UConn stomps Purdue, repeats as national champions; Storylines, sleepers for 2024 Masters

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🏆 Good morning to everyone but especially ...

THE REPEAT CHAMPION UCONN HUSKIES

The game was billed as a heavyweight fight, a battle between two solid top seeds. And while UConn certainly took Purdue's best shots, ultimately shaking them off without so much as a blink. And then the Huskies connected on haymaker after haymaker, pulverizing yet another opponent, becoming the first repeat champion since 2006-07 Florida after a 75-60 victory in the title game.

I don't have enough superlatives to adequately describe the Huskies' tournament dominance, but here are some numbers:

+140 point margin, best in any NCAA Tournament
+23.3 average point margin, second-best in an NCAA Tournament behind 1967 UCLA
Never trailed in the second half of the tournament
Second team to win six tournament games by at least 13 points, joining ... last year's UConn team

The word "dynasty" gets tossed around, often haphazardly, but Dan Hurley's UConn absolutely qualifies, Matt Norlander writes.

Norlander: "A dynasty in modern college basketball starts -- and likely ends -- with two in a row. ... To think that Hurley and company achieved this after losing five of its top eight scorers. It's insane. Truly insane. You're not supposed to be able to do this. UConn built back stronger, better, more menacing and with a lethal tendency to rip off runs that buried teams."

UConn joins Florida and Duke (1991-92) as the only repeat champions of the last 50 years, and Cameron Salerno says the Huskies stack up favorably to those counterparts.

Tristen Newton won Most Outstanding Player after a 20-point, five-rebound, seven-assist performance. As always, UConn was balanced on offense and exacting on defense. And while Zach Edey dumped in 37 points, most ever in a title game loss ...

Purdue -- the country's top 3-point shooting team -- went one for seven from deep, its fewest attempts since 2015 and tied for fewest by any team in a title game since the 3-point line came into play.
Only one Purdue player, Braden Smith, recorded any assists.
Purdue's 60 points and 28 rebounds were both season lows.

Edey racked up the points, but Donovan Clingan, Hurley and his staff won the game with an excellent defensive game plan, Kyle Boone writes.

Speaking of Hurley, he joins brother Bobby in back-to-back lore, and -- exhale Husky faithful -- he dismissed Kentucky rumors with a laugh.

And why would he leave? What he has is as good as it gets. He's nailing the transfer portal (Newton, Cam Spencer and Hassan Diarra), he's churning out NBA talent (Clingan and Stephon Castle) and he's an absurdly good coach. The game-by-game dominance is mind-boggling.

Here's UConn in one sequence. Down 15, Purdue tried a last-ditch full-court press. For one possession, it worked. UConn couldn't finish an awkward alley-oop, and Edey dunked on the other end. How did UConn respond? By calmly breaking the press and running a perfect offensive set ending with an emphatic Alex Karaban dunk.

Door shut. Case closed. Nice knowing you, Purdue. As Matt writes, "There is Connecticut. Then there is a massive gap. And then there is everyone else."

😃 Honorable mentions

One Shining Moment never misses.
Trae Young (finger surgery) has been cleared for contact and practice.
The Timberwolves are optimistic Karl-Anthony Towns (torn meniscus) can return before the playoffs.
Could Naz Reid's time as a starter with Towns out help him win Sixth Man of the Year?
Juan Soto hit his first home run at Yankee Stadium as a Yankee.
Elly De La Cruz hit home runs inside and out of the park.
The Red Sox and Ceddanne Rafaela agreed to an eight-year, $50 million extension.

😢 And not such a good morning for ...

THE PURDUE BOILERMAKERS

All good things must come to an end, and Purdue's end, simply, wasn't good enough.

Even though they didn't win it all, the Boilermakers more than redeemed themselves from last year's infamous loss to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson. If you're a Purdue fan, don't let perfect be the enemy of really, really great. Edey cutting down the Elite Eight net and giving a piece to Gene Keady was heartwarming and healing, as was this season as a whole.

But darn if they didn't have one more win in them. This was a special team led by a special player. Much like we saw with Caitlin Clark, though, that special player met a somber end, Dennis Dodd writes.

Dodd: "It was fun to watch the four years for each player. Heck, it's fun to watch every college career when it develops like this. It's not fun to watch it end. It's not fun to watch the eyes of a 21-year-old tear up just a bit at the end of it all."

😟 Not so honorable mentions

Justin Verlander discussed MLB pitchers' elbow injury woes, while Gerrit Cole compared the MLB-MLBPA disagreements to "divorced parents."
Mike Axisa evaluated four possible reasons pitchers' elbow injuries are rising.
Meanwhile, Framber Valdez was scratched with elbow soreness, and Tejay Antone will have another elbow surgery.
Blake Snell's Giants debut wasn't great.

