Newton's 19 points lead UConn to 5th national title in 76-59 win over San Diego State
Apr. 4—HOUSTON — As Tristen Newton walked from the court to the locker room at NRG Stadium following the national championship game Monday, he was draped with a UConn flag.
As the senior guard walked, the flag fluttered behind him, reminiscent of a comic book superhero's cape lifted by the wind.
It was a fitting final image of the night as Newton gave a superhero-esque performance on the game's biggest stage.
He finished with a game-high 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Huskies to a 76-59 win over San Diego State before 72,423 and to the program's fifth national championship in as many finals appearances.
"To just come out here, do what I can do and just have a great game to win the championship? It's amazing," Newton said.
The Huskies (31-8) also won the national title in 1999, 2004, 2011 and 2014.
But the newest banners that will adorn the Werth Center, Gampel Pavilion and the XL Center will be Newton's favorites.
"I'm not jealous anymore, we have our own," he said. "2023 is going to be the best looking one up there."
Newton, who transferred to the Huskies after three years at East Carolina, has been an unsung hero all season long — even after becoming the first player in program history to record two triple-doubles in the same season.
But to his teammates, he was the guy they were looking for all along.
"Listen, Tristen has been the key to this thing the whole way," UConn coach Dan Hurley said. "Just because he was replacing such a great player in R.J. Cole, a first-teamer. He had such big shoes to fill, and he was the absolute perfect piece to put next to Jordan (Hawkins), and then Andre (Jackson) the facilitator. ... His positional size, his defense, and then his personality. It sucked for him at times to get that type of criticism. But he showed up on the biggest stage today with a huge performance."
Pundits questioned Newton's ability to be a point guard, or be the team's floor general in the late stages of a battle.
Newton silenced any doubters Monday.
"Point guard or not, I'm a national champion," said Newton. "So, it doesn't really matter what you call me. I'm a national champion. You can't take that away from me."
Newton scored nine of his points in the first half as UConn built a 36-24 lead on the Aztecs (32-7) at the break.
As it has so many times this postseason, San Diego State roared back life to trim the deficit to five after trailing by as many as 15 in the second.
But Newton said he was never worried.
"We knew what was going on," he said. "We weren't playing defense or taking care of the ball. We knew that if we took care of the ball and played defense, we'd be just fine."
Hawkins hit a crucial three to make it 63-55 with 5:04 left. Newton scored the next four points as the Huskies put the game out of reach, outscoring the Aztecs 16-4 to end the game.
"They had their way with the entire field this tournament," San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. "So I just said when we were down at halftime, I said let's cut it to six with 10 to go. Let's get back in there and let's make them play a close game. Let's make the margin where it's uncomfortable. ... but we ran into too good of a team, and we didn't play at our best. Like I said, they're are a reason for that, why we didn't play at our best, but we had to play better in order to have a chance to win the game."
Newton's play was a big reason why.
In the final 5:04, he had six points, three rebounds, a steal and an assist.
"I was just trying to do whatever I could do to get the win," Newton said. "They brought it down to five and the crowd was jumping up and down like they won the game already. We knew once we got out of that timeout, we were okay. We were calm in that timeout because we were still up. ... We just wanted to go out there and prove a point that we're the best team in the nation and this is our championship."
Newton's late-game efforts are what his teammates have come to expect from him.
"He's been a hero this whole season," Hawkins said. "A lot of people have been talking down on him. But they can't say much now. I mean I'm absolutely proud of the guy. That's my roommate, love him to death."
Newton was subbed out for the final time with 30 seconds to play.
Then the celebrations were on.
"Amazing jumping up with my teammates and celebrating the guys," Newton said with a smile. "Just an unreal feeling."
Newton added four assists and two steals to his double-double. He averaged 9.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists in six tournament games and was named to the All-Tournament team.
"Great credit to the coaches and my teammates," said Newton, who grew up in Texas in far-away El Paso. "The vision we had when I came here was to win a national championship. Get to the Final Four and win a national championship. And I came here just to do that. I'm just real blessed and thankful for these guys around me."
UConn center Adama Sanogo also recorded a double-double, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Hawkins ended with 16 points and four rebounds and was also named to the All-Tournament team.
Keshad Johnson led the Aztecs with 14 points while Lamont Butler and Darrion Trammell each had 13.
"Obviously, it's a dream come true for all of us," Hurley said. "It was a part of the program — we sold the vision. I sold the vision to (athletic director) David Benedict and President (Susan) Herbst and President Radanka (Maric) and the university that I could put together a special group of people, coaching staff, unbelievable players like this.
"So it feels great to come through on promises made by me to all the great people of Connecticut and then with these guys. This was our vision. This was our dream. This is what we talked about when we recruited these guys, that we could get together and do something big like this."
For coverage of UConn football and men's basketball as well as area high school and local youth sports, follow Adam Betz on Twitter: @AdBetz1, Facebook: Adam Betz — Sports Writer, and Instagram: @AdBetzJI.
