in NCAA history to win the both men’s and women’s basketball titles in the same year. UConn became the second highest seed ever to win the tournament, but given UConn’s talent level and consistent excellence, you would be hard pressed to call them a true Cinderella story.
