GLENDALE, Ariz. — The second national semifinal of Saturday’s NCAA Final Four was by far the more entertaining one, as Connecticut outlasted Alabama 86-72 at State Farm Stadium 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.
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 never held less than a six-point lead the rest of the way.
Alabama (25-12) stayed close with 8 of 11 3-point shooting in a 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.
The Huskies, however, found offensive success down the stretch.
Tristen Newton’s 3-pointer with 1:04 to play gave UConn an 83-68 lead and effectively put the game away. Clingan had eight points in the final 7 minutes, 24 seconds, including a pair of dunks that got the Huskies fans on their feet inside the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.
The announced attendance Saturday for the semifinals was 74,720.
Alabama took a 23-18 lead after trailing by five early in the game. Rylan Griffin hit a 3-pointer at the 11:09 mark for Alabama’s biggest lead of the half.
UConn led by as many as seven points in the first half. Alex Karaban finished with 14 points, Newton 12 and Cam Spencer 14 as the Huskies made 50 percent of their shots (31 of 62) for the game.
–Jose M. Romero, Field Level Media