Butler and Connecticut to Face Off in NCAA Tournament Title Game
Virginia Commonwealth University’s storybook run from play-in game to Final Four ended Saturday night, as Butler will be crashing the NCAA’s title game for the second year in a row.
Shelvin Mack paced the Bulldogs with 24 points on five for six three-point shooting, and Butler downed VCU 70-62 in a hard fought battle that was closer than its final score.
In Saturday’s second match up, University of Connecticut held off Kentucky 56-55 after UK had come storming back from a ten point halftime deficit. An almost six minute scoreless stretch late in the second half ultimately doomed the Wildcats' bid to reach the finals.
If Butler wins Monday night, they will be the lowest seed to take the title since Villanova, another eight-seed, did it in 1985.
If UConn prevails, Jim Calhoun will join John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight as the only coaches to have won more than two men’s basketball national championships.
- Contributed by Jeremy Taylor