UConn’s defense, free throws win a title

By Art Spander

ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s a lost art, or so we’re told. Nobody cares about free throw shooting. Flying dunks get you on instant replays. All free throws do is get you a national championship.

There’s a lesson to be learned and a skill to be practiced. University of Connecticut, UConn in the vernacular, was perfect from the foul line Monday night, 10 for 10.

That the Huskies were relentless on defense was something also to be recognized.

As UConn will be recognized for an NCAA title with a 60-54 win over Kentucky in a final game that had two former presidents of the United States, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, side by side and next to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

It was at Jerry’s place, AT&T Stadium, the huge spaceship of building on the plains — the networks call the area North Texas, like Southern California or Eastern Europe — where this final game of the 2014 college basketball season drew a record crowd, 79,238.

It was at Jerry’s place where that solid defense and that perfection from the line kept Kentucky behind from start to finish. Not once in 40 minutes did the Wildcats creep into the lead.

“The way we started really cost us the game,” said John Calipari, the Kentucky coach.

The Cats hit only 5 of their first 17 field goal attempts. The Cats trailed, 30-14, with a second less than six minutes remaining in the first half.

That they cut the margin to four, 35-31, by halftime verified the Calipari contention that his players never gave up. Huzzah. They just never got ahead, either.

“Why?” asked Calipari, rhetorically. “Duh. Five freshmen in their first final. Give Connecticut credit. They were the aggressor. I told my team we had to be aggressive, sprint the ball up the court, to attack them and not let them attack you. We jogged. But again, these kids fought and tried.”

So did UConn, which had senior leadership from guard Shabazz Napier, a brilliant defender, hawking the ball, battling through screens, and an excellent shooter.

He was 8 for 16, 4 of 9 beyond the 3-point arc. He had three steals. He had three assists. He was selected outstanding player of the game.

“Napier impacted the game,” said Calipari. "He impacted every game he’s played. Terrific player. He has a swagger about him, and he deserved to have the swagger.”

UConn had some failings, missing 10 of its first 11 shots in the second half. But when Kentucky came close, 48-47 late in the second half, there was Napier, swish, with a killer 3-pointer.

“He made a play,” Calipari said. “He made that dagger."

UConn, at No. 7, is the lowest seed ever to win the championship. The Huskies had trouble overcoming St. Joseph’s, 89-81, in the first round of the tournament and during the season they lost three times to Louisville, one time by the score of 81-48. So they finished with an overall record of 32-8.

Still, they are No. 1 at the end, which counts, doesn’t it?

“I said in the beginning 18 months ago,” second-year UConn coach Kevin Ollie told CBS-TV, “when we started the process was going to be first. We was last. Now we’re first.”

Ollie, who grew up in the tough part of Los Angeles and went to Crenshaw High, doesn’t always speak the King’s English, but his thoughts are well understood. And after spending years in the NBA, a journeyman going from one team to another, he understands winning basketball.

His teams swarm on defense — the Huskies shut down No. 1 Florida in Saturday’s semifinal — and they are fundamentally sound. Ten for 10 from the line. Only 10 turnovers.

“Coach Jim Calhoun, the greatest coach ever, paved the way,” said Ollie, who was recruited by Calhoun and then before the 2012-13 season replaced him.

This was the fourth national championship for UConn, each of its last three coming in Texas — one in San Antonio, one in Houston and now one in the suburbs of Dallas.

“We ran out of time,” said Calipari.

More accurately, they ran into UConn.