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NCAA Championship Game 2011: UConn Tops Kentucky To Reach National Championship

Kemba Walker and the UConn Huskies came through in the last minutes of an incredibly close Final Four contest Saturday to defeat Kentucky 56-55 and advance to the NCAA Championship Game. 2011's No. 9 squad in the nation are now the NCAA Tournament's bad guys; they'll take on eight-seeded Butler as the closest thing this national championship has to a top seed. Walker led both sides with 18 in a grindingly slow game that saw the teams combine to make just 10 of 39 three pointers. Brandon Knight had 17 on 6-23 shooting for the Wildcats, whose most efficient scorers were Terrence Jones, with 11 points and 15 rebounds, and Doron Lamb, who added 13 points off the bench. 

The Huskies led by seven at the close of the first half, but Kentucky rallied early in the second as Connecticut stalled, and the two teams were neck and neck the rest of the way, although Kentucky led just once in that second half. The Wildcats just couldn't quite overcome Knight's poor shooting, and that means Kemba Walker, one of college basketball's most dynamic scorers, will take center stage at the National Championship game.