Caron Butler decided not to watch.

With his team trailing by six with less than 30 seconds remaining and Maryland’s Steve Blake at the foul line, Butler chose to instead look at the ground, his body slumped over and his hands clinging to his shorts.

But don’t blame Butler. The unfair load of having to carry Connecticut on his shoulders for the night — for the season (he averaged seven more points than any other player) — weighed on him heavily.

‘I want to put the team on my back and lead my team to a Final Four, to a national championship and so on,’ Butler said after Friday night’s win over Southern Illinois. ‘Coach Calhoun and the rest of my teammates believe in me to do so, so hopefully it works out for the best.’

Yesterday, it didn’t. But don’t fault Butler. This was a goal no player, no sophomore especially, should be expected to accomplish.

The forward watched from the bench for a six-minute stretch in the first half and saw what happened to his team without him on the floor. The Terps took over for a seven-point halftime lead in what had been an even game.

Butler walked onto the floor in the second half knowing his team needed him, and he responded, dropping 26 second-half points. He couldn’t have given his team any more.

The Huskies climbed on Butler’s back the way he asked, but his bulky shoulders could not carry an entire team. Even Maryland’s 260-pound Lonny Baxter can’t handle a load that large this late in the season. Instead, the Terps divided the weight.

Baxter picked up 29 points. Juan Dixon assumed 27.

After the Huskies’ victory over Southern Illinois on Friday, Jim Calhoun lauded his team’s ability to spread the scoring around, to not force one guy to carry the burden. But yesterday, his team showed none of that ability, if it ever really existed.

No other UConn player scored even half of Butler’s 32 points. The Huskies’ second- and third-leading scorers in the game, Tony Robertson and Taliek Brown, scored 15 and 12 points, respectively.

That’s exactly what makes Butler’s performance so special. Butler is the Huskies’ senior leader as a sophomore. Besides senior Johnnie Selvie, Connecticut starts four underclassmen. Compare that to the four upperclassmen Maryland starts.

‘I would say there is no question (experience matters),’ Calhoun said. ‘(Maryland) has been there in so many situations. If they’ve been there in 60 situations, we’ve been there in 20.’

But Butler’s never been there. Only a sophomore, Butler’s never played with so much on the line so late in the postseason. And to make matters worse, he’s not surrounded by a cast of players who have either.

Still, Butler hit threes, grabbed rebounds and outmuscled defenders in the paint during a second half in which competitors on both sides agreed he was the best player.

‘He’s the best player on the floor,’ Calhoun said, ‘and if Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon are on the floor, he must be pretty special because they’re great players.’

And they’re seniors.

After Friday night’s Sweet 16 game, Calhoun held a team meeting to talk about what the Huskies could accomplish against Maryland. That meeting did not take place in the coach’s hotel room nor in Selvie’s. It took place in Butler’s.

The Huskies weren’t very fair to Butler. They asked if they might hitch a ride to a national championship on his shoulders. And, without hesitation, Butler told them to climb aboard.

But, as Butler and UConn discovered, rides to the Final Four aren’t free. And it takes more than one driver.

Pete Iorizzo is an Assistant Sports Editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at pniorizz@syr.edu.

Published on March 24, 2002 at 12:00 pm