It is tough to clear the historic bar set by past UConn point guards, but Tristen Newton is one win away from doing just that.
From Khalid El-Amin to Ben Gordon, Kemba Walker to Shabazz Napier, UConn basketball has had its fair share of elite point guards over the past three decades. In March, point guard play is often the difference between teams making deep runs and going home early. The Huskies have had more success in this department than most others.
Against this history of great guard play, Tristen Newton has established himself as perhaps the most successful. Newton already won a championship ring last year, and he followed it up by becoming a consensus first-team All-American and Cousy Award winner as the nation’s top point guard. Now, he is just 40 minutes away from leading UConn to the first back-to-back title run since Florida’s in 2007.
“With what he’s done in terms of winning and accolades, it’s tough to beat his two years of accomplishments,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said.
Newton has averaged a respectable 12.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists over two seasons in Storrs. Those numbers don’t quite compare with Kemba’s final season or Ben Gordon’s three-year run, but the former ECU transfer is a winner. Most importantly, his mission has always been to make history as a team.
“When I decided to come back, [UConn fans] definitely said, ‘Go back-to-back, make history, and be at a hard place to make history,'” said Newton. “We’re making history now.”
This historic season is thanks in big part to Newton’s consistency and efficiency. The fifth-year senior leads the Huskies in scoring (14.9 ppg) and assists (6.2) and ranks second in rebounding (6.6). During this tournament run, Newton boasts an astounding 3.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. Most recently, he had nine assists against Alabama in the Final Four. He has also led the Huskies even when he struggles to score, as seen during his 10-of-31 (32.3 percent) slump across the past two wins.
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For Hurley, Newton’s quiet demeanor provides a nice contrast to the fiery nature of his coach and some of his teammates.
“Sometimes you want your players, personality-wise, to mirror you, have my same level of intensity,” Hurley reflected. “Not everyone has to look like me, sound like me, or act like me. Or sometimes you implode as a team if you have too many fireballs.”
One of those fireballs, Cam Spencer, notes that while Newton is the quieter half of UConn’s backcourt pairing, their desire to win is equally strong.
“We balance each other out,” Spencer said. “He’s just an unbelievable player to share the backcourt with, and he does so many things to impact winning. We both love the game of basketball and love winning, and I think that’s why we get along so well.”
Newton is one game away from becoming the most decorated player in UConn men’s basketball history. He isn’t thinking about that, though. He just wants to make history as a team. He’ll get that chance when the Huskies square off with Zach Edey, fellow Cousy Award finalist Braden Smith and the Purdue Boilermakers in the national championship game on Monday night.
“I’ll have plenty of time to reflect and look at the past few years after the game,” Newton said of his legacy. “We have been locked in Purdue and just trying to get a win, because without the win there is no history being made.”