The Butler vs. U Conn line opened at -3.5 in favor of Connecticut early Sunday for the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. The early spread action on this game was as balanced as could be at most of the recreational online sportsbook outlets while Butler was getting a slight bit more action at Bookmaker.com.
Butler enters the NCAA Championship game having beaten the upset-minded VCU Rams on Saturday with a final score of 72-60. This is the second consecutive year the Bulldogs will appear in the NCAA Final.
We've just got to be one shot better than last year," coach Brad Stevens said in reference to Butler’s 2010 Final loss by two points.
"It's not one guy making plays," said Butler’s Zach 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."
Later on Saturday, Connecticut managed to just squeeze by Kentucky in the final seconds with a 56-55 victory.
Kemba Walker scored 18 points Saturday night to lift UConn to its 10th straight victory since finishing off a .500 Big East regular season.
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"We gonna shock the world," the Huskies chanted as they sprinted to their locker room.
Connecticut advanced to its third national championship game, all under coach Jim Calhoun and first since 2004. The Huskies are 5-1 in Final Four games.
The Huskies won despite shooting just 1 of 12 from 3-point range but they did share the ball well with 16 assists on their 23 field goals.
Connecticut has now won its past 10 games and is 13-0 in tournament games this season (3-0 Maui Invitational, 5-0 Big East tournament, 5-0 NCAA tournament).
- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
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