Image by Getty Images via @daylifeOf course Butler erased a late deficit. Of course the Bulldogs hit a clutch 3-pointer late in overtime. Of course they’re going back to the Final Four.
This is the Butler Way.
Shelvin Mack scored 27 points, including five in overtime, and Butler reached the Final Four for the second year in a row with a 74-71 victory over Florida on Saturday.
“This is a huge deal,” said Zach Hahn, whose two 3-pointers helped Butler stay close in the first half. “I don’t know that any other mid-major has ever done this. It’s hardly happened once, let alone twice. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
This game had another frantic finish.
“We just kind of stayed together, stayed the course, figured it out, and just played resiliently,” Butler coach Brad Stevens. “I’m incredibly proud of these guys. They carried their coach in a big way. … Our players did a great job, and (they are) just a special group. We’re really lucky that they’re Butler Bulldogs.”
Matt Howard scored 14 and Khyle Marshall added 10 for the Bulldogs (27-9), who showed again they simply won’t give in, climbing out of an 11-point hole in the last 9:25 of the second half.
Mack was playing through pain after rolling his left ankle in the first half and needed a small bandage on his forehead in the second half. He could not recall what happened to his head, only that it was bleeding when he came to the sideline.
That didn’t stop him from draining a crucial 3-pointer with 1:21 left in overtime to give Butler the lead for good at 72-70. He also had enough vigor left during the net-cutting ritual to do a mocking Gator chomp with his arms from atop a ladder.
“It’s a physical game. That’s what the NCAA tournament is all about,” Mack said. “You wouldn’t want it any other way.”
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