Jacob Furphy has missed an opportunity to become one of the few Australians to win a US college basketball national championship, his University of Connecticut losing to Michigan 69-63 in the March Madness final.
About 70,000 people turned up for the final in Indianapolis, where Tasmanian-born Furphy had the chance to become the fourth Australian man to be part of a March Madness-winning roster, following in the footsteps of Justin Brown (1999), Kody Stattmann (2019) and Alex Condon (2025).
But it wasn't meant to be as Connecticut struggled to break through their opponents' defence (31 per cent of baskets made), while coughing up a sea of turnovers (11) on Tuesday (AEST).
Their brilliant defence helped Michigan (37-3) seal victory and claim their first national championship since 1989.
It hasn't been an easy 37 years for Michigan, who lost four finals en route to their second title, including most recently in 2018.
"I want to shout out to all the former Michigan players. This is for them," coach Dusty May said.
"This team has just found a way all season."
Furphy was left on the bench and didn't play in the final, but the freshman was still involved in Connecticut's team huddles and timeouts.
Victory would have also been the first time Australians were part of consecutive championship-winning teams after Condon claimed the title last year with Florida.
Despite the result, it's a significant achievement for the 19-year-old Boomer, who hails from the small town of Smithton in Tasmania, which has a population of about 4000 people.
Connecticut (34-6) were looking to make their own slice of history in the knockout tournament. Victory would have been their third title in four years, which hasn't happened since UCLA won three championships between 1972 and 1975.
The No.1-ranked Michigan started hot in the final, going on a 7-2 run early, but Connecticut flicked a switch to pull themselves back into the contest.
Both teams struggled to find baskets, but a late scoring flurry helped Michigan lead 33-29 at halftime.
Connecticut conceded plenty of turnovers and got themselves into foul trouble as their opponents' advantage ballooned out to 11 points.
Furphy's side sank a series of late buckets to reduce the deficit, but Michigan held strong to win by six points.
