Butler dominated the end of the first half and will now take a 34-28 lead into halftime, as both Butler and VCU vie to become the Cinderella team in the NCAA Tournament’s national championship game.
VCU’s three-point shooting went cold after the first few minutes of the first half, and the Rams began to rely on the three less and less. Instead, they played a somewhat slower game, and that’s not good for them, because they’re over-matched by Butler when both teams play a set offense.
Shelvin Mack leads Butler with 13 points, followed by Matt Howard with nine. Jamie Skeen has 12 points for VCU, while Bradford Burgess has nine. Butler continues to win the rebounding battle, with 18 boards compared to VCU’s 11. Khyle Marshall leads Butler with five rebounds, including three on the offensive glass.
VCU is still very much in the game, and we’ll see how the second half plays out here in a few minutes.