In advance of the Final Four, the school removed the aluminum light posts along Hillside Road, the main thoroughfare through the center of campus, and replaced them with temporary recessed lighting. Precautions were in place today at the University of Connecticut to prevent a repeat of the violence and vandalism that marred the celebrations of the school’s 2023 NCAA men’s basketball championship. “We’re kind of getting used to this up here, the confetti, the trophy,” Hurley said postgame. Purdue has been to the Final Four three times, reaching the championship game once, but has never won the NCAA Tournament. The only other programs to win six or more NCAA men’s titles are UCLA (11), Kentucky (8) and North Carolina (6). This is UConn’s sixth national championship. The most recent team to accomplish such a feat was Florida in 2007. UConn became just the eighth team in NCAA men’s basketball history to win back-to-back national championships following its victory last season against San Diego State. Purdue’s 7-foot-4 center, Zach Edey, had a game-high 37 points and 10 rebounds in defeat.

“You can’t even wrap your mind around it, because you just know how hard this tournament is,” Huskies coach Dan Hurley said after the win. After a back-and-forth first half, the Huskies gained their first double-digit lead near the midpoint of the second half before they pulled away. Tristen Newton paced UConn with 20 points, while Stephon Castle added 15 points. UConn clinched back-to-back NCAA men’s basketball championships Monday, defeating Purdue 75-60 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

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