Missed opportunity

Prior to Monday night's NCAA Men's Championship game, a few of us at work were wondering aloud how many people might not make it work (at any business) Tuesday.

For me, this was not a problem whatsoever.

After taking the dogs out for the last time, I ventured into the house to watch the Butler Bulldogs take on the Connecticut Huskies.

I hoped, like most in the Hoosier state, that the Bulldogs would be crowned Champions of the 2010-11 season.

As James David lowered his head onto his mommy's chest, slowly falling asleep, I moved the pillow on the couch into position.

That's right. I slumped onto the couch and began preparing for an evening of sleep.

Big mistake.

The last thing I remember is Butler coach Brad Stevens being interviewed after Shelvin Mack drilled a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a 22-19 halftime lead.

I'm pretty sure I managed to keep the eyes open during halftime.

But I don't remember anything from the second half, in which the Huskies outscored Butler, 34-19, including a 22-3 run, which I learned about Tuesday morning.

Speaking of Tuesday morning, it was normal.

I woke up and went out to feed the dogs, take them out, and then prepared for a shower.

As I finished getting ready for work, I came into the family room to ask about the game.

Merry told me James David only took a short nap before waking back up to finish watching the game with his mommy.

Needless to say, I was completely in the dark at this point, eager to find out the score.

Merry had informed me Butler lost, but I needed a score.

I needed statistics.

I flipped the television to ESPN and saw the Bulldogs lost by 12, and was quite surprised, believing the title game would be much closer.

But after close examination, I can see why this happened.

Even though Butler had a slim lead at halftime, it appears the Bulldogs were taken out of their game.

Butler attempted 33 three-pointers, which seems out of sorts. The Bulldogs hit just nine; meaning 27 of their 41 points came from beyond the arc.

Connecticut's inside game won this battle.

The Huskies outrebounded the Bulldogs, 53-41, coincidentally.

Butler shot just 12-for-64 from the field Monday evening, hitting only 18 percent of its shots. Matt Howard, one of the Bulldogs' key weapons, shot just 1-of-13 from the field and finished the game with only seven points. Mack led Butler with 13 points.

In addition, there were only 11 assists in the game combined.

Defense ruled Monday's title tilt.

And I missed the majority of it.