Butler Bulldogs vs Connecticut Huskies Betting Odds

Opening Line: Butler +3.5 / UCONN -3.5 Over/Under: 129.5

Time: 9:23 EST Monday April 4, 2011 on CBS

The Big Dance finale is set and can Butler come through this season and win it all after losing to Duke in last year’s National Championship game? To do it they will have to beat a red-hot UCONN squad and has one of the hottest players in the nation in Kemba Walker. The Huskies won the Big East Tournament taking out 5 ranked teams to do it and they come into this game after beating Kentucky in the Final 4. Butler was the Cinderella last season and in their last game they played great defense in taking out this year’s Cinderella in VCU.

In their Final 4 wins Butler beat VCU 70-62 and UCONN beat Kentucky 56-55.

Both teams were pretty even on the betting front this season with UCONN at 22-12 and Butler at 20-13-2. In the NCAA Tournament UCONN is 4-1 ATS and Butler is 5-0 ATS.

Butler beat VCU in the final 4 for 2 reasons: their defense and their rebounding. They held VCU to 39.7% shooting and they killed them on boards out-rebounding the Rams by 16 (46-30). Both of things may be harder to do against UCONN, especially on the boards since the Huskies rank 11th in the nation in rebounds per game.

In the win over VCU their big dog, or bulldog should I say, G Shelvin Mack played well scoring 24 points on 8/11 shooting, including hitting on 5 of 6 of his 3-pointers, but the other scorers for Butler struggled. F Matt Howard and G Shawn Vanzant each scored in double figures, but they only combined to shoot 6/21 from the floor. Overall, the Bulldogs only shot 35.6% from the field in the win over VCU and they MUST shoot the rock better in this game or they will lose their 2nd straight title game.

UCONN played great defense in their win over Kentucky holding the Wildcats to only 33.9% shooting. Star Huskies G Kemba Walker was the leading scorer in the game going for 18 points, but he only hit on 1 of his 5 3-pt shots. He and G/F Jeremy Lamb, who scored 12 points in the win over UK, will have to provide the offense for the Huskies in this game. Walker is averaging 25.5 ppg in his last 10 games.

UCONN F/C Alex Oriakhi is a big key in this game, as if he can score some inside buckets it will open up the perimeter for Walker and Lamb. Also, he grabbed 10 rebounds in the win over Kentucky and if he can dominate the paint UCONN will be tough to stop. He and the Huskies cannot allow the Bulldogs to grab 13 offensive rebounds like Kentucky did against them in the Final 4 game.

In some other betting trends for this National Championship game:

Butler is 7-0 ATS in their last 7 games and has an Under record of 4-1 in their last 5 NCAA Tournament games as an underdog of 0.5-6.5.

UCONN is 9-1 ATS in their last 10 games, 10-1 ATS in their last 11 non-conference games, and has an Under record of 5-1 in their last 6 games.

Our Selection : The Bulldogs had an unbelievable 15 offensive rebounds in their victory versus VCU and only managed to put up 70 points. Don't look for Butler to repeat that feat against the Huskies who are very strong on the defensive boards. If UConn can defend the 3-point ball adeqautely, they will cruise to an easy win.
Take UCONN -3 at Bodog.