Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
(5) Butler
Murray State Falls Short Of NCAA Sweet 16 In Loss To Butler
3/22/2010 7:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Murray State got awfully close to a second straight bracket-busting upset before falling to Butler 54-52 Saturday at HP Pavillion in San Jose, Calif., in the NCAA Tournament West Regional.
The loss ended the Racers' run in the NCAA Tournament West Regional at 1-1 after their win two days ago over Vanderbilt.
Ronald Nored's three-point play snapped a tie with 25.4 seconds left, and Butler narrowly evaded a second stunner by the 13th-seeded Racers in three days, advancing to the regional semifinals.
The fifth-seeded Bulldogs (30-4), extended the nation's longest winning streak to 22 games and the Racers ended their season 31-5, with a school and Ohio Valley Conference record for wins in a single-season.
"Give Butler a lot of credit, they have a great program and they did what they had to do to win the game," MSU head coach Billy Kennedy said. "We had way too many turnovers and didn't make our free throws."
Indeed the Racers finished the day with 18 turnovers and were only 5-of-12 from the line for 41 percent.
Butler advanced to the round of 16 for the second time in four years, but only after surviving a thriller against the undersized but big-hearted Racers who beat fourth-seeded Vanderbilt in the first round on a buzzer-beater.
Isaiah Canaan scored 14 points and hit four 3-pointers for the Racers, who matched Butler's sturdy defense and outrebounded the Bulldogs 39-22.
After Butler's Matt Howard made one of two free throws with 17.2 seconds left, Murray State had a chance to set up for a final shot, but Canaan was double-teamed, and his frantic attempt at a perimeter pass went off a defender's hand and rolled into the backcourt, setting off a celebration down near Butler's bench.
Still, Murray State got agonizingly close to its first-ever trip to the regional semifinals.
Murray State trailed 46-38 with 6 minutes to play after a 9-0 run by Butler, but the Racers came back with a 10-1 run, including Canaan's go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:50 left. Butler went scoreless for nearly three minutes until finally replying, tying it on Shelvin Mack's jumper with 1:22 left.
After Nored converted his three-point play on a strong drive to the hoop, Isacc Miles hit two free throws for Murray State with 21 seconds left.
Butler missed its first five shots and didn't score in the first 3½ minutes. After jumping to a 12-3 lead, the Bulldogs again went cold during a 4-for-18 slump, going scoreless over the final 6:24 before halftime.
Murray State scored 11 straight points spanning halftime, taking the lead on Ed Daniel's rebound dunk. Donte Poole hit a long 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to put the Racers up 26-22 over Butler, which also trailed UTEP at halftime in the first round.
