On April 8, 2024, the defending champion Uconn Huskies looked to repeat against the Purdue Boilermakers. This game was highly anticipated throughout March, especially since Uconn was favored to win at the beginning of the tournament, and there were two one seeds playing in the championship. It certainly did not disappoint. 

The 2024 National Player of the Year, Zach Edey, and now the back-to back National Player of the Year became the first player in 50 years to unanimously win the award, which is the Wooden Award Recipient, named after legendary coach John Wooden, who coached the UCLA Bruins to an incredible 10 National Championships from 1948 to 1975. That is the exact thing he tried to gain for his Boilermakers against the reigning national champions, the Uconn Huskies. Uconn, led by Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton, and others will try to repeat. Uconn ran through Stetson, Northwestern, San Diego St, the team they beat to win the title a year prior, Illinois, and Alabama, with their lowest margin of victory being 14 against Alabama. Purdue beat Grambling St, Utah State, Gonzaga, Tennessee, and the Cinderella 11 seed NC State Wolfpack in the Final Four to make it to the championship game. Purdue made this run just a year after losing to Fairleigh Dickinson University by 5 as a 1 seed, which meant they had lost to the 16 seed, just the 2nd time that happened, the first being in 2018 when the 1 seed Virginia Cavaliers lost to 16 seed UMBC. However, the Cavaliers came back the following year and won the national championship. Purdue was seeking to repeat history here as well in a way. 

The game tipped, and the tip was won by 7”4 Zach Edey. Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue forward, made the 1st basket of the game with a hook shot in the lane to start. However, the game flattened out with both teams battling it out. The game was pretty even after about 10 minutes. Uconn made a little push at the end of the half to take a 36-30 lead at halftime. A combination of Tristen Newton and Stephon Castle were leading the way, as they led 51-38 with 12 minutes left. Zach Edey was doing everything he possibly could to keep the Boilermakers in the game. He ended with 37 points and 13 rebounds. Apparently, his teammates didn’t get the memo. The rest of the team only had 23 points. The only other player with double figures for the Boilermakers was guard Braden Smith, who ended with only 12 points. This unfortunately was the beginning of the end for Purdue, who lost by 15, which helped the Uconn Huskies clinch their 2nd consecutive national championship. 

The only remaining question is, is there a 3 peat in store for Uconn next year? Only time will tell. No other team has done that since the UCLA Bruins did it 7 years in a row led by legendary head coach John Wooden from 1967 to 1973, as part of a 12 stretch in which they won 10 national championships from 1964 to 1975, a feat that is likely never to be broken. The tale for this year was spoken by Uconn Head Coach Dan Hurley. “We won by a lot again.”