1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game

Last updated

1999 NCAA Tournament Championship Game
National championship game
NCAA primary logo 1980.svg
Connecticut Huskies Duke Blue Devils
Big East ACC
(33–2)(37–1)
7774
Head coach:
Jim Calhoun
Head coach:
Mike Krzyzewski
1st half2nd halfTotal
Connecticut Huskies 374077
Duke Blue Devils 393574
DateMarch 29, 1999
Venue Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
MVP Richard Hamilton, Connecticut
Favorite Duke by 9.5
Referees Tim Higgins, Gerald Boudreaux, Scott Thornley
Attendance41,340
United States TV coverage
Network CBS
Announcers Jim Nantz (play-by-play)
Billy Packer (color)
Bonnie Bernstein and Armen Keteyian (sideline)
  1998
2000  

The 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the finals of the 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and it determined the national champion for the 1998-99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The game was played on March 29, 1999, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, and featured the East Regional Champion, #1-seeded Duke against the West Regional Champion, #1-seeded Connecticut.

Contents

UConn upset the heavily favored Blue Devils 77–74 to win their first national championship in program history, marking the start of a dynasty for the Huskies.

Participants

Duke Blue Devils

Seeding in brackets

[1]

Connecticut Huskies

[2]

Starting lineups

DukePositionConnecticut
Trajan Langdon 1G Ricky Moore
William Avery 1G Khalid El-Amin 2
Shane Battier 1F Kevin Freeman
Chris Carrawell 2FRichard Hamilton 1
Elton Brand 1C Jake Voskuhl 2
1999 Consensus First Team All-American
 Players selected in an NBA draft  (number indicates round)

Source [3]

Game summary

CBS
March 29
9:00 pm
#E1 Connecticut Huskies77, #W1 Duke Blue Devils 74
Scoring by half: 37–39, 40–35
Pts: Richard Hamilton 27
Rebs: Ricky Moore, Kevin Freeman 8
Asts: Khalid El-Amin 4
Pts: Trajan Langdon 25
Rebs: Elton Brand 13
Asts: William Avery 5
Tropicana FieldSt. Petersburg, Florida
Attendance: 41,340
Referees: Tim Higgins, Gerald Boudreaux, Scott Thornley

Trajon Langdon committed a traveling violation with 5.4 seconds left with Duke trailing UConn by one, 75–74. Khalid El-Amin was immediately fouled, and he made both free throws to put the Huskies up by three points. The Blue Devils, who were out of timeouts, had a final chance to tie the game and force overtime, but Langdon, one of college basketball's best three-point shooters, was unable to get off a shot in the final seconds when he got triple-teamed and fell to the floor, and UConn escaped with a 77–74 victory, giving the Huskies their first national championship.

Game notes

Aftermath

The victory against Duke marked the start of a dynasty for the Huskies, as they would go on to win five more national championships in 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023, and 2024. UConn is now tied with North Carolina for the third most national championships, trailing only Kentucky (8 titles) and UCLA (11 titles).

Despite the loss to UConn, Duke would rebound and win another national championship two years later. They would also win two more national championships in 2010 and 2015.

References

  1. "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".
  2. "1999 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket". Databasesports.com. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  3. "Duke vs. Connecticut Box Score (Men), March 29, 1999". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  4. "Gold Sheet College Basketball Log". Archived from the original on April 10, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.