NCAA Championship Game 2011 LIVE UPDATES: Butler vs. UConn
Butler and UConn square off tonight in the NCAA tournament championship game at 9:23 p.m. ET. It has been a wild tournament thus far, filled with crazy buzzer-beaters, shocking upsets and amazing performances.
Led by Kemba Walker, the Huskies won nine games in 19 days (including the Big East tournament) and eliminated No. 4 Kentucky in the Final Four.
The Butler Bulldogs made another incredible run to the Final Four, taking out Old Dominion in the first round with a buzzer-beating layup from Matt Howard. The Bulldogs knocked off No. 1 Pittsburgh in the second round and No. 2 Florida in the Elite Eight. They eliminated No. 11 VCU to reach their second straight national title game.
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Andrew Smith finally makes a layup. But UConn's Oriakhi answers right back with a huge dunk and draws a foul on the play. 43-30 UConn with six minutes left.
UConn takes an 11-point lead after Kemba Walker layup. Butler calls another timeout.
Butler has missed a bunch of easy buckets and layups. They're down nine with 10:20 to go.
Butler hasn't scored in six minutes. UConn winning 31-26. Brad Stevens called a timeout after Lamb's fast break dunk.
Jeremy Lamb of UConn just knocked down a wide open 3-pointer. Huskies have scored seven straight points. 26-25 UConn.
Butler's Stigall opens the second half with a deep 3-pointer. 25-19 Bulldogs.
| @ espn4d : Fewest combined points in a half in title game since 1945. UConn's 19 fewest for a single team since 1960. |
Greg Anthony just said that half was the worst first half he has ever seen in an NCAA tournament national championship game.
| @ SethDavisHoops : Getting set for halftime. I'll be honest, this hasn't been a pretty 20 minutes. #saytheobvious #cbstweetweek |
Game is tied at 19 with two minutes remaining in the first half. Neither team has scored since the 4:17 mark.
| @ 206Child : Butler not shooting well, but doing everything else right; controlling tempo, playing great d and turning Kemba into a volume shooter |
UConn took the lead right back with two quick shots from Donnell Beverly and Kemba Walker. 19-16 Huskies.
Butler's Chase Stigall nailed a 3-pointer from Jimmer Fredette's range! 16-15 Butler.
Alex Oriakhi just received his second foul. He just went to the bench and Butler's Andrew Smith capitalized by hitting Butler's first two-pointer. 13-11 UConn.
Butler hasn't made a two-pointer yet, while UConn is dominating in the paint. 13-9 UConn with 11:35 left in the first half.
Kemba scores again, this time in transition. On a fast break, Walker took it all the way to the hoop and drew a foul on the play. He hit the free throw and now it's 13-8 UConn.
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| @ 206Child : Shelvin Mack having lots of trouble shooting over length of Jeremy Lamb. Something to watch moving forward. Butler needs him to score. |
| @ ESPN_CollHoops : #Butler 1-9 to start the game and #UCONN 2-9...Butler trails by 1. Under 16 min. to play 1st half. |
Butler's Andrew Smith swats Kemba Walker's layup into the stands. Ridiculous block!
Shelvin Mack already has two defensive rebounds and on the second, he drew a foul on UConn's Tyler Olander.
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First Posted: 04/04/11 09:58 PM ET Updated: 06/04/11 06:12 AM ET