Live Blog: Follow along as UConn men’s basketball goes for second straight national title vs. Purdue

As Brent Musburger would say, you are looking live at the 2024 national championship live blog. Refresh your page for constant updates throughout the game.

11:19 p.m. Hurley gets called for a turnover (?) not sure what the rule was there as he pushes Cam Spencer as Spencer is on the court wasting some clock. Wanted Spencer to initiate the offense quicker, apparently. Never seen that in my life. It’s 67-54, 2:46 left.

11:14 p.m. Foul called on Edey. Newton hits two free throws. It’s 67-49, 3:42 to go.

11:10 p.m. Cam Spencer hits a pullup jumper. Edey makes easy work of Karaban inside. Purdue timeout, 65-49 UConn with 4:52 to go.

11:08 p.m. Johnson fouls out. It’s UConn’s 10th foul, so Purdue now in the double bonus. Will be interesting to see what happens here. UConn using a small lineup with 5:38 to go, will probably have Karaban try and guard Edey for a possession or two. 63-47.

11:06 p.m. Edey just clears Johnson out like he was a little kid in his way as he throws down underneath. At least Johnson didn’t foul. Karaban answers with a dunk of his own. 61-46, 6:46 left. Purdue turns it over on the next possession, and we get a trademark Cam Spencer fistpump and scream.

11:05 p.m. Johnson checks back in for Clingan. He’s got one foul left. Two between them.

11:03 p.m. Donovan Clingan picks up his fourth foul. Would be more significant if UConn weren’t up 59-42 here. Still 7:52 to go.

11:02 p.m. Pretty hilarious moment between Bill Murray and Drew Brees as they battled on the Jumbotron. Murray had the GOAT in his corner.

10:58 p.m. Karaban hits a big corner 3. UConn gets rebound on the defensive end. Outlet up the floor, Diarra lays it in. It’s 56-40 Huskies, and they’re going crazy. We get another U-C-O-N-N chant here.

10:54 p.m. Edey tries to bully Clingan in the paint, goes at him a couple of times but Clingan holds his ground and Edey is called for a travel. Clingan wanted a foul on Edey for an elbow down there.

10:50 p.m. UConn shooting 46% for the game here, 22-for-48. Just seems like they have too many scoring options for Purdue to contain. Boilermakers are much more reliant on Edey, and it’s showing here. UConn up 51-38 with 11:31 left.

10:47 p.m. Spencer hits another NIFTY layup inside. UConn seems to have too many different scoring options for Purdue to contain here. 49-38, 12:50 left. Diarra checks back in.

10:45 p.m. Edey hits both free throws. He’s then called for a foul on the next possession. His second. 47-36. Johnson picks up his fourth foul on the offensive end.

10:43 p.m. Johnson is called for his third foul as Edey draws it inside.

10:43 p.m. Tristen Newton with a couple of lobs to Samson Johnson for dunks. UConn starting to pull away, 47-34.

10:38 p.m. Not great here as Clingan picks up his third foul. 43-34, 15:54 to go. Timeout.

10:37 p.m. Camden Heide throws down a RUTHLESS putback dunk in traffic and kind of over Edey. That was nuts.

10:34 p.m. UConn fans getting louder here as Huskies beginning to assert their dominance a little more. UConn’s depth is a problem. Caste draws a foul that is extremely unpopular with fans here. 41-32, 16:55 left.

10:33 p.m. The second half begins, and Clingan is immediately called for his second foul. Right after that, he rips a rebound away from Edey and starts the break leading to a Tristen Newton 3. Newton hits the “call me” sign. UConn now up, 39-32, with 18:10 to go.

10:24 p.m. Some halftime stats as we’ve got about 6 minutes left until the second half: Zach Edey with 16 points, 5 rebounds, no fouls, 3 fouls drawn. Braden Smith has 9. Tristen Newton leads UConn with 11 points,. Clingan, Spencer and Diarra all have 7. Most importantly, Clingan has just one foul, Samson Johnson with 2.

10:12 p.m. Your boy is going to get a water. We’ll be right back with more updates as we approach the second half, which starts in about 17 minutes.

10:11 p.m. UConn with the same number of points in the first half (36) as they had in last year’s national championship. Last year they led 36-24.

10:09 p.m. HALFTIME. UConn takes a 36-30 lead into the break.

10:07 p.m. Purdue shooting 13-of-27 so far, UConn 14-of-27. Really intense, well-played first half.

10:05 p.m. Newton gets inside and scores. Edey tries to go at Clingan but chucks one over the other side of the backboard. 34-30 UConn, 1:33 left in the half.

10:01 p.m. Smith hits another jumper, this time a 3 for Purdue. Crowd going crazy. Edey raising one arm, getting them pumped up. Timeout UConn. All this though and the Huskies are still up, 32-30, with 2:09 left in the half.

9:59 p.m. Stephon Castle drives inside and muscles one home. Smith responds for Purdue. 32-27, just under 3 minutes to go.

9:56 p.m. First time all game a U-C-O-N-N chant has been able to break through this heavy Purdue crowd unchecked. Huskies fans are all packed into a corner to the bottom left on your TV screen by the Purdue basket. They’re loud and extremely engaged, but there’s so many more Purdue fans here.

