While one Butler (the university) was reveling in its first Final Four appearance and huge win over Michigan State, another (Da'Sean) was writhing in pain on the floor of Lucas Oil Stadium while his coach tried to distract him from his agony, both physical and emotional.The vaunted Big East conference's last team fell bowed out of the NCAA Tournament last night with a whimper as they lost in embarrassing fashion to Duke 78-57.
Though only down eight at halftime, the Mountaineers never seemed to get into a rhythm and, as is often the cause, it was a slippery slope towards destruction.
First bad shooting, then bad rebounding, then bad injuries.
The Mountaineers' leading scorer Da'Sean Butler left the game midway through the second half after colliding with Duke's Brian Zoubek and getting charged with an offensive foul. Obviously in a lot of pain, and probably knowing the injury had ended his college career, he banged the floor and held his knee with tears in his eyes as his coach came to console him. Bob Huggins is usually not that emotional and comes off gruff and kind of a jerk. But in that moment, millions of people saw what kind of guy Bob Huggins is: a smart coach who cares deeply for his players.
He forged a connection with Butler calling him the best player he ever coached, but to casual fans who don't interact with these guys, it was honestly pretty hard to believe he was so emotionally invested until last night. And it was refreshing to see a coach do that. All coaches claim to love their kids but to me, it seems forced so often. This was a case where it seemed completely genuine.
As for the game, once Butler went out, West Virginia seemed completely deflated. As great a moment as Huggins' tenderness towards his injured star was, I thought he should have immediately called time-out and rallied the troops.
Tell them "Let's win this for Da'Sean" or "You guys have to step up" or something! They seemed confused and hurt without him. At any rate, they weren't down by too much (around a dozen) and could have conceivably pulled it out.
But Duke was the real story. They out-rebounded West Virginia 27-24 despite center Brian Zoubek's foul trouble. They only had five turnovers to West Virginia's 10. And they shot a staggering 13-25 from three. Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer, and Kyle Singler (who I will NOT refer to as "The Big Three". C'mon people it's just because Lance Thomas and Zoubek are liabilities on offense.) combined for 63 of the team's 78 points.
They did play well though. Their defense looked dominant and it's hard to pick against them. They made WVU look terrible. And that's hard to do because of the defensive job they usually pull off.
It's worth noting that as good as Duke played, the game would have been a lot closer if Joe Mazzulla or Devin Ebanks showed up big. They both shot alright but they needed to be way more aggressive. I blame Huggins a bit for that. They didn't seem that prepared and Coach K really out-coached him.
In the end, not a very interesting game in all honesty. WVU never made a run and Duke seemed consistent. The Big East had a good year though because it's not all about tournament performance. Even one Final Four team is a huge accomplishment.
Overall, an amazing tournament so far and the Big East surely entertained even if it was only in disappointment. At least that Syracuse loss isn't looking so bad now with Butler poised to win the title.
What I learned tonight: Bob Huggins - great person, not-so-great in-game strategist.
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