1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game explained

See also: 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

1999 NCAA Tournament Championship Game
Type:ncg
Date:March 29, 1999
Year:1998-99
Visitor School:University of Connecticut
Visitor Name Short:Connecticut
Visitor Nickname:Huskies
Visitor Record:33–2
Visitor Conference:Big East
Visitor Ap:3
Visitor Coaches:3
Visitor Coach:Jim Calhoun
Visitor Per1:37
Visitor Per2:40
Home School:Duke University
Home Name Short:Duke
Home Nickname:Blue Devils
Home Record:37–1
Home Conference:ACC
Home Ap:1
Home Coaches:1
Home Coach:Mike Krzyzewski
Home Per1:39
Home Per2:35
Arena:Tropicana Field
City:St. Petersburg, Florida
Attendance:41,340
Referee:Tim Higgins, Gerald Boudreaux, Scott Thornley
Mvp:Richard Hamilton, Connecticut
Odds:Duke by 9.5
Us Network:CBS
Us Announcers:Jim Nantz (play-by-play)
Billy Packer (color)
Bonnie Bernstein and Armen Keteyian (sideline)
Previous:1998
Next: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.

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

See main article: 1998–99 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team. Seeding in brackets

[1]

Connecticut Huskies

See main article: 1998–99 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team.

[2]

Starting lineups

Duke Position Connecticut
Trajan Langdon 1 G Ricky Moore
William Avery 1 G Khalid El-Amin 2
Shane Battier 1 F Kevin Freeman
Chris Carrawell 2 F Richard Hamilton 1
Elton Brand 1 C Jake Voskuhl 2

[3]

Game summary

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.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More.
  2. Web site: 1999 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket . Databasesports.com . 2013-08-15.
  3. Web site: Duke vs. Connecticut Box Score (Men), March 29, 1999 . Sports Reference . 29 March 2023.
  4. Web site: Gold Sheet College Basketball Log . 29 March 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100410131625/http://www.goldsheet.com/gs_new/histcbb.php . 10 April 2010 . dead .