Last-second shot helps Butler continue magic
They were the champions of their respective conferences. They entered with nine-game winning streaks. They are among the elite of the nation’s mid-major basketball programs.
At Verizon Center on Thursday, there was little separating Butler from Old Dominion other than a tipped ball, a lucky bounce and a player in the perfect place at the perfect moment.
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When a carom came hard off the backboard and into the hands of Butler’s Matt Howard, he laid it off the glass at the buzzer and delivered Butler a thrilling 60-58 victory in the NCAA tournament.
| Up next |
| No. 8 Butler vs. No. 1 Pittsburgh |
| When » Saturday, 7:10 p.m. |
| Where » Verizon Center |
| TV » TBS |
| Pitt has been vulnerable in the round of 32, losing three of the last five years to lower-seeded teams — Xavier (2010), Michigan State (2008) and Bradley (2006). Pitt and Butler have never met in the NCAA tournament. |
It was an appropriate culmination of a spectacular game in which neither team led by more than six points. No. 9 Butler (24-9) advanced to Saturday’s round of 32 at Verizon, where it will play No. 1 Pittsburgh (28-5).
“We’re only 40 minutes into the NCAA tournament,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “But nobody will be more tournament tested by the [next] round than we will have been.”
The game was more pulsating stuff from last year’s Cinderella, which rode late-game magic to an appearance in the NCAA championship game, where it lost to Duke 61-59 as a shot from halfcourt caromed off the backboard and then off the rim.
On Thursday, the ball bounced Butler’s way.
“I was praying to God the red light would come on,” ODU forward Frank Hassell said. “It stabbed me in the heart.”
In the closing seconds, with the sellout crowd on its feet in a tie game, Butler guard Shawn Vanzant drove down the right side and lost the ball as he went up to shoot. Butler center Andrew Smith (11 points, six rebounds) tipped it off the backboard, and it ricocheted directly to Howard (15 points, five rebounds) on the left side. The senior had just enough time to set it off the glass and into the hoop.
A courtside video review by referees confirmed the ball left Howard’s hand just before time elapsed. ODU did not protest.
“A lot of credit has to go to Andrew. He made a great play keeping it alive,” Howard said. “It’s pretty easy when it’s just you, the ball and the rim.”
The bit of fortune was a just reward for the effort of Butler. The Bulldogs outrebounded the nation’s best team on the boards 32-29. Also keying the victory were junior guard Shelvin Mack (15 points, five assists) and junior reserve Garrett Butcher (six points, six rebounds), who rose in the second half after Smith was saddled with foul trouble.
It was a tough end to a stellar season for Hassell (20 points, five rebounds) and ODU.
“There’s only one team that doesn’t have this experience at the end of the whole thing,” ODU coach Blaine Taylor said. “It’s part of the madness, part of the magic.”
