Connecticut collected its second NCAA championship in five years by cruising past Georgia Tech 82-73 to secure its standing as a college basketball giant. Jim Calhoun's Huskies were stacked with five future NBA players including Emeka Okafor, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The UConn women's captured the NCAA crown the night after the men, making Connecticut the first school in history to house the men's and women's NCAA champions in a single season.
65-Team Field, New Names For Regional Brackets
The NCAA continued its 65-team system with a play-in game between the 64th and 65th teams for the fourth consecutive year. The main change was the names of the regional brackets, switching from "East", "Midwest", "South" and "West" to the cities in which the games were held. The tournament ran from March 15 to April 5 with the Final Four being played at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Connecticut No. 2 Seed In Phoenix Regional Behind Stanford
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun put together a powerful team including future NBA players Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Josh Boone and Hilton Armstrong. And the Huskies were seeded second in the Phoenix regional behind Stanford. UConn cruised past Vermont 70-53 in the first round and DePaul 72-55 in the second round. Calhoun's men then had little trouble with Vanderbilt in the Sweet Sixteen (73-53) and Alabama in the Elite Eight (87-71) to reach is second's Final Four after the 1999 title.
Two No. 1s Downed In Second Round
The Huskies were one of teams to take advantage of two No. 1 seeds getting upset in the second round. Kentucky was beaten by No. 9 seed in the St. Louis Region, where No. 2 was dropped by No. 10 seed Nevada. The third seed Georgia Tech advanced from St. Louis by knocking of No. 4 Kansas in the regional final. And in the Phoenix regional, No. 1 seed Stanford was defeated by No. 8 seed Alabama, which would eventually lose to Connecticut.
Duke Back In Final Four
Joining Connecticut in the Final Four was Georgia Tech, for the first time since 1990; East Rutherford No. 2 seed Oklahoma State, which knocked off top seed St. Joseph's in the Elite Elite for its sixth Final Four appearance and first since 1995; and Atlanta Regional top seed Duke, in its 14th Final Four and 10th in the last 18 years.
UConn Best Duke Again, Georgia Tech Advance
Just like in the 1999 title game, Connecticut and Duke offered fans a great showdown in the national semifinals. And just like in 1999, Connecticut got the better of the Blue Devils, winning 79-78. Duke appeared ready for its eighth title game with a 75-67 lead with three minutes left. Rashad Anderson knocked down a three-pointer and then Ben Gordon's free throws made it a 75-70 with two minutes left. Okafor hit back-to-back baskets to give UConn the lead 76-75 with 26 seconds to play.
J.J. Redick drived to the lane but had the ball stripped by Anderson and Okafor. Anderson was fouled and made two free throws with 11 seconds to go. Redick's three-pointer was short with three seconds left and Okafor made one foul shot before Chris Duhon's banked three-pointer at the buzzer. Okafor and Ben Gordon both had 18 points and Okafor forced Shelden Williams and Shavlik Randolph to foul out trying to guard him. In the other semifinal, Will Bynum's layup in the final seconds gave Georgia Tech a 67-65 victory over Oklahoma State and its first ever appearance in an NCAA title game.
Connecticut Smashes Georgia Tech
The NCAA championship game was not nearly as close as the final score - 82-73 for Connecticut - indicated. Okafor collected 24 points and 15 rebounds while Gordon poured in 21 points as UConn led 60-35 midway through the second half before Georgia Tech's comeback attempt. But the Yellow Jackets made just 4 of 18 three-pointers before hitting 3 of 4 down the stretch and converted just 12 of 21 (57%) from the free-throw line.
First Pre-Season No. 1 To Win Title Since 1996
Calhoun's men became the first time since Kentucky in 1996 to win the NCAA crown after being ranked No. 1 in the pre-season.
Connecticut Adds Women's NCAA Crown
A night after the men won, the Connecticut women's team beat Tennessee in the title game to become the first school to sweep both championships.
Krzyzewski Denied Historic Win
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was denied getting his 65th NCAA Tournament victory, which would have tied him with North Carolina legend Dean Smith for the all-time mark.
