Butler serves up stunner, beating Pitt

WASHINGTON -- Butler, having long ago shed the image of not-quite-major, went about its unfinished business of rocking the college basketball establishment with yet another shocking victory Saturday night, this one with the zaniest finish imaginable to knock off top-seeded Pitt, 71-70, in the NCAA round of 32.

With Butler ahead 70-69 on sophomore center Andrew Smith's curling layup with less than two seconds to play, Butler junior guard Shelvin Mack handed Pitt a gift shot at the victory by pushing Pitt's Gilbert Brown out of bounds before Brown could force a wild shot near midcourt.

Officials put nine-tenths of a second on the clock and sent Brown -- who led Pitt with 24 points and had made his first three free throws -- to the line. Brown swished the first foul shot -- 70-70 -- but bounced the second off the rim.

Butler senior Matt Howard, the miracle worker with a game-winning layup at the buzzer against Old Dominion two nights earlier, snatched the rebound -- which wouldn't have been much help except that Pitt's Nasir Robinson was on his back, clearly fouling Howard on the arm.

With eight-tenths of a second to go, Howard sank the first of two free throws and purposely missed the second, Pitt having no reasonable chance to get off a shot.

Not that anything in the last minute was reasonable.

Pitt (28-6) led 69-68 with 60 seconds to go after Smith missed the second of two free throws. Brown missed a short jump shot that might have sealed the victory, but Butler's return trip also came up empty as Howard rolled the ball off the rim and Smith couldn't score on a putback.

Butler then clamped down on Pitt, causing a shot-clock violation. And with barely two seconds to play, Smith converted on senior guard Shawn Vanzant's assist, only to lead to Mack's thoroughly untimely foul.

Vanzant said he was yapping at Brown with the game in the balance. "I was just saying, 'Miss one for me, miss one for me,' " Vanzant said. "But I honestly don't think he heard me, with all the crowd noise."

Once Brown unwillingly obliged, Howard somehow was perfectly positioned not only for the rebound but to draw Robinson's foul.

"I don't know if I've ever seen two plays like that," senior guard Zach Hahn said, "let alone two calls like that."

Butler junior guard Ronald Nored, who had been a part of Butler's surprising run to the championship final a year ago, called the ending "probably the craziest thing that ever happened. And I can't think of it happening a better way."

Mack's last-second foul seemed to spoil his terrific performance: 30 points, most of them on shots from the cheap seats -- 7-for-12 on three-pointers.

But Butler again had no existential doubt of who it is, a legitimate contender by any standard despite its No. 8 seed in the Southeast Regional.

And a real magic act.