NCAA: Butler beats Kansas State 63-56 in West Regional final, advances to Final Four

NCAA: Butler beats Kansas State 63-56

Da’Sean Butler’s shooting hand looks just fine in Syracuse, where West Virginia and Kentucky soon will be trying to join Butler in the Final Four.

The West Virginia star clutched his right hand in pain after a hard fall in the Mountaineers’ 69-56 win over Washington on Thursday night, and he had the hand and wrist wrapped in ice after Friday’s practice as a precaution.

The East Regional final is the classic case of a thoroughbred in Kentucky — how apropos — facing a Clydesdale in West Virginia. Both teams play good defense, but the Mountaineers are far stingier, while the Wildcats have the ability to score points in bunches.

Kentucky has won its first three games in the NCAA tournament by an average of 25 points.

Big East tournament champion West Virginia, meanwhile, has held its last six opponents under 60 points, including Washington, Missouri and Morgan State in the NCAA tournament.

Something has to give.

Butler coach Brad Stevens, the guy with the choirboy looks, may have said it best after donning a hat proclaiming the Bulldogs’ place in the Final Four: “We were going back to Indiana regardless, but we’re going to wear these hats all the way home.”

The contingent of Butler fans who made their way from Indianapolis to Salt Lake City chanted “Final Four!” and “Let’s Go Home!” as the players put on their championship hats and T-shirts before cutting down the nets. They had flooded the court and were celebrating, with Stevens delivering a flying chest bump to one of his players, while Kansas State players trudged back to the locker room after one of the best seasons in school history.

One that ends in bitter disappointment.

“We just want to come out and defend, and focus on our job,” Stevens said, “and these guys did a great job. We were just trying to stay with the two guards, every ball screen they set, we were going to trap them.”

Those guards were Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, who never seemed to be in the game for Kansas State. They combined for 32 points, about 20 fewer than they had against Xavier.

Butler got out to a 10-point lead in the second half, Kansas State responded with a run that gave them a brief — oh so brief — lead, before the Bulldogs put down the hammer in the final 5 minutes. Their nation-leading win streak now stands at 24 games.

And right now, there’s nothing to believe it won’t be 26 by the time next season starts.

Butler has earned a trip home for the Final Four.

Gordon Hayward made a driving layup with under a minute to go, and the fifth-seeded Bulldogs used the same tenacious defense they exhibited all game in the closing seconds to knock off second-seeded Kansas State 63-56 in the West Regional finals.

Hayward finished with 22 points to lead Butler, but the scoring was secondary to the defense, which caused trouble for Kansas State stars Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen all game.

Clemente finished with 18 points, all but two in the second half, but he missed a critical free throw in the closing seconds. Pullen was just 3 of 12 from the field and turned the ball over twice with the Wildcats behind by four and under 30 seconds left.

So the Horizon League school that practices at the same place they filmed the championship game in the movie “Hoosiers,” Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, will have a chance to win its own championship in the city it calls home.

Butler will play Michigan State or Tennessee in the national semifinals next weekend.

Even the Butler cheerleaders are having a positive impact on this game.

After Gordon Hayward took it hard to the basket with the shot clock winding down, which gave Butler a 60-54 lead, the ball got loose among the cheering cheerleaders to the side and behind the basket in front of the Butler bench.

Denis Clemente couldn’t get his handle on the ball and a couple of extra seconds ticked off the clock. Kansas State called timeout. Frank Martin wanted time put back on the clock, but he didn’t get it.

It’s 60-54 with 53.4 seconds left.

The stars are starting to come out in crunch time.

Denis Clemente went one-on-two to the hole, turning the corner along the baseline and laying in a teardrop shot that pulled Kansas State into a tie with Butler.

Gordon Hayward came back at the other end, grabbing an alley-oop out of midair and laying it off the glass while he was falling back to the floor. The basket allowed Butler to regain the lead, 56-54, with 2:41 left.

Kansas State has the ball coming out of a timeout.

The final media timeout is in the books in the West Regional final, with Butler clinging to a 53-52 lead and heading to the free throw line.

Curtis Kelly has yet to take a shot in the second half after scoring 12 first-half points for Kansas State, partly because Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen have finally started to warm up. They’ve combined for 26 of their 28 points after the break.

Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack have been carrying the Bulldogs — Hayward has 18 points and Mack has 15, and both of them have hit big shots to stem the tide when it gets flowing in the direction of the Wildcats. The duo has also combined for 15 rebounds.

Everything is starting to bounce the direction of Kansas State. Denis Clemente was fouled after Gordon Hayward committed a sloppy turnover, and after missing a free throw, Jamar Samuels gathered in the rebound and found Clemente in the corner.

His open 3-pointer has pushed Kansas State ahead 52-51.

Clemente has 14 of his 16 points in the second half, and suddenly, Jacob Pullen has a dozen after going scoreless in the first half.

Matt Howard missed the front end of a one-and-one, and it may come back to hurt Butler.

