Jay Bilas says UConn must approach national championship with defensive mindset

UConn will square off with San Diego State Monday night for a chance to win their fifth national championship in program history. The Huskies have been red-hot on offense all tournament, and Vegas favors the Huskies over the Aztecs by seven points.

But according to college basketball analyst Jay Bilas, defense will be the key to a UConn victory.

“I think UConn has to come into the game with a defensive mindset, and they’ve been an outstanding defensive team all year long,” Bilas said. “They’re probably underrated defensively because we talk about their offense so much and they’ve got so many weapons with Adama Sanogo inside and Jordan Hawkins knocking down threes an Tristen Newton leading the team in assists along with Andre Jackson Jr.”

UConn’s offense has been captivating all tournament long, averaging 79.8 points per game during the NCAA Tournament. But their defense as been stout as well, holding all but two March Madness opponents to under 60 points. And in both of those contests where opponents did score over 60 points, the Huskies won by over 20 points.

“But I think when you play against San Diego State, San Diego State is so good at taking away transition. I mean they took away transition from a great transition team in Florida Atlantic. So you have to expect that they’re going to be able to limit UConn in transition and try to make it more of a half court game,” Bilas said. “But I think if UConn can do a good job defensively and take care of the ball, they had 14 turnovers in their game against Miami and that’s too many. You can’t turn it over at that level against San Diego State.”

The transition game could be a major key in the national championship, but Bilas believes the Huskies’ presence in the paint could be as well thanks to two defensive anchors on their roster.

“But I think UConn’s got too many answers with their offense and the combination of their defense and rebounding, but a defensive mindset against San Diego State is gonna be required. When you start with Sanogo inside and then we he goes to the bench and you bring in Donovan Clingan at 7’2 who does a great job with vertical contest, he moves his feet,” Bilas explained. “Sanogo and Clingan protect the lane and protect the rim very effectively and I was really impressed.”

The basketball gods have worked in San Diego State’s favor, winning their last two games by one point apiece. But there’s no question that the Huskies have valuable depth across the board, as they’ll face off against the Aztecs Monday at 9:20 p.m. ET on CBS.

“I think Alex Karaban, Joey Calcaterra, Nahiem Alleyne comes off the bench, those guys can guard and they do a good job defensively and I think that’s gotta be their focus going into the game. That team can score, UConn can score, if they guard they win,” Bilas concluded.