Best In Show: UConn Huskies Defeat Butler Bulldogs To Win 3rd NCAA Championship

UConn Huskies: 2011 NCAA Champs!  (Credit: Hartford Courant)

Five months ago, who saw this coming?  Not Sports Illustrated, which didn't put UConn in its preseason bracket of 68.  Not the Big East coaches, who predicted that UConn would finish 10th in conference play.  Not even me, a lifelong Huskies fan -- I was just hoping we could avoid the NIT for a second straight year.

But these puppy Huskies, led by embattled head coach Jim Calhoun and transcendent superstar Kemba Walker, believed they could be something special.  It was just a matter of harnessing young talent, balancing strengths (defense, speed, Kemba) with weaknesses (penetrating the zone, inexperience, shallow bench).  After a strong start (17-2) the team cooled off (4-7 down the stretch), and the question became: could they put together a sustained run in the postseason?  Well, now we know.

Without further ado, let's take a look at how UConn won tonight and where the program will go from here...

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Underdogs As Usual The Bulldogs Will Be Top-Dogs On Monday

It’s David VS Goliath all over again, two teams, near opposites in every way battling it out to be national champions. For Butler, another chance avenge their loss in last years national championship game, for UConn, a chance to ride their star player all the way to the top. The grizzled coaching veteran with violations hanging over his head vs. the baby faced 33 year old coaching his second Final Four. Kemba vs. the physical Butler defense. It’s no easy decision picking a winner in this one, but here’s why Butler will be cutting down the nets on Monday Night.

Butler Wins Close Games

There average margin of victory if only 4.2 points and this Butler team knows how to get it done in the closing seconds. Their 2 point win over Old Dominion, 1 point win over Pitt, and 3 point win over Florida make last nights 8 point win over VCU look like a blowout. The Bulldogs keep their cool late in games and can get quick buckets from Howard and Mack if necessary. The Bulldogs have a ton of experience in late game situations in the tourney, which helps prevent them from making boneheaded plays a la Texas in late game situations. The Huskies have only been involved in two real close games, against Arizona and Kentucky, while the Bulldogs have multiple options down the stretch that should help them out late in Monday’s game.

Their Physical Team D Can Stop The Huskies

Tom Izzo said last year after the national semi-final that Butler was the most physical team the Spartans had played and that style has been on display throughout the tournament. Brad Stevens’s intense defense has played a huge role in getting Butler to the national championship game. Their rotations at the end of the VCU game were things of beauty, as the guards clamped down on Joey Rodriguez in the paint and won the game convincingly. While Kemba is certainly is a step up, Butlers team D can contain Walker. Their man defense is strong and you can bet Brad Stevens won’t be playing a lot of zone and letting Walker stroll around the three point line. Butler can force Walker to take tough long jump shots, which he isn’t as strong at as his running drives to the lane. If they can keep Walker on the perimeter Butler should be able to win on Monday.

They Too Have A Star

While he’s no Kemba, Matt Howard is also a dominant offensive player, and his physicality on the defensive end has made him one of the best players in the tournament. Howard leads the team in points and rebounds, and gives Butler a great chance in beating the Huskies. He can make big shots (Old Dominion) and timely buckets (The rebound put back that helped seal the deal against VCU). He’ll probably be guarded early on by Roscoe Smith, who is 6-8 but certainly lacks the speed to keep up with Howard. Howard gets rebounds and scores, and butler should win if he goes off for a big game.

Brad Stevens Will Lead The Way

While Jim Calhoun has the luxury of having Kemba Walker, Butler relies way more on strategy and set plays to win which should bode well for them in the championship game. If Walker is contained Calhoun doesn’t have a lot of options while Butler is well prepared for basically any scenario. Stevens is certainly a big game coach, and Monday should be a shining moment for one of the games best coaches.

UConn Marches Past Arizona For 2nd Final Four Berth in 3 Years

Jim Calhoun and the West regional champs. (credit: Hartford Courant)

In what was essentially a road game at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Saturday night, the UConn Huskies marched past the Arizona Wildcats to earn their second Final Four berth in three years.  Much to Charles Barkley's dismay, the 2011 Final Four features No. 4 Kentucky, No. 8 Butler, and No. 11 VCU, making third-seeded Connecticut the lowest seed left in the tournament, and the only Big East squad still standing.

