Butler Did It!

Well, Butler did it!  They beat K-State.  I wanted to think it was possible, or even likely, going into the game.  Butler had, after all, put down Syracuse who was my tourney favorite.  But watching K-State earlier in the tournament I kept thinking they were a very complete team with a couple of players who might just kill you at any time -- Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen. 

Butler played very well in the first half, albeit turning it over too much.  They were monstrous on the boards and got themselves a lot of second chances.  The Wildcats looked exhausted for most of the first half.  Hard to quantify, I guess, but they had that moving underwater look that my mom used to accuse me of sometimes when I was playing Little League.  The second half was a lot tougher and Butler actually increased their rate of turnovers.  Pullen and Clemente, who Butler had neutralized effectively in the first half, laid down some pain.  Bulldog Matt Howard started missing free-throws and I started to get nervous.  All's well that ends well, though, and this one did.  Gordon Hayward of Butler remains an awesome talent and likely future NBA contributor, displaying excellent decision making, shooting, and ball-handling skills for a man of his height.  Shelvin Mack also played a great one (and may also have a future in the NBA)... And all of that summed up to a nifty Butler victory including a great last 4 or 5 minute run by Butler to seal the thing. 

Butler will take on either Michigan St or Tennessee (game in progress right now) in their Final Four matchup.  Either team is beatable for Butler (and both teams not as good as Syracuse of K-State), and Butler may even have the logical edge in what will amount to a home game for them with the Final Four being played in Indianapolis.  Could it happen?  Could we see a midmajor (true blue, too, coming from the very middling Horizon League) in the NCAA final?  Could they even win there against a questionable Duke squad or a recent bulldozer of a Baylor team?  You can bet I'll be watching with rapt attention.