CONNECTICUT HUSKIES - 2014 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Connecticut senior guard Shabazz Napier help lift the 7th-seed Huskies to a 60-54 win over the #8 Kentucky Wildcats to become the 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions. The game was played before a record crowd of 79,238 at AT&T Stadium (home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys) in Arlington, Texas.

UConn has now four NCAA championships (1999, 2004, 2011, & 2014) and joins an elite group of six programs that have won four or more titles that also includes UCLA, Kentucky, Indiana, North Carolina and Duke. UConn also has an all-time Final Four record of 8-1 for an 88.9 winning percentage - the best in tournament history, easily outdistancing North Carolina State at 83.3.

Napier had 22 points, six rebounds, and three assists while junior guard Ryan Boatright finished with 14 points.




Meanwhile on the women's side, the Huskies tore apart the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (37-1), 79-58 in the first championship game featuring undefeated teams, winning their record ninth national title. Head coach Geno Auriemma broke a tie with former coach Pat Summitt and Tennessee for most all-time by doing it in her backyard of Nashville.

Breanna Stewart, who was The Associated Press Player of the Year, scored 21 points to lead the Huskies (40-0) while Stefanie Dolson added 17 points, 16 rebounds, and seven assists.

It was the fifth unbeaten season for Auriemma & UConn and the first time the Huskies went 40-0 -- matching Baylor as the only schools to accomplish that feat. The victory was also Connecticut's 46th straight dating back to last season's NCAA tournament title run. It's the third longest streak in school history -- well short of the NCAA record 90 straight they won.

The victory also meant that UConn is now the center of the college basketball world with both the men's and women's teams winning the championship in the same year again. This pair of victories came a decade after the Huskies became the only school to accomplish the feat.