1. National final

2. UConn vs. Butler 9:20 p.m. Game on CBS

3. Facts & figures What: NCAA Tournament championship game When: Tonight (tip scheduled for 9:23 p.m.) Where: Reliant Stadium, Houston TV, Radio: WFSB-3, WTIC-AM 1080 Records: No. 3 seed UConn 31-9; No. 8 seed Butler 28-9 Series: First meeting. How they arrived here: UConn beat No. 14 Bucknell and No. 6 Cincinnati in Washington, No. 2 San Diego State and No. 5 Arizona in Anaheim, Calif., and No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday night in Houston. Butler toppled No. 9 Old Dominion and No. 1 Pittsburgh in Washington, No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 2 Florida in New Orleans and No. 11 VCU on Saturday night in Houston. NCAA Tournament history: UConn is 49-27 in tournament games and owns two national titles (1999 and 2004). The Huskies are appearing in their fourth Final Four and third national title game. Butler is making its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and is 18-10 in tournament games. Worth noting: Butler returns to the title game for the second consecutive year ... UConn coach Jim Calhoun has a chance to join Kentucky's Adolph Rupp, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, UCLA's John Wooden and Indiana's Bobby Knight as the only coaches to win three or more national championships. He would also be the oldest coach to ever win a title ... The Bulldogs are 10-1 in their last 11 NCAA Tournament games. The lone loss was a 61-59 defeat against Duke in last year's championship game ... Butler enters the game with 14 straight victories while the Huskies have won 10 in a row ... Butler is the first runner-up to return to the title game since Duke did it in 1991 ... The Huskies play their 41st game of the year, setting a school record and a modern-era college basketball record. It is the most games played in a season since Oregon played 45 games in 1944-45 ... Butler's 70-62 victory against VCU was its largest margin in the tournament. It had won its previous four games by a combined 13 points ... UConn's 56 points against Kentucky matched a season low ... UConn is 13-0 in neutral-site games this year ... Butler is the first team to reach consecutive Final Fours without being seeded No. 1 or No. 2 ... The Bulldogs are 1-1 against Big East teams this year, beating Pittsburgh but getting drubbed at Louisville on Nov. 16.

4. Butler bulldogs The skinny Shelvin Mack had 24 points and was 5 of 6 from 3-point range in the win over VCU. When he started connecting from the outside is when the Bulldogs started putting some space between themselves and the Rams. Matt Howard deserves co-star billing as he had 17 points and eight rebounds against VCU. Both have been instrumental in getting Butler back to the title game for a second straight year. Howard's tip-in at the buzzer to beat Old Dominion in the opening round was followed by him making the winning free throw with less than a second to play in the victory over Pittsburgh. COACH Brad Stevens, despite being just 34, is being lauded as one of the best in the coaching profession. His ability to motivate his team while keeping a cool demeanor has made him the talk of the NCAA tournament for a second straight year. His decision to remain at Butler after last year's run to the championship game has added to his persona as the ideal college coach. He is already 10 wins ahead of the previous record for best four-year start by a coach with a 117-24 mark. KEY POINT The Bulldogs have been here before, and most of that team is back. Butler plays solid defense and doesn't make mistakes on offense, but it's the way the Bulldogs play so hard and don't let the disparity in talent affect them that has made them one of the country's favorite teams at this time of year. The Bulldogs showed they have some ability up front by outrebounding VCU 48-32, including 16-6 on the offensive end.

5. Roster Pos Ht Wt Yr Hometown 1 Shelvin Mack G 6-3 215 Jr Lexington, Ky. 2 Shawn Vanzant G 6-0 172 Sr Tampa, Fla. 3 Zach Hahn G 6-1 176 Sr New Castle, Ind. 4 Erik Fromm F 6-9 220 Fr Bloomington, Ind. 5 Ronald Nored G 6-0 174 Jr Homewood, Ala. 11 Alex Anglin G-F 6-5 177 Sr Kokomo, Ind. 20 Chrishawn Hopkins G 6-1 165 Fr Indianapolis 22 Grant Leiendecker G 6-5 182 Sr Fort Wayne, Ind. 23 Khyle Marshall F 6-7 210 Fr Davie, Fla. 30 Emerson Kampen C 6-9 189 So Yorktown, Ind. 32 Garrett Butcher F 6-7 209 Jr Ellettsville, Ind. 33 Chase Stigall G 6-4 195 So New Castle, Ind. 44 Andrew Smith C 6-11 239 So Indianapolis 54 Matt Howard F 6-8 230 Sr Connersville, Ind. Butler’s Ronald Nored and Matt Howard

