2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game

The 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game was the title game of the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and it determined the national champion for the 2010-11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The 2011 National Title Game was played on April 4, 2011 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, and featured the 2011 West Regional Champions, #3-seeded Connecticut, and the 2011 Southeast Regional Champions, #8 seeded Butler.

For the 1st time since the 1989 National Championship Game, neither a #1 or a #2 seed participated in the National Championship Game.

Participants

Butler

Butler, who made a miracle run to the 2010 National Championship Game was the #8 seed in the Southeast Regional of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. In the 2nd Round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, Matt Howard made a game-winning basket with 1 second left to beat Old Dominion 60-58 and advance to the next round.^[1] In the 3rd round of the NCAA Tournament, Howard made a last second free throw to upset Pittsburgh 71-70 and advance to the Sweet 16.^[2] In the Sweet 16, Butler faced Wisconsin. At one point, Butler was up by 20 and then Wisconsin staged a comeback but Butler held on to win 61-54.^[3] In the Elite Eight, Butler beats Florida in an OT thriller to return to the Final Four.^[4] In the 2011 Final Four, Shelvin Mack scored 24 points which led to a 70-62 win over VCU to advance to the National Title Game for the second straight year.^[5]

Butler is only the 2nd #8 seed in the National Championship Game with the other one being Villanova in 1985 when they beat #1 Georgetown 66-64 in the 1985 National Championship Game to win the National Championship.

Connecticut

After winning five consecutive game in the 2011 Big East Tournament to win the 2011 Big East Tournament, Connecticut was the #3 seed in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. In the 2nd round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, Kemba Walker scored 18 points to lead Connecticut to a rout of Bucknell winning 81-52.^[6] In the 3rd round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, Kemba Walker scored 33 points to lead Connecticut to a 69-58 victory over Big East rival Cincinnati and a trip to the Sweet 16.^[7] In the Sweet 16 of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, Kemba Walker scored 36 points and Jeremy Lamb scored 24 points combining to score 60 points which led to Connecticut beating San Diego State 74-67.^[8] In the Elite Eight of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, Kemba Walker scored 20 points to lead Connecticut to a 65-63 victory over Arizona and a trip to the 2011 Final Four which was their 2nd trip to the Final Four in their last three years having appeared in the 2009 Final Four.^[9] In the 2011 Final Four, Connecticut got a narrow 56-55 victory over Kentucky to advance to the 2011 National Championship Game.^[10]

Game Summary

1st Half

2011 NCAA Basketball Championship Game tip off

The 1st half of the 2011 National Championship Game featured poor shooting in a game which was tied 19-19 with 10 seconds left in the 1st half and with 1 second left, Shelvin Mack made a three-pointer to give Butler a 22-19 lead at halftime. During halftime, Greg Anthony said "This is the worst half of basketball I've ever seen in a national championship game" in reference to the game's 1st half of play.

2nd Half

After Chase Stigall made a three-pointer to give Butler a 25-19 lead, Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb started to get things going for Connecticut as they combined to score eight points in the next four minutes to give the Huskies a 27-25 lead. Within the following five minutes, Lamb scored six points, and Shabazz Napier, Walker, and Alex Oriakhi each scored two points, and while Butler had poor shooting going on, Connecticut had a 38-29 lead. Then, Oriakhi had a hot stretch with five points in the next two minutes while Butler still struggled in shooting and Connecticut had a 44-30 lead. The Huskies were able to hold off Butler from there with Napier making a basket, Niels Giffey a pair of free throws, and Lamb a free throw for a 49-41 lead with 1:31 left. Walker then made four free throws to wrap up the 53-41 victory. Butler's poor shooting performance was the lowest shooting percentage in NCAA Championship Game history, including going 6 for 37 during the 2nd half and going 12 for 64 (18%) during the entire game.^[11]

References