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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