UConn Beats Butler, 53-41, to Win NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship

UConn Huskies, Kemba Walker beat Butler, 53-41, to win NCAA men’s basketball national championship (NYDailyNews) HOUSTON – Kemba Walker stood on the platform in the middle of the court at Reliant Stadium and cast his eyes skyward. In his hands he carried college basketball’s national championship trophy. In his coach’s hand was the net. This was the vision that had been following Connecticut’s junior All-American since he took the Huskies on a streak of five wins in five days for the Big East title at the Garden. Monday night, UConn brought the vision to life, blowing past Butler in the second half and cruising to a 53-41 victory before 70,376. BOX SCORE: UCONN 53, BUTLER 41 “I definitely thought…

FINAL FOUR: UConn Holds On For 56-55 Win Over Kentucky

HOUSTON — When it’s win or go home, nobody’s better than Kemba and the kids. Kemba Walker scored 18 points Saturday night to lift Connecticut to its 10th straight victory since finishing off a .500 Big East regular season, a 56-55 win over cold-shooting Kentucky that moved the Huskies a victory away from their third, and most improbable, NCAA title. Walker, a quick-handed junior from the Bronx, added seven assists and six rebounds to help the young UConn team (31-9) extend a winning streak that started with a five-wins-in-five-nights leg-drainer at the conference tournament and now includes five more at the tournament that really counts. The third-seeded Huskies – lowest seed left in a tournament…

YouTube Sensation Wins NCAA Slam Dunk Contest

Jacob Tucker Wins 2011 NCAA Slam Dunk Contest It all started when Jacob Tucker, a 5-foot-11 guard at Illinois College (D-III), posted an incredible dunk video on YouTube in an attempt to get voted into the NCAA slam dunk contest. The senior got his wish and seized the opportunityon Thursday night. Tucker, the smallest player in the competition, was the only player to earn a 50 in the first round with a ridiculous through-the-legs dunk off the bounce. In the final round, Tucker missed two attempts at a through-the-legs 360 dunk. But his back-up plan was good enough for the victory. Tucker jumped over a ball-boy, who was holding the ball over his head, and threw down an amazing…

VCU Beats Purdue 94-76, Wins 3rd NCAA Tournament Game

CHICAGO — Oh yeah, VCU belongs in the NCAA tournament. The real question now: Who can stop the Rams? Fresh, fast, furious and at times flawless, VCU didn’t look a bit like a team playing its third game in five nights. The Rams pressured Purdue, broke through its defense for numerous layups, and overwhelmed the third-seeded Boilermakers of the Big Ten 94-76 Sunday night to earn their first trip to the round of 16. As their fans chanted “VCU, VCU,” players hugged and celebrated on the floor of the United Center. What a trip – what a week – it has been. Now it’s on to San Antonio for the 11th-seeded Rams (26-11) to play…

A Priceless Feeling Comes With Tangible Rewards

(NYTimes) DENVER — At Morehead State in Kentucky, the university bookstore struggled to keep up with demand for the T-shirts commemorating Thursday’s surprise victory over Louisville. The admissions department was overwhelmed with three times as many application requests as usual. Five times as many people showed up on Friday saying they wanted to tour the tiny campus, officials said. “We’ve got a real short window for this,” Athletic Director Brian Hutchinson said. “It could all come crashing down on Saturday, or we could be part of the national conversation for another week.” That is what one victory in the N.C.A.A. tournament can do for a college not accustomed to such attention. And the only guaranteed outcome…

FIRED: Paul Hewitt Out As Georgia Tech Coach

(AJC, Shultz) Paul Hewitt appears to be out as Georgia Tech basketball coach. Tech officials would neither confirm nor deny a report via college basketball blogger Jeff Goodman on the website Yardbarker that Hewitt was fired this morning. Hewitt had been expected to meet today with athletic director Dan Radakovich, who returned from the ACC tournament Friday night following conference meetings. When reached by phone,Tech sports information director Dean Buchan said, “I can neither confirm nor deny the report.” Associate athletic director Wayne Hogan had a similar response to our Doug Roberson. Hewitt’s firing has been expected since the Tech lost its ACC tournament opener to Virginia Tech Thursday night and finished the season at 13-18.  The Jackets have been expected…

SURPRISE: ‘Noles Bring Down No. 1 Blue Devils 66-61

By BOB FERRANTE FOXSportsFlorida.com contributor TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Somehow. Someway. Coming off losses to Auburn and Virginia Tech, Florida State would appear to be the least likely team to stun top-ranked Duke. But what FSU lacks in offense, the Seminoles more than make up for with a defense that is among the nation’s best. On Wednesday night, FSU knocked off a No. 1 team for the fourth time since 2002. The Seminoles won with a suffocating defense, doing what no team had been able to do against Duke this season – slow a Blue Devils team that was averaging 87.8 points. Derwin Kitchen had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Singleton added 18 points as…

BRAWL: Mississippi St. Players Fight In Stands

HONOLULU (AP) Two players from Mississippi State‘s basketball team fought in the stands Thursday night between games at the Diamond Head Classic. Sophomore forward Renardo Sidney and junior forward Elgin Bailey got into the altercation about 10 minutes before the tipoff of the game between tournament host Hawaii and Utah at the Stan Sheriff Center. Punches were thrown in the fight that lasted several minutes and was broken up by teammates. Sidney was seen being escorted away by arena ushers and Honolulu Police, who said later that nobody was arrested. Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury refused comment until he ”finds out all the facts.” Sidney scored 19 points in the Bulldogs’ 69-52 win over San Diego earlier Thursday…

Is It Time For GT Basketball Coach Paul Hewitt To Be Fired?

Time To Say ‘GoodBuy-Out’ (Monday Morning Point Guard, Rosenberg) Calling all Georgia Tech alum! Calling anyone that is a fan of Georgia Tech men’s basketball! We are starting a fundraiser. We need to raise money immediately. How much? Are you currently sitting down? I’ll wait…. Approximately $8.1 million dollars. That is how much its going to cost Georgia Tech to tell Paul Hewitt to clean out his locker. This program has reached it’s breaking point. It’s reached the point where we must now say: it’s worth it. I don’t want to make this column about numbers. It’s too easy to talk about his inability to get past the 2nd round in the NCAA tournament (in…

NCAA tournament field may expand to 68 teams

(Associated Press) INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA hopes to expand the men’s basketball tournament from 65 to 68 teams beginning next year, and announced a new, $10.8 billion broadcasting deal with CBS and Turner Broadcasting on Thursday that will allow every game to be shown live for the first time. The three-team expansion is much more modest than 80- and 96-team proposals the NCAA outlined just a few weeks ago at the Final Four. The move coincides with the new, 14-year broadcasting arrangement that interim NCAA president Jim Isch said will provide an average of $740 million to its conferences and schools each year. The NCAA badly wanted every tourney game broadcast live. “It was a…