In the 2014 Men’s National Title game, the Connecticut Huskies defeated the Kentucky Wildcats 60 to 54. Shabazz Napier, the Connecticut point guard and the game’s leading scorer with 22 points, was named the MVP of the Final Four.
Both Connecticut and Kentucky took similar paths to reaching the National Championship. Neither team made the NCAA field of 68 teams last year. Kentucky was not selected, and Connecticut was serving a post season ban from NCAA sanctioned violations.
Eighth-seeded Kentucky’s road to the NCAA tournament was an exciting journey filled with upsets. They defeated the 9th seededKansas State Wildcats. Kentucky then defeated number one-seeded Wichita State. In the Sweet Sixteen, Kentucky ousted 4th seeded Louisville. They then went on to upset the number two-seed in the Midwest, the Michigan Wolverines. In the Final Four, the Wildcats got the best of the two seed from the west, the Wisconsin Badgers.
Seventh seeded Connecticut also had a journey filled with upsets. In the first round, UConn beat Saint Joe’s in overtime. In the round of thirty-two, the Huskies knocked off second seeded Villanova. Connecticut edged out the 3rd seeded Iowa State Cyclones in the Sweet Sixteen. In the Elite Eight, they beat the 4th-seeded Michigan State Spartans. In the Final Four, number one overall seeded Florida stood no match for the hot Huskies.
In the Championship game, Kentucky standout freshman Julius Randle was battling cramps, and sophomore center Willie Cauley-Stein was injured and missed the game. Without these two big men, Kentucky lost its inside advantage. Connecticut’s backcourt of Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright was too much for the young Kentucky guards to handle.