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UConn students celebrate national championship

STORRS, Conn. (AP) Ecstatic UConn fans have been celebrating the Huskies' men's national basketball title on the campus in Storrs, Conn. -- breaking street lights, smashing at least one campus window and overturning furniture inside the student union.

Campus police report they made 30 arrests by 1:30 a.m. and a school spokesman says more were expected, with a lot of the arrests alcohol-related.

He says no serious injuries were reported and most of the property damage was minor.

The men's team plans to return to Gampel Pavilion for a pep rally at 5 p.m. today, followed by another viewing party as the undefeated UConn women play for their ninth national title against Notre Dame in Nashville. One freshman says the energy is like nothing he's never felt and as he put it, ``we're going to do this all again tomorrow.''

 

Shabazz Napier scored 22 points and Connecticut won its second NCAA title in four years, beating all those Kentucky freshmen 60-54 in the championship game Monday night.

Napier is among three UConn seniors who were part of the Huskies' 2011 title. That trio stayed after coach Jim Calhoun's retirement even when the Huskies were ineligible for the NCAA tournament last season.

They came back strong in coach Kevin Ollie's second season, and the Huskies (32-8) went all the way to their fourth overall title.

Kentucky (29-11), with five freshmen starters, never led in the championship game.

The Wildcats missed 11 of 24 free throws, while the Huskies were perfect on 10 tries.

 

Connecticut's experienced backcourt made Kentucky's guards look like, well, freshmen in the national championship game.  Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright outplayed the Harrison twins from start to finish in a 60-54 victory Monday night.

Napier, a senior who was a role player on UConn's last title team in 2011, had 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Junior Ryan Boatright added 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Together, they were simply too much to handle for the Wildcats (29-11).

Many thought it would be the other way around, with brothers Aaron and Andrew Harrison carrying the Wildcats to a second title in the last three years.

But the twins were mostly missing in the tournament finale at AT Stadium.

UConn (32-8) dominated early, withstood a big charge late in the first half and made all the clutch plays down the stretch of a 60-54 victory that made Kevin Ollie the first coach since Michigan's Steve Fisher in 1989 to win a national title in his first NCAA tournament as coach.

Shabazz Napier, the dynamic senior point guard, led the way as he almost always does, finishing with 22 points, six rebounds and three assists to bookend his career with national titles.


Napier has been selected the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four after getting 22 points and six rebounds in Monday night's NCAA championship game.  Napier as a freshman won a national title on UConn's 2011 team led by another star guard in Kemba Walker.  He ends his stellar career as the leader of the 2014 championship squad.

Boatright was his best on college basketball's biggest stage.  Capping a difficult year that included the death of his cousin, Boatright scored 14 points.  Boatright fought through grief after his cousin, 20-year-old Arin Williams was killed in January and fought off the doubters in the NCAA tournament.

In the title game, Boatright helped UConn jump out to a 15-point lead in the first half and hit a big step-back jumper down the stretch to win a national title.

Now Boatright must take a step back and look at his future, which could include the NBA.

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