By David Woods, The Indianapolis Star
NEW ORLEANS ? Last year's run to the Final Four was pure storybook. This one is saccharine fiction.
By David J. Phillip, AP
The Butler Bulldogs hoist the Southeast Regional championship trophy they beat Florida in overtime to earn a second consecutive trip to the Final Four.
Butler lost Gordon Hayward to the NBA, lost nine of its first 23 games, lost its crunch-time grit and lost its defensive mojo. Yet the Bulldogs never lost their way.
And now?
They have won 13 in a row ? the nation's longest active streak ? and are headed to Houston for an NCAA tournament semifinal.
They are going to back-to-back Final Fours because Shelvin Mack sank the go-ahead three-pointer and two late free throws, capping an 11-point comeback and sending Butler past Florida 74-71 in overtime Saturday at the Southeast Regional final.
The victory eased some bitter memories of losses to Florida that eliminated the Bulldogs from the 2000 and 2007 tournaments.
"Getting to this point isn't easy and staying together isn't easy when everything is going wrong," junior guard Ronald Nored said. "And that was the thing that I think has gotten us to this point."
The No. 8-seeded Bulldogs (27-9) will meet No. 1 seed Kansas (35-2) or No. 11 seed Virginia Commonwealth (26-11) next Saturday in the Final Four. No. 2 seed Florida finished 29-8.
Mack scored 27 points and was voted most outstanding player of the regional. Champ Ligon, his former high school coach in Lexington, Ky., had seen it all before.
"Every time we had a big game, Shelvin would take over and get us a 'W,' " Ligon said. "That's his career. He's been doing it since the eighth grade."
Butler has been an underdog ? in the betting line or by seeding ? in eight consecutive NCAA tournament games over 12 months. The Bulldogs have as won all but one.
And they came within Hayward's half-court shot of knocking off Duke in the 2010 national championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Now the theatre troupe moves west.
"We've got some unfinished business in Houston," Butler president Bobby Fong said amid an euphoric group of fans in a corner of New Orleans Arena.
Butler appeared to be out of business when Florida seized a 51-40 lead midway through the second half. The Bulldogs couldn't make three-pointers or free throws, and they couldn't stop Florida center Vernon Macklin, who had 25 points.
When the Bulldogs were teetering, coach Brad Stevens began tinkering. He inserted freshman guard Chrishawn Hopkins ? who had played seven minutes over 17 games since Jan. 14 ? and was rewarded for the ploy.
With Butler trailing 53-44, Hopkins passed inside to Matt Howard for a layup and then sank his first three-pointer in a month.
Florida 53, Butler 49. Game on.
"We just said, 'Score, stop, score, and the game will get a lot tighter,' " Stevens said.
It did.
Mack sank two layups to tie the score at 57, then two free throws to pull Butler within 60-59. Howard was fouled with 30.7 seconds left and made the first of two free throws to produce 60-60 tie. The second free throw, a potential game-winner, came up short.
A long three-pointer by Florida's Erving Walker missed before the buzzer, and overtime ensued. Another freshman, Khyle Marshall, converted a three-point play to push Butler ahead 65-62 with 3:33 left in overtime.
Nored sank four successive free throws to preserve the lead, but Walker's only basket was a three-pointer that returned the lead to the Gators, 70-69.
A Mack three-pointer made it 72-70, and his two free throws made it 74-71. Walker missed another three-point attempt that was snared by Nored, who tossed the ball into the backcourt as the final seconds ticked away.
"I'm incredibly proud of these guys," Stevens said. "They carried their coach in a big way. I got outcoached big-time. But our assistants did a great job and our players did a great job. Just a special group."
Butler struggled against Florida's shifting zone and man-to-man defenses and was 9-of-33 (27 percent) on three-pointers. The Bulldogs shot an uncharacteristic 17-of-27 on free throws (63%), but made all seven attempts in overtime.
They overcame all that collectively. Howard scored 14 points and Marshall 10. Andrew Smith, playing despite an ankle sprain, grabbed eight rebounds to lead Butler to a 41-34 edge in that column.
Butler became the first team outside the six major conferences to reach back-to-back Final Fours since UNLV in 1990 and 1991.
But Butler is the first small school to do so since University of San Francisco took titles in 1955 and 1956. Butler is the first team from Indiana ever to go back-to-back.
The joyous aftermath was highlighted by Stevens leaping to body-bump Emerson Kampen, as they did when the Bulldogs won last year's West Regional at Salt Lake City.
The moment so overwhelmed senior guard Shawn Vanzant that he left the others to sit alone with his thoughts on a chair.
"I'm soaking it all in," he said.
In that, he was not alone.
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