6. Player G-GS Min Avg FG-FGA Pct 3P-3PA Pct FT-FTA Pct Howard 35-35 1080 30.9 184-376 .489 52-122 .426 164-210 .781 Mack 36-35 1153 32.0 189-467 .405 78-229 .341 116-148 .784 Smith 36-30 857 23.8 121-195 .621 0-1 .000 73-109 .670 Vanzant 36-24 1018 28.3 104-226 .460 34-81 .420 49-68 .721 Marshall 36-3 546 15.2 87-166 .524 0-2 .000 40-73 .548 Nored 34-23 898 26.4 58-141 .411 10-34 .294 53-82 .646 Hahn 35-14 598 17.1 53-167 .317 44-135 .326 24-28 .857 Stigall 36-11 585 16.3 49-144 .340 37-113 .327 4-8 .500 Hopkins 20-0 121 6.1 9-24 .375 6-12 .500 8-11 .727 Butcher 29-2 215 7.4 19-45 .422 2-6 .333 5-5 1.000 Leiendecker 15-1 35 2.3 4-11 .364 4-10 .400 6-6 1.000 Fromm 26-0 88 3.4 5-29 .172 3-17 .176 8-8 1.000 Anglin 18-2 77 4.3 4-8 .500 2-4 .500 2-3 .667 Kampen 15-0 29 1.9 0-0 --- 0-0 --- 0-0 --- BUTLER 36 -- -- 886-1999 .443 272-766 .355 552-759 .727 Opponents 36 -- -- 803-1881 .427 220-674 .326 496-742 .668 Stats Rebounds Player Off Def Tot Avg PF DQ AT TO BS ST Pts Avg Howard 92 179 271 7.7 102 4 51 61 22 38 584 16.7 Mack 23 132 155 4.3 63 0 129 88 2 30 572 15.9 Smith 82 114 196 5.4 106 1 19 30 15 25 315 8.8 Vanzant 14 102 116 3.2 73 3 60 37 2 26 291 8.1 Marshall 59 76 135 3.8 74 2 11 23 8 13 214 5.9 Nored 15 89 104 3.1 99 6 84 72 1 40 179 5.3 Hahn 10 28 38 1.1 37 1 41 33 0 14 174 5.0 Stigall 18 44 62 1.7 50 2 27 19 2 13 139 3.9 Hopkins 2 8 10 0.5 11 0 8 13 1 2 32 1.6 Butcher 22 17 39 1.3 33 0 5 7 0 4 45 1.6 Leiendecker 0 4 4 0.3 7 0 0 4 1 2 18 1.2 Fromm 3 11 14 0.5 14 1 1 1 0 4 21 0.8 Anglin 4 8 12 0.7 8 0 2 3 2 0 12 0.7 Kampen 1 1 2 0.1 5 0 1 1 1 2 0 0.0 BUTLER 395 853 1248 34.7 685 20 439 401 57 213 2596 72.1 Opponents 328 807 1135 31.5 708 18 386 453 98 194 232

7. Game by game BU Opp. 83 Marian, Ind. 54 73 at Louisville 88 88 Ball St. 55 70 at Siena 57 68 Evansville, OT 71 65 at Loyola of Chicago 63 70 at Duke 82 49 at Xavier 51 91 MVSU 71 83 Stanford 50 74 Utah-x 62 67 Florida St.-x 64 84 Washington St.-x 68 76 Valparaiso 59 52 at Wis.-Milwaukee 76 79 Cleveland St. 56 84 Youngstown St. 79 87 at Detroit 64 64 at Wright St. 69 81 Wis.-Green Bay 75 80 Wis.-Milwaukee, OT 86 79 at Valparaiso, OT 85 60 at Youngstown St. 62 73 at Cleveland St. 61 72 Ill.-Chicago 65 71 Wright St. 63 66 Detroit 51 64 at Wis.-Green Bay 62 79 at Ill.-Chicago 52 63 Loyola of Chicago 56 76 Cleveland St.-y 68 59 Wis.-Milwaukee-y 44 60 Old Dominion-z 58 71 Pittsburgh-z 70 61 Wisconsin-z 54 Florida, OT-z 71 70 VCU 62 x-Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic y-Horizon League Tournament z-NCAA Tournament

11. Uconn huskies The skinny STAR Kemba Walker showed again why he is having one of the best seasons in recent memory. He had 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists in the win over Kentucky. Despite being guarded by a much bigger player in DeAndreLiggins, Walker, who played all 40 minutes, was able to find his teammates to score and still made big shots himself. He accounted for 32 of the Huskies' 56 points. The All-America is averaging over 26 points a game in the postseason, a 10-game stretch in 25 days. COACH At 68, Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun would become the oldest coach to win a national championship. It would be his third title and would put him in a group with John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight to win at least that many. He has a career record of 854-607 placing him sixth on the all-time wins list and third among active coaches behind Krzyzewski and Jim Boeheim. The Huskies' Big East championship was Calhoun's record seventh. KEY POINT The Huskies are on a roll over the last 10 games with seven of the opponents being ranked in the Top 25. It hasn't all been Walker. Freshman Jeremy Lamb had 12 points and four assists against Kentucky, and Alex Oriakhi had eight points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Shabazz Napier had quite a final 16 seconds against the Wildcats, turning the ball over then coming up with a rebound with 3 seconds left and then made both ends of a 1-and-1 with 1.7 seconds left for a four-point lead.

