How UConn topped SDSU to win 5th national championship in program history

The No. 4 seed UConn Huskies won the national championship game Monday night, defeating the No. 5 seed San Diego State Aztecs 76-59. Here’s what you need to know:

• It is UConn’s fifth national championship in program history. UConn has five titles since 1999, the most for any Division I program in that span.
• The Huskies are now 5-0 in national championship games.
• Dan Hurley becomes the third coach in Huskies program history to win a national championship, joining Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie.
• UConn forward Adama Sanogo earned Most Outstanding Player honors. Sanogo had a double-double 17 points and 10 rebounds in the championship game.

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Connecticut won its six NCAA Tournament games by an average of 20.0 points and held leads as large as 24 against Iona, 18 against Saint Mary's, 29 against Arkansas, 33 against Gonzaga, 20 against Miami and 17 against San Diego State. The Huskies won every tournament game by at least 13. They trailed for a total of 5 minutes and 22 seconds in the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four and title game. Just a total domination en route to a fifth national championship -- two more than any other program since winning their first in 1999.

"It means everything. I'm not here without that special group of coaches and players, but I'm probably also not here if I didn't have to deal with that adversity. And if I didn't have tough people that raised me, like a tough older brother who prepared me for all the adversity you have to face in life and battle back from."

Jim Nantz: "Everybody has a dream and everybody has a story to tell. Just find that story." Emotional as he's signing off, goes with a play on his famous, "Hello, friends" line. To his colleagues and the viewers, "Thank you for being my friends."

The "HUR-LEY" chants have begun at NRG Stadium.

And how about yet another member of the bloodline -- Andrew Hurley -- with the ball in his hands as time ran out and UConn's fifth national title was secured?

Former East Carolina star Tristen Newton recovered from three turnovers in the first five minutes tonight and now he’s got 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Connecticut. He basically buried San Diego State’s comeback hopes in a one-man flurry after the Aztecs got within five: assist, steal, two made free throws, three boards and a made layup in the next two minutes and change. We’re rapidly approaching Jim Nantz’s final call to crown a national champion. Since he’s been on the Final Four call, he’ll have coronated all five Huskies title teams.

That's all kinds of onions for Jordan Hawkins. San Diego State within five, applying some serious (and rare, lately) pressure to UConn ... Hawkins splashes a curling, catch-and-shoot 3 off the move. Big one.

An hour and a half later, we sort of forgot that San Diego State has probably 10,000 or so more fans in this building than UConn. Well, they are now making their presence known. Waves of sections are on their feet and what was a sleepy night in Houston is now alive.

Zero dunks, zero fastbreak points, one made layup, three assists in 28 minutes, as many turnovers (11) as made field goals, an 18-8 disadvantage in points in the paint. The Huskies say: Woof, woof, WOOF, San Diego State.

As San Diego State continues to hold on by its fingertips, down 10 with 15 minutes to go, I wanted to look a little closer at just what a dominant run this has been for Connecticut. So ...

Largest leads in each NCAA Tournament game: Iona by 24, Saint Mary's by 18, Arkansas by 29, Gonzaga by 33, Miami by 20, San Diego State by 16 (so far), and in the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four combined, the Huskies trailed for a total of 47 seconds.

Kimani Young just came on the court and screamed at UConn "Yo, yo, wake up. Let's go.'' He turned to the bench and said, 'What are we doing?'

Caught the SDSU huddle. “We know who we are.” Broke huddle with “win,” before heading back on court.