men's championship game
TRANSCRIPT
National final
UConn vs. Butler9:20 p.m.
Game on CBS
What: NCAA Tournament championship gameWhen: Tonight (tip scheduled for 9:23 p.m.)Where: Reliant Stadium, HoustonTV, Radio: WFSB-3, WTIC-AM 1080Records: No. 3 seed UConn 31-9; No. 8 seed
Butler 28-9Series: First meeting.How they arrived here: UConn beat No. 14
Bucknell and No. 6 Cincinnati in Washington, No. 2 San Diego State and No. 5 Arizona in Anaheim, Calif., and No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday night in Houston. Butler toppled No. 9 Old Dominion and No. 1 Pittsburgh in Washington, No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 2 Florida in New Orleans and No. 11 VCU on Saturday night in Houston.
NCAA Tournament history: UConn is 49-27 in tournament games and owns two national titles (1999 and 2004). The Huskies are appearing in their fourth Final Four and third national title game. Butler is making its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and is 18-10 in tournament games.
Worth noting: Butler returns to the title game for the second consecutive year ... UConn coach Jim Calhoun has a chance to join Kentucky's Adolph Rupp, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, UCLA's John
Wooden and Indiana's Bobby Knight as the only coaches to win three or more national championships. He would also be the oldest coach to ever win a title ... The Bulldogs are 10-1 in their last 11 NCAA Tournament games. The lone loss was a 61-59 defeat against Duke in last year's championship game ... Butler enters the game with 14 straight victories while the Huskies have won 10 in a row ... Butler is the first runner-up to return to the title game since Duke did it in 1991 ... The Huskies play their 41st game of the year, setting a school record and a modern-era college basketball record. It is the most games played in a season since Oregon played 45 games in 1944-45 ... Butler's 70-62 victory against VCU was its largest margin in the tournament. It had won its previous four games by a combined 13 points ... UConn's 56 points against Kentucky matched a season low ... UConn is 13-0 in neutral-site games this year ... Butler is the first team to reach consecutive Final Fours without being seeded No. 1 or No. 2 ... The Bulldogs are 1-1 against Big East teams this year, beating Pittsburgh but getting drubbed at Louisville on Nov. 16.
FACTS & FIGURES
BUTLER BULLDOGSShelvin Mack had 24 points and was 5 of 6 from 3-point range in the
win over VCU. When he started connecting from the outside is when the Bulldogs started putting some space between themselves and the Rams. Matt Howard deserves co-star billing as he had 17 points and eight rebounds against VCU. Both have been instrumental in getting Butler back to the title game for a second straight year. Howard's tip-in at the buzzer to beat Old Dominion in the opening round was followed by him making the winning free throw with less than a second to play in the victory over Pittsburgh.
COACHBrad Stevens, despite being just 34, is being lauded as one of the best
in the coaching profession. His ability to motivate his team while keeping a cool demeanor has made him the talk of the NCAA tournament for a second straight year. His decision to remain at Butler after last year's run to the championship game has added to his persona as the ideal college coach. He is already 10 wins ahead of the previous record for best four-year start by a coach with a 117-24 mark.
KEY POINTThe Bulldogs have been here before, and most of that team is back.
Butler plays solid defense and doesn't make mistakes on offense, but it's the way the Bulldogs play so hard and don't let the disparity in talent affect them that has made them one of the country's favorite teams at this time of year. The Bulldogs showed they have some ability up front by outrebounding VCU 48-32, including 16-6 on the offensive end.
The skinny
Pos Ht Wt
Yr Hometown
1 Shelvin Mack G 6-3 215
Jr Lexington, Ky.
2 Shawn Vanzant G 6-0 172
Sr Tampa, Fla.
3 Zach Hahn G 6-1 176
Sr New Castle, Ind.
4 Erik Fromm F 6-9 220
Fr Bloomington, Ind.
5 Ronald Nored G 6-0 174
Jr Homewood, Ala.
11 Alex Anglin G-F 6-5 177
Sr Kokomo, Ind.
20 Chrishawn Hopkins G 6-1
165 Fr Indianapolis
22 Grant Leiendecker G 6-5 182
Sr Fort Wayne, Ind.
23 Khyle Marshall F 6-7 210
Fr Davie, Fla.
30 Emerson Kampen C 6-9 189
So Yorktown, Ind.
32 Garrett Butcher F 6-7 209
Jr Ellettsville, Ind.
33 Chase Stigall G 6-4 195
So New Castle, Ind.
44 Andrew Smith C 6-11 239
So Indianapolis
54 Matt Howard F 6-8 230
Sr Connersville, Ind.
