UConn & Butler will meet in National Title Game

Kemba Walker scored 18 points Saturday night to lift UConn to its 10th straight victory since finishing off a .500 Big East regular season, a 56-55 win over cold-shooting Kentucky that moved the Huskies a victory away from their third, and most improbable, NCAA title.

Walker, a quick-handed junior from the Bronx, added seven assists and six rebounds to help the young UConn team (31-9) extend a winning streak that started with a five-wins-in-five-nights leg-drainer at the conference tournament and now includes five more at the tournament that really counts.

The third-seeded Huskies – lowest seed left in a tournament that has been as unpredictable as any in history – will face No. 8 Butler, a 70-62 winner over 11th-seeded VCU in the first semifinal, on Monday.

Fourth-seeded Kentucky (29-9) shot 33.9 percent for the game and went 5:39 without a point late in the second half. UConn wasn’t much better, but Walker, Alex Oriakhi and Shabazz Napier all made baskets to turn a 48-48 tie into a 54-48 lead with 2:29 left.

DeAndre Liggins made a 3-pointer for the Wildcats to cut the deficit to three, and Kentucky had its chances. But Brandon Knight, one of John Calipari’s three sensational freshmen, barely drew iron on a 3-pointer. After Kentucky got the rebound, Liggins drew a foul but only hit one of two free throws.

Kentucky forced one more turnover and went for the win, but this time, it was Liggins whose 3-pointer was short.

“I should have drove it,” Liggins said. “It was a good shot, but it fell short.”

Napier made two free throws to make it 56-52, then Knight ended the game with a 3-pointer at the buzzer – a meaningless make and a cruel close to what has otherwise been a remarkable season for Calipari and Co. – Kentucky’s first trip to the Final Four since winning it all in 1998. The Wildcats, the nation’s all-time winningest program, stayed stuck on 105 NCAA-tournament wins in the program history, still tied for first with North Carolina, the team they beat to get here.

“We held a pretty good team to 56 points,” Calipari said. “I hate to tell you, we talked about if we defend them this way, they’re going score around 56 points, maybe 60. I just didn’t think we’d score 55.”

The Huskies have won by one, by two, by three, by five and more on this unexpected postseason run. Before that, Calhoun’s roster full of freshmen lived down to expectations by going 9-9 in their conference. But the Huskies haven’t lost since falling to Notre Dame to close the regular season on Feb. 5.

Next up: A meeting with Butler, the small school from Indianapolis that was last year’s runner-up. But after this one, it was UConn sounding like the plucky underdog.

Kentucky did a decent job containing him with its zone, which forced the Huskies to be more patient and look for second options. Jeremy Lamb was the most obvious one. The freshman, whose father Ronaldo made a game-winning shot to knock Calhoun out of the tournament when he was coaching at Northeastern in 1984, had 12 points, including a fancy scooping layup with 2:29 left to put the Huskies ahead by six.

From there, it was a hectic, hard-fought finish that included few baskets and even fewer breaks. The teams played nearly five straight minutes without a whistle, and the 4-minute media timeout didn’t come until there was a bit more than 120 seconds left.

The quick pace might have made some legs tired and had something to do with Kentucky coming up short on some of those key shots late. There wasn’t much of an explanation, though, for the 9-for-32 shooting in the first half. The Wildcats trailed 31-21 at the break, their lowest first-half output of the season.

“I just think we missed a bunch of open shots,” Kentucky senior Josh Harrellson said. “We had good looks, and we just weren’t knocking anything down. … We just couldn’t make anything.”

Knight finished 6 for 23 with 17 points, Doron Lamb had 13 on 5-for-10 shooting. But the Wildcats made only 21 field goals, only nine from 3-point range and shot 4 for 12 from the free-throw line.

Mack Leads Butler Back to National Title Game

“We’re not done yet! Unfinished business, baby!”

That was the rallying cry from the Butler Bulldogs, who are headed back to the title game, not as lovable underdogs but a team intent on making up for last year’s heartbreak.

Maybe this time that final, riveting shot will go in.

Maybe this time Butler won’t need it.

“We’re not going to settle on just getting back,” said Zach Hahn, who came up big off the bench in Butler’s 70-62 victory over VCU on Saturday night that gave the Bulldogs a do-over and ended the warm-and-fuzzy story of this year’s NCAA men’s tournament.

“I remember the sour taste it left in my mouth last year, and I just think this group, we’re here now and we have a chance. That’s all you can ask.”

Shelvin Mack scored 24 points, Hahn scored all eight of his points during a 90-second span in the second half that gave Butler control of the game for good and the Bulldogs shut down hot-shooting VCU with their trademark unforgiving defense. The eighth-seeded Bulldogs (28-9) will face Connecticut on Monday night, the lowest-seeded team to play for the national title since Villanova won it as a No. 8 seed in 1985.

“We’ve just got to be one shot better than last year,” coach Brad Stevens said.

VCU (28-12) sure didn’t look like a team critics dismissed as “unworthy” – and a whole lot worse – after it skidded into the NCAA tournament with five losses in its last eight games. But Butler’s stifling defense was too much for the Rams, only the third No. 11 seed to reach the Final Four.

“Butler was the aggressor for the majority of the game,” VCU coach Shaka Smart said. “We had our runs.”

Jamie Skeen scored 27 and Bradford Burgess had 15, including three 3-pointers before the game was even seven minutes old. But Stevens is known for his tactical acumen, and this game was no different. He tweaked Butler’s defense, and Burgess had just one more three the rest of the night.

VCU had always managed to find a shot when it needed it in its first three games, but Butler simply wouldn’t allow it. VCU was just 8 of 22 from long range, though that was still enough to set the NCAA record for most 3s in a tournament with 61. But Brandon Rozzell, who tied his career high with six treys against Georgetown, was 0 for 3. Slippery point guard Joey Rodriguez didn’t make a shot until 8:30 left in the game, finishing with only three points on 1-of-7 shooting.

The defense – and the big night by Mack – made up for a lackluster showing by leading scorer and rebounder Matt Howard. The senior had 17 points, but shot just 3-of-10 and picked up his fourth foul with 9:22 left.

“It’s not one guy making plays,” said Hahn, whose total Saturday was one point less than he’d had in Butler’s previous four tournament games combined. “It’s literally a collective effort; it’s all 14 guys.”

The Bulldogs came within a bounce of winning it all last year. But Gordon Hayward’s last-ditch, half-court heave caromed off the rim, and Butler had to watch Duke celebrate the title with a 61-59 win.

“Last year we didn’t get it done, so that’s in the back of my mind,” Mack said.

That the Bulldogs are playing for the title again is maybe even more impressive than the first trip, having lost Hayward, their leading scorer and rebounder, to the NBA lottery.