Butler Serves Up Another Sweet Performance for West Virginia

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- It wasn't the same kind of big, late clutch shot that everyone now associates with Da'Sean Butler. But it was still important to West Virginia, and without it, who knows if the Mountaineers would now be in the Sweet 16?

The cliche Missouri coach Mike Anderson dropped right after his Tigers' 68-59 East Regional second-round loss to West Virginia, might actually have been true this time: "I don't think these guys lost, they ran out of time.'' Almost in spite of themselves, their proud press that West Virginia kept breaking, their own wayward shooting and poor decisions and bricklaying at the foul line -- in spite of all that, 10th-seeded Missouri still trailed only 62-57 with 1:18 to go. And fate handed them yet another opening on Cam Thoroughman's two missed free throws.

Except Butler sliced in from the left side, rebounded the second miss and laid it back in with 1:16 left. The lead was pushed to 64-57, West Virginia added four free throws in the ensuing 50 seconds, and Missouri (23-11) actually did then run out of time.

The putback was the last of Butler's 28 points and the last of his eight rebounds (and his only offensive one). As did the two buzzer-beating baskets that helped West Virginia (29-6) win the Big East tournament, it put his team, seeded second in the East, over the top.

"We always crash anyway. We kind of crossed and nobody really boxed me out, so I just went up and grabbed it and laid it in,'' Butler said. "But it was just a matter of getting to the basketball. I got there first before (the Missouri defender) did, and made the play.''



Share Until then, it was Missouri that was one or two plays away from throwing the game into doubt. West Virginia went the last 9:03 of the first half without a basket, and Missouri actually tied the game at 25 with three minutes left, but could never take the lead. In the second half, Missouri kept closing to within five, or four, or three, but never got over the hump.

Give credit to West Virginia's own solid defense, and to its ability to break the press regularly and not rush its offense afterward. But Missouri doomed itself with its wild shots at the wrong times, and by missing seven free throws in the second half, four of them in a ghastly three-minute span that ended with 5:16 left ... and the Tigers down only 54-50.

In addition, they botched two three-on-one breaks during that same window. One was blown when senior guard J.T. Tiller went flying in from the right wing and got his shot blocked -- by Butler.

"We look to him for a lot of things,'' said teammate Kevin Jones, "and he's just been able to come through throughout the whole season. I know he'll keep coming through for us.''

"We didn't panic. We just stepped up to the challenge and played like men..."
-- Da'Sean Butler Missouri needed someone like that, as it added 28 percent second-half shooting (including 3 of 12 on threes) to its other woes. "It's going to be tough to win when you have guys shooting 2-for-9, 3-for-8, another 2-for-9. It's tough, it's frustrating,'' said forward Keith Ramsey, reading the final stats that included his own 2-for-9 showing. "I mean, if those shots would have fell, we would probably be talking about us winning.''

And if West Virginia had crumbled under the renowned Missouri pressure, the talk might be about the Tigers going to Syracuse for the regionals next week. But, as Butler said, "It was just like a press, a regular press. We came to the ball, we met the ball a lot when they pressed, and we got people coming back to the ball and we just took care of it.

"We didn't panic. We just stepped up to the challenge and played like men and broke the press.''

As usual, Butler led his team in stepping up to challenges and playing like men.

Key Element

In the first round, Clemson got rattled by Missouri's defense, to the tune of 20 turnovers, including 15 steals. West Virginia turned it over half as much, an astounding 10 times, with just six steals by the Tigers. They also took just 47 field-goal attempts and went to the line 33 times, a blend of patience and aggression that milked the most out of every possession. The results -- 52.6 percent shooting from the floor and 74 percent from the line in the second half, thus holding every Missouri comeback try at bay.

Game Ball Goes To

Darryl "Truck'' Bryant, sophomore West Virginia point guard. Senior Joe Mazzulla, battling injuries all season, actually played most of the minutes against Missouri, but in 16 minutes as the starter against Missouri's press, he committed just one turnover, moved the ball around, picked the right times to penetrate, stayed patient, and hit two of his three shots. The focus was on him from the moment the matchup was set, and he came through just fine.

Heart Goes Out To

Anderson, who in four years has picked up the pieces from the scandalous Quin Snyder era and has followed an Elite Eight trip last season with another win in NCAA tournament play. It actually was a letdown, and eventually cost them with their pairing Sunday, when the Tigers lost in the Big 12 tournament opener to Nebraska and were downgraded to the 10th seed. He'll draw interest for one of the many job openings, and he'll lose three senior starters, but said Sunday, "I'm excited about what's taking place at the University of Missouri.''

What's Next

West Virginia takes on 11th-seeded Washington on Thursday in the East Region semifinal in familiar territory, on the home court of Big East rival Syracuse.

Quotable

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins: "Whoever doesn't think the Big East is a great conference, really shouldn't write sports for a living. Go do something else. I mean, do cooking or something.''