(5) Butler 63, (2) Kansas State 56

They did it.

Butler really did it.

As a result, one of the happiest homecomings in the history of Division I college basketball will unfold in a land where hoops is sacred.

The movie Hoosiers was filmed in Hinkle Fieldhouse, the home of the Butler Bulldogs and the site of Milan High School’s legendary upset of powerful Muncie Central in the championship game of the 1954 all-state Indiana High School Basketball Tournament. The movie faithfully retold the tale of how a scrappy bunch of underdogs – with uncommon grit, resilience and teamwork, plus a pinch of timely outside shooting – soared to the top of their sport in a moment that captured the imagination of young boys, ages 1 to 92, throughout the state of Indiana.

Now, the new Hoosiers have etched their names into the historical record book, inspiring a new generation of Indiana youngsters to reach for their dreams. Call it sappy, call it corny, but don’t call it too good to be true: its reality.

The names of Butler’s players – Hayward and Howard, Mack and Nored, Jukes and Smith, Vanzant and Veasley and Hahn – will be remembered in the nooks and crannies of Hinkle Fieldhouse for generations to come. The lil’ ol’ team from the aptly-named Horizon League now stands upon the mountaintop as the newest mid-major to crack the Final Four code.

The Bulldogs – up and down their roster – knew that they’d be flying back to Indianapolis one way or another after Saturday’s West Regional final against the Kansas State Wildcats. The only question was if their flight would be defined by tomb-like silence or unrestrained revelry.

America knows the answer now.

Butler will be headed back to its home city to host the Final Four. If you don’t have a dog in this fight, and you aren’t rooting for West Virginia to bring hope to the rough patches of Appalachia, you might want to see if you have a soul.

Butler jumped out to the early lead in this game against the No. 2 seed from the Big 12 Conference. BU took control because of its defense. Butler was clicking – the Bulldogs weren’t allowing anything easy to come their way against the Wildcats Saturday night, and it started with their pressure on the perimeter. Ronald Nored, Shawn Vanzant, and Shelvin Mack were absolute terrors for KSU guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. Neither were able to get into a rhythm until far too late in the game.

Butler was able to push its lead to double figures by the second half, but K-State had a run left in the tank.

Coach Frank Martin’s club – which surpassed any and all 2010 expectations in its own right – hit three threes as the Wildcats went on a 13-2 run in the span of 3:02 to take a 52-51 lead on Butler just under the five-minute mark of regulation. Butler answered, scoring nine of the next eleven points and sending Kansas State back to the Little Apple… and not Indianapolis. That may be the most impressive part about this Butler team.

Against Murray State, the Bulldogs blew a late six-point lead and found themselves down 50-47 with two minutes left. Syracuse had twice made what seemed to be a knockout blow against Butler in Thursday’s regional semifinals, but Butler erased a deficit and squeezed the Orange out of the tournament in the final moments of that Sweet 16 showdown.

Butler was the better team tonight against KSU, and it showed. The Bulldogs outrebounded KSU, 41-29. They controlled their side of the defensive glass. They gave up nothing easy to the Kansas State bigs after the first half. Mack and Gordon Hayward combined to score 38 points by repeatedly sticking ice-veins jumpers.

The better team won Saturday night. Let the Hoosiers comparisons – and the feel-good movie of the college basketball season – begin in earnest.

What’s Next:

Butler is off to the Final Four in its home city of Indianapolis. The Bulldogs will play the Michigan State-Tennessee winner in next Saturday’s national semifinals.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer