After a 67 - 59 win over Oklahoma in the round of 64 that can only be described as an uncongenial performance, the Connecticut Huskies are now just five wins away from joining UCLA as the only two schools to win three straight national championships since March Madness began in 1938.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, the number one seed Florida Gators stand immediately in their path. In March, the Gators have defeated six teams seeded six or better in the tournament, without a loss, while also thrashing 16 seed Norfolk State by a score of 95-69 earlier today. If UConn brings a similar performance to the Gators matchup as they did tonight, they’ll be in more trouble than a tourist waist-deep in a Florida swamp.
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The Huskies got off to a tremendously fast start, looking just like the UConn that’s dominated everyone the past two tournaments. In the first four minutes, the Huskies jumped out to an 11-2 lead, getting scoring from four of their five starters.
Momentum began to slow after the first media timeout, scoring just ten points in the next eight minutes. At halftime, UConn was fortunate to be leading 32-26. The Sooners converted on just 29.2% of their first half field goals, but 11 first half Huskies fouls resulted in 10 made first half free throws for Oklahoma.
The second half had stretches just as shaky. UConn did not score a point between the 18:11 minute mark and the 14:18 mark. At the 10:57 mark, Karaban hit a layup to give the Huskies a 46-40 lead. They did not score again until the 8:46 minute mark, a Solomon Ball jump shot to reclaim a one point lead over the Sooners. Foul trouble began to mount up as all five Husky starters held at least three fouls.
But in the final minutes of the game, Dan Hurley’s squad stepped up when it mattered most, yet again. The Huskies built up a 64-59 lead behind strong scoring efforts from Ball and Alex Karaban, before Karaban sealed the game with a block of Jalon Moore’s layup with 38 seconds left.
PLAY OF THE GAME
With just over three and a half minutes remaining, Karaban calmly knocked down a deep three from the right wing to give the Huskies a 60-56 lead. This would prove to be the game winning shot.
As previously mentioned, the mighty Florida Gators are the next foe between UConn and a national championship. UConn will need to play significantly better than they did tonight to give themselves a chance, but Florida showed moments of weakness in their blowout win over Norfolk State that the Huskies may be able to take advantage of.
The Gators got pounded inside, giving up 48 points in the paint and 14 offensive rebounds to an inferior opponent. They also went scoreless for the final three and a half minutes of the first half, entering the locker room allowing an 11-0 run after the under four media timeout.
While a run from the eight seed line is improbable, it has happened before. In 2022, North Carolina made the national championship as an eight seed, eight years after 2014 Kentucky won the national championship as an eight seed.
If the Huskies can improve their level of play, they can pull off the upset of Florida on Sunday, and make a run all the way. But they can just as easily fall by double digits and begin looking forward to next season.
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