LOCAL: DAWGS HEADING BACK TO SWEET 16
WASHINGTON – The No. 1 seed in the West regional, the Pittsburgh Panthers, were knocked out of the NCAA Tournament 2011 despite being at the free-throw line with 1.4 seconds left, with a chance to defeat the Butler Bulldogs thanks to one of the more questionable officiating calls of this or any postseason.
Instead, Butler got the free-throw heroics, from Matt Howard, who hit the first of a pair of free throws with eight-tenths of a second left – after another shocking, although less doubtful, whistle. The free throw gave Butler, last year’s national finalist, a 71-70 win and advanced it to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year and third time in four years.
The last 2.2 seconds will likely never be forgotten on either campus – certainly not at Pitt, where the players, who had won the Big East regular-season title but were eliminated from the conference tournament at the buzzer as well, got possibly the break of the tournament.
Butler’s Andrew Smith’s putback with 2.2 seconds left had given the Bulldogs a 70-69 lead, and Pittsburgh desperately raced upcourt for a final shot – but the officials called Shelvin Mack for a foul on Gilbert Brown as both were sprinting down the sideline.
After a lengthy replay review to set the clock at 1.4 seconds – and after Butler coach Brad Stevens threw up his hands and screamed in anger – Brown hit the first to tie the game, then missed the second. Howard rebounded, and was hit across the arm by Pittsburgh’s Nasir Robinson, extending the game again.
Once the clock was reset again at 0.8 seconds, Howard hit the first free throw, then intentionally missed the second. Pitt could not get off a final shot, and several players ran of the court in frustration rather than joining the post-game handshake line.