It didn’t take long for the madness to begin.
Butler, which came within a hair of winning the national championship on a last-second shot in 2010, now owns the red light district. A tripped ballhandler’s desperate throw, a tip by a teammate to keep the ball alive and a basket at the buzzer left the Bulldogs celebrating on the court Thursday afternoon against Old Dominion.
“This game will give your heart an extra beat,” Old Dominion coach Blaine Taylor said. “It will break your heart, and right now we’re kind of heartbroken where we sit.”
Butler advanced to Saturday’s NCAA tournament third round vs. top-seeded Pittsburgh by surviving ODU 60-58 on Thursday at Verizon Center. Butler needs another giant-killer effort to reach the Sweet 16, but who can doubt a team that always seems to be within one basket of winning?
Butler was two points short against Duke in last year’s title game, but karma bounced its way this time. Guard Shawn Vanzant admitted he misread the defense on the final play, then tripped and simply threw the ball in the air to keep it alive.
It was a “prayer shot,” as ODU forward Frank Hassell said.
Bulldogs forward Andrew Smith, who missed much of the second half with foul trouble and a nasty cut above his right eye, tipped the ball underneath to teammate Matt Howard, who narrowly beat the clock with the game-winning layup.
“I was thinking there wasn’t going to be any time,” Howard said of the shot.
There was time for a miracle. After a series of counterpunches — for much of the game, the two teams were within a basket of each other, and neither led by more than six points — this was naturally going to be the narrowest of wins.
“This is what you envision the eight-nine [seeded] game to be,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said.
It’s what the tournament is envisioned to be. Millions of fans fill out brackets trying to find these surprises, such as 13th-seeded Morehead State’s 62-61 upset of fourth-seeded Louisville minutes after Butler outlasted ODU. It’s simply the greatest postseason in sports.
And it leaves a trail of heartbreak in every round. Hassell won 97 games over four years at ODU — 27 this year alone. But this was his chance to win an NCAA tournament game, and it vanished in an instant.
“I was praying to God that red light came on before the ball left his hands,” he said. “It kind of stabbed me in the heart.”
Taylor knows the loss could prove haunting to his players and program. Frankly, the Monarchs might have won if not for missed layups. Simply boxing out underneath on the final possession at least would have forced overtime.
“I’m always going to wonder,” Taylor said. “[Players] are always going to wonder if we could have advanced even further.”
It’s enough to drive anyone to mad.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected]
