March Madness concludes with UConn taking down Kentucky to win the National Championship.
After going into overtime with Saint Joseph’s in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the #7 UConn Huskies finished one of the most improbable runs in college basketball history. UConn guard Shabazz Napier led the Huskies to a 60-54 victory over the young and talented #8 Kentucky Wildcats to become the 2014 National Champions.
Kentucky made some great runs to challenge UConn but they trailed the entire game. The experienced backcourt of Napier and Ryan Boatwright was too much for the freshman filled Wildcats to contend with. Napier finished the game with 22 points and six rebounds and Boatwright added 14 points for the Huskies.
Second year UConn head coach Kevin Ollie is as big of a story as the players on his team. Ollie is 6-0 overall in the NCAA tournament as he led this veteran UConn squad in his first March Madness experience. After losing a game by 33 points in March to the 2013 champions Louisville, no one expected much from UConn going into this year’s NCAA Tournament. They believed and they are the last team standing in Dallas.
Kentucky had a great run as well in this years tournament. The Wildcats took down #9 Kansas State, #1 Wichita State, #4 Louisville, #2 Michigan and #2 Wisconsin during a run as improbable as UConn’s to the Final Four and championship game. John Calipari and his freshman filled roster couldn’t get it done against this UConn team of destiny as free throws and turnovers plagued them. James Young led the Wildcats with 20 points.
UConn has 4 National Championships since 1999, no other school has more than 2 in that stretch (Duke, Florida & UNC). pic.twitter.com/T00EzdAm4U
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 8, 2014
Named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, Napier crowned this UConn championship team “The Hungry Huskies.” Napier wins his second National Championship at UConn after winning the title in 2011 with Kemba Walker leading the way. The UConn Huskies are back on top of the college basketball world after taking down #10 Saint Joseph’s, #2 Villanova, #3 Iowa State, #4 Michigan State, #1 Florida and #8 Kentucky on their road to the championship.
-Patrick Hazel (@pattywack25)
