bloody lip by the time the
night was over. Matt
Howard got knocked silly in
a collision with Green.
Shelvin Mack spent most of
the second half on the
bench with cramps in his
legs, and Stevens was
unsure of his availability for
Monday.
“It was one of the more
physical games we’ve been
involved in,” Izzo said.
“Playing in the Big Ten,
that’s a lot to say.”
Want to know what The
Butler Way is? Just watch
a tape of this game.
It wasn’t the prettiest of
finishes. Butler went almost
11 minutes without a field
goal after Willie Veasley’s
layup with 12:19 left — and
it almost seemed as if the
first team to score a basket
was going to win.
But the Bulldogs weren’t
flustered to be playing on
the game’s biggest stage
and locked down
whenever they had to.
“It did seem like it was a
long time,” said Hayward,
who had only six points in
the second half. “But for
us, as long as we guard,
we feel like we can be in
the game. That’s what
we’ve tried to do all year.”
The finish was a bitter
disappointment for the
Spartans, who were
playing in their sixth Final
Four in 12 years and had
