"The Steal" | The Night UConn's Dom Perno Swiped the Ball from Princeton's Bill Bradley

Before Dan Hurley, before Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie and before Dee Rowe, Dom Perno and Burr Carlson, came UConn men's basketball coach Fred Shabel. From Duke University, no less.
The Connecticut university with six NCAA national men's basketball championships - three with Calhoun, one with Ollie and two with Hurley - first reached the Eastern Region Final 60 years ago. Along the way UConn first defeated heavily-favored Princeton University in a historic March 13, 1964, Eastern Region second-round game at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, NC. Some avid UConn fans, sportswriters and former UConn players say the stunning win sparked the beginning of UConn's Huskymania.
That game saw UConn guard Dom Perno steal the ball from Princeton's All-American forward Bill Bradley with seconds remaining to seal a 52-50 win in the NCAA Eastern Region semi-final game, a first in school history.
Perno had sunk two foul shots with 32 seconds remaining to give UConn the two-point lead. The upset victory made national headlines and propelled the Shabel-led team to national prominence.

March 2024 marked the 60th anniversary of "The Steal" - The Night Dom Perno stole the ball from Bill Bradley."
*On April 8, 2024, Coach Dan Hurley's UConn men's basketball team defeated Purdue University 75-60 to earn its second consecutive NCAA Division I championship.
It was the program's sixth national title, tying UConn with North Carolina for third all-time for most titles, behind UCLA with 10 and Kentucky with eight.

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Never Let Go · Jakob Ahlbom
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Producer: Jakob Ahlbom
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