NCAA Tournament Final Four Recap

The Cinderella run of No. 11 VCU came to an end on Saturday night at Reliant Stadium in Houston at the hands of the other Final Four darlings, No. 8 Butler. The Bulldogs (-3.5) advanced to the national championship game with a 70-62 win over the Rams, who also dropped their first game ATS in the NCAA Tournament in the loss.

In the battle of college basketball blue bloods in the other national semifinal, No. 3 Connecticut continued its hot play with a 56-55 shading of No. 4 Kentucky. The Huskies upset the Wildcats as 2.5-point underdogs to improve to 9-1 ATS during a current 10-game SU winning streak that began with its improbable run to cash the Big East Tournament.

Next up for UConn and Butler is the national title game on Monday night (9:23 PM ET, CBS). Oddsmakers have the Huskies as 3.5-point favorites, while the total is set at 129.

Butler pounds glass, wins ugly

Virginia Commonwealth was the hottest team in the Big Dance heading into the Final Four, but Butler was the toughest, and it proved that on Saturday night with its win in Houston.

The Bulldogs shot only 35.6% from the field against the Rams, but they won the battle on the boards, 46-30, including a 15-5 advantage on the offensive glass.

Shelvin Mack led the way with 24 points and six rebounds for Butler, while Matt Howard finished with 17 points and eight boards. Butler cashed as -145 chalk on the moneyline in addition to its win ATS, while the contest played just ‘under’ the 133-point total.

The Bulldogs did an excellent job of keeping the Rams’ secondary scorers in check. Jamie Skeen and Bradford Burgess combined for 42 points and 15 rebounds but no other VCU player scored more than four points.

Connecticut turns up defense, takes down Kentucky

Kemba Walker leads the Huskies, but it was their play on the defensive end that allowed them to upset the Wildcats on Saturday night.

Walker did his part with 18 points, seven assists, and six boards in the win, but UConn never let Kentucky get in rhythm. The Huskies rewarded moneyline backers as +123 pups, while ‘under’ bettors took home the payday on the 140-point total.

Connecticut held Kentucky to 33.9% (21 of 62) shooting on the night, including a 33.0% (9 of 27) clip from downtown. The Wildcats also went an ice-cold 4 of 12 from the line.

Brandon Knight paced Kentucky with 17 points and eight rebounds, but he connected on only 6 of 23 field goal attempts including a 3 of 12 showing on 2-point shots.