19 in the preseason AP Poll,[3] and won their first three games of the season before heading to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational Tournament.

[6] They lost only one further non-conference game, a neutral-site contest against Saint Mary's, and entered conference play with nine wins and three losses (9–3).

[19] The Aztecs upset Alabama after coming back from a 9-point deficit in the second half, and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time; in doing so, they also became the first Mountain West Conference team to reach that round of the tournament.

[22] The Aztecs attempted to become the first mid-major program to win an NCAA Division I men's basketball championship since UNLV in 1990.

[27] They finished their non-conference schedule with an 11–0 record and won their first three Big East Conference games before suffering their first loss at No.

12 VCU in the other first-round game held in Albany,[37] and the Huskies defeated Saint Mary's by 15 points in the second round, to advance to the regional semifinal.

The teams traded jump shots for the next two minutes, and San Diego State led 10–8 at the first media timeout with 15:47 remaining in the first half.

Adama Sanogo tied the game at ten points apiece with a jumper just over a minute later, and he made a layup after several possessions to return the lead to UConn.

Following the latter basket, the game went two and a half minutes without any scoring; a dunk by Donovan Clingan with 11:28 was the next made shot and increased UConn's lead to four points.

Butler scored a three-point shot of his own immediately afterwards to push the Aztecs over the 20-point margin, and UConn led 36–20 at the time of the media timeout with 2:55 until halftime.

[45] The game went without scoring for nearly two minutes after resuming; Keshad Johnson ended this drought with a jump shot for San Diego State.

[44] UConn began the second half with possession of the ball, though they did not score on their opening possession; Matt Bradley's jump shot marked the second half's opening score, though Sanogo's layup immediately afterwards ended San Diego State's run of six consecutive points.

A pair of free throws by Trammell brought UConn's lead back down to ten points; Alex Karaban's three-point shot twenty seconds later made the score 41–28.

Both teams traded a pair of free throws near sixteen minutes to play, and Adam Seiko made a three-pointer to once again return UConn's lead to ten points.

Jaedon LeDee scored on either side of a media timeout with 11:56 remaining to narrow their deficit to 13 points, and a layup by Clingan was countered by a Butler three-point shot under thirty seconds later.

The Huskies were able to extend their lead further after Joey Calcaterra made a three-point shot, though San Diego State responded with nine consecutive points from LeDee, Johnson, and Trammell.

UConn put a stop to the run after Sanogo made a tip shot, bringing the score to 58–50 with 7:15 remaining in the contest.

After a missed jumper by San Diego State, UConn rebounded and was able to run out the clock and secure a 76–59 national championship victory.

[46] Sanogo was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, and he capped his tournament performance with a 17-point, 10-rebound game in the championship, good for a double-double.