(Photo : (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)) BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MARCH 30: Donovan Clingan #32, Stephon Castle #5 and Alex Karaban #11 of the Connecticut Huskies look on in opposition to the Illinois Fighting Illini through the second half within the Elite 8 spherical of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at TD Garden on March 30, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts.
We’ve made all of it the way in which down from 68 groups to 2, and the Connecticut Huskies and Purdue Boilermakers are set to face off within the NCAA Tournament Championship sport on Monday evening in Phoenix, Arizona.
Purdue began the Final Four off on Saturday with a wire-to-wire win over the Cinderella NC State Wolfpack, as Zach Edey acquired the Boilermakers a lead, and Purdue knocked down sufficient threes whereas enjoying nice protection to maintain the Pack at bay.
Alabama was in a position to sustain with UConn for a half within the nightcap, however the Huskies finally pulled away although Alabama acquired the new taking pictures evening from past the arc that it wanted.
Now, we have the chalkiest of chalky title video games, as these two are the primary and two groups within the nation in KenPom.
Who will come out on high? Here’s evaluation and our prediction for Monday evening’s National Championship sport.
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National Championship Game Preview: Purdue vs. UConn
Time: 9:20 PM EST
Channel: TBS
Odds: UConn -6
There’s a temptation right here to maintain this easy, and I’m going to offer in to it. You’ll hear lots within the leadup to this sport about how sturdy of a workforce Purdue is, and how the six-point unfold is simply too massive.
It’s not. If something, it isn’t sufficient. UConn is healthier at each spot within the courtroom, and we’re by way of 11 straight NCAA Tournament video games now of not seeing any single workforce hold the Huskies shut.
Purdue is nice, however the Boilermakers will not be that good. They would have misplaced to NC State if the Wolfpack had a greater taking pictures day. NC State held them to their lowest output of the season on offense, and laid out a defensive blueprint that an much more gifted UConn workforce will be capable to observe.
Zach Edey is superb, and he is heading towards his second straight National Player of the Year award. He deserves it, however he’ll meet his match in Donovan Clingan on Monday evening. Clingan will make his often straightforward seems to be a lot more durable, and he’ll compete with him on the boards.
There’s one workforce that has an enormous that may match up with Edey and restrict his influence, and it is the Huskies.
Further, UConn is simply so a lot better all through the remainder of the roster. Cousy Award winner Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer are going to show the failings in Purdue’s backcourt, and the Huskies even have the higher glue/help gamers in Alex Karaban and Stephon Castle.
Alabama with its tempo and three-point barrage introduced a quirk that would have given UConn hassle, however Purdue doesn’t have the same wrinkle to throw on the Huskies.
It’s true that these are the 2 finest groups within the nation, however Connecticut is that a lot better. They’re equally structured rosters, and Connecticut’s is a transparent lower above one by way of 5.
The Pick: UConn 84, Purdue 71
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