After the final buzzer sounded in the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the University of Connecticut players, coaches, and fans jumped into a triumphant state: the Huskies were on top of the men’s college basketball world once again.

Everyone in the stadium and at home watching knew what was at stake in this game: a win for Purdue would have been an incredible bounce-back story after last year’s embarrassing loss in the first round as a one-seed, and a win for UConn would be another chapter in the book of dominance they have over the entire world of college basketball, and would also be another reason coach Dan Hurley is one of the best coaches ever to coach the sport.

All the headlines from the media about this championship match-up were about the “bigs” on each team. For Purdue, it was Zach Edey who is 7’4 and averaged 25 points and 15 rebounds in the tournament. On the other side of the floor was 7’2 Donovan Clingan, who averaged 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks in the tournament as well.

Purdue won the tip ball, but both teams’ first possessions resulted in 0 points. Trey Kaufman-Renn broke the seal for the Boilermakers by making a jumper, but UConn’s Cam Spencer came back 20 seconds later and drained a three to give UConn the lead. The rest of the first half was neck-to-neck until the 4-minute mark, when the Huskies pulled out to a six-point lead to end the first half with a score of 36-30.

Purdue only made one three-pointer on two attempts in the first half, which was surprising because – coming into the tournament – they were shooting an average of 20 three-pointers per game. Purdue also has the second-highest three-point percentage in the country. Edey had 17 points on 12 shots in the first half.

For UConn, Clingan played okay defense in the first half considering whom he had to guard. Clingan had 8 points to end the half, but with multiple other capable scorers on the team like Tristen Newton, Stephon Castle, and Hassan Diarra, they spread the workload so one guy was not scoring most of the points.

Purdue won the jump ball again after halftime, but the Huskies scored first from a three-pointer off the right hand of Tristian Newton to push the lead to 9, and put Purdue in the danger zone. UConn went on an 11-4 run in the first five minutes of the second half, and it looked like the game was over.

Even with most of the second half to be played, it seemed like all the fans knew which team would be celebrating at the end of the night and crowning the champion. The broadcast switched to the cameras in Storrs, CT, at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, where there was a student watch party for the game. The celebration could have started at tip-off.

Even after losing five of their top eight players from last season, UConn only got better. The Huskies had a larger point differential from last season (+14.4 to +18.4), had five more total wins, and were a number one seed this year, as last year they were a four seed. UConn also had the highest point differential in a single tournament with +140, which is 11 more than the 1996 Kentucky Wildcats, who are in second place now.

“We’re gonna be focusing on trying to put together a three-year run, not just a two-year run,” Hurley said in his post-game press conference.

UConn adds one more championship trophy to the trophy case and gets to raise one more banner in the rafters, but it definitely will not be the last.