Repeat performance? Uconn defying tournament trends

BOSTON — Uconn is trying to be the first team to win back-to-back NCAA men’s basketball titles in 17 years — and that’s not all.

With three more March Madness wins, the Huskies could wind up as the last team ever to repeat as champions.

“It’s tough. It’s not easy,” Uconn coach Dan Hurley said Friday as his top-seeded Huskies prepared to play No. 3 Illinois for a spot in their second straight Final Four. “It’s going to get tougher.”

Repeating has never been easy, though John Wooden figured it out pretty well at UCLA, winning seven in a row from 1967-73 behind future Hall of Famers like Kareem Abdul-jabbar — then known as Lew Alcindor — and Bill Walton.

The tournament was much different then, with a smaller field that included only one team from each of the major conferences. And players would stay at one school, unable to leave early for the NBA or easily transfer. Even when Duke repeated in 1991 and ‘92 and Florida did it in ‘06 and ‘07, it was a much different era.

With the advent of the transfer portal and the one-and-done pro prospect — along with name, image and likeness deals that can lure players elsewhere — long-term team-building has largely gone the way of the two-handed set shot.

“Oh, it’s harder. It’s way harder,” Hurley said. “Obviously, you’re managing your roster with the portal, with NIL. You’d better be a more skilled coach these days because you’re dealing with a lot more stuff.

“For us, I think we’ve made it look easy in these past two tournaments,” Hurley said. “But it’s hard.”

Uconn beat San Diego State 82-52 in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night in a rematch of last year’s title game, becoming the first defending champions since the 2007 Gators to make it back to the Elite Eight. Even so, this year’s Huskies are much different than last year’s NCAA champions.

Adama Sanogo (Bulls), Jordan Hawkins (Pelicans) and Andre Jackson (Bucks) left for the NBA. Guard Stephon Castle arrived as a freshman through old-fashioned recruiting, and guard Cam Spencer transferred from Rutgers.

“They fit,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “Their staff has done an incredible job of evaluating the guys that fit them.”