Butler fans revel in home city NCAA final

INDIANAPOLIS - Hoping for an upset, thousands of Butler fans gathered at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse last night to watch their beloved Bulldogs battle Duke in the NCAA Tournament championship game a few short miles away.

There were about 4,000 fans in place an hour before the game to watch on four big-screen televisions. A cheer went up as the game began at Lucas Oil Stadium downtown, where about 71,000 fans were on hand.

They had reason to yell. Butler trailed only 33-32 at halftime before falling, 61-59, in a terrific game.

"We old guys for years have known how good Butler basketball is, and they're showing it tonight," said Jack Conolly, a 1954 Butler graduate.

Dennis Ogle, a 68-year-old Purdue graduate, was cheering for Butler at Hinkle.

"This is the best," he said. "You may never get a chance to see something like this again - as old as I am, I probably won't - for the rest of my life. I wasn't going to miss seeing the crowd here.

"It could be 20 years before you see something like this again at a small school in Indiana, or any other place for that matter."

His daughter, Jenny Ogle, said she won her pool because she picked Butler to reach the Final Four.

"I was the only one still standing," she said.

David Clegg of Indianapolis said when his dish stopped working because of the rain, he told the wife "goodbye" and headed to Hinkle Fieldhouse.

"I'm here for the atmosphere," Clegg said. "I'm just glad I didn't have to work."