Roster
Butler’s Ronald Nored and Matt Howard
Player G-GS Min Avg FG-FGAPct 3P-3PA Pct FT-FTA PctHoward 35-35 1080 30.9 184-376
.489 52-122 .426 164-210 .781
Mack 36-35 1153 32.0 189-467
.405 78-229 .341 116-148 .784
Smith 36-30 857 23.8 121-195
.621 0-1 .000 73-109 .670
Vanzant 36-24 1018 28.3 104-226
.460 34-81 .420 49-68 .721
Marshall 36-3 546 15.2 87-166
.524 0-2 .000 40-73 .548
Nored 34-23 898 26.4 58-141
.411 10-34 .294 53-82 .646
Hahn 35-14 598 17.1 53-167
.317 44-135 .326 24-28 .857
Stigall 36-11 585 16.3 49-144
.340 37-113 .327 4-8 .500
Hopkins 20-0 121 6.1 9-24
.375 6-12 .500 8-11 .727
Butcher 29-2 215 7.4 19-45
.422 2-6 .333 5-5 1.000
Leiendecker 15-1 35 2.3 4-11
.364 4-10 .400 6-6 1.000
Fromm 26-0 88 3.4 5-29
.172 3-17 .176 8-8 1.000
Anglin 18-2 77 4.3 4-8
.500 2-4 .500 2-3 .667
Kampen 15-0 29 1.9 0-0 ---
0-0 --- 0-0 ---
BUTLER 36 -- -- 886-1999
.443 272-766 .355 552-759 .727
Opponents 36 -- -- 803-1881
.427 220-674 .326 496-742 .668
ReboundsPlayer Off Def Tot Avg PF
DQ AT TO BS STPts Avg
Howard 92 179 271 7.7 102 4 51 61 22 38 584 16.7
Mack 23 132 155 4.3 63 0 129 88 2 30 572 15.9
Smith 82 114 196 5.4 106 1 19 30 15 25 315 8.8
Vanzant 14 102 116 3.2 73 3 60 37 2 26 291 8.1
Marshall 59 76 135 3.8 74 2 11 23 8 13 214 5.9
Nored 15 89 104 3.1 99 6 84 72 1 40 179 5.3
Hahn 10 28 38 1.1 37 1 41 33 0 14 174 5.0
Stigall 18 44 62 1.7 50 2 27 19 2 13 139 3.9
Hopkins 2 8 10 0.5 11 0 8 13 1 2 32 1.6
Butcher 22 17 39 1.3 33 0 5 7 0 4 45 1.6
Leiendecker 0 4 4 0.3 7 0 0 4 1 2 18 1.2
Fromm 3 11 14 0.5 14 1 1 1 0 4 21 0.8
Anglin 4 8 12 0.7 8 0 2 3 2 0 12 0.7
Kampen 1 1 2 0.1 5 0 1 1 1 2 0 0.0
BUTLER 395 853 1248 34.7 685 20 439 401 57 213 2596 72.1
Opponents 328 807 1135 31.5 708 18 386 453 98 194 232
Stats
BU
Opp.
83 Marian, Ind.
54
73 at Louisville
88
88 Ball St.
55
70 at Siena
57
68 Evansville, OT
71
65 at Loyola of
Chicago 63
70 at Duke
82
49 at Xavier
51
91 MVSU
71
83 Stanford
50
74 Utah-x
62
67 Florida St.-x
64
84 Washington St.-x
68
76 Valparaiso
59
52 at Wis.-
Milwaukee 76
79 Cleveland St.
56
84 Youngstown St.
79
87 at Detroit
64
64 at Wright St.
69
81 Wis.-Green Bay
75
80 Wis.-Milwaukee,
OT 86
79 at Valparaiso, OT
85
60 at Youngstown
St. 62
73 at Cleveland St.
61
72 Ill.-Chicago
65
71 Wright St.
63
66 Detroit
51
64 at Wis.-Green
Bay 62
79 at Ill.-Chicago
52
63 Loyola of
Chicago 56
76 Cleveland St.-y
68
59 Wis.-Milwaukee-
y 44
60 Old Dominion-z
58
71 Pittsburgh-z
70
61 Wisconsin-z
54
74 Florida, OT-z 71
70 VCU 62
x-Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head
Classic
y-Horizon League Tournament
z-NCAA Tournament
Game by game
UCONN HUSKIESSTAR
Kemba Walker showed again why he is having one of the best seasons in recent memory. He had 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists in the win over Kentucky. Despite being guarded by a much bigger player in DeAndre Liggins, Walker, who played all 40 minutes, was able to find his teammates to score and still made big shots himself. He accounted for 32 of the Huskies' 56 points. The All-America is averaging over 26 points a game in the postseason, a 10-game stretch in 25 days.
COACHAt 68, Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun would become the oldest
coach to win a national championship. It would be his third title and would put him in a group with John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight to win at least that many. He has a career record of 854-607 placing him sixth on the all-time wins list and third among active coaches behind Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim. The Huskies' Big East championship was Calhoun's record seventh.
KEY POINTThe Huskies are on a roll over the last 10 games with seven of
the opponents being ranked in the Top 25. It hasn't all been Walker. Freshman Jeremy Lamb had 12 points and four assists against Kentucky, and Alex Oriakhi had eight points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Shabazz Napier had quite a final 16 seconds against the Wildcats, turning the ball over then coming up with a rebound with 3 seconds left and then made both ends of a 1-and-1 with 1.7 seconds left for a four-point lead.
