UConn cruises past Miami to return to national title game

HOUSTON — UConn doled out another drama-free basketball beatdown Saturday, getting 21 points and 10 rebounds from Adama Sanogo to dispatch Miami 72-59 and move one win from the school's fifth national title.

Jordan Hawkins overcame his stomach bug and scored 13 for the Huskies, who came into this most unexpected Final Four as the only team with any experience on college basketball's final weekend and with the best seeding of the four teams in Houston — at No. 4.

Against fifth-seeded Miami, they were the best team on the court from beginning to end. Starting with three straight 3s — one jumper from Hawkins and two set shots from Sanogo — UConn took a quick 9-0 lead and never trailed.

On Monday in the title game, the Huskies will face San Diego State, which became the first team to hit a buzzer-beater while trailing in a Final Four game for a 72-71 victory over Florida Atlantic.

That was an all-timer. This one was more of the same from the Huskies (30-8). The double-digit victory over Miami was UConn's closest win in five tournament games. The Huskies have outscored their opponents by a total of 103 points in this tournament, making them the seventh team all time to have a points differential of at least 100 entering an appearance in the national title game, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

Since the tournament expanded in 1985, UConn is also the sixth team to enter the final having won each tournament game by double digits, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Four of the previous five teams went on to win it all.

Some thought Miami (29-8), with four players who have scored 20 points at least three times this season, might be the team to challenge the Huskies. Not to be.

UConn is the sixth team to enter the NCAA