ARLINGTON, Texas - A year after missing the tournament because of a poor graduation rate, Connecticut won its second N.C.A.A. men's basketball title in four years with a 60-54 victory over Kentucky on Monday.
In contrast to Kentucky, which started five freshmen, Connecticut has been maturing for several seasons, and a veteran roster waited a year - after the postseason ban - to re-establish itself as a national power.
Connecticut's backcourt of Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright got off to another good start - combining to score 16 of UConn's first 24 points. UConn went on to take a 30-15 lead. But Kentucky followed with an 11-3 run after Coach John Calipari switched to a zone defense that was effective in slowing down the Huskies. Three-pointers by James Young and Andrew Harrison also helped, and the Connecticut lead at the half was only 35-31.
Napier and Boatright cooled off a bit at the start of the second half, but Connecticut clung to its lead thanks to two big 3-pointers by Niels Giffey and missed free throws by Kentucky.
It was the first time since 1966 that the title game was played between two teams that did not make the N.C.A.A. tournament the year before. Kentucky just missed out on a tournament spot in 2013, then lost to Robert Morris in the first round of the N.I.T.
This year's final was also the lowest combination of seeds since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Kentucky was an 8 seed and UConn a 7.
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