The skinny
Pos Ht Wt
Yr Hometown 1 Enosch Wolf C 7-1 260 Fr Goettingen, Germany
2 Donnell Beverly G 6-4 190 Sr Los Angeles
3 Jeremy Lamb G-F 6-5 185 Fr Norcross, Ga.
4 Jamal Coombs-McDaniel F 6-7 210 So Dorchester, Mass.
5 Niels Giffey G-F 6-7 210 Fr Berlin, Germany
10 Tyler Olander F 6-9 225 Fr Mansfield, Conn.
13 Shabazz Napier G 6-0 170 Fr Randolph, Mass.
15 Kemba Walker G 6-1 172 Jr Bronx, N.Y.
21 Kyle Bailey G 6-3 170 Sr Lancaster, N.H.
22 Roscoe Smith F 6-8 205 Fr Baltimore
23 Benjamin Stewart F 6-5 205 Jr Denver
34 Alex Oriakhi F-C 6-9 240 So Lowell, Mass.
35 Charles Okwandu C 7-0 255 Sr Lagos, Nigeria
Roster
Player G-GS Min Avg FG-FGAPct 3P-3PA Pct FT-FTA PctWalker 39-39 1466 37.6 305-705 .433 74-218 .339 247-302 .818
Lamb 39-38 1071 27.5 173-358 .483 45-121 .372 42-53 .792
Oriakhi 39-37 1140 29.2 144-290 .497 0-0 --- 86-137 .628
Napier 39-0 922 23.6 98-257 .381 46-135 .341 70-92 .761
Smith 39-31 989 25.4 84-219 .384 25-82 .305 59-75 .787
C.-McDaniel 39-2 664 17.0 80-191 .419 24-82 .293 44-54 .815
Okwandu 39-19 602 15.4 51-109 .468 0-0 --- 11-21 .524
Giffey 39-10 372 9.5 30-74 .405 11-33 .333 15-19 .789
Beverly 37-0 324 8.8 19-52 .365 7-15 .467 21-28 .750
Olander 37-19 364 9.8 23-63 .365 0-2 .000 8-12 .667
Wolf 7-0 26 3.7 3-5 .600 0-0 --- 1-2 .500
Stewart 4-0 4 1.0 1-2 .500 0-0 --- 0-0 ---
Bailey 6-0 6 1.0 0-0 --- 0-0 --- 0-0 ---
UCONN 39 1011-2325 .435 232-688 .337 604-795 .760
Opponents 39 940-2352 .400 243-738 .329 440-639 .689
ReboundsPlayer Off Def Tot Avg PFDQ AT TO BS ST PtsAvgWalker 51 157 208 5.3 53 0 177 87 6 74 931 23.9
Lamb 48 119 167 4.3 61 0 60 49 24 34 433 11.1
Oriakhi 148 189 337 8.6 99 3 14 44 62 16 374 9.6
Napier 26 67 93 2.4 68 0 118 69 5 64 312 8.0
Smith 76 125 201 5.2 76 1 19 33 47 21 252 6.5
C.-McDaniel 20 86 106 2.7 40 0 22 30 7 10 228 5.8
Okwandu 40 67 107 2.7 96 4 22 34 49 9 113 2.9
Giffey 21 28 49 1.3 33 0 18 28 4 8 86 2.2
Beverly 15 34 49 1.3 31 0 46 28 4 10 66 1.8
Olander 23 45 68 1.8 55 1 16 22 7 4 54 1.5
Wolf 4 2 6 0.9 3 0 0 5 0 0 7 1.0
Stewart 1 1 2 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.5
Bailey 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.0
UCONN 547 988 1535 39.4 618 9 512 440 215 250 2858 73.3
Opponents 511 858 1369 35.1 713 - 484 456 138 231 2563 65.7
Stats
UCONN Opp.
79 Stony Brook 52
89 Vermont 73
83 Wichita St.-x 79
70 Michigan St.-x 67
84 Kentucky-x 67
62 New Hampshire 55
94 UMBC 61
78 Fairleigh Dickinson 54
76 Coppin St. 64
81 Harvard 52
63 at Pittsburgh 78
66 South Florida, OT 61
70 at Notre Dame 73
82 at Texas, OT 81
67 Rutgers 53
82 at DePaul 62
61 Villanova 59
72 Tennessee 61
76 at Marquette 68
78 Louisville, 2OT 79
58 Syracuse 66
61 at Seton Hall 59
72 at St. John's 89
75 Providence 57
78 Georgetown 70
58 at Louisville 71
67 Marquette, OT 74
67 at Cincinnati 59
56 at West Virginia 65
67 Notre Dame 70
97 DePaul-y 71
79 Georgetown-y 62
76 Pittsburgh-y 74
76 Syracuse, OT-y 71
69 Louisville-y 66
81 Bucknell-z 52
69 Cincinnati-z 58
74 San Diego St.-z 67
65 Arizona-z 63
56 Kentucky 55
x-EA Sports Maui Invitational
y-Big East Conference Tournament
z-NCAA Tournament
Game by game
UConn coach Jim Calhoun
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