Archive: April, 2011
Joe Juliano, Inquirer Staff Writer
HOUSTON – So what did you think? Was Monday night’s battle for the national championship between Connecticut and Butler – won 53-41 by the Huskies – one of the worst-played games of such importance in sports history?
Neither team could make a shot in the first half. Butler still couldn’t hit the ocean from the pier in the second half but the Huskies could, and the result was UConn’s third national championship, all under 68-year-old head coach Jim Calhoun.
Yes, the Huskies did play solid defense in the second half. But good teams usually make a majority of their open shots and their share of contested shots. The Bulldogs did neither.
Juliano joined the Inquirer in 1985 after 10 years at United Press International and has covered college sports for most of that time. His current beats are Villanova basketball, Penn State football, golf and the Penn Relays. Reach Joe at jjuliano@phillynews.com.
