UConn men overcome Zach Edey, repeat as champions in a run that will stand the test of time

GLENDALE, Ariz — What a team has built, one man cannot break down.

No matter how big, how skilled, how tough, one man was not going to stand between the UConn men’s basketball team and the history they came to make Monday night.

Zach Edey, the national player of the year, did all he could, but he was one giant of a man trying to stop a locomotive. The Huskies had too much else going for them, and they fulfilled their mission of a second consecutive national championship with their 75-60 victory over Purdue on Monday night.

“We’re the best team the country, Purdue is the second best team in the country,” coach Dan Hurley told his team before the game. “Be who you’ve been and we’ll be national champions.”

Double Dogs: UConn men’s basketball thumps Purdue, 75-60, to win second consecutive national championship

Few teams develop such an identity and play to it as consistency as UConn, a study in unselfish, determined play.

“(Edey’s) strong, he’s huge, but we stuck to the game plan,” said Donovan Clingan, who had to contend with him most of the game.

Though the 7-foot-4 Edey, with 37 points and 10 rebounds, provided an obstacle the like of which UConn had not seen, the Huskies have provided a spectacle the like of which the college basketball world has rarely seen, a 15-month run during which they won 52 of 57 games, most by large margins, Big East regular-season and tournament titles and, now, two NCAA Tournaments. March Madness is supposed to be a grueling, survive-and-advance affair, but the Huskies have won 12 tournament games in a row by double digits.

“Champions, again,” Clingan said. “It’s hard to explain. Crazy feeling. I’ve been dreaming of doing this since middle school, you stay up late though there’s school, you dream of this moment.”

Even if Purdue, the Midwest Regional champ, was the toughest opponent on paper, even the Boilermakers never took control of the game for any stretch, leading for only 1:36 early in the first half. Edey was a force, but the rest of the Huskies were too fast, too athletic for those guarding them, or guarded by them.

So up the ladders to cut down the nets went Hurley and the Huskies yet again, the sixth championship in school history, all coming since 1999. They are the first team to repeat since Florida in 2006 and 2007, bringing closure to college careers that will long be remembered in Connecticut.

Clingan, the 7-2 sophomore from Bristol, is likely going to…