File those last two sentences under "things I never thought I'd say five months ago when most of the college basketball world considered these same Huskies strictly NIT-bound."

Shabazz Napier
(credit: Hartford Courant)

Apparently the players never got the memo back in November.  Instead, they locked in and became one of the greatest tournament teams in college basketball history.  Seriously.  It doesn't even matter whether they win the NCAA tournament.  They've already sealed their place in NCAA lore by winning the Maui Invitational (3-0), the Big East tournament (5-0), and advancing to the Final Four (4-0 so far).  Yes sir, the UConn Huskies are undefeated in tournament play with a 12-0 record (and counting).  So can Connecticut keep its amazing streak going for two more games and close out this remarkable season by winning their 3rd NCAA championship?

Putting aside my obvious bias, I say yes -- and a plurality of Americans agree with me.  (ESPN's latest poll has UConn at 38%, Kentucky at 24%, Butler at 22%, and VCU at 11%.)  Speaking of ESPN, here is an unbelievable stat.  Out of the 5.9 million brackets submitted to the WWL's Tournament Challenge, only two brackets got the Final Four correct.  Two!  In related news, Jay Bilas and Jay Williams were the only two ESPN experts who picked UConn to reach the Final Four.  Perhaps you should listen to people named Jay; we know what we're talking about.

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5-for-5: Ten Thoughts On UConn's Record-Setting Big East Championship Win

UConn Huskies = 2011 Big East Champs (Credit: Hartford Courant)

A few hours ago, the Selection Committee announced that Connecticut will be the No. 3 seed in the West Region of the 2011 NCAA tournament, matching up with No. 14 Bucknell in Washington, D.C. during Thursday's first round.  Historically, UConn has fared well out West, winning the national championship in both 1999 and 2004.  Jay Bilas likes them in 2011 as well -- he recently picked UConn to be a Final Four team this year.

A fundamental law of nature is that controversy must surround Selection Sunday.  This year is no exception.  Bubble teams such as Colorado (six RPI Top-50 wins) and Virginia Tech (defeated then-No. 1 Duke in February, advanced to ACC semis this week) were left out, while unheralded UAB (one RPI Top-50 win) and VCU (finished 4th in CAA, lost their last 5 of 8, 11 losses overall, bad L's to Georgia State and Northeastern) somehow squeaked in.  At least UConn snagged a No. 3 seed.

Kemba Walker & Roscoe Smith
(credit Hartford Courant)

Some could argue that Florida, which finished first in the SEC but lost (decisively) for the second time to Kentucky in today's SEC championship, should not have received a No. 2 while UConn, which reeled off a magical five-game run to win the Big East championship, got stuck with a No. 3.  You could also argue that Pitt's one-and-done in the Big East should have dropped them from No. 1 to No. 2.  And so on.  But I think that the top of the bracket, for the most part, is pretty reasonable.  The only question mark is the absence of certain bubble teams, and why the East and West regions are so damn tough.

But let's forget about the bracket for a moment.  There is plenty of time between now and Thursday's tipoff to hack it apart.  Let's just focus on 10 thoughts about UConn's incredible feat of winning 5 games in 5 days to become Big East champs...

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Sources: Kemba Walker Wanted For The Murder Of Gary McGhee's Ankles

Kemba Walker is so many things for the 2010-11 UConn Huskies.  He is their leader, their go-to scorer, their MVP, and clearly their best all-around player.  He should have been selected as the Big East Player of the Year (Ben Hansbrough?  Really?  Really??) and he will probably be selected as a first-team All-American in April.  Plus, as the consensus top point guard in college basketball, he is going to be someone's lottery pick in June.  You can take that to the bank.  (Minnesota, perhaps?  The Wolves do have a thing for PGs.  KAAAAAAAAAHN!)

Gary McGhee (bottom right) fell all the way into the lane on Kemba's step-back J.  (Credit: Pitt Post-Gazette)

But what is Kemba, really?  If you ask Brittany Griner's bizarro twin Gary McGhee, then Kemba is an ankle breaker.  If you ask Pittsburgh mob capo head coach Jamie Dixon, then Kemba is the best clutch player in the nation.  If you ask UConn head coach Jim Calhoun, then Kemba is the guy who gets the ball at the end of any close game, even though the entire arena knows who's getting the ball.

