UConn becomes the 2011 NCAA national champions

The Connecticut Huskies are once again the NCAA National Champions. And no, we're not talking about the women.

In a game that featured 40 minutes of guts and grit, #3 Connecticut made #8 Butler look like the underdog they really were, winning the NCAA men’s title Monday night with an old-fashioned, grinding 53-41 victory over the Bulldogs. Connecticut outscored Butler by an unthinkable 26-2 in the paint. The Bulldogs (28-10), in their second straight title game, spent a mind-numbing 13 minutes & 26 seconds in the second half making only one field goal.

UConn's Kemba Walker finished with 16 points for the Huskies (32-9), whose amazing late-season streak could be stopped only by the final buzzer. They won their 11th straight game since closing the regular season with a 9-9 Big East record. They won the title with a defensive showing for the ages, holding Butler to 12-for-64 shooting. That’s 18.8%, the worst ever in a title game.

At age 68, UConn's head coach Jim Calhoun became the oldest coach to win the NCAA championship. He won his third title since 1999 and joined John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight as only the fifth coach to get to the top three or more times.