Butler's Last Second Heroics Save WVU

FanHouse Big East senior writer Brett McMurphy is in New York breaking down every game of the Big East tournament.

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THE BUTLER DID IT

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NEW YORK -- It took four games, but normalcy finally returned to the Big East tournament.

Just barely.

Da'Sean Butler's 3-point buzzer-beating bank shot from straightaway lifted West Virginia to a 54-51 victory against Cincinnati, capping a wild and wacky quarterfinal round that featured three consecutive upsets before the Mountaineers escaped.

The third-seeded Mountaineers (25-6) were the only of the top four seeds to advance to Friday's semifinals. It marked only the fourth time in the tournament's 31-year history that only one of the top four seeds reached the semifinals.

"This is No. 1," said Butler, ranking his game-winning shot on his all-time list. "This is really good. Especially being here in a historic gym."


The shot didn't work out exactly how Butler planned. West Virginia had the ball out of bounds in front of its bench with 3.1 seconds remaining. Butler takes it from there.

"Honestly I was supposed to just catch the ball and get a couple of dribbles inside the 3-point line," Butler said. "When I got the ball, he [Cincinnati's Lance Stephenson] kind of pressed up on me. So I kind of lost my balance and by the time I squared up, I only had time to take one dribble instead of two or three.

"And when I took the one dribble, I put it up. I felt good. I saw it hit the glass. I said 'Oh, it's fine.' It fell right there. I said 'all right, it went in.' Thank God."

The 6-foot-5 Stephenson, who was guarding the 6-foot-7 Butler outside the top of the key, said Butler called the shot.

"I was all over him," Stephenson said. "Nothing I could do. I couldn't do nothing. I couldn't do nothing different. I actually fouled him.

"He called it. He said 'bank.' I said 'what?' I turned around and I seen it go in. Oh man."

Stephenson, the all-time leading scorer in New York high school history, had 19 points and seven rebounds to rally the Bearcats. His 3-pointer with 48 seconds pulled the Bearcats even at 51.

"Whatever it was [they did on defense against him], it wasn't very good, was it?" West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said about WVU's defense on Stephenson.

After Stephenson's 3-pointer, West Virginia turned it over on a shot clock violation with 6.4 seconds remaining. However, UC's Dion Dixon lost the ensuing possession out of bounds, giving the Mountaineers the ball with 3.1 seconds remaining and setting up Butler's heroics.

"He [Dixon] just got it in a hurry," Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. "He turned and dribbled it too fast. He turned before he even dribbled it. He was out of control before he even put it on the floor. I feel bad for him. He's devastated right now."

Butler finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Kevin Jones had 17 points and six rebounds as the Mountaineers overcame 4-for-20 shooting from 3-point range.

At the outset, WVU looked like it would win in a rout. Cincinnati didn't make its first field goal until more than 10 minutes into the first half as the Mountaineers took an 18-4 lead. The 11th-seeded Bearcats (18-15) rallied within three, 26-23, at halftime.

"When they came back it didn't rattle us," Butler said. "And a little luck helps."

West Virginia is making its third consecutive appearance in the tournament semifinals.

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK
Cincinnati leaves New York wondering what could have been after falling to the Mountaineers, but the Bearcats should have better days ahead. They lose only one starter -- guard Deonta Vaughn (11.1 points) -- and Lance Stephenson, who came on strong in the Big East tournament, should be vastly improved next season in his sophomore season. "Just right now I feel really bad for my players," Cronin said. "They deserve a much better ending. Win, lose or draw, just a tough way, tough way obviously to lose the game when a guy banks in a shot."

STAT OF THE GAME
10: Number of consecutive shots Cincinnati missed to open the game before making its first field goal with 9:17 remaining until halftime.

SOUNDBITE
"I'm not a fan of it." -- West Virginia coach Bob Huggins when asked his thoughts on the Big East giving the top four seeds two byes into the quarterfinal round. Three of the four teams that received double byes lost Thursday.

NEXT UP
West Virginia will play Notre Dame in Friday's 9:30 p.m. semifinal.

Contact FanHouse senior writer Brett McMurphy at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com