NCAA Tournament championship game: Connecticut holds off Kentucky for 2014 title

It was the end we probably all should have seen coming, but of course we didn’t. After finally buying into Kentucky -- the team that was simultaneously trying to become the first unranked squad to win the title since 1988 and the first preseason No. 1 to achieve the feat since 2009 -- college hoops folks were smacked with one last giant red X to end a season that was always ready to hand one to anyone who thought they had anything figured out.

Connecticut is a team fat with championship worthy storylines. A year ago, the Huskies became easily the most noteworthy program dealt a one-year postseason ban by the NCAA because of subpar APR scores. In addition to keeping UConn out of the dance, the Huskies were also unable to compete in the last (old) Big East Tournament ever. Then there’s Kevin Ollie, the man who took over after the sudden retirement of Jim Calhoun and just became only the second coach ever to win a national championship in his first NCAA tournament run. Two years ago, sophomore Shabazz Napier complained publicly that no one on his team would listen to him despite being the only one who tried to step up and lead the struggling defending national champs. Now he leaves UConn as a first team All-American, a conference Player of the Year, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and a two-time national champion.

The whole NBA had Monday night off for the NCAA Championship, which meant the league’s numerous former Huskies got to watch their old school take home the trophy. Some of those guys were even in the building.

Rip Hamilton took a photo with Drake *before* tip-off (more on Drake below):

Many a joke was made about Drake’s bandwagon fanship after he wound up in the Kentucky locker room post-Final Four victory. It’s understandable: people like calling people bandwagonners, and Drake does have a habit for bandwagonning. We did a whole post about it!

So the joke was obviously made that if Kentucky didn’t win the NCAA Tournament, he’d quickly become a UConn fan. Shortly after the final whistle, this pic began tearing up the internets:

Napier started the game on fire, scoring 15 points in the first half alone. He finished with 22 points, shooting 8-of-16 from the floor and draining 4-of-9 three-pointers. Napier also pulled down six rebounds, dished out three assists and got three steals. It was the type of all-around performance we’re used to seeing from Napier this season.

Napier was a freshman and part-time player during the Huskies’ title run in 2010-11, but became a full-time starter a year later. He truly came into his own in 2013-14, averaging 17.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game while making 40.3 of his three point attempts. He was named AAC Player of the Year, was a first-team All-American and won the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award.

It’s one of the greatest moments of the college basketball year: We all gather around, sit completely quiet, and let our body get covered in goosebumps as a cheesy song from the 1980s plays on CBS along with highlights from the just-finished NCAA Tournament. It’s “One Shining Moment,” and it’s the college basketball season’s post-climax cigarette.

The question coming into the national championship game, besides, you know, who would win: would “One Shining Moment” be three straight minutes of Shabazz Napier, or three straight minutes of Aaron Harrison daggers? Turns out we get Bazz. And Ryan Boatright. And DeAndre Daniels.

The UConn Huskies are the 2014 NCAA Tournament champions! Sixty-seven other teams, sadly, are not. Each of those teams had to lose a do-or-die game at some point along the way, and many of them did some crying when the reality of the loss set in. Sixty-seven college basketball teams’ worth of tears is so many tears. Like, gallons of tears probably.

So, here’s a video we made of all that anguish. We made it because we are cruel jerks who find entertainment in the sorrow of young men. And because CBS’ yearly “One Shining Moment” montage of big shots, court-stormings and nets getting cut down needs an agony-drenched foil.

The Wildcats continued their surge in the second half while the Huskies went cold from the floor (UConn shot just 1-of-8 to start the half). UConn’s frustrations started boiling over.

Despite that incident, the Huskies got on track and built their lead back up to nine points, but Kentucky refused to go away, pulling within one point at the under-eight timeout.

Kentucky was looking a bit lost in the second half against UConn... and then BOOOOOOM JAMES YOUNG OUTTA NOWHERE

UNGH UNGH UNGH WE GOTTA WATCH THE SECOND ANGLE

So...who have we got here? I recognize Jason and Brill Garrett, Jerry Jones, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Jason Witten, Tony Romo, and Candice Crawford. This is like the Brady Bunch opening graphic, except WAY better. And you know the dads in the center are having a grand old time:

And I’m a little frightened of whatever was being described here:

The Wildcats struggled to find the basket, but they did not help their own cause with defensive showings like this one.

The Huskies opened up a 15-point lead on Kentucky at one point, but big deficits are nothing new for the Wildcats this tournament. They used a 12-3 run to get right back into things and entered the locker room down just two possessions. Their late comeback shouldn’t be much of a surprise, given their run through this tournament.

The tournament has been tremendous these past couple of weeks. It all got started with eight upsets and a handful of overtime thrillers in the Second Round. Then came a terrific Third Round that saw top-seeded Wichita State, No. 2 seeds Kansas and Villanova, and No. 3 seeds Creighton and Syracuse go home early. Sprinkle in some instant classics in the regional and national semifinals, and this year’s Big Dance has been one to remember.

Few schools have had the postseason success the Huskies and Wildcats have experienced over the last two decades. UConn won the national title in 1999, 2004 and 2011 and also reached the Final Four in 2009. Kentucky cut the nets down in 1996 and 1998 before getting back on top in 2012. It seemed a run to the national semifinals was just about impossible this time a month ago, but John Calipari’s boys have finally figured it out.

The tip-off marathon, the preseason tournaments, the grind of conference play, the league tournaments, the first three weeks of the big dance -- it’s all led us here to Monday night and Kentucky vs. Connecticut. Let’s feed your brain before the Wildcats and Huskies tip this final game off in Dallas.

1. UConn and Kentucky have the highest combined seed total of any two national finalists ever

As is often the case with click bait, that’s not really what happened.

“I was like, ‘Is he crazy? Go!’ I was trying to tell him to attack the basket,” Andrew said.

The best team isn’t going to win.

And that’s fine.

Tipoff between Connecticut and Kentucky is scheduled for 9:10 p.m. ET on Monday night from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex.

Connecticut got off to a 9-0 start but then stumbled a bit once AAC play began. After edging Florida by a point in early December, the Huskies only faced three ranked teams -- Cincinnati, Louisville and Memphis -- the rest of the season. It was tough to really get a handle on how legitimate this team was as they beat up on Houston, Rutgers, USF and others.

Now, UK and UConn both look to be teams of destiny. One of their seasons will finally come to an end on Monday night, but that should not take anything away from their runs over the last three weeks. The way John Calipari has turned things around with his young Wildcats may just be the best coaching job of his career, and this five-game run has proved Kevin Ollie is one of the game’s brightest young coaches. Get ready for a great game on Monday night.

Now, what may just be the grittiest and scrappiest Connecticut team of the bunch is just 40 minutes away from winning the program’s fourth ring. Let’s take a look back at the last three title winners.

Record: 34-2

Tournament seed: 1

Leading Scorer: Richard Hamilton, 27 points

Most Outstanding Player: Hamilton

The seventh-seeded Huskies will try to defy the odds one more time as a 2.5-point underdog going up against the eighth-seeded Kentucky. Tipoff is set for 9:10 p.m. ET at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The Huskies are a perfect 5-0 SU and ATS in this year’s tournament and are 10-2 ATS over their last 12 tournament games overall.