SALT LAKE CITY — Good thing basketball games aren’t scored like “Dancing with the Stars,” because Cinderella would have been unceremoniously sent home in disgrace.
Did you see the big shot Butler used to upset top-seeded Syracuse 63-59 on Thursday night in the NCAA Tournament? It was more awkward than Kate Gosselin stumbling through a waltz.
But it got the job done.
“That’s a H-O-R-S-E shot,” Bulldogs senior Willie Veasley said. “I never made anything quite like that.”
With Butler clinging to a one-point lead late in the second half, the shot clock winding down and strangers in the crowd sharing one big gasp of apprehension, Veasley launched a 3-point jumper so ugly it made you want to cover your eyes.
The longest of long shots clanked off the rim, then seemed to float toward the arena ceiling in defiance of gravity. On its way out of the building, however, the basketball decided to give the backboard glass a kiss goodbye. That bit of luck somehow redirected the ball back toward Earth and through the basket for the most important points in the history of Butler sports.
“At first I was already headed back down the court, because I figured (the ball) was going to go over the top and I missed it,” said Veasley, who didn’t make a 3-point basket against Syracuse until he extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 58-54 with 1 minute, 48 seconds remaining in the game.
And then you knew. Syracuse was done.
“You began to think: This is our game,” Butler junior Matt Howard said.
While it took a fortunate bounce for the Bulldogs to prevail in the end, let there be no mistake. Butler bounced Syracuse from the semifinals of the West Regional on skill, not luck.
“I expected it to be a hard, difficult game,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said.
The truth of the matter is: Butler won without playing its best basketball. The Horizon League champions were outrebounded 38-28 and barely shot 40 percent from the field.
From the opening minutes, however, you could see the shock in the eyes of Syracuse, when the underdogs raced to an early 12-1 lead. The most intense and physical players on the court were wearing Butler uniforms.
“I think were definitely more athletic than people give us credit for. So maybe (Syracuse) looked past us, maybe they looked at us during warm-ups and thought we weren’t going to come to play,” said forward Gordon Hayward, who led Butler with 17 points.
Next up for Butler: Kansas State, which beat Xavier 101-96 in double OT.
The Bulldogs’ goal is to win once more, then advance to the Final Four, which is being staged in Indianapolis, the school’s backyard. “It’s going to be a dream come true,” Butler guard Ronald Nored said.
