1999 NCAA Tournament Championship Game
National championship game
Connecticut Huskies Duke Blue Devils
(33–2) (37–1)
77 74
Head coach:
Jim Calhoun		 Head coach:
Mike Krzyzewski
1st half2nd half Total
Connecticut Huskies 3740 77
Duke Blue Devils 3935 74
DateMarch 29, 1999
VenueTropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
MVPRichard Hamilton, Connecticut
FavoriteDuke by 9.5
RefereesTim Higgins, Gerald Boudreaux, Scott Thornley
Attendance41,340
United States TV coverage
NetworkCBS
AnnouncersJim Nantz (play-by-play)
Billy Packer (color)
Bonnie Bernstein and Armen Keteyian (sideline)

The 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the finals of the 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and it determined the national champion for the 1998-99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The game was played on March 29, 1999, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida and featured the East Regional Champion, #1-seeded Duke against the West Regional Champion, #1-seeded Connecticut.

Participants

Duke

Seeding in brackets

  • East
    • Duke (1) 99, Florida A&M (16) 58
    • Duke 97, Tulsa (9) 56
    • Duke 78, Missouri State (12) 61
    • Duke 85, Temple (6) 64
  • Final Four
    • Duke 68, Michigan State 62

[1]

Connecticut

  • West Regional
    • Connecticut (1) 91, UTSA 66
    • Connecticut 78, New Mexico 56
    • Connecticut 78, Iowa 68
    • Connecticut 67, Gonzaga 62
  • Final Four
    • Connecticut 64, Ohio State 58

[2]

Starting lineups

DukePositionConnecticut
Trajan Langdon 1GRicky Moore
William Avery 1GKhalid El-Amin 2
Shane Battier 1FKevin Freeman
Chris Carrawell 2F† Richard Hamilton 1
† Elton Brand 1CJake Voskuhl 2
† 1999 Consensus First Team All-American
 Players selected in an NBA draft  (number indicates round)

Source[3]

Game summary

CBS
March 29
9:00 pm
#1 Connecticut Huskies 77, #1 Duke Blue Devils 74
Pts: R. Hamilton 27
Rebs: Ricky Moore, K. Freeman 8
Asts: K. El-Amin 4		 Pts: T. Langdon 25
Rebs: E. Brand 13
Asts: W. Avery 5
Halftime Score: Duke, 39-37
Tropicana Field - St. Petersburg, FL
Attendance: 41,340
Referees: Tim Higgins, Gerald Boudreaux, Scott Thornley

Duke's Trajon Langdon committed a traveling violation with 5.4 seconds left and his Blue Devils trailing the UConn Huskies by one, 75-74. UConn's Khalid El-Amin was immediately fouled, and he made both free throws to put the Huskies up by three points. The Blue Devils, who were out of timeouts, had a final chance to tie the game and force overtime, but Langdon, one of college basketball's best three-point shooters, was unable to get off a shot in the final seconds when he got triple-teamed and fell to the floor, and UConn escaped with a 77-74 victory, giving Jim Calhoun's Huskies their first national championship.

Game notes

  • In the national championship game, Connecticut defeated Duke 77–74 to win their first ever national championship, snapping Duke's 32-game winning streak, and scoring the biggest point-spread upset in Championship Game history. Duke nonetheless tied the record for most games won during a single season, with 37, which they co-held until Kentucky's 38-win seasons in 2011-2012 and in 2014-2015 (The 2007-08 Memphis team actually broke this record first, but the team was later forced to forfeit their entire season due to eligibility issues surrounding the team).[4]
  • The 1999 National Championship game would be the last time Tropicana Field would host NCAA tournament games. For Duke, they had 2 straight promising seasons end on the Tropicana Field floor, with an 86-84 loss to Kentucky in the 1998 South Regional final, and then the 1999 National Championship game.
  • Connecticut was a 9.5 point underdog in this game, and is the biggest point spread underdog to ever win the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game.

References

  1. ↑ "RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More".
  2. ↑ "1999 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket". Databasesports.com. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Duke vs. Connecticut Box Score (Men), March 29, 1999". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Gold Sheet College Basketball Log". Archived from the original on April 10, 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
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