No. 1 UConn will meet No. 1 Purdue in the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tournament national championship game.
Tip-off is scheduled for 9:20 p.m. Monday at State Farm Stadium in Phoenix.
No. 1 UConn (36-3) has a chance to become the first school to win back-to-back national championships since Florida in 2006-07. The Huskies beat Alabama 86-72 on Saturday. Danny Hurley has a talented roster that cruised through the first four rounds of the tournament, and Tristen Newton and Donovan Clingan are marquee players on a balanced starting lineup.
SN’s MARCH MADNESS HQ
Live NCAA bracket news | TV schedule | Printable PDF
No. 1 Purdue (34-4) is back in the national championship game for the first time since 1969. The Boilermakers have silenced the critics after last year’s first-round exit, and 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey – a two-time Sporting News Player of the Year – continues to dominate the tournament. Will Purdue coach Matt Painter lead the long-awaited national championship run and end a Big Ten drought that extends back to 2000?
Here’s everything to know about betting on UConn vs. Purdue in the NCAA Men’s Tournament national championship game, including updated odds, trends and our prediction for Monday’s game. Odds courtesy BetMGM.
Purdue vs. UConn odds
-
Spread: N/A
-
Over/under: N/A
-
Moneyline: N/A
How many No. 1 vs. No. 1 matchups have there been in the Final Four?
Two No. 1 seeds have met in the NCAA tournament championship game nine times. The average margin of victory is 6.3 points per game, and the Big Ten is 0-4 in those games. UConn beat Duke in a battle of No. 1 seeds in 1999. A look at those games:
| YEAR | MATCHUP |
| 1982 | No. 1 North Carolina 63, No. 1 Georgetown 62 |
| 1993 | No. 1 North Carolina 77, No. 1 Michigan 71 |
| 1999 | No. 1 UConn 77, No. 1 Duke 74 |
| 2005 | No. 1 North Carolina 75, No. 1 Illinois 70 |
| 2007 | No. 1 Florida 84, No. 1 Ohio State 75 |
| 2008 | No. 1 Kansas 75, No. 1 Memphis 68 (OT) |
| 2009 | No. 1 Duke 73, No. 1 Wisconsin 69 |
| 2017 | No. 1 North Carolina 71, No. 1 Gonzaga 65 |
| 2021 | No. 1 Baylor 86, No. 1 Gonzaga 70 |
Donovan Clingan’s NCAA Tournament stats
Clingan – 7-foot-2 sophomore – is one of five UConn players who average double figures, but he will be the focal point leading up to the matchup against Edey. Clingan is averaging 14.2 points and nine rebounds in the NCAA Tournament, and he had eight blocks in the Sweet 16 victory against Northwestern. Clingan is dealing with a right hand injury suffered in practice in the week leading up to the Final Four, but it did not affect his play in the semifinals.
UConn’s key players against Purdue
UConn has a well-rounded starting five led by All-American point guard Tristen Newton, who has been more of a facilitator in the last two rounds. Newton averages 7.2 assists in the tournament. Forward Alex Karaban and guard Cam Spencer are role players, and Stephen Castle was the breakout player against Alabama with 21 points. The bench is not deep, but 6-foot-10 Samson Johnson adds another post player who can run the floor.
Zach Edey in the NCAA tournament
Edey scored 20 points with 12 rebounds and four assists in the victory against NC State. He is averaging 28 points and 15.4 rebounds in the tournament. A total of 10 players in NCAA tournament history have 150 points in a single tournament, and 11 have 80 rebounds. Edey could join both lists during the championship game.
MORE: Purdue’s Iron Man Zach Edey goes the full 40 vs. NC State
Purdue’s key players against UConn
Braden Smith had a rough semifinal game with a 1 of 9 shooting performance and five first-half turnovers. Lance Jones and Fletcher Loyer combined for 25 points and hit 7 of 14 from 3-point range. Forwards Trey Kaufman-Renn and Mason Gillis had 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Boilermakers do not have a deep rotation, but they have enough playmakers around Edey to be successful.
UConn vs. Purdue prediction
It’s no secret what Purdue is going to do. The offense runs through Edey in the paint. The matchup with Clingan will be the focus, and Edey has not fouled out of a game this season. He hasn’t had four fouls in a game since Feb. 15.
Purdue made 40% of its 3-pointers against the Wolfpack, and that is the formula they use around Edey. The Boilermakers lead the nation in 3-point percentage, but they are shooting 35.8% from in the tournament. How will UConn handle Edey and those rotations? Three-point shooting has been volatile in the postseason.
The Boilermakers had 16 turnovers against the Wolfpack, and they are 2-2 S/U when they have 15 turnovers or more. They cannot be that sloppy with the ball against the Huskies.
UConn has played against two Big Ten teams in the tournament in Northwestern and Illinois, so that cross-conference style of play won’t matter much. The Huskies have not shot the 3-pointer well in the tournament at 35 of 114 (30.7%), but they did hit 10 of 25 (40%) against Alabama.
Purdue is 7-0 S/U and 6-1 ATS when the spread is five points or less in either direction, and that includes two games as an outright underdog. The Huskies are 6-3 S/U and 5-3 ATS in the same situation.
The rebounding battle will be a focus, and it will be a team effort for the Huskies against the Boilermakers. That is their biggest question with Edey in the middle. For Purdue, it is about not letting UConn get on the game-changing runs that doomed Illinois and Alabama in the last two rounds. How will Edey alter the UConn offense? It might take the Huskies a little longer to settle in, but they will make the right adjustments at halftime.
It becomes a little bit of a tossup if both teams are under 75 points. UConn is 8-3 S/U in those situations, while the Boilermakers are 7-4. In a game of No. 1 seeds, that will be the magic number. Who gets there first?
Final score: UConn 78, Purdue 71
