Did the Butler do it? Not this time, Duke wins NCAA Tournament in a close one
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BUTLER FANS AT THE FINAL BUZZER
Duke beat Butler 61-59 on Monday night. It was enthralling piece of theater and a fitting way to end the season, even if America’s favorite underdog came up a little short.
“It will become an historic game, a benchmark game,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Not just the way it was played, but who played in it and what comes about.”
Memorable, indeed, for the way both teams battled, never giving an inch, or giving in on a single possession.
Memorable for the way it ended. Tiny Butler, on a mission to write a sequel to “Hoosiers,” had two chances to win it in the last 4 seconds. Hayward’s more traditional attempt — a fadeaway, 15-footer — was barely long. Then, after Brian Zoubek made one free throw and intentionally missed the next, Hayward collected the rebound, moved to halfcourt and took another shot that was on line, but barely bounced out. Butler performed in the best traditions of Indiana basketball.
The Duke Blue Devils won with defense. They held the Bulldogs to 34 percent shooting and contested every possession as tenaciously as Butler, which allowed 60 points for the first time since February.
Even though the trophy won’t go to Butler, the point has been proven. Teams with mega-money from power conferences aren’t the only ones that win in big-time college sports. Nothing proved that better than the Butler Bulldogs in their run through this year’s NCAA tournament.
“My congratulations and empathy are with the Butler team, who played winning basketball,” Krzyzewski said. “And, yeah, to me, it was a game that we won, but they didn’t lose.”
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Butler’s a Cinderella, but they’re hardly a fluke. Gordon Hayward was the Indiana high school player of the year 2 years ago. Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard were also highly recruited. And they’re all coming back next year. Add to these fellows a blue-chip recruit by the name of Khyle Marshall and, yeah, watch out for next year as well. Go Bulldogs!
Definitely a team to watch from now on as far as I’m concerned.
It really is another world…;-)
And quite a big one too.
My alltime favorite was Bill Walton of UCLA 22 out of 24 shots against Memphis State. No one will ever match John Wooden 10 NCAA’s in 12 years.
John Wooden was from Indiana, he once scored 134 consecutive free throws wile playing pro ball there. Amazing. He is part of Indiana folk lore.
Holte, I think i’d heard that somewhere.Didn’t he go to Purdue? Also his lifelong devotion to his wife was an inspiration.
I said Duke would win, remember? But Butler played really well. I thought Duke would crush them.
Very big of you to admit you were right Harry. Just kidding. Butler played very well, apart from shooting.
That was by far the best basketball game I have ever watched. Holte you captured it perfectly when you said that every possession was challenged. I had felt going in that Dukes discipline would overwhelm Butler. Boy! was I wrong. This was one of those games where you hate to see and you hate to see a team lose. Point wise Duke came out on top. The fact that at the last second Butler had a shot at winning was classic. Butler was a winner also in the sense that they proved that they belonged up there with the big guys.
The record books will say that Duke won the Championship, but there were two winners last night.
Bouncy bouncy…..Thank God the World Cup starts soon after the football season’s over. (That’s the ‘proper’ football by the way)…;-)
So you a Butler fan then?
That was a damn good game.
Yes it was and I’m not a sports fan.
Just didn’t have the ending that the neutrals wanted. Congratulations to Duke and Butler for serving up a tasty dish.