Jim Calhoun Must Have Given UConn Players Muscle Milk at Halftime

This moment of madness brought to you by Muscle Milk®. It’s powerful protein. Drink. Evolve™

The UConn Huskies won their third national championship in school history Monday night, defeating the Butler Bulldogs 53-41. UConn started off the game slowly and was actually trailing 22-19 at the half, but a superb second half effort gave them the win. Butler disappointed with one of the poorest performances we’ve ever seen in a title game, and a lot of it can be attributed to UConn’s defense.

Muscle Milk, which is sponsoring this story, reminds us that anyone can excel on any given day and that Muscle Milk can help you become the best YOU can be. UConn coach Jim Calhoun must have either given his players some Muscle Milk shakes at halftime or lifted their spirits with an inspirational speech, because their defense was impenetrable in the second half.

Check out some of these mind-boggling statistics that tell the story of the game better than any words can:

– Butler was held to 12-for-64 shooting, good for 18.8% which is the worst ever in title game history
– The Bulldogs only made three two-point baskets the whole game
– UConn outscored the Bulldogs 26-2 in the paint
– UConn had 10 blocks tying a title game record, including four each by Alex Oriakhi and Roscoe Smith

A big reason Butler struggled to score was the strong interior defense by the Huskies which was manifested by the blocks from Oriakhi and Smith, and the 33 three-pointers Butler attempted. I don’t think bombing 33 threes was the plan for Butler, but they just couldn’t get any decent shots and had to settle for long-range threes.

What also must not be overlooked is that the Bulldogs missed several easy baskets they normally would convert. Why was that the case? Maybe they were tight and not relaxed, causing them to miss routine shots and layups. Actually, my mom said it best when she looked at the players during the pre-game introductions and observed the Butler players looked nervous in comparison to the UConn guys. She was exactly right, and Butler played like it, at least in the second half.

But if it weren’t for whatever message Jim Calhoun gave his guys at halftime, they probably wouldn’t have pulled out such a one-sided win. My guess it was a nice dose of Muscle Milk that made the difference.