Opening line set for national championship between UConn and San Diego State

After UConn and San Diego State both won in the Final Four on Saturday, Vegas has set the line for their national championship matchup. The Huskies open as six-point favorites against the Aztecs, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.

The number isn’t surprising, as UConn has been far and away the most dominant team throughout the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies have won all five of their games by double digits, including a 72-59 victory against Miami on Saturday.

As for San Diego State, this is its first trip to the national championship game in program history. The Aztecs advanced there on a miracle, as guard Lamont Butler drained a buzzer-beating jump shot as time expired to lead them past Florida Atlantic 72-71.

UConn has been to the national championship four times in its history, winning each of those games. They’ll hope to improve to 5-0 behind the duo of Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins, who combined for 34 points in Saturday’s win.

The Aztecs, who rank fourth in adjusted defensive efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy, will do their best to slow the Huskies offense down. SDSU’s defensive prowess was on display in the second half of their Final Four win as they held FAU to 31 points on 8-of-24 (33.3%) shooting in the final 20 minutes.

Tip off for the national championship is set for 9:20 p.m. ET on Monday in Houston.

More on the wins from San Diego State, UConn to advance to the national championship

San Diego State was the first of the two teams to punch its ticket to the national title. The Aztecs found themselves down as many as 14 points in the second half, making their win the third-largest comeback in Final Four history.

San Diego State began its comeback with a 16-4 run from the 13:53 to 9:05 mark to cut the lead to two. With just over four minutes to play, the Aztecs tied the game. It took them until the very end, however, to get over the hump and take the lead.

After FAU shot better than 50% in the first half, the Aztecs defense tightened up to force them to go 8-of-24 (33.3%) in the second. Matt Bradley led the team with 21 points.

Like FAU, UConn also got out to a big lead in the second half, with its advantage reaching as high as 20 points. Unlike the Owls, however, the Huskies withstood a run from Miami to hold on for the win.

UConn led by as many as 20 points but saw that whittled down to single digits at 53-45 following  a 3-pointer from Isaiah Wong with 11:41 to go. That was as close as it would get, however, as Donovan Clingan scored a layup on the next possession to bring the lead back to double digits for good. 

Sanogo led the Huskies with 21 points and 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double.