El Pasoan Tristen Newton plays for NCAA, Division I national championship Monday night
Former Burges basketball star Tristen Newton will be front and center tonight when him and his University of Connecticut teammates will play San Diego State for the NCAA Men's Basketball, Division I National Championship at NRG Stadium in Houston.
Where to watch the NCAA men's championship
The NCAA men's basketball championship game will tip off at 7:20 p.m. El Paso time. The game will be broadcast on CBS with Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst), Grant Hill (analyst) and Tracy Wolfson (sideline reporter) on the call. Streaming will be available through the NCAA website and at CBSSports.com and the Paramount+ app.
How did Connecticut get the title game?
The Huskies (30-8) defeated Miami of Florida, 72-59, on Saturday night in the second national semifinal and Newton played a key role in that game. He scored seven points, helped run the offense efficiently with eight assists and grabbed five rebounds. The Huskies opponent, San Diego State, hails from the Mountain West Conference and will be playing for its first national title. The Aztecs defeated Conference USA member, Florida Atlantic, 72-71, in the other national semifinal on Saturday.
Before its win on Saturday in the national semifinal, Connecticut defeated Iona, St. Mary's of California, Arkansas and Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament.
Tristen Newton's big season at UConn
Newton has shined in his first season for the Huskies, who competes in the Big East Conference. He has started 37 of 38 games, is averaging 9.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game and leads the team in assists (179) and steals (41).
From El Paso to UConn
Prior to joining Connecticut, Newton appeared in 78 games for Division I East Carolina University, starting 65, averaged 13.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and shot 40.4% overall and 31.6% from 3-point range before transferring to the Huskies program. He scored 1,018 points at ECU and was named to the 2021-22 All-American Conference second team.
He played four years on the Burges High School Mustangs varsity, scored 3,266 points, hauled in 853 rebounds, dished out 472 assists and had 334 steals.
As a senior during the 2018-19 season, averaged 37.2 points (first in Texas, sixth in the country), 9.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.6 steals and led the Mustangs to District 1-5A championship.
Family connections
Newton is a cousin of Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones and former UTEP star linebacker Alvin Jones, who were in attendance at Saturday's game against Miami and who have been present at other games this season.
Newton's brother, Jawuan, was also a star basketball player at Burges and is a year older. Jawuan played collegiately at Evansville and Southern University and teamed up with Tristen in high school to lead them to Region 1-5A title game when Tristen was a sophomore and Jawuan was a junior.
NCAA women: LSU wins title game against Iowa
On Sunday in Dallas, LSU won the NCAA, Division I Women's Basketball National Championship with a 102-85 win against Iowa.
More: Newton ready for big stage 'Ready for a stage like this': After move to UConn, Burges' Newton plays in Final Four
Felix. F. Chavez can be reached at fchavez@elpasotimes.com; @Fchavezeptimes on Twitter
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Pasoan Tristen Newton plays for NCAA, Division I national championship Monday night
