If you have not been keeping up with the sports world, on April 3, the University of Connecticut Huskies (UCONN) and San Diego State Aztecs faced off to take home the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball title.

Vegas had UCONN as the clear favorite by 7.5 points, which was well-earned since the Connecticut team beat their last five opponents by 20.6 points on average.

San Diego State had all the odds against them as a #5 seed that had never won the tournament before. Nonetheless, in the first few minutes of the game, San Diego looked strong – but shortly thereafter, the Aztecs went on a 10-minute shooting drought and the Huskies took full advantage by going up by 12 at the half.

After the break, the Huskies slowed again, and the Aztecs went on a 9-2 scoring run to put themselves in striking distance, but UCONN’s offense came around and did not look back. The Huskies won their fifth title in 24 years, their last one being in 2014 when they defeated Kentucky (60-54).

UCONN beat the Aztecs by 17 points with the final score at 76-59. The lead scorer for the Huskies – with 19 points and 10 rebounds – was senior Tristen Newton, who transferred from East Carolina after three years. Another key player in UCONN’s championship win was junior Adama Sanogo, who also had 10 rebounds and 17 points.

Throughout the entire tournament, the Huskies showed absolute dominance, trailing for a combined 55 seconds in the second half through the six games in the tournament.

UCONN led in almost every team stat line: blocks, steals, assists, rebounds, 3-point percentage, and field goal percentage. Keshad Johnson, a senior, was one of the only solid players to emerge on the Aztecs’ team scoring 14 points.

UCONN was not even ranked to begin the regular season, so seeing them come all this way really shows that in college basketball, anything can happen.