Junior guard Shelvin Mack has score a team-best seven points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that has helped the No. 8-seeded Butler Bulldogs take a slim 22-19 halftime advantage over No. 4 UConn Huskies in the NCAA men's basketball National Championship game at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX. UConn's junior guard Kemba Walker has also netted a team-best seven points.
Both teams are struggling to score as UConn (31-9) is just 9-of-31 from the field (29.0 percent), while Butler (28-9) is 6-of-27 (22.2). The Huskies have shot 0-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc, while the Bulldogs are 5-of-14 (35.7) from 3-point land.
UConn's largest lead was just five points, 13-8, which came at the 12:34 mark when Walker completed a 3-point play. Butler kept it close and took a 16-15 lead after sophomore guard Chase Stigall made a 3-pointer with 7:21 to play in the first half. After the final media timeout (3:49) and the game tied at 19, both squads combined to shoot just 1-of-9, the basket was Mack's 3-pointer which capped a 6-0 run for the Bulldogs.
UConn is trying to win its third National Championship, its last coming in 2004 when they defeated Georgia Tech, 82-73. Butler (28-9) is competing in its second straight National Title game. Last year, the Bulldogs lost to Duke, 61-59, in their native city of Indianapolis, IN.