Butler Falls Short in National Championship, 53-41

HOUSTON -- Normally when you hold an opponent to 53 points and  34.5 percent shooting, you would think you would be in good shape to win.

Normally.

But it was anything but normal Monday night in Reliant Stadium for Butler’s Bulldogs.

They simply, inexplicably, frustratingly couldn’t make a basket.

As a result, Connecticut captured its third national championship with a 53-41 victory. And Butler fell short for the second year in a row in the title game.

The Horizon League champions actually led at half time, 22-19, as both teams struggled mightily on the offensive end.

But Butler’s anemic shooting, unfortunately, continued for the entire 40 minutes. The Bulldogs finished 12 of 64, just 18.8 percent. It was the worse shooting percentage in championship game history and the 41 points were the fewest since Oklahoma State lost 46-36 to Kentucky in 1949.

“We’re coming out of a locker room that’s hurting, a locker room that has a lot of pride,” said Butler coach Brad Stevens. “Without question, 41 points and 12 of 64 is not good enough to win any game, let alone a national championship game."

It was down-the-line misfiring. Senior Matt Howard, closing out a brilliant career, was 1 of 13. Shelvin Mack, whose offense helped carry the Bulldogs this far, was 4 of 15. Shawn Vanzant was 2 of 10. Andrew Smith was 2 of 9. Chase Stigall was 3 of 11.

“We kept telling each other the that the shots will go in and to keep shooting,” said Howard. “But it wasn’t happening.”

They missed inside. They missed outside. They missed good looks and bad ones. Butler had only one field goal in a 13-minute stretch of the second half during which a six-point lead evaporated into an 11-point deficit.

Give Uconn credit for Butler’s anemia. The Huskies’ length and physicality bothered the Bulldogs. Butler was able to play through it against tournament foes like Old Dominion, Pitt and Florida. But not against the Huskies.

“They challenged shots better than any team we faced all year,” said Stevens.

Consider this. too: The Huskies outscored Butler 26-2 in the paint. Those lone two points -- from Smith -- came with six minutes to play.

Jim Calhoun’s Big East team won its 11^th straight to finish 32-9. Butler lost for the first time in 15 games and closed out at 28-10.

All-American Kemba Walker led UConn with 16 points, but was 5 of 19 from the floor. Mack, with 13, was Butler’s only double-figure scorer.

While this wasn’t the last-shot nail biter like last year’s loss to Duke in the championship game, Stevens wasn’t ready to make comparisons but instead focused on the overall achievements of the last two years.

“Any time you lose it stings,” said Stevens. “But what they’ve achieved is remarkable and can’t be overstated. Our kids, our staff and our school recognize the magnitude of this accomplishment.”

Howard and Mack were named to the Final Four All-Tournament team.