No. 4 seed UConn rumbled into the Final Four with an 82-54 victory over No. 3 seed Gonzaga in Elite Eight action on Saturday as the Huskies used a fast start to the second half to pull away from the Zags and capture the West Regional title. It marks the program's first Final Four appearance since 2014, and the performance served as a warning shot to the rest of the dwindling NCAA Tournament field over the type of threat that UConn poses.
UConn has won all four of its games in the Big Dance by 15 or more points while regaining the excellent form it enjoyed while rising to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 poll earlier this season. Saturday's performance was merely the latest example as the Huskies frustrated Gonzaga's high-powered offense all night and deployed a variety of their own offensive weapons. During one stretch in the second half, Gonzaga made just 1 of 17 field goal attempts.
In the 21st century, only Gonzaga in 2021 and UConn in 2004 have entered the Final Four with four straight 15+ point victories. The 2021 Zags lost to Baylor in the title game while the 2004 Huskies won it all.
UConn big man Adama Sanogo flirted with the NCAA Tournament's first triple-double since Murray State's Ja Morant did it in 2019. The Huskies' 6-foot-9 bruiser presented a matchup problem for Gonzaga, which frequently opted to bring double teams in the post. Sanogo showed deft passing touch by dispersing the ball to UConn's deep group of perimeter threats as the Huskies reached double-digit makes from 3-point range for just the third time this season.
Between UConn's 88-65 win over Arkansas and Saturday's result, the Huskies became the first team since Kentucky in 1996 to win their Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games by 20 or more points. The Wildcats went on to win the title that season.
The 28-point defeat was Gonzaga's worst NCAA Tournament loss.
Three takeaways from UConn's win:
1. A breakthrough win for Dan Hurley
A successful run at Rhode Island set up Dan Hurley, the son of basketball royalty, to be hired as the coach of one of the most iconic college basketball programs. Hurley famously noted early in his tenure that if there was a time to get the better of UConn it was right then, because the program was moving in a direction back to the championship-contending status that's so easily associated with Huskies basketball.
UConn started the season 14-0 with 13 of those wins coming by double-digits and one of the opponents being the No. 1 overall seed in Alabama. Hurley said that the team's current form closely resembles the form of the team that's advancing in the tournament and competing for a national championship, providing a very high floor for this group.
2. End of Timme's time at Gonzaga?
Technically, Gonzaga legend Drew Timme has one year of eligibility left and and if he wants to capitalize on the extra year provided by the NCAA there are going to be opportunities to cash in financially. Timme is a two-time All-American and the back-to-back West Coast Conference Player of the Year, but the way thing unfolded in the Elite Eight loss might leave some extra desire to take another run at the national championship. Timme's decision about his professional future weights heavily on the outlook of the immediate future of the tenure of Mark Few, who has established a new standard for expectation with eight straight Sweet 16 appearances.
3. Historic Elite Eight blowout
The 28-point margin of victory is the largest in an Elite Eight game since 1992 (Cincinnati over Memphis by 31), but It also stands in opposition to the pregame expectations across the sport. UConn was favored, but by less than three points, and the point spread matched with consensus expectation that this might be one of the best games of the tournament. Instead we got a historic blowout, and more validation for the notion that UConn is on its way to follow the deep runs of 2011 and 2014 and wind up as national champions.