I'll take the final seconds of Butler's stunning 71-70 upset over No. 1 Pittsburgh in Washington D.C. and stack it up against almost any March Madness sequence in NCAA Tournament history. The final seven seconds included a likely game-winning layup, a foul at midcourt, and then a stunning foul at the free-throw line rebound. Eventually, Matt Howard gave Butler the win by hitting one free throw with under a second remaining.
How did it all happen? Make the jump to see, in case you missed it and/or want to relive it again.
Here's the situation:
-Down one, Butler calls a brilliant play, using Howard and Shelvin Mack (30 points in the game) as decoys. Shawn Vanzant drove to the basket and found Andrew Smith wide open for a layup with 2.2 seconds left. Pitt has no timeouts, so this is the best-case scenario.
-Pitt throws it in, and Gilbert Brown chases the ball with Mack. Mack, for some reason, cuts off Brown's path to the ball and bumps him on the sidelines. Foul, free throws, 1.4 seconds remaining.
-Brown hits the first, then misses the second. Howard boxes out Nasir Robinson, who for some reason grabs Howard's arm as he comes down. Foul, 0.9 seconds left.
-Howard hits the first free throw and purposely misses the second. Game over.
Yup. March. Madness.