Postgame audio - Coach John Thompson III, Austin Freeman, Chris Wright & Greg Monroe:
A fantastic Big East Tournament championship game was decided by a superlative shot.
West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler drove to his left from the arc with the score tied and the clock down to single digits. Butler got past Georgetown big man Greg Monroe, but was cut off by the Hoyas' Austin Freeman in the center of the paint on his way to the basket. Butler went up with a shot that traveled beyond Monroe's reach, off to the right of Butler's shoulders and was forced through Freeman's arms, banging off the back iron and down the netting with :04.2 to play.
"I had a little hesitation, went around [Monroe] and Freeman stepped up, and had a little hop step and scooped the layup off the glass and it fell" was how Butler broke down his last basket.
Chris Wright pushed the ball down the court for Georgetown, got in the lane and never had any doubt in his mind that he wasn't going to get to the iron and send the game to overtime. Wright's curling scoop came up short of the mark, ticking off the right iron as the buzzer sounded as Wright fell on his back on the baseline in disappointment.
Butler's game-winner was the Mountaineers' only field goal in the final 7:30 of the second half, as the Hoyas rallied from 50-41 deficit to pull even on two occasions - an Austin Freeman three point shot set up by Wright's penetration with 54 seconds showing made it 56-56 and after Wright made the mistake of fouling Joe Mazzulla after West Virginia's 20th and final offensive rebound with 0:27.6 on the clock and Mazzulla canned both his free throws, Wright spun left in the paint and went glass with 17 seconds to play to even the score at 58.
Wright nearly came up with a steal as the Mountaineers brought the ball up, tipping a pass before West Virginia was able to call time out with nine seconds left, setting up the heroics of the 2010 Dave Gavitt Trophy winner for Most Outstanding Player.
Butler finished with 20 points on 7-19 shooting, surpassing 2,000 points for his career.
Wright nearly matched Butler step for step, scoring 20 and handing out seven assists.
The Hoyas led 8-1 early on back-to-back layups by Monroe.
As West Virginia extended their defense a step, the Mountaineers caught Georgetown at 13 on a Wellington Smith three in transition and when Mazulla drove left and was fouled by Wright, making both free throws, West Virginia had a lead that the Hoyas would chase the rest of the evening.
Georgetown trailed 32-28 at the break on a tip follow by Smith over Monroe before the horn. A Butler dunk doubled that lead early in the second half.
Down the stretch, the Mountaineers' free throw shooting gave them distance every time Georgetown pulled close. West Virginia was 10-10 from the line in the second half. The Hoyas were also excellent, going 9-10 to stay in the hunt.
A pair of backbreaking offensive rebounds prohibited Georgetown from moving in front. Like in the 2008 Big East Tournament championship against Pitt, extended possessions hurt the Hoyas. The Mountaineers outdid the Panthers's domination of the glass by one, grabbing 20 offensive boards which led to 21 second chance points and outrebounding Georgetown 38-24.
Following a Freeman pull-up jumper that went in and out on the right baseline with the Hoyas trailing 52-51, Casey Mitchell was too long on a three point shot from the opposite side. Kevin Jones tried to tip the rebound home off the weakside twice before the ball went out of bounds and back to the Mountaineers.
Retaining possession, Butler was bumped by Jerrelle Benimon on a cut and he made both ends of a one-and-one opportunity to give his team a three point lead. Extra chances. Extra points.
Freeman tied the game at 56 and 19,375 standing on their feet knew the ball was going to Butler.
A quick Butler three from the left corner was short as Benimon came out to defend, but the ball pinged out to the top of the arc to Mazzula and West Virginia had time to reset before Wright lost track of the score and fouled Mazulla. Extra chances. Extra points.
Everyone at Madison Square Garden knew how West Virginia's final possession of regulation would end, including Georgetown's head coach.
"We expected them to put the ball into Butler's hands and let him make a play" was John Thompson III's simple analysis of what the Hoyas were sure they were going to see in the game's final nine seconds.
Just because you know what's coming doesn't always mean you can stop what's coming.
Butler's heroics evoked memories of Ray Allen's shot to win the Big East Tournament for UConn against Georgetown in 1996 and ended the current Hoya squad's hopes of exacting revenge against four teams that beat them in the regular season on four consecutive days.
