Recap: Butler vs. Murray State
Sports Network | March 20, 2010
San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Gordon Hayward had 12 points and seven rebounds and forced a turnover on the game's final possession, allowing fifth- seeded Butler to escape HP Pavilion with a slim 54-52 decision over 13th- seeded Murray State in second-round play of the West Region.
Matt Howard hit 1-of-2 free throws with 17.5 seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs a 54-52 lead. After grabbing the rebound on the second miss, the Racers opted not to call a timeout and swung the ball to Isacc Miles and then to Isaiah Canaan at the top of the key.
Canaan dribbled precious seconds off the clock before deciding to give the ball up to first-round hero Danero Thomas near halfcourt.
Thomas, who hit a game-winning jumper to upset Vanderbilt on Thursday, never got a chance to duplicate the feat, as Hayward tipped the ball into the backcourt and corralled the loose ball as the buzzer sounded.
"I shouldn't have left my feet," Miles said. "Luckily we got the ball back. Four seconds left and they just made a good play collapsing, great defense and couldn't get a shot up."
Ronald Nored provided the go-ahead points down the stretch and finished with a game-high 15 to go with six assists for Butler (30-4), which won for the 22nd straight time despite shooting just 36 percent from the field.
"I'm still trying to figure out how the heck we won, but these guys dug in," Butler coach Brad Stevens said. "I think we held them to a very low number of points after Matt went out with fouls, which puts us in a tough spot and our smaller lineup was incredible defensively."
The Bulldogs, who have now reached the Sweet 16 three times in the last eight years, will next face the winner of the Gonzaga/Syracuse contest.
Canaan hit all four of his three-point tries on his way to a team-high 14 points for Murray State (31-5), which was trying to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.
Down 46-38 after a 9-0 Butler run with just over six minutes left in the game, Murray State head coach Billy Kennedy called timeout and helped his players regroup.
Coming out of the short break, Miles drained a three-pointer to ignite to a 12-1 spurt that gave the Racers the lead again.
Canaan's make from behind the arc gave the underdogs a 48-47 lead, and Ivan Aska banked in a short bucket to cap the surge with under three minutes to play.
Hayward made 1-of-2 free throws to make it a 50-48 game, and after a Thomas miss, Shelvin Mack tied things on a mid-range jumper with 1:24 left.
B.J. Jenkins was off the mark on a deep three at the other end, and Nored worked his way into the lane and got a go-ahead layup to fall while being fouled by Aska, who failed to get in position on the right block.
Nored hit the subsequent free throw with 25.4 ticks left, and Miles attacked the basket and drew contact, hitting two free throws for a one-point game prior to the final dramatics.
Neither team scored until Miles hit from behind the arc almost three minutes in.
Butler then got hot for a 3 1/2-minute stretch, as two Willie Veasley free throws capped a 12-point run near the 12-minute mark.
Nored's jumper with 6:22 remaining gave the Bulldogs a 22-17 edge but was the last bucket the Horizon League champs made in the half.
Murray State, which captured the Ohio Valley Conference title, netted the final nine points of the stanza, with Donte Poole's late three-pointer providing a 26-22 score.
A Nored free throw, capping an 8-0 spurt, gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the second half, 34-33, nearly seven minutes in.
The Racers went six minutes without scoring a little later, and Hayward's strong drive to the lane finished off an nine-point run for a 46-38 cushion.
Murray State fell to 2-14 in the NCAA's, while Butler improved to 10-9... Thomas came into the game averaging 10.4 points but missed all four of his field goal attempts, finishing with zero points and seven rebounds...Miles and Jenkins each had eight points for Murray State, which committed 18 turnovers to Butler's six...Mack and Veasley chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Bulldogs.
