According to Internet Media: The 2011 NCAA Championship Game between UConn and Butler begins Monday night, April 4. It's the second trip in a row for the Horizon League Bulldogs, while the Huskies are going for their third NCAA title in just over a decade.
Showing posts with label NCAA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCAA. Show all posts
Butler, Connecticut Win to Advance to NCAA Basketball National Semifinals
According to Internet Media: Butler University will make its second consecutive appearance and the University of Connecticut will play for a fourth time in the national semifinals of college basketball’s men’s tournament.
Butler beat the University of Florida 74-71 in overtime yesterday and Connecticut defeated the University of Arizona 65- 63 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.
No. 8 Butler will play the winner of today’s Southwest regional final, between No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth and Kansas, the only remaining No. 1 seed, for a place in the championship game.
“I’m incredibly proud of these guys -- they carried their coach today in a big way,” Butler coach Brad Stevens told reporters. “I got out-coached big time, but our assistants did a great job and our players did a great job.”
Connecticut, ranked third in the West, will play the winner of today’s East regional final, between No. 4 Kentucky and No. 2 North Carolina.
The Huskies (30-9) made the last of their three prior appearances in the national semifinals in 2009. Butler (27-9), which lost to Duke in last year’s national final, has never won the tournament, while Connecticut claimed the title twice, in 1999 and 2004.
Mack Seals Win
Butler overcame an 11-point second-half deficit and Matt Howard’s free throw with 31 seconds left in the second half tied the score at 60-60 before Florida’s Erving Walker missed a 3- point jumper for the win as time expired.
Shelvin Mack hit a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 20 seconds left in overtime to lift the Bulldogs to a 72-70 lead. Mack, who scored 27 points, sealed the victory with two free throws with 11 seconds to go at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans.
“They did everything in their power physically, mentally and emotionally to try to win,” Florida coach Billy Donovan told reporters. “Hopefully our guys that are returning will have a chance to learn from this experience.”
Connecticut led 32-25 at halftime at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Arizona tied it at 34-34 with 15:17 to play and the teams traded the lead four more times before Connecticut went ahead for good on a Jeremy Lamb jump shot with 5:52 to play that made it 56-55.
‘Thrill Beyond Compare’
“This unique group of young guys have just given me a thrill beyond compare,” Huskies coach Jim Calhoun, who has won the NCAA title twice, told reporters. “Never could I imagine the team winning nine tournament games in 19 days.”
Jamelle Horne hit a 3-pointer to bring Arizona within two points with 1:02 left in the game. With four seconds to play, Arizona missed two attempts to score.
“To have two shots, both that could have won us the game, as hard and difficult as it is right now, I think we all, and I can live with that,” Arizona coach Sean Miller told reporters. “We move on.”
Kemba Walker led the Huskies with 20 points and Lamb added 19. Derrick Williams scored 20 points for Arizona.
“It’s not just Kemba Walker, it’s the overall team effort and poise that UConn has,” Miller said. Walker “is impossible to stop.”
The Final Four is scheduled for April 2-4 in Houston.
WHEW! UCONN WINS WEST, BERTH IN FINAL FOUR
According to Internet Media: ANAHEIM, Calif. - Jim Calhoun could scarcely watch when the most improbable postseason run of his coaching life at Connecticut came down to an open 3-point attempt by Arizona's Jamelle Horne.The shot clanged off the back rim. The clock hit zeros.
Nine victories in just 19 days. Calhoun has seen just about everything, but nothing like this — and now his Huskies will keep running all the way to Houston.
Kemba Walker scored 20 points, freshman Jeremy Lamb added 19 and UConn earned its second Final Four berth in three years, beating Arizona 65-63 Saturday to win the West regional.
After missing the NCAA tournament entirely last year, Calhoun's tireless team is headed to the Huskies' fourth Final Four, punctuated by an ebullient on-court celebration in a building packed with Arizona fans.
