INDIANAPOLIS — Butler center Matt Howard slumped in a folding chair looking way more dazed than he did after suffering a concussion two nights earlier. Blood stained his lower lip. His ears were still ringing from 70,930 fans who made Lucas Oil Stadium sound very much like an Indianapolis Colts playoff game.
In a deathly silent locker room where you could not only hear a team’s collective heart break but also a nation’s, Howard replayed a shot that he’ll replay for the rest of his life.
“I thought it was going in,” said Howard, his eyes still staring into space. “That makes it even more devastating.”
The shot he referred to was Butler star Gordon Hayward’s 40-foot, buzzer-beating heave that banked off the backboard and popped out of the rim, preserving Duke’s 61-59 win Monday night for the national title.
In a state where basketball is woven into the social fabric like its mosaic fields of corn, this shot came an inch from erasing the Milan Miracle as the state’s greatest hoops moment. Bobby Plump’s elbow jumper that gave little Milan High its 1954 upset over mighty Muncie Central at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse was the backdrop of this game.
This was no elbow jumper. Neither was Hayward’s 15-foot baseline fadeway that rimmed out with four seconds left.
“That was another one,” Howard said. “You think it’s going in, and it barely catches the back iron.”
Fifth-seeded Butler (33-5), the smallest school to make the title game in 40 years and playing six miles from campus, did nearly everything right to upset top-seeded Duke (35-5). Butler held its own on the boards against the much-taller Blue Devils, getting edged only 37-35.
It held Duke to 5-of-17 from 3-point range. Butler committed only eight turnovers and made 10 straight free throws down the stretch. But 6-foot-3 Willie Veasley couldn’t stay with 6-8 Kyle Singler, who had a game-high 19 points, and Duke blocked seven shots.
“I guess I’ve watched games like that,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “You get pretty excited about an ending that comes down when the ball is in the air.”
Butler, whose 25-game win streak ended, attacked the middle all night. Howard, cleared from his concussion, got behind 7-1 Brian Zoubek for two inside baskets to cut the lead to 60-59 with 55 seconds left.
After Singler shot a near airball, Butler had an inbounds play under the Duke basket with 13.6 seconds left. After a timeout to save a five-second call, Butler placed Hayward in the middle of the court.
A long pass put him one-on-one with Singler, who held the Horizon League player of the year to 2-of-11 shooting. Hayward dribbled around a Howard screen, found the hulking Zoubek waiting and leaped into the air.
With Hollywood waiting to pen a sequel to “Hoosiers,” the ball hit the back rim and bounced out. Zoubek corralled the rebound.
“Felt good,” Hayward said. “Looked good. Just wasn’t there.”
Shelvin Mack, who tied Hayward for team honors with 12 points, fouled Zoubek. He made the first and purposely missed the second. Hayward got the rebound, seemed to dribble through the entire Duke nation and pushed up a prayer that nearly answered Butler’s.
“Anytime you have a player of Gordon’s caliber and he’s got the ball in his hands and he lets it fly on the last attempt,” Stevens said, “you feel like you got a chance to win.”
For Duke, the win added to its blueblood image as it marked coach Mike Krzyzew- ski’s fourth national title. He may have never earned a harder one. Duke’s march to the madness went through two football stadiums backing Baylor and Butler.
It won playing Butler’s style, digging into a half-court game that held the Bulldogs to only .345 shooting. Singler, the Final Four MVP, turned Hayward into an ordinary player, and Zoubek corralled 10 tough rebounds.
Duke won again when it didn’t shoot well.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in eight national championship games, and this was a classic,” Krzyzewski said. “This was the toughest and the best one.”
In the end, however, a nation that loves its underdogs could only pat these Bulldogs on the head. Butler’s bite couldn’t quite match a nation’s bark.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