9:54 p.m. Just a gorgeous backdoor cut and pass from Stephon Castle to Tristen Newton for an easy layup. Huskies lead 30-25, 4:19 left.

9:53 p.m. Clingan gives Edey a taste of his own medicine, hits a jump hook in his face. Edey comes back down and tries one of his own but misses. Ball out of bounds to UConn. 28-25 Huskies, 4:56 left in the half.

9:51 p.m. Clingan just went to the rack with an aggression we haven’t seen all game, with Edey out It’s like when you take ankle weights off and suddenly you can run super fast. He gets and and-1, hits the free throw. Matt Painter has to put Edey right back in. 26-25, 5:50 left in the half.

9:44 p.m. Braden Smith hits a wild shot inside to tie it up. On the next possession, Diarra bites on a fake and jumps on top of Trey Kaufman-Renn. Both players go down with a thud. It’s Diarra’s second foul and he has to come out of the game. Jaylin Stewart gets his first run here.

9:42 p.m. Hassan Diarra hits a wide-open corner 3 to give UConn the lead. Called for a foul against Edey on the other end.

9:41 p.m. Samson Johnson just picked up his second foul. That could end up being big. Clingan checks back in. 11 minutes to go in the half. 18 all.

9:37 p.m. Purdue’s ball movement on that possession went crazy. Mason Gillis comes down with an offensive rebound, and a foul is drawn on Samson Johnson. Both he and Clingan now have one foul. Timeout, 11:28 left in the half. UConn up, 18-16.

9:35 p.m. Edey is doing work on Clingan inside. He just put on a Hakeem Olajuwon-type move in the post, scored and drew a foul on Clingan. Hits the free throw. We’re tied at 16.

9:33 p.m. Edey swats Spencer’s driving attempt, then sends back Newton’s WITH AUTHORITY. He screams with the Purdue crowd. Heads back down and hits a jump hook over Clingan on the next possession. 14-13, UConn.

9:32 p.m. Edey slams one home (Marv Albert voice) with authority. Tristen Newton comes back and drains a 3. Stephon Castle gets a defensive rebound on the next possession, and draws a foul on Lance Jones. Second of the half on the Boilers.

9:31 p.m. No lie, it might be 90-10 Purdue fans in here. There’s one small section of UConn fans, but it seems like Boilermaker fans bought up all of the leftover NC State and Bama fan tickets.

9:27 p.m. Spencer has started hot, he’s got 7 points, and assist and just grabbed a defensive rebound. Castle turns it over though and it’ll be Purdue ball, 15:04 left in the first half. 11-9 Huskies.

9:27 pm. Spencer with another nifty up and under move inside and dishes to Clingan for the jam. Edey comes back and answers on the other end. 9 all.

9:25 p.m. Spencer with the up and under move inside, gets it to go. 7-5. Edey comes back down and hits a jump hook. 7 all, 16:44 left in the first.

9:24 p.m. Tristen Newton draws a foul on Fletcher Loyer and heads to the line. He cashes both free throws. All tied at 4.

9:22 p.m. Purdue gets on the board first with a jumper from Trey Kaufman-Renn. Cam Spencer answers with a 3, but Lance Jones comes back for the Boilers, gets the hoop and the harm. It’s 5-3 Boilermakers early.

9:20 p.m. Tipoff. HERE WE GO.

9:08 p.m. A little pregame motivation from Huskies greats. For the players, and maybe for you too?

9:04 p.m. Three minutes left of warmups and then national anthem, lineup intros and tip. We’re so close.

9:01 p.m. Classic Cam Spencer.

8:41 p.m. I’m sitting in the Purdue end here granted, but feels like a lot more Purdue fans in their seats at this point than UConn fans (maybe 80-20?). Only one real section of Huskies fans sitting down right now. Maybe they know they’ve still got 25 minutes. That’s that championship experience.

8:17 p.m.: Huskies warming up ahead of their biggest game since last year at this time.

8:16 p.m. Jim Calhoun is in the building!

8:06 p.m. We’ve got starting lineups:

GLENDALE– You are looking live— at a blog from the national title game in Glendale, Ariz., where the UConn men’s basketball team will go for its second straight national title tonight against No. 1 Purdue. Can Donovan Clingan, Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer and the Huskies topple National Player of the Year Zach Edey and Purdue? We’ll find out in just a few hours. Here’s the game info:

Time: 9:20 p.m. ET
TV: TBS
Location: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ

While we have you here now though, you can get ready for this titanic title tilt (awesome alliteration, huh?) with some pregame reading. Check it out:

Dom Amore: Will Kentucky glamour, and dollars, speak to UConn’s Dan Hurley?
UConn’s Dan Hurley savoring what would be last game coaching his son Andrew in national championship
UConn men’s run to the title game nets Dan Hurley $1.2 million in bonuses, with more on the line
A big-time matchup: 7-footers Donovan Clingan, Zach Edey take center stage in national title game
Dom Amore: UConn, Purdue meet at men’s basketball summit, a titanic clash years in the making

That’s it for now, but check back closer to gametime and during the game for constant updates.