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Big East: College Basketball's Version of SEC Football

The Big East might not be much of a football conference, but its 16 basketball schools dominate the hardwood. Just like the SEC dominates the BCS.

Fact: Joe Lunardi's most recent Bracketology predictions have 11 Big East teams in the tournament, with Pitt as a No. 1 seed and both UConn and Villanova as No. 2 seeds.

Fact: 7 Big East teams are currently ranked in the Top 25.  Another 2 are receiving votes after just dropping out.  That's over half the conference.

Fact: The Big East's 7 ranked teams have a combined 82-6 non-conference record.

Fact: The Big East is the toughest conference in the country.  Just ask  Providence College basketball fans (they do exist -- Facebook claims there are 3,742 of them).  Their Friars just took down Villanova by 15 at home.  Even better, Seton Hall beat Syracuse by 22 points in the Carrier Dome in what was the Orange's third-biggest home loss in the Jim Boeheim Era.  Possibly most impressive was Notre Dame overcoming a 5-point halftime deficit to beat Pitt in Pittsburgh, where the Panthers had won 51 of their past 52 games.

Fact: UConn's Kemba Walker is still atop the National Player of the Year poll.

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UConn Men's Basketball: We're Going Streaking, Through the Quad and Into the Gymnasium!

Roscoe Smith (credit: Hartford Courant)

NYaT readers, we interrupt your regularly scheduled NFL programming to bring you this breaking news story: UConn men's basketball is for real.  And they're streaking, to the tune of a 16-2 record and the No. 8 ranking in both the AP and USA Today polls.

Oh, and with their 72-61 win over Tennessee yesterday, the Huskies finished with an undefeated nonconference record, beating such quality teams as Kentucky, Michigan State, Texas (on the road), Wichita State, and Tennessee, not to mention winning the Maui Invitational.  The last time UConn went 12-0 in nonconference play?  In 2008, when they reached the Final Four.

Leading the pack (get it?) is Kemba Walker, of course.  Walker, who ranks 2nd in the country in scoring with 25 ppg, is already leading straw polls for the Player of the Year, ahead of other big names such as BYU's Jimmer Fredette and Ohio State's Jared Sullinger.  Walker is also the unofficial leader in buzzer-beating, door-shutting, coffin-nailing clutch shots to win big games.  (See, e.g., the Villanova game, the Texas game, the Michigan State game.)

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Boom goes the dynamite: UConn upsets No. 2 Michigan State

Perhaps the 2010-11 Connecticut Huskies are for real.  They sure looked the part last night at the Maui Invitational, taking down No. 2 Michigan State, 70-67, in front of a packed crowd at the Lahaina Civic Center.  UConn is now 4-0 and headed for the championship game tonight against No. 9 Kentucky.

Kemba Walker. (Photo courtesy: Hartford Courant)

Kemba Walker was sensational once again: 30 points (10-19 FG, 6-7 FT), 3 rebs, 4 assts, 3 stls.  Alex Oriakhi is starting to look like a legit number two with 15 points and 17 boards.  And collectively, even as a team full of freshmen and sophomores, UConn is starting to play with the excellence that is expected of this prestigious program.

"We have Kemba Walker and Tom [Izzo] didn't," UConn head coach Jim Calhoun said. "I've had some pretty good players in my career. Kemba is developing into one of the great players and competitors."

 "We ask him to do nearly the impossible and he's producing," Calhoun continued. "Ray Allen to Rip Hamilton to all of the great UConn players. No one has made more progress than Kemba. No one has equaled the work he's done [on his game]."

You can bet Izzo noticed.

"Kemba Walker is a heck of a player. Let's face it," the MSU coach said. "He gets to the free throw line so much. I thought Kalin did a good job on him. Korie [Lucious] did a good job on him. On those 10 made buckets, he had to earn every one of them."

