Men's college basketball: Butler needed much more than a buzzer-beater at the end of this year's national championship game. The No. 3 seed UConn Huskies demolished the eighth-seeded Bulldogs 53-41 Monday night to win the title. Kemba Walker led the Huskies in scoring with 16 points.
The victory gave the Huskies their third national championship in school history, all of which have come under Jim Calhoun's reign. The Huskies' head coach joins John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight in a fraternity of coaches who have won at least three NCAA titles. Calhoun, who is suspended for the first three Big East games next season for recruiting violations committed under his supervision, became the oldest coach (he's 68) to win a national championship. Previously, Kansas' Phog Allen was the oldest coach to win a title, which he did in 1952 with the Jayhawks at age 66.
Butler lost in the title game for the second straight year and became the fourth team in history to lose consecutive championship games. The Bulldogs shot a title game-worst 18.8 percent (12 of 64) on the night, and Butler's 41 points were the lowest in a championship game since 1949, when Oklahoma State scored 36. The combined 94 points accounts for the lowest point total in a championship game since 1950.
With Monday's victory, UConn capped an 11-game winning streak, a run that started with five wins in five days at the Big East tournament.
MLB: In their home opener Monday night, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers 5-1 and improved to 4-0, their best start since 1997. Baltimore has yet to trail in a game this season, and so far, the Orioles haven't given up more than one run in each game. In its first four games, Buck Showalter's club has outscored its competition 17-4.
NHL: The New York Rangers rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the second period to beat the Boston Bruins 5-3 Monday night. New York leapfrogged Buffalo into a sixth-place tie with Montreal in a very competitive Eastern Conference playoff race. The Rangers now lead the Sabres by a point and ninth-place Carolina by four points.
The San Jose Sharks clinched their fourth consecutive Pacific Division title on Monday in a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. The win was the eighth in the last nine tries for the Sharks, who moved one point ahead of Detroit into second place in the Western Conference. For the Kings, Monday's loss meant a missed opportunity to clinch a playoff berth.