UConn simply hasn't lost since a .500 Big East regular season, winning five games in five days at the conference tournament before this NCAA run. Walker claims he isn't surprised by this sprint through the postseason, while Lamb has nothing to compare it to, leaving Calhoun alone in his grateful disbelief.
"Never did I imagine a team winning nine games in tournament play in 19 days," Calhoun said. "These brothers, these young guys, have just given me a thrill beyond compare. Our march in the past nine games, I haven't experienced anything like this."
"Never did I imagine a team winning nine games in tournament play in 19 days," Calhoun said. "These brothers, these young guys, have just given me a thrill beyond compare. Our march in the past nine games, I haven't experienced anything like this."
UConn also made the Final Four in 1999, 2004 and 2009 — all three times out of the West. In sweet redemption for a program and a veteran coach tarred by scandals over the past year, the Huskies will face the winner of North Carolina's East regional final against Kentucky next Saturday.
Derrick Williams and Horne missed go-ahead 3-pointers in the final seconds for Arizona, allowing the third-seeded Huskies (30-9) to hang on after Lamb scored six key points down the stretch when Walker encouraged the Huskies to run plays for the fearless frosh.
"This is no time to be tired," Walker said. "We're trying to get as far as possible. We want to win this whole thing."
Williams had 20 points while battling foul trouble for the fifth-seeded Wildcats (30-8), who led with 6 minutes to play. After Lamb pushed the Huskies ahead and Walker hit a jumper with 1:13 left, Lamont Jones and Horne then hit late 3-pointers for Arizona, but the Wildcats couldn't convert two good looks in the final seconds.
"The second one, I thought it was definitely going in," Lamb said. "When he missed it, I looked at the clock
and saw zero-zero, and I just went, 'Whooooo.' It's the best feeling I've ever had."
The Huskies are the last team standing from the Big East's 11 NCAA entrants. After going 9-9 in regular-season conference play, they've done more than even Calhoun might have expected just three weeks ago.
After the Wildcats missed their final two shots, Walker and Calhoun wrapped each other in a bear hug at center court after the buzzer as Emeka Okafor, Jake Voskuhl and other UConn alums celebrated on the court.
Williams had 20 points while battling foul trouble for the fifth-seeded Wildcats (30-8), who led with 6 minutes to play. After Lamb pushed the Huskies ahead and Walker hit a jumper with 1:13 left, Lamont Jones and Horne then hit late 3-pointers for Arizona, but the Wildcats couldn't convert two good looks in the final seconds.
"The second one, I thought it was definitely going in," Lamb said. "When he missed it, I looked at the clock
and saw zero-zero, and I just went, 'Whooooo.' It's the best feeling I've ever had."The Huskies are the last team standing from the Big East's 11 NCAA entrants. After going 9-9 in regular-season conference play, they've done more than even Calhoun might have expected just three weeks ago.
After the Wildcats missed their final two shots, Walker and Calhoun wrapped each other in a bear hug at center court after the buzzer as Emeka Okafor, Jake Voskuhl and other UConn alums celebrated on the court.
The two-time national champion coach has referred to his group as "an old-fashioned team," a praise of their work ethic and resilience. But they also showed remarkable poise down the stretch in a building firmly in favor of the Wildcats.
A year after Arizona's 25-year streak of NCAA tournament appearances ended, the Wildcats and second-year coach Sean Miller were one 3-pointer away from a return to the Final Four. Williams demolished Duke in the regional semifinals with a career-high 32 points, but three early fouls limited him to 7 minutes in the first half against UConn.
"I've never been prouder of a team, and I've never seen a team come so far as we did in a short period of time," Miller said. "It will probably feel better in a few weeks than it does now.
A year after Arizona's 25-year streak of NCAA tournament appearances ended, the Wildcats and second-year coach Sean Miller were one 3-pointer away from a return to the Final Four. Williams demolished Duke in the regional semifinals with a career-high 32 points, but three early fouls limited him to 7 minutes in the first half against UConn.
