After an amazing ending, Butler has Duke's respect
INDIANAPOLIS - Twice Gordon Hayward put the basketball in the air with the NCAA championship on the line, and twice, hearts jumped into throats for everyone wearing Butler and Duke uniforms and for the 70,930 in attendance Monday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Hayward's first attempt to win a game Duke led 60-59 came with seven seconds left on a jumper from the right baseline over the outstretched arms of 7-1 Blue Devils center Brian Zoubek. "I've seen him make that numerous times before in practice and in games,'' Butler forward Matt Howard said. "You think it's going in, and it barely catches the back iron.''
The rebound came right back to Zoubek, who caught it and was fouled with 3.6 seconds left. Zoubek was upset with himself for getting beaten on two rebounds by Howard, the last of which was an offensive board that led to his layup to cut the Devils' lead to one point.
"To get that stop, it was why we won this whole year, defense,'' Zoubek said.
Zoubek knocked down the first foul shot for the 61-59 margin that decided one of the greatest NCAA title games in history. But when he intentionally missed the second shot, that score came oh so close to turning into a 62-61 Butler upset.
"I bodied up Hayward,'' Zoubek said of the final sequence that began when Hayward rebounded Zoubek's miss and then went around him and headed up the right side of the court. "By the time Hayward put the ball on the ground, it was 1.8 seconds left. They got off a bad shot, not a good one. It almost went in, should have gone in, though.''
Crossing the midcourt line, Hayward let fly from about 45 feet out with 0.7 seconds on the shot clock in the background. If it went in, it would count.
Duke's Kyle Singler, who was attempting to guard Hayward, got nailed and dropped to the floor by a screen.
"I kind of twisted the right way to see the ball,'' Singler said. "I saw the ball bounce off the backboard and hit the [front] rim. You know, it looked good. The ball - it was just one of those things where you're wishing, hoping that it won't go in. When I saw it bounce off the rim, the team came together, and it was just a special moment.''
Duke (35-5) celebrated coach Mike Krzyzewski's fourth national championship, which ties him with Kentucky's Adolph Rupp for second all-time behind the 10 titles won by UCLA's John Wooden. Butler (33-5) agonized over the end of its magical 25-game winning streak and the ride that carried the 4,200-student school all the way to the threshold of a national championship.
Howard reflected the view of the guys in the black Butler uniforms as they watched Hayward's final desperation attempt. "I was standing at halfcourt, and I thought it was going in,'' Howard said. "That makes it even a little more devastating. You think that shot is going, and then it rims out like it did. I couldn't be more proud of the way we played. Duke getting over 60 points may have been the difference.''
Butler held its first five tournament opponents below 60, as if the Bulldogs knew exactly where to draw the line to pull off one major surprise after another over No. 1 seed Syracuse, No. 2 Kansas State and then 2009 national runner-up Michigan State on the way to the final game.
"They're crushed," Butler coach Brad Stevens said of his players. "This matters. They wanted to win. Gordon's first shot looked good the whole way. The last one had a chance . . . We had two shots to win the game.''
The respect from Duke's players for Butler and for the game they shared was evident. "In my years of watching the national championship game, this was the best one I've seen,'' Blue Devils guard Nolan Smith said. "This was a special one. Butler is a very special team, and I won't be surprised if I see them back here next year.''
Duke guard Jon Scheyer added, "Their team was so tough. I can only imagine what they're feeling, especially to end the game like that. Those guys, it was the toughest game we played all year. They gave everything they had just like we did. It's hard that one of these teams had to feel that way.''
