Alabama gave it a decent try to stop the defending champions. Both teams went on 7-0 runs at some point to start the second half. With a little under 13 minutes to play, Grant Nelson hit a jumper to tie the game at 56.

But as the Huskies do, that was as close as Alabama was going to get. Stephon Castle got fouled after an offensive rebound and got two from the line, and then scored again on a jumper. Then, Samson Johnson got a dunk and Alex Karaban got a layup to quickly spread the lead to 8.

At this point, the teams would keep trading baskets to about the 3 minute mark as Karaban hit a three-pointer to make the lead 11, just to watch Mark Sears hit a super deep three-pointer to cut the lead back to 8.

Then, Donovan Clingan wrapped up the game. Tristen Newton found Clingan down low for a dunk to extend the lead to 10. Then, as Grant Nelson drove to the basket, Clingan blocked the shot to stop the Tide. And on the next possession Cam Spencer found Clingan in the post again for another dunk.

Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer would finish the game off with two three-pointers, and the Huskies won 86-72.

Alabama simply could not keep up their hot shooting from three-point range, and Clingan’s 4 blocks on defense made it difficult for the Tide to score points in the lane. Meanwhile, the Tide simply had no answer for the Huskies as all 5 starters scored in double digits, led by Castle’s 21 and Clingan’s 18 points.

It took a little bit longer than normal, but the Huskies still found a way to extend the lead to double digits by the end of the game. And now, they are one game away from defending their championship.

The only team left in their path in Zach Edey’s Purdue Boilermakers. One team that had everyone come back in order to try to get redemption from last year’s tournament. One team trying to keep what they won from last year’s tournament.

These teams have been on a collision course all season. UConn started the pre-season polls at 6th while the Boilers started at 3rd. UConn would only improve, staying in the top 5 all season including holding the top spot for 7 weeks. The Boilers never fell farther than 4th (after their loss to Northwestern) as they held the top spot for 5 weeks. So, if you exclude the pre-season poll, the two teams were at the top of the poll for 12 of the 19 weeks and the only 2 teams to stay in the top 5 for all 19 weeks. It should be a great championship game as both teams have proven they are the best two teams in college basketball.

The Lunatic will be excited to cheer on his Boilers on Monday night as they face the defending champion Huskies.