"I've never been prouder of a team, and I've never seen a team come so far as we did in a short period of time," Miller said. "It will probably feel better in a few weeks than it does now.
Jesse Perry scored 14 points for Arizona, which trailed 34-25 early in the second half before scoring nine straight points. The Wildcats reclaimed the lead with 14½ minutes left on Williams' layup, but UConn quickly scored seven consecutive points.
The Huskies led 50-41 until the Wildcats made a 12-2 run that included two rim-ripping dunks by Williams and the go-ahead slam by Perry with 7:17 left. With Honda Center rocking in Arizona red, Lamb smoothly put the Huskies ahead before following Alex Oriakhi's putback layup with a steal and a dunk with 3:08 left for a seven-point lead.
Duke no match for underdog Arizona
According to Internet Media:
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Derrick Williams had sensed the disrespect. In his mind, not many thought Arizona could actually upset defending national champion Duke.
But with Williams, the Wildcats have a game-changer unlike any other. By the time he got done scoring 32 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in a 93-77 win against Duke, Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski was left heaping praise on the star sophomore and telling the 6-foot-8 forward that he was indeed special.
“He’s as good as anybody we’ve played, or I should say better than anybody we’ve played,” said Krzyzewski, who finished the season with 900 career Division I wins. “Even when he’s not scoring, he spreads you out. There is a physicality to his game. Clean, beautiful -- he’s a beautiful player.”
Williams’ 32 points tied a school record for most points in an NCAA tournament game, and this particular command performance on Thursday carried the Wildcats into the Elite Eight to face Connecticut. For all the doubters who thought a young Arizona team under second-year coach Sean Miller was not yet ready to experience glory days, Williams provided the response on the court and with words of his own.
“It just proves a lot of people wrong right there,” Williams said. “I think a lot of people -- media, fans, friends -- said that we couldn’t do it, and this proved them all wrong. I think that next time that they pick somebody else to beat us, they’ll think differently.”
Williams, whose season has been defined by last-minute heroics -- including each of UA's first two tourney games -- this time made his deepest impact in the first half when he scored 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He made five 3-pointers, including one with a second left on the clock to give the Wildcats a manageable six-point halftime deficit.
But for all its NCAA tournament experience, Duke ended up getting dominated in a 55-point second half for Arizona. The Wildcats went on a 19-2 run during which Lamont Jones tied the score at 53 with a jump shot and Jamelle Horne hit a 3-pointer to give Zona the lead. Horne, Williams and Brendon Lavender later soared for dunks, and the Wildcats got plenty of second-chance opportunities as well.
“In the second half, I just think they were the aggressor,” said Duke guard Kyrie Irving, who scored 28 points in his third game since returning from a toe injury. “They were throwing a lot more punches than us. Tonight they were the better team.”
While Irving said after the game that he remains undecided on his future at Duke, it was the end of the line for seniors Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. Krzyzewski had them both check out for the last time with 2:01 left and the Blue Devils trailing by 17, drawing them close and saying a few words.
The abrupt realization that his career was over caused Smith to bury his head in a towel and choke back tears on the bench. He scored eight points, going only 3-for-14 from the field while committing six of the team’s 11 turnovers. “Everybody on their team stepped up,” said a stunned Smith.
Singler had 18 points and eight rebounds, but the Wildcats shot 54 percent and controlled the glass by a 40-27 margin. With the Blue Devils unable to stop Williams from further improving his NBA draft stock, they never made a serious run to get back into the game.
“Seeing them on the sideline and the name on their jerseys, we were bracing for it,” Horne said.
But the expected Duke run simply never came.
Said Krzyzewski: “They were phenomenal in the second half. We couldn’t stop ‘em. We just couldn’t stop ‘em.”
Duke could never find its rhythm with Williams’ talent unmatched and his motivation for beating Duke made clear after the game. He knew all about the last meeting between the two schools in the 2001 national championship game that Duke won.
“One fan told me, ‘My shirt is getting small from the 1997 championship. I need another one,’” Williams said. “That flipped the switch. I want to give everyone what they want.”
