It has been said that the Butler Bulldogs are at their best when they play poorly. Given how they had performed entering the National Championship game against the Connecticut Huskies, there is definitely some truth to that. They have scrapped their way to wins, hitting big shots and clamping down defensively. Somehow, in saddening fashion, they managed to ugly up the championship game too much.
At halftime the two teams combined to make less field goals, 15, than fouls committed, 16. Butler shot 6-27, an abysmal 22 percent, with only one of their makes a two-pointer. Yet, inexplicably, they were leading on Shelvin Mack’s three-pointer at the buzzer. Surely they would snap out of the funk, build off Mack’s shot, and be similarly stifling defensively to dispose of Connecticut, right? As it turned out, they managed to do worse–much, much worse.
Chase Stigall hit a three-pointer to begin the second half, giving Butler a six-point lead. That was the last time Butler would crack a smile. What followed was difficult to watch. The Bulldogs bricked 22 of their next 23 shots. Yes, that’s right: Butler, the team that made yet another exhilarating run to reach the final for the second straight season, was shooting 8-46 from the field.
It’s hard to describe the feeling watching clang after clang. Layups were left short and jumpers continuously bounded off the rim. The ineptitude was shocking. Butler head coach Brad Stevens was at a loss for words; often with his arms folded, walking back and forth down the sideline. After some misses he would look towards his bench and shake his head. There was nothing to say. His Bulldogs just ran out of gas.
In the end, having been dealt a 53-41 loss, the Bulldogs set the title game record for the lowest field goal percentage, at 18.8 percent. Twelve makes in 64 attempts: a performance unlike any other. It was sickening.
Connecticut won their final eleven games, including five games in five days in the Big East Tournament. Energized by freshman guard Jeremy Lamb, they shot 50 percent in the second half, picking apart a seldom-used zone defense instituted by Stevens. Despite their heightened play to take a trophy that capped a 11-game win-steak, this was one of the worst games I’ve ever seen. And though the Huskies deserve the utmost credit for playing stifling defense and heating up enough offensively, it is hard not to focus on Butler’s play.
They took the defeat as well as it can be taken. ‘It just wasn’t our night’ was the consensus reaction.
“I feel very fortunate to be part of this and part of this class,” said star forward and outgoing senior Matt Howard, who missed 13 of his 14 attempts, as documented by USA Today. “It’s hard to put that into words right now because we wanted a little bit more. Maybe at some point we can look back and be proud.
“We kept telling each other to keep shooting and shots would go in. It just wasn’t happening. I wish, from my standpoint, I was able to give a little bit more to my team. It’s just frustrating now. We kept trying to go back inside; we had quite a few good looks; they just weren’t going in. When you’re not scoring inside, especially when you get good looks, it’s tough to get going.”
Mack, who was 4-15 as the lone Butler player to make more than three field goals, gave Connecticut their due credit. “They’re a great defensive team, and do a great job of contesting any shot,” he said, as reported in the aforementioned article. “They just weren’t falling today. They’re very athletic. They contest shots that people wouldn’t normally be able to contest. It was a rough night for us on the offensive end.”
As after last year’s run into the title game, Butler is losing some key pieces as they try to put another gut-wrenching defeat behind them. Howard’s college career is over, with the NBA potentially in his sights if he so chooses. Key guard Shawn Vanzant, who had five points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals, is also set to graduate. Mack, a junior, has the talent to leave for the NBA.
Yet, if the college basketball world has learned anything from Butler it’s to not count them out no matter what. They have Stevens, a very intelligent coach whose recruiting class is bound to be talent-laden given the team’s exposure and success. Two title game appearances in a row will do that for a program that was an unknown in 2009. And they–the Bulldogs, a team that should not be forgotten just because their performance was forgettable–will surely be out to see if the third time’s the charm.
(Photo: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson through Daylife)
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Author and owner of the Swamigp’s Sports Blog, Nick loves to write about his hometown Portland Trail Blazers as well as the Boston Red Sox. 