For Butler, their second finals appearance in consecutive years turned out to be very disappointing. The Bulldogs shot 12-of-64 from the field (18 percent, lowest in title game history) and was a dismal 3-for-31 on 2-point shots. You can’t however say that Butler simply had a bad game. UConn’s Alex Oriakhi and Charles Okwandu had excellent games defensively. Both Oriakhi and Okwandu had four blocks while Oriakhi was able to hold Butlers most explosive player Matt Howard 1-13 in shooting.
Butler was able to carry a lead into the half after UConn’s starters had two fouls. This forced Calhoun to sit his top players such as Lamb and Oriakhi who were sidelined for the final eight minutes of the first half.
The second half turned out to be a different story to UConn.
After staying out of foul trouble, Jeremy Lamb got his game going scoring 12 second half points, Kemba Walker added 16 and the Huskies were able to pull away from the Bulldogs en route to the National Championship.