In front of family and friends near his hometown and plenty of Arizona fans who made the short trip, Williams will now have a chance to help the Wildcats reach the Final Four for the first time since that '01 title game. A one-man wrecking crew at times, he’s destroying the notion that these Cats can’t start a new chapter in the program’s storied history.
“If we win this game on Saturday," Williams said, "we’re going to be known as one of the best Arizona teams to play."
But with Williams, the Wildcats have a game-changer unlike any other. By the time he got done scoring 32 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in a 93-77 win against Duke, Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski was left heaping praise on the star sophomore and telling the 6-foot-8 forward that he was indeed special.
“He’s as good as anybody we’ve played, or I should say better than anybody we’ve played,” said Krzyzewski, who finished the season with 900 career Division I wins. “Even when he’s not scoring, he spreads you out. There is a physicality to his game. Clean, beautiful -- he’s a beautiful player.”
Williams’ 32 points tied a school record for most points in an NCAA tournament game, and this particular command performance on Thursday carried the Wildcats into the Elite Eight to face Connecticut. For all the doubters who thought a young Arizona team under second-year coach Sean Miller was not yet ready to experience glory days, Williams provided the response on the court and with words of his own.
“It just proves a lot of people wrong right there,” Williams said. “I think a lot of people -- media, fans, friends -- said that we couldn’t do it, and this proved them all wrong. I think that next time that they pick somebody else to beat us, they’ll think differently.”
Williams, whose season has been defined by last-minute heroics -- including each of UA's first two tourney games -- this time made his deepest impact in the first half when he scored 25 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He made five 3-pointers, including one with a second left on the clock to give the Wildcats a manageable six-point halftime deficit.
But for all its NCAA tournament experience, Duke ended up getting dominated in a 55-point second half for Arizona. The Wildcats went on a 19-2 run during which Lamont Jones tied the score at 53 with a jump shot and Jamelle Horne hit a 3-pointer to give Zona the lead. Horne, Williams and Brendon Lavender later soared for dunks, and the Wildcats got plenty of second-chance opportunities as well.
“In the second half, I just think they were the aggressor,” said Duke guard Kyrie Irving, who scored 28 points in his third game since returning from a toe injury. “They were throwing a lot more punches than us. Tonight they were the better team.”
While Irving said after the game that he remains undecided on his future at Duke, it was the end of the line for seniors Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. Krzyzewski had them both check out for the last time with 2:01 left and the Blue Devils trailing by 17, drawing them close and saying a few words.
The abrupt realization that his career was over caused Smith to bury his head in a towel and choke back tears on the bench. He scored eight points, going only 3-for-14 from the field while committing six of the team’s 11 turnovers. “Everybody on their team stepped up,” said a stunned Smith.
Singler had 18 points and eight rebounds, but the Wildcats shot 54 percent and controlled the glass by a 40-27 margin. With the Blue Devils unable to stop Williams from further improving his NBA draft stock, they never made a serious run to get back into the game.
“Seeing them on the sideline and the name on their jerseys, we were bracing for it,” Horne said.
But the expected Duke run simply never came.
Said Krzyzewski: “They were phenomenal in the second half. We couldn’t stop ‘em. We just couldn’t stop ‘em.”
Duke could never find its rhythm with Williams’ talent unmatched and his motivation for beating Duke made clear after the game. He knew all about the last meeting between the two schools in the 2001 national championship game that Duke won.
“One fan told me, ‘My shirt is getting small from the 1997 championship. I need another one,’” Williams said. “That flipped the switch. I want to give everyone what they want.”
In front of family and friends near his hometown and plenty of Arizona fans who made the short trip, Williams will now have a chance to help the Wildcats reach the Final Four for the first time since that '01 title game. A one-man wrecking crew at times, he’s destroying the notion that these Cats can’t start a new chapter in the program’s storied history.
“If we win this game on Saturday," Williams said, "we’re going to be known as one of the best Arizona teams to play."
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