Regional top seeds UConn, Purdue to battle for men’s NCAA championship

GLENDALE, ARIZ

. onnecticut basketball just keeps on rolling in Final Four games.

UConn won its fourth straight national semifinal game and improved to 11-1 all-time at the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, outlasting Alabama 86-72 to reach the national championship game.

The Huskies (36-3) will take on Purdue (34-4) on Monday night, as UConn looks to repeat as national champions. Purdue defeated North Carolina State 63-50 in the other semifinal on Saturday.

UConn has won 11 straight NCAA tournament games going back to last year, and its average margin of victory is 22 points in those games.

“The offense is super efficient. We’re top four in defense. We rebound the heck out of the ball. We can bunch up stops and then we score a lot. You get stops, you score,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “I think we’ve got a lot of confidence. There’s a factor with teams now that they’ve seen us play, where we get on a run. I think it’s disheartening for the other team because they’ve seen i. They’ve seen us do it a lot.”

Freshman Stephon Castle led UConn with 21 points, and sophomore center Donovan Clingan added 18. There were six ties and seven lead changes, but the Huskies had too much firepower on offense, especially inside.

UConn had 38 points in the paint compared to Alabama’s 26, outrebounded Alabama 37-29 and forced the Crimson Tide had to rely on 3-point shooting to stay close.

After the Tide’s Grant Nelson hit a jumper to tie the score at 56 with 12:41 to play, UConn seemed to have had enough. The

Huskies went on an 8-0 run and led by at least six the rest of the way.

Alabama (25-12) stayed close with 8 of 11 3-point shooting in the first half as UConn took a 44-40 lead into halftime. Do-it-all point guard Mark Sears scored 24 points for the game, and Nelson added 19 with 15 rebounds.

EDEY, BOILERMAKERS HANDLE WOLFPACK

Zach Edey took a moment to reflect after playing all 40 minutes on Saturday.

“I don’t know if I expected it,” Edey said. “But I was ready for it.”

Edey scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and No. 1 seed Purdue pulled away for a 63-50 win over North Carolina State in the opening game of the NCAA Final Four on Saturday evening in Glendale, Ariz.

Lance Jones scored 14 points for Purdue (34-4), which advanced to the

NCAA championship game for the first time since

1969. Fletcher Loyer finished with 11 points for the Boilermakers, and Mason Gillis chipped in eight.

“It’s everything,” Loyer said. “It’s everything we’ve worked for, everything we’ve thought about. A lot of late nights, (you) can’t even sleep because you’re thinking about it.”

DJ Horne finished with 20 points to lead No. 11 seed North Carolina State (26-15). Jayden Taylor contributed 11 points, and D.J. Burns Jr. scored eight for the Wolfpack, whose magical tournament run ended after reaching the Final Four for the first time since 1983.

Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said his players made the school proud.

“I don’t know if I could be prouder of a group of guys that I’ve coached than this group here,” Keatts said. “We will walk out of here with our heads up as champions.” (Home team in ALL CAPS)

INTERLEAGUE

Team Line Team

N.Y. YANKEES -152 Miami

PITTSBURGH -124 Detroit

L.A. Dodgers -146 MINNESOTA AMERICAN LEAGUE

Team Line Team

CLEVELAND OFF Chicago White Sox Seattle -118 TORONTO

Houston -130 TEXAS

Tampa Bay -141 L.A.. ANGELS

Line +128 +106 +124

Line OFF +100 +110 +119

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Team Line Team

Milwaukee -112 CINCINNATI -104 ATLANTA -210 N.Y. Mets +176 Philadelphia -118 ST. LOUIS +100 Arizona -179 COLORADO +150 SAN DIEGO -138 Chicago Cubs +118 SAN FRANCISCO -215 Washington +180

Team UCONN

Team TORONTO VANCOUVER

-166 Pittsburgh -122 Vegas

+138 +102