WASHINGTON — The players in the Butler locker room celebrated their latest stunning upset in the NCAA Tournament by screaming, exchanging high fives and hugging each other.
Across the arena, Pittsburgh forward Nasir Robinson sat in front of his locker with his shoulders slumped. His voice was barely audible.
“I take the blame, man. I take the blame for the loss,” Robinson said, referring to the pivotal play in Butler’s 71-70 victory over the top-seeded Panthers on Saturday night.
Matt Howard made one free throw with 0.8 seconds left to cap a wild final sequence that enabled No. 8 seed Butler (25-9) to advance to the round of 16 and deal Pittsburgh its latest painful exit from the NCAAs.
Each team had a chance to win it from the foul line in the last two seconds. After Butler’s Shelvin Mack inexplicably fouled Gilbert Brown near midcourt with 1.4 seconds left, Brown made the first try to tie it.
He missed the second, and Howard was fouled by Robinson while grabbing the rebound — a foul even more unnecessary than the one that preceded it.
“I’ve been playing basketball my whole life, and I know I shouldn’t have done that. It was a stupid play,” Robinson said. “It wasn’t the ref’s fault. It was my fault.”
Robinson tried to answer another question but got choked up and just shook his head side to side before putting a towel over his head.
When Howard grabbed the rebound of Brown’s miss, it appeared the game was headed to overtime because the Bulldogs were out of timeouts. Then Robinson stuck his arm into the fray.
“I was really surprised,” Howard said. “I felt his arm come across mine, so I just threw the ball to the rim.” Howard made the first shot, then intentionally banged the second attempt off the rim.
And soon after that, Butler was rejoicing at midcourt.
Pitt has made the NCAA Tournament in 10 straight seasons but never gotten past the round of eight.
Florida 73, UCLA 65
TAMPA, Fla. — Florida’s smallest player carried the team to its biggest win of the season.
Erving Walker, generously listed at 5-foot-8, scored 21 points and hit several clutch shots down the stretch as the Gators beat UCLA .
The Bruins kept it close throughout by pounding the boards and getting Florida in foul trouble.
But the Gators offset their problems inside with 50 percent shooting, six 3-pointers and Walker.
Wisconsin 70, Kansas State 65
TUCSON — Jordan Taylor hit two big free throws and blocked Jacob Pullen’s 3-point attempt in the closing seconds to overcome a rough shooting night.
Taylor shot just 2-of-16 but came up with the biggest play of the game, swatting Pullen’s tying attempt in the final seconds with Wisconsin (25-8) up three. Josh Gasser then hit two free throws to seal it, sending the fourth- seeded Badgers into the round of 16 for the fourth time since 2000.
