During the last month of basketball, we have witnessed the entire spectrum. In the upsets, buzzer-beaters and countless hours spent in front of the television, we saw the good. In the overload of CBS analysts and early shredding of our cherished brackets, we saw the bad. We are only missing one thing–the ugly. Enter the national championship game. For a tournament that delivered entertainment at seemingly every moment, the national title game faltered badly.
The pregame hype and incentives prepared the nation for a dogfight. Following the Final Four departure of the Wildcats and Rams, it was just the Huskies and the Bulldogs, two teams that shared a hotel in Washington D.C. at the beginning of the tournament. College basketball nation was ready for a spirited finale, headlined by dynamic guards and unsung heroes in the post. What ensued was a defensive battle with loose balls bouncing in every direction and shooting percentages that started low and remained that way throughout the contest.
The matchup began with UConn pulling ahead by five midway in the first half before Butler made a late run to take a three-point lead at the break. With the score at 22-19, we had witnessed the lowest scoring first half in tournament history. The game that was supposed to be a shootout in the 70s was bound for the 50s, or even worse. the 40s.
Kemba Walker and Shelvin Mack, the two guards who were supposed to battle on each end of the court, were doing everything but that. Walker, one of the tournament’s most electrifying players, ended the half on the bench in foul trouble while Mack had accumulated seven points on just two field goals.
Meanwhile, the post game was just as ugly, with Butler’s Matt Howard going 1-of-6 from the field and Connecticut spreading its five layups across four players. It was clearly a first half to forget, but that is why they play two.
Finally, as the second half began, both teams showed some offense. Walker and freshman Jeremy Lamb gave the national audience the idea of a shootout by alternating buckets following a Butler three-pointer to start the half. At this point, the game seemed that is was bound for an efficient, offensive approach, but became just the opposite as the half continued.
Following Chase Stigall’s bucket 20 seconds into the half, the Bulldogs didn’t make another for seven minutes. Luckily, their defense and UConn’s poor shooting kept them within five at 28-33. Then, Butler redefined the word ugly as the Bulldogs managed to put together eight consecutive one-shot possessions, garnering exactly zero points. Nearly six minutes went by between Butler baskets, and the Huskies were soon up 11.
Butler fans watched the remaining six minutes patiently waiting for their team to make a signature last chance run. UConn was having none of that idea, and made their free throws to claim the national title in a rather unexciting way.
The shooting was putrid, with both teams combining to shoot 26 percent from the field. UConn made only 1-of-11 three-point attempts while Butler shot just 12-of-64 from the field on the night. That translates to 18.8 percent, a title game record.
Of the forty minutes played, only a handful would have raised the heartbeat of an unbiased fan. The aforementioned star-powered guards Walker and Mack, who hogged the spotlight before the game, failed to produce the same electricity during the matchup. Matt Howard, regarded by some analysts as the most valuable player in the nation, made just one shot all game. Andrew Smith, who makes his living in the post, made just one layup all night.
It’s safe to say that things did not go as scripted for the 2011 season ending game, but in March Madness, nothing is scripted, and Butler’s trip to the championship game is a prime example. Though the title game may have come up short in terms of extraordinary theatrics, thinking of the tournament as a whole will remind us that in terms of madness, we got a healthy dose in March 2011.