🏀 Why John Calipari leaving Kentucky for Arkansas is good for both programs

John Calipari and Arkansas are still finalizing their pact to make the soon-to-be former longtime Kentucky Wildcats coach the new face of the Razorbacks, although a deal could be official as soon as today, according to CBS Sports' Matt Norlander. Calipari, meanwhile, can't even walk his dog in peace.

The impending move will have a butterfly effect. Kentucky's heralded personnel have already started looking elsewhere, either as incoming freshmen or as transfer portal entries.

Then Kentucky will have to find a coach -- there's a star-studded list of candidates -- and any departure would make the sport's offseason spin even quicker. There's a reason we call it a coaching carousel, after all.

Gary Parrish says Calipari finding a new home is the fresh start both programs need.

Parrish: "Kentucky is also getting what it wants -- specifically a coaching change after 15 years that won't cost the school a single penny of the estimated $33 million it would've owed Calipari had it removed him after his season ended. ... Not only is it reasonable for Calipari to make this move right now, it would frankly be crazy for him not to, given that his family's quality of life in a place they're no longer wanted can't possibly be enjoyable."

⛳ 2024 Masters top storylines, sleepers, more

We're just two days away from the 2024 Masters, and whether you've been following golf all season or are just now coming around, Kyle Porter's Masters storylines are the perfect place to start. I talked about Scottie Scheffler yesterday, so today let's focus on ...

Porter: "Rory slam: New year, same story. Rory McIlroy is trying to become just the sixth golfer in history to complete the grand slam. ... If I had a dollar for every time I've heard the phrase 'Rory just needs to ...' about Rory and the Masters, I'd be pretty high up on the LIV Golf money list. The truth is, nobody, not even McIlroy, truly knows what he needs to do. That's why all of this is so fascinating."

Scheffler and McIlroy are easy picks to win -- they have the two shortest odds -- but what about some off-the-radar names? Patrick McDonald has five sleepers, and I love his second selection. We also have ...

🏀 Most important games for final week of NBA regular season

After taking a break for college basketball Monday, the NBA returns in full force for a sprint to the finish: The regular season ends Sunday.

We know the 20 teams that will be playing beyond that, but we don't know much about the order. Here's what we do know:

The Celtics clinched the NBA's best record and will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Bucks are the only other East team that has clinched a top-six playoff berth. The Bulls and Hawks, meanwhile, will be in next week's play-in tournament. The order of seeds 3-8 are still up for grabs, with only three games separating the six teams.
In the West, the Timberwolves and Nuggets (tied for the top seed) and the Thunder (one game back) have all clinched playoff berths, but the order of those three can still change.
That also leaves the order of seeds 4-10 to be determined.

That's a lot to digest, but our playoff picture explainer is here to help and will be updated every night.

This will also help: Sam Quinn mapped out the 16 most important games left. There's a bunch tonight, including ...

Quinn: "Warriors at Lakers. The loser of this game is probably finishing 10th in the West. A Lakers win drops the Warriors to two losses behind the field. A Warriors win gives Golden State the tiebreaker over Los Angeles. But here's where things get interesting: The Warriors are dealing with injuries and managing their players conservatively. They have another game on Wednesday as the second half of a back-to-back, and in the grand scheme of things, they might prefer it if the red-hot Lakers got out of the No. 9 slot in favor of the depleted Kings. The Warriors probably view their chance of escaping No. 10 as too great to punt ... but that might be in their best interest."

⚽ UEFA Champions League quarterfinal and SheBelieves Cup final previews

If the final week of the NBA season and the Masters weren't enough, we have big-time soccer today. First up, the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals:

Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich, 3 p.m. on CBS and Paramount+ (preview)
Real Madrid vs. Manchester City, 3 p.m. on Paramount+ (preview)

With all due respect to the Gunners' awesome defense, Real Madrid-Manchester City is as good as it gets. On one hand, it's tough that arguably the top two teams drew one another this early. On the other hand, the fact we get to see them twice is a treat.

Our experts predict a close, low-scoring match -- even with goalkeeping questions for the Citizens -- and Tom Fornelli agrees in his Corner Picks.

Then we get the SheBelieves Cup final between the USWNT and Canada. Pardeep Cattry looked at some key position battles ahead of new coach Emma Hayes' arrival.

📺 What we're watching Tuesday

⚽ Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich, 3 p.m. on CBS and Paramount+
⚽ Real Madrid vs. Manchester City, 3 p.m. on Paramount+
🏒 Capitals at Red Wings, 7 p.m. on ESPN
⚽ USWNT vs. Canada, 7 p.m. on TBS
🏀 Celtics at Bucks, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏒 Wild at Avalanche, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Warriors at Lakers, 10 p.m. on TNT
⚾ Cubs at Dodgers, 10:05 p.m. on TBS