12. Roster Pos Ht Wt Yr Hometown 1 Enosch Wolf C 7-1 260 Fr Goettingen, Germany 2 Donnell Beverly G 6-4 190 Sr Los Angeles 3 Jeremy Lamb G-F 6-5 185 Fr Norcross, Ga. 4 Jamal Coombs-McDaniel F 6-7 210 So Dorchester, Mass. 5 NielsGiffey G-F 6-7 210 Fr Berlin, Germany 10 Tyler Olander F 6-9 225 Fr Mansfield, Conn. 13 Shabazz Napier G 6-0 170 Fr Randolph, Mass. 15 Kemba Walker G 6-1 172 Jr Bronx, N.Y. 21 Kyle Bailey G 6-3 170 Sr Lancaster, N.H. 22 Roscoe Smith F 6-8 205 Fr Baltimore 23 Benjamin Stewart F 6-5 205 Jr Denver 34 Alex Oriakhi F-C 6-9 240 So Lowell, Mass. 35 Charles Okwandu C 7-0 255 Sr Lagos, Nigeria

13. Stats Player G-GS Min Avg FG-FGA Pct 3P-3PA Pct FT-FTA Pct Walker 39-39 1466 37.6 305-705 .433 74-218 .339 247-302 .818 Lamb 39-38 1071 27.5 173-358 .483 45-121 .372 42-53 .792 Oriakhi 39-37 1140 29.2 144-290 .497 0-0 --- 86-137 .628 Napier 39-0 922 23.6 98-257 .381 46-135 .341 70-92 .761 Smith 39-31 989 25.4 84-219 .384 25-82 .305 59-75 .787 C.-McDaniel 39-2 664 17.0 80-191 .419 24-82 .293 44-54 .815 Okwandu 39-19 602 15.4 51-109 .468 0-0 --- 11-21 .524 Giffey 39-10 372 9.5 30-74 .405 11-33 .333 15-19 .789 Beverly 37-0 324 8.8 19-52 .365 7-15 .467 21-28 .750 Olander 37-19 364 9.8 23-63 .365 0-2 .000 8-12 .667 Wolf 7-0 26 3.7 3-5 .600 0-0 --- 1-2 .500 Stewart 4-0 4 1.0 1-2 .500 0-0 --- 0-0 --- Bailey 6-0 6 1.0 0-0 --- 0-0 --- 0-0 --- UCONN 39 1011-2325 .435 232-688 .337 604-795 .760 Opponents 39 940-2352 .400 243-738 .329 440-639 .689 Rebounds Player Off Def Tot Avg PF DQ AT TO BS ST Pts Avg Walker 51 157 208 5.3 53 0 177 87 6 74 931 23.9 Lamb 48 119 167 4.3 61 0 60 49 24 34 433 11.1 Oriakhi 148 189 337 8.6 99 3 14 44 62 16 374 9.6 Napier 26 67 93 2.4 68 0 118 69 5 64 312 8.0 Smith 76 125 201 5.2 76 1 19 33 47 21 252 6.5 C.-McDaniel 20 86 106 2.7 40 0 22 30 7 10 228 5.8 Okwandu 40 67 107 2.7 96 4 22 34 49 9 113 2.9 Giffey 21 28 49 1.3 33 0 18 28 4 8 86 2.2 Beverly 15 34 49 1.3 31 0 46 28 4 10 66 1.8 Olander 23 45 68 1.8 55 1 16 22 7 4 54 1.5 Wolf 4 2 6 0.9 3 0 0 5 0 0 7 1.0 Stewart 1 1 2 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.5 Bailey 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 UCONN 547 988 1535 39.4 618 9 512 440 215 250 2858 73.3 Opponents 511 858 1369 35.1 713 - 484 456 138 231 2563 65.7

14. Game by game UCONN Opp. 79 Stony Brook 52 89 Vermont 73 83 Wichita St.-x 79 70 Michigan St.-x 67 84 Kentucky-x 67 62 New Hampshire 55 94 UMBC 61 78 Fairleigh Dickinson 54 76 Coppin St. 64 81 Harvard 52 63 at Pittsburgh 78 66 South Florida, OT 61 70 at Notre Dame 73 82 at Texas, OT 81 67 Rutgers 53 82 at DePaul 62 61 Villanova 59 72 Tennessee 61 76 at Marquette 68 78 Louisville, 2OT 79 58 Syracuse 66 61 at Seton Hall 59 72 at St. John's 89 75 Providence 57 78 Georgetown 70 58 at Louisville 71 67 Marquette, OT 74 67 at Cincinnati 59 56 at West Virginia 65 67 Notre Dame 70 97 DePaul-y 71 79 Georgetown-y 62 76 Pittsburgh-y 74 76 Syracuse, OT-y 71 69 Louisville-y 66 81 Bucknell-z 52 69 Cincinnati-z 58 74 San Diego St.-z 67 Arizona-z63 56 Kentucky 55 x-EA Sports Maui Invitational y-Big East Conference Tournament z-NCAA Tournament UConn coach Jim Calhoun

18. Complete coverage from Ed Daigneault in Houston Find it in print in the pages of the Republican-American …. And online at rep-am.com/sports