Husky Deja Vu! Connecticut becomes the first team in 17 years to repeat as national champions… knocking off Purdue 75-60

Just before practices start at the University of Connecticut, coach Dan Hurley likes to throw multiple shots across the half court to try to sink at least one. Once he hits one, he immediately lines up for another, pumping himself up by saying, “Who’s the king of match-ups?” to which assistants respond, “You are” before he inevitably misses.

If Hurley’s two half-court shots in a row is improbable, then winning two straight national championships must be unfathomable — the basketball equivalent of Absolute Zero. No one had done this since Florida in 2007 and in this day and age of NIL keeping kids around to perform such a feat never happens again.

But as improbable, unfathomable and absolutely null as it may be, these odds are all now being laughed at by Dan Hurley, the king of Match-ups. Because that’s what he is now: the first man since his mentor Billy Donovan to win back-to-back national titles.

He did it with ruthless scheming, efficiency, tough practices and buy-in from a group of players he kept together for fear of poaching by other coaches and through a transfer portal takeover that embodied his energy to a T. They tore through the Big East Conference and lost just two games en route to both a regular season title and a conference tournament title.

And now he has the Great One again. Hurley’s Huskies did it in Phoenix, defeating Zach Edey and the Purdue Boilermakers in an all-ages national title game that ended with UConn winning its sixth crown in 25 years and moving North Carolina into third place all-time.

THIS IS A DEVELOPMENT STORY. MORE TO FOLLOW.