Two contenders and no. 1 seeds, comprised of All-Americans, heroes, and role players alike. Two programs who have been near or at the top for years. One side going for their sixth NCAA tourney title, one aiming to secure their first.
The UConn Huskies and Purdue Boilermakers have seven losses between them in the 2023-24 season. UConn, the top overall seed, has lost only once since the calendar flipped to 2024. And Purdue, top seed out of the Midwest Region, has only lost to Big Ten teams.
Two programs who have met three times, the last coming in 2009, where the Huskies won their only time in the meetings between the teams, a 72-60 victory in the Sweet 16.
Common opponents between the teams this season are plenty. UConn is 3-0 against the Big Ten this season, including wins over Northwestern (a team Purdue lost to) and Illinois in the NCAA tournament. Each team has defeated Alabama, with UConn winning by 14 and Purdue by six.
Purdue is 2-0 against Big East teams in '23-24, including a four-point win over Marquette, a team UConn went 3-0 against this season, winning by an average of 17 points.
For all the talk of mid-majors taking too many bids, members of the Power Conferences will take the court on Monday, ready to claim the 2024 men's title.
Purdue Boilermakers
The Purdue Boilermakers (34-4) aim to do what the Virginia Cavaliers did in 2019, when Virginia won the title a season after falling to a no. 16 seed. Powered by Zach Edey, Purdue certainly has the talent to redeem their upset loss to Fairleigh Dickinson a season ago.
Edey has been on another level in this tournament, collecting points and rebounds like they are going out of style. The Naismith Player of the Year entered the Final Four matchup with NC State averaging 30 points and 16.2 rebounds per game.
While he collected another double-double against the Wolfpack (20 points, 12 rebounds), NC State did a decent job in neutralizing the big man. Edey had five turnovers and only got to the line twice in Purdue's 63-50 victory.
Purdue raced out to an early lead in the semifinal game, never really letting NC State back in it. The Wolfpack, down by 12 at various points in the first half, did close on a run and trailed by six at halftime.
All while DJ Burns Jr. was in foul trouble and guard Michael O'Connell was dealing with left hamstring tightness, missing most of the final 13 minutes of the first half.
Burns saw more foul trouble and was held to eight points for the game. O'Connell returned about halfway through the second half but after NC State got within seven at the 7:37 mark, Purdue put the clamps down.
The Boilermakers forced NC State into bad shots and kept the interior locked down. Purdue was also a solid 40 percent from deep, knocking down 10 three-pointers.
Lance Jones had 14 points for Purdue and Fletcher Loyer added 11. These two, along with Braden Smith, will need to have a good game if Purdue hopes to beat UConn. Smith struggled early, against NC State, finishing with three points, eight rebounds, six assists, and five turnovers (Smith had three steals).
Trey Kaufman-Renn again will be an x-factor. Kaufman-Renn started strong for Purdue and will help apply pressure to keeping UConn out of the lane and hopefully find a scoring touch to open up more interior opportunity for Edey.
UConn Huskies
The quest for the UConn Huskies (36-3) to become the first back-to-back champions since the Florida Gators in 2007 finally saw some resistance on Saturday night.
Alabama battled throughout, testing the resolve of UConn. But as the Huskies have done throughout the season, they never panicked and won going away with an 86-72 victory.
UConn shot 50 percent from the field and 10-25 on three-point attempts. The Huskies also did an outstanding job of taking care of the ball, committing only four turnovers.
Timely three-point shooting kept the Crimson Tide in this game, one that was tied at 56 with just under 13 minutes left. It wasn't the 30-0 run the Huskies used against Illinois but UConn amped up the intensity, using defense to propel them to victory.
This came as big man Donovan Clingan, dealing with a hand injury, was not at his best. Clingan did finish with 18 points, five rebounds, and four blocked shots. The matchup between him and Edey will be a focal point, with both able to impact the game on both ends.
Still, this game will hinge on the play of UConn's All-American guard and supporting cast.
Tristen Newton, similar to the Elite Eight game, struggled with his shot, finishing 4-11 for 12 points. Newton, however, dished well, finishing with nine assists.
Help arrived across the board, with all five starters reaching double figures in scoring. Topping the list was Stephon Castle. Dared to shoot the three early, Castle responded by knocking down a couple of early threes (and scoring eight of the team's first 10 points). Castle kept the pressure on the whole game and finished with 21 points and five rebounds.
An x-factor for UConn will be the play of forward Alex Karaban. Karaban had his struggles leading up to the Final Four and has the ability to stretch the floor. He was only 5-19 from deep prior to the Final Four but was 2-4 against Alabama and finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
(1) Purdue vs UConn - 4/8 @ 9:20 p.m. (ET) on TBS (*predicted winner in bold)
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