So how good has Kemba Walker been, exactly?  In UConn's first four games, he has already posted three 30-point games.  Only two other UConn players have put up three 30-point games in an entire season: Rip Hamilton (1999) and Ben Gordon (2004).  UConn won the national championship both seasons.

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UConn's Kemba Walker doing his best John Wall impression

Although the 2010-11 UConn Huskies are not considered an early Final Four contender (or even a tournament contender, really) the team is not ready to sacrifice all the headlines to their Lady Husky counterparts.  Nope, the guys plan to make some waves as well this year.

This afternoon, UConn opened the Maui Invitational with an 83-79 win over the Wichita State Shockers.  Much of the credit for this win can be placed on the narrow shoulders of point guard Kemba Walker.  In just 23 minutes, Walker scored 31 points (on 8-of-16 shooting), including the game-sealing jumper with 41 seconds to go.  Even more impressive, Walker was 14-of-15 from the line (!!) which means, of course, that the rest of the Huskies put up their typically lousy 62% FT.

Kemba doing the Dougie.

This is going to be a recurring theme throughout this season.  Walker, a junior, is surrounded by 5 freshmen and 2 sophomores.  Notwithstanding Alex Oriakhi, who is one of SI's Top 10 Sophomore Breakout Candidates, this is a young and inexperienced team.  The only players besides Walker who played real minutes last year are Donnell Beverly (9.8 mpg), Jamal Coombs-McDaniel (11.2 mpg), and Oriakhi (24.6 mpg).  And those three only combined for 9.9 ppg.  So yes, Walker must play like John Wall did last season at Kentucky if UConn stands any chance of making the tournament in 2010-11.

And so far, he has.  Kemba scored 42 points to beat Vermont 89-73 in Hartford last week.  Today he once again carried his team to victory.  UConn is in a rebuilding mode following their late season collapse a year ago, a second-round NIT exit, and an NCAA scandal involving head coach Jim Calhoun.  But in order to stay out of the Big East basement and retain an air of respectability, expect Kemba Walker to carry the Huskies much like John Wall carried the Coach Cal's Wildcats last season.  He may get tested real early with a possible matchup against No. 2 Michigan State in the next round.

And now for some UConn & Kemba Walker thoughts from ESPN Insider -- and fellow attorney -- Jay Bilas:

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The paradox: 2009-10 UConn men's basketball

I'm not sure what to make of this 2009-10 UConn men's basketball team anymore. Two days ago, on Saturday, they got embarrassed at home by Cincinnati, shooting 34% from the field and losing 60-48, their lowest point total since 2002. In doing so, they completely embarrassed Jim Calhoun, who had just returned after missing 7 games in 3.5 weeks, leading some to believe that the players had simply quit on their coach. Calhoun, in turn, said he was embarrassed by his team's performance and that it was one of the worst games of his entire career.

But today, just two days after the Cincinnati debacle, UConn delivered its first road win of the year by upsetting No. 3 Villanova in Philly. Every aspect of their game improved. The Huskies shot 48% from the field and 80% from the line, far exceeding their season average of 68%. Jerome Dyson neutralized Scottie Reynolds but grew fatigued from his efforts, shooting only 3-14 from the field for a total of 15 points. Kemba Walker picked up the slack, going 6-10 for 29 points (14-16 FT) with 9 boards, 3 assists, and only 2 TO.

Just an aside from Head Coach Emeritus Jimmy Dugan. Stanley...Stanley Robinson! You're still turning the ball over too much. Ten times in this last game. Now, now, now that's something I'd like you to work on...before next season.

Going into today's game, people were down on UConn. The Hartford Courant predicted that the Huskies would have to run the table in the regular season, or dominate (and perhaps even win) the Big East Tournament, just to make the NCAA tournament. It's hard to argue with that. Clearly, UConn dug itself a very deep hole. But today, the Huskies played intensely and with real passion. Their defensive effort was up with 8 blocks, and the team hit its free throws for once. Maybe Calhoun screamed especially loud at them in the locker room, berating them enough that they're scared into playing hard for him again. Who knows.

What I do know is that UConn has 2 tough home games coming up vs. WestVa and Louisville and another battle on the road at Notre Dame. But if the Huskies play those teams like they did against Villanova today, and if Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker don't get injured, they can still make a run.