Three quick thoughts:
- Both teams are playing good-to-great defense, but that was the worst half of basketball I've seen in a long time. Even Wisconsin is embarassed for both of these teams after that half of ineptitude. UConn cannot hit a shot, and might be down 8-10 if they hadn't gotten a lot of bounces go their way. Butler has been cowed away from driving inside, as UConn's length is killing their inside game.
- If I'm UConn, I really just need to ride this game out and do everything I can to get Kemba Walker going. Usually it takes more than one player to carry you to a win in the tournament, but tonight, 1 good hot stretch from Kemba probably clinches it.
- If I'm Butler, I need to get a few easy baskets. Even if they just convert 2-4 inbounds plays into points, that might be enough. But they cannot just rely on hitting 3 pointers from further and further behind the line each time.
The pace of the game heavily favors Butler, but Kemba is the best player on the floor and most likely to hit a big shot in a close game at the end.
