Sports

Butler survives Bucknell run to advance in NCAA tournament

LEXINGTON — This is what the anticipation is all about. All the dreams, all the dreamers, all the possibilities, all that makes these three weeks in March the most exhilarating, exciting and unpredictable in all of sports unfolded in Rupp Arena.

Bucknell, the No.11 seed in the Midwest Region and a program that boasts its share of March miracles, took on No. 6 seed Butler, the post boy of the century for madness.

And when it was over, when the final horn sounded, two drained teams left the court knowing they had left everything – the dreams, the sweat, the desire – on the floor.

Butler survived Bucknell, 68-56 and will face the winner of the No.3 Marquette-No.14 Davidson game on Saturday. It was not pretty but Butler has never worried about passing the eye test. It’s a huge reason why the Bulldogs are tournament tested.

“If I wasn’t having to prepare to play against Butler, this would be an unbelievable experience because it’s like a clinic,” Bucknell coach Dave Paulsen said on Wednesday. “I’ve gone through 7, 8 game tapes of Butler. It’s the best coaching clinic you can have.”

Butler was at its defensive best in the final six minutes, going on a 10-0 crawl by holding Bucknell scoreless for five-minute span to take a 53-43 lead.

Bucknell (28-6), the Patriot League champ that truly believed it was capable of pulling the upset, has the memory of one 2000-point scorer and three 1,000-point scorers.

“Bucknell has all of the pieces and all of the experiences and all of the accomplishments that go along with the teams that go deep into the NCAA tournament out of a non-BCS league, a lot like the Butler teams of the past,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said on Wednesday. “You know, they’ve got four of their starters have combined for 5600 points, which is just unbelievable.”

Muscala (2,027 points), Bryson Johnson (1,375), Joe Willman (1,142) and Cameron Ayers) chose Bucknell after watching the Bison stun Kansas in 2005 and Arkansas the following year in first-round NCAA Tournament games.

But with Butler pushing and leaning on Muscala, he was held to a season-low nine points. He was 4-of-17 from the field. He came out with 22 seconds left.

Muscala suffered through the worst first half of his senior season, if not his career. He missed 8-of-9 shots, some because of Butler’s defense but others because blown bunnies as the Bulldogs seized a 21-14 halftime lead.

Yes, these are supposed two of the best 68 teams in the nation. But the NCAA tournament, especially the first game for each team, is about survive and advance.

Muscala made his first shot, a jumper, that gave Bucknell a 2-0 lead. He missed his next eight. On the first possession of the second half the Bison pounded the ball down low to him. But the 6-11 center fumbled the entry pass out of bounds.

Butler, which went to the Final Four in 2010 and 2011, started to make some shots and opened a 29-18 lead. But after hitting a second jumper Muscala finally made a shot inside, a push layup and was fouled.

His three-point play started an 8-0 run that brought Bucknell to 29-26, forcing Stevens to call timeout with 15:10 left. It didn’t work. Bucknell completed a 19-2 run to take a 37-31 lead.

Butler responded with an 8-0 run. With 6:54 left, Butler had a 43-42 lead and dreams were in the air. Then Butler clamped down. Joe Willman almost saved Bucknell with 20 points. Butler got 17 from Rotnei Clarke, who led four Bulldogs in scoring.