When » Monday, 9:23 p.m. |
Where » Reliant Stadium, Houston |
TV » CBS
Butler’s path to the NCAA Championship game
No. 8 Butler 60, No. 9 Old Dominion 58 » With the game tied, Butler forward Matt Howard corralled a backside rebound off a crazy bounce and quickly put in a layup as time expired at Verizon Center.
No. 8 Butler 71, No. 1 Pittsburgh 70 » Two unfathomable fouls were committed in less than two seconds. Howard converted one of his free throw attempts, and Butler ended up on top in this foul-filled game.
No. 8 Butler 61, No. 4 Wisconsin 54 » The Bulldogs held Wisconsin to 30.4 percent shooting from the field and 24.1 percent from behind the arc. Howard led the way with 20 points.
No. 8 Butler 74, No. 2 Florida 71 (OT) » Butler erased an 11-point second-half deficit behind Shelvin Mack’s 27 points. Florida missed a couple 3-point attempts with less than 20 seconds left in overtime.
No. 8 Butler 70, No. 11 VCU 62 » The Bulldogs outrebounded the Rams 46-30 and pulled away late. Mack scored 24 points and hit five of six 3-pointers. Zach Hahn scored eight points in a 90 second span off the bench.
UConn’s path to the NCAA championship game
No. 3 UConn 81, No. 14 Bucknell 52 » After winning five games in five days in the Big East tournament, would UConn be weary? Kemba Walker (18 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds) showed no fatigue.
No. 3 UConn 69, No. 6 Cincinnati 58 » Walker (33 points) scored 16 of his points in the final 10 minutes as UConn overcame lackluster play and pulled away against its Big East foe.
No. 3 UConn 74, No. 2 San Diego State 67 » Playing in nearby Anaheim, the Aztecs led in the second half, but Walker (36 points) and freshman Jeremy Lamb (24 points) rose to the challenge.
No. 3 UConn 65, No. 5 Arizona 63 » UConn withstood a pair of 3-point attempts in the final 10 seconds to win behind Walker (20 points) and Lamb (19 points) and advance to the Final Four.
No. 3 UConn 56, No. 4 Kentucky 55 » After squandering a 10-point halftime lead, the Huskies held the Wildcats scoreless for more than five and a half minutes down the stretch to extend their dream run.
| BATTLE FROM THE BENCH | ||
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Butler coach Brad Stevens Hall of Famers Bob Knight, Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim have more than 800 wins, but none of them have reached the NCAA championship game in back-to-back years. At 34, Brad Stevens has already done that. The Butler coach has won four straight Horizon regular season titles and has a 117-24 record (.830). Stevens is a calm, defensive-minded coach who gets the most out of his less athletic team. After his team struggled at the start of conference play, Stevens made key adjustments to get it back on track. |
UConn coach Jim Calhoun Throughout the incredible streak of 10 win-or-go-home victories in a row, Calhoun has relished every minute. “Our code has been very simple, ‘The hell with it; let’s just go play basketball,’” Calhoun told reporters Sunday, but don’t mistake that for forgetting his killer instincts. Handling Walker is easy, but managing UConn’s role players is trickier. Calhoun got contributions from his big men vs. Kentucky, and moving Kemba off the ball may have saved the Huskies. |
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| KEY MATCHUP | ||
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Butler guard Shelvin Mack Shelvin Mack failed to score 20 points in the five games leading into the NCAA tournament, but he has reached that mark three times en route to the finals. The guard was extremely efficient against Pittsburgh and VCU, hitting 18 of 27 shots in those two wins, and made a clutch 3-pointer in overtime against Florida. His defense also has helped hold VCU’s Joey Rodriguez, Florida’s Erving Walker and Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor to 8-for-37 (21.6 percent) shooting. |
UConn guard Kemba Walker Battling through growing fatigue, a rolled ankle and a move to shooting guard, now Walker has seen everything — except the vigilant Butler defense that will match him toe-to-toe. There’s little doubt that the points beside Walker’s name on the scoresheet still will be bigger than his teammates’. But to complete UConn’s magical run, Walker needs to dig deep and provide the leadership and dirty work in a game that will be more about guts than execution. |
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| How Butler can win | How UConn can win | |
| Butler has done three things really well throughout the tournament: rebound, defend and set the pace. The Bulldogs have outrebounded four of their five opponents, allowed just 63 points a game and made an uptempo VCU team play their slower halfcourt style. Butler has defended guards well, but its biggest challenge will be holding UConn star Kemba Walker in check. | Despite being freshmen, guards Shabazz Napier and Jeremy Lamb were unfazed by the grand stage of the Final Four. An athletic, tough frontcourt led by Alex Oriakhi should give UConn an advantage on the boards. But concentration is the key against a Butler team that always has something special up its sleeve. As long as the Huskies stay close, Walker gives them something special. | |
