LOCAL: DAWGS HEADING BACK TO NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Last year, Butler was a nice little story, one of those heart-warming underdogs that make the NCAA tournament such an irresistible spectacle.
But after making the championship game for the second straight year, perhaps it’s time to redefine the term “mid-major.”
Led by the appropriately-named Shelvin Mack, the Bulldogs barged into Monday’s final by beating fellow usurper VCU 70-62 Saturday in the national semifinals at Reliant Stadium.
“Two really good teams,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “VCU has a lot to be proud of. They inspired a lot of people, including us.
“We were fortunate to be able to pull that out.”
Butler become the first team to reach consecutive title games since Florida in 2006-2007.
Butler, which lost in the final seconds to Duke in last year’s national title game, will meet the winner of Saturday’s nightcap between powerhouses Connecticut and Kentucky.
Mack finished with a team-high 24 points and scored 10 straight as the Bulldogs took a 54-47 lead with 9:38 left.
“My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball in a position to have some success,” Mack said.
The Bulldogs (28-9) had to fight to put VCU (28-12) away.
It didn’t happen until late, when Shawn Vanzant’s 3-pointer put Butler up 61-54 with three minutes remaining. The Rams, just the third No. 11 seed to ever reach the Final Four, got no closer than four as their stunning tournament run came to an end.
The game was largely a battle of styles, with Butler seeking to control the tempo and slow things down against the quicker, more aggressive Rams.
The Bulldogs failed in the early moments as their 5-0 lead evaporated in the face of a 15-2 VCU run.
White hot from beyond the arc in their five tournament victories, the Rams continued to shoot well with three consecutive 3s during the spurt.
From there, however, Butler gradually began to exert its will.
VCU only scored 13 points over the final 13 minutes of the half, during which the Bulldogs flipped their eight-point deficit into a six-point advantage, 34-28, at the break.
They did so despite making just 10 of their first 30 shots. The reasons:
* Good defense (VCU made only 11 of 27 shots in the first half, along with seven turnovers).
* Eight offensive rebounds, including three apiece from Matt Howard and Khyle Marshall, converted into 12 second-chance points.
* The brilliance of Mack. While the rest of his teammates struggled to find the net, Mack seemingly couldn’t miss, knocking in 4 of 5 shots, including three 3-pointers, for 13 points.
His step-back, pull-up 3-pointer restored Butler’s lead, 25-24 with 4:16 left in the first half. Howard took over from there, scoring five of his nine points as the Bulldogs built their cushion.
But it was gone in little more than four minutes.
Even as leading scorer Jamie Skeen sat with his third foul, the Rams opened the second half with a 7-0 run. Once again, it was a matter of pace — whenever VCU sped up the tempo, the methodical Bulldogs struggled.
Juvonte Reddic capped the run with an 18-foot jumper that put the Rams up 35-34. It was the first of seven lead changes in the next five minutes.
Butler got an unexpected lift during that span. Despite entering the game averaging just 5 points, reserve Zach Hahn scored eight in less than two minutes – two 3s, then a reverse layup in traffic that gave the Bulldogs a 44-43 advantage.
Mack, the first-half hero, had been scoreless to that point, but then he came alive with Butler’s next 10 points as the Bulldogs took charge en route to their second consecutive national title game appearance.