Sports

UConn shuts down Butler in junkyard final

HOUSTON — One shining face that will be remembered as the player who owned the 2011 NCAA tournament.

One shining smile that belongs to the player who loves the game with his heart and soul.

One shining moment in Connecticut basketball history.

Led by the irrepressible Kemba Walker, the Huskies, picked to finish 10th in the Big East this season, completed the most remarkable postseason run in school history.

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Eleven straight postseason games — five in five days to win the Big East and six more in three weeks culminating with last night’s 53-41 win over America’s darlings, eighth-seeded Butler, in a sloppy, scoring-starved national-championship game.

“It says we have a great coach and a great leader in Kemba Walker,” said center Alex Oriakhi, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

When Walker emerged from the Connecticut locker room about 45 minutes before tipoff, he winked at a Post reporter, held up his index finger and said the following: “Hey, one more.”

Walker, the MVP of the Big East tournament and Most Outstanding Player of the West Region, added MOP of the Final Four to the ever-growing trophy collection in his parents’ Bronx apartment.

Walker scored a game-high 16 points (despite a subpar 5-for-19 shooting night) and grabbed nine rebounds. He had spoken privately of having visions of this moment.

“His father, Paul, has visions, too,” Walker’s mother, Andrea, told The Post. “When Kemba was born [Paul] said to me, ‘A star has been born.’ He’s going to be the next Michael Jordan.”

It was a brutal offensive game, especially for Butler, which made just three two-pointers and nine 3-pointers and missed 52 shots to finish at 18.8 percent from the floor (12-for-64).

After shooting 22 percent in the first half, they managed to shoot worse in the second, missing 31 of 37 shots. Butler was outscored 26-2 in the paint.

“It was just one of those days,” said Butler senior forward Matt Howard. “It’s really frustrating now just looking back on it a little bit, realizing we had our chances.”

Walker did for UConn what Danny Manning did for the 1988 Kansas Jayhawks. He took a team of mostly sophomores and freshmen on his shoulders and carried it. The difference is Walker stands 6-foot-1 and Manning is 6-10.

“It can’t get any better than this,” Walker said. “You see the tears on my face. I have so much joy in me, it’s unreal. It’s surreal.”

It is the Huskies’ third national championship, all coming under Calhoun, who at the age of 68 became the oldest coach to win the tournament. He joins John Wooden (10), Adolph Rupp (4), Mike Krzyzewski (4) and Bobby Knight (3) as the only coaches to win three or more titles.

“I love coaching,” Calhoun said. “I love my team.”

Shelvin Mack led Butler with 13 points. The Bulldogs, who made history by becoming the first mid-major to advance to consecutive national-championship games, were again denied after losing 61-59 to Duke last season.

In the hallway leading to the court the Bulldogs — with a veteran that includes seniors Ronald Nored and Howard, and Mack, a junior — huddled one last time.

“This is not about winning the national championship,” Nored yelled. “This is about playing together one last time.”

The halftime score of 22-19 favoring Butler was the lowest scoring half in NCAA tournament history since 1946, when Oklahoma State led N.C. State 23-17. But this game had a shot clock.

The Huskies trailed 25-19 after Butler’s Chase Stigall hit a 3-pointer to open the second half, but they went on a 14-1 run to seize a 33-26 lead.

Jeremy Lamb (12 points, six rebounds) led the charge. After Shawn Vanzant knocked down corner jumper to stop the run, Connecticut went on an 11-2 run to take a commanding 44-30 lead with 5:50 left.

lenn.robbins@nypost.com