March Madness: the time of year when people who have no clue about college basketball have a decent chance of beating close followers in bracket pools. There are always the underdogs that make it further than most predict, and there are the Cinderella teams that shock everyone. This year’s championship game matches two teams that few believed would go very far: number 7 seed UConn and 8^th-seeded Kentucky. These two teams have beat out big names such as Florida, Wichita St., Louisville, Iowa State, and Wisconsin. Two teams.  Evenly matched. Both fierce competitors. Both hungry for another national championship.

The championship game started with a tip that gave UConn possession of the ball and the first 2 points of the game. The game thrived on lay-ups, dunks, and free throws, as both teams missed a series of 3-pointers. UConn’s Shabazz Napier broke that trend with a three after more than five minutes of play.

UConn dominated the court most of the first half, playing impenetrable defense, grabbing rebound after rebound, making steal after steal, and driving to the basket for open shots. UConn’s early success could also be attributed to the fact that Kentucky forward Julius Randle was on the bench for cramps after just two minutes of play. Randle came back into the game with 10 minutes left in the half, and soon after, Kentucky’s pace began to pick up again. On defense, the area underneath the basket was better protected, and on offense, the shots started rolling. UConn held its own, however, and kept a solid double-digit lead.

With less that four minutes left in the first half, Kentucky came to life with an incredible 12-3 run. A great block by Randle set the stage for a series of 3s that reduced the 15 point lead to just 6. With 2.3 seconds left, Randle scored a lay-up and cut the UConn’s lead to just 4.

Kentucky started the second half off with a 3, coming within one point of UConn. The Wildcats trailed the Huskies for the rest of the game, but its deficit was only in the single digits. With a minute left, UConn led by 4 with a score of 58-54. With just 25.1 seconds left, Kentucky had possession of the ball and was down 6. As they tried to repeat their streak of last second 3-point shots for the win, luck was not on their side, and they missed two rushed shots. UConn got the rebound and walked off the court with its 4th national championship title. What a game. What a tournament. What an excitement-filled month of March.