March 30, 2014 - After the UConn Men beat St Joseph's and Villanova to get to Madison Square Garden, the only question was what were ticket scalpers going to ask for tickets for UConn Fans to fill the building for the Regionals. Of course who knew if the Huskies would be playing Sunday..First up they had to take care of the three seed from Iowa State and they did with an 81-76 victory. While Michigan St upset the top seed from Virginia to set up a Sunday Afternoon for the ages...
It didn't take long for Storrs South to get going with a 12-2 start. Five for DeAndre Daniels, four for Ryan Boatright and a three from Shabazz Napier. A lead the Huskies maintained until the Spartans used a 9-0 run late in the half, where a Gary Harris three put Michigan St up as they led 25-21 at halftime. UConn, who were just 8 of 29 at the break, went scoreless for the last 5:27. The Spartans only made 9 fg, but 6 were three's...
And the Green Gang used a 7-2 start to the second half to build a 32-23 advantage with 16:33 left. This is when the Huskies came to life. Seven points for Bazz, a pair from Phil Nolan and three from DeAndre Daniels and suddenly with 11:46 left, the Huskies ran up 12 straight points and a 35-32 lead. The Garden came to life !! It was electric for sure....
The Huskies maintained the lead throughout...Harris hit another three and Sparty was within 2 at 51-49, but Napier responds with a jumper...Then at 53-51, Shabazz was fouled shooting a three...he made all three shots that was followed by a transition Daniels dunk with :15 seconds left. The end result was a 60-54 win that punched UConn's improbable ticket to Arlington, Texas...A seven seed going to the Final Four...Where they would beat Florida a second time and then Kentucky to win the programs' fourth national championship...
This run just as incredible as Kemba's run in 2011....With the same result at the end.
Check out this game at UConnHuskyGames.com