It came just after Denis Clemente had hit a 3-pointer, and Jacob Pullen came back at the other end and drew a foul. Rodney McGruder then took it to the basket and scored in the lane, cutting the 10-point lead to 49-44 with 5:49 left in the game.

It will be interesting to see whether Butler keeps giving the ball to Ronald Nored, who has seven turnovers. The Bulldogs are up to 19 as a team.

How good has Butler been on defense? Well, the Bulldogs offense has turned the ball over 16 times after doing so 23 times total in the first three rounds.

Yet they still lead 49-39 with 7½ minutes left.

It helps that Kansas State has committed 11 turnovers of its own, including an ugly gaffe moments ago in which Curtis Kelly had an easy dunk but instead decided to take a hop-skip-and-a-jump on the way to the rim. He was whistled for traveling.

Denis Clemente is trying to will Kansas State back in the game, moving about as quickly as a hummingbird on the way to an easy layup moments ago to draw within 42-34 with 12 minutes left. Butler then threw the ball away at the offensive end.

Clemente has eight second-half points after managing just two over the first 20 minutes. He has been banged up going back to the Xavier game, but the ice baths and massages can come later. This game is still up for grabs.

Welcome back: Butler freshman Andrew Smith is playing for the first time since the Bulldogs’ regular season finale on March 9. Smith was called on in the first half when Matt Howard got in foul trouble.

It doesn’t really matter who Butler puts out on the court right now, because the Bulldogs are simply dominating Kansas State.

Moments ago, Matt Howard was left all alone at the offensive end of the court because nobody from Kansas State had the legs to get back on D. Luis Colon was forced to foul Howard — a vicious body check that could have been called intentional.

Perhaps frustration is setting in for the Wildcats?

Maybe it will take an easy one for Jacob Pullen to get in rhythm.

The Wildcats forced a turnover with some tough halfcourt defense, and Denis Clemente tossed it ahead to Pullen on the break, and he put in the basket to snap Butler’s 7-0 spurt.

Shelvin Mack has been outstanding all tournament, though, and answered with a 3-pointer from the corner to push the lead back to 37-28 with about 14 minutes left in the game.

Kansas State is crying to the officials about fouls, but it’s Butler that is giving the Wildcats the best reason to shed a tear.

After the Wildcats scored the first six points out of halftime to get within one, Butler has answered with seven straight points, with Gordon Hayward’s 3-pointer from the wing making it 34-26 and forcing K-State coach Frank Martin to call a timeout.

Ronald Nored hasn’t scored a point for Butler, but he’s still been the unsung star. He’s been pestering Jacob Pullen everywhere he goes, whether it’s working off a pick in the lane or 30 feet from the basket, and the sharp-shooting guard still doesn’t have a field goal.

Pullen and Denis Clemente combined for 53 points versus Xavier. They have eight right now.

Jacob Pullen is finally on the board with a pair of free throws that brought Kansas State within 27-26, capping a 10-0 run that went back to the first half.

The Wildcat pep band was blaring “Purple Haze” moments ago.

Matt Howard, the guy whose wispy mustache has its own Facebook page, answered with two free throws for the Bulldogs, but they still don’t have a field goal in more than 5 minutes.

Even if Kansas State loses, there is likely to be some happy basketball fans back in the Sunflower State. Emporia State won its first Division II women’s title Friday night with a 65-53 victory over Fort Lewis in St. Joseph, Mo.

Donnelle Booker led Cal Poly Pomona to its first Division II championship in the men’s tournament in Springfield, Mass., on Saturday. The Broncos beat Indiana, Pa., also 65-53.

Butler has started the second half with consecutive turnovers, the second one an errant pass that wound up in the backcourt. Denis Clemente got to the foul line after the first turnover and made one of two, then hit a deep 3-pointer after the second turnover to make it 27-24 with 18:24 left.

His 3 from the top of the key came after Jacob Pullen had missed a runner in the lane, then a wide-open look from the corner. The Wildcats’ floor leader is 0 for 4 now.

More witticisms from Kansas State coach Frank Martin at halftime: “It’s hard to beat a good basketball team when a team doesn’t execute the way they’re supposed to.”

Wow, there’s some shocking stuff.

“Defensively,” Martin added, “at least we set down and defended them halfway decent to give ourself a chance to win the game.”

Martin also berated the Wildcats’ rebounding — Butler has a 17-15 edge in that category, and leads 27-20 as the second half from EnergySolutions Arena is under way.

The first half belonged to Butler in Salt Lake City, where the Bulldogs held high-scoring Kansas State to 35 percent shooting and without a 3-pointer. The Wildcats are also 0 for 4 from the foul line and have turned the ball over an uncharacteristic eight times.

The Bulldogs’ backcourt is earning MVP honors for holding Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente to a combined two points. They came just before the buzzer, when Pullen stuck his hand into a passing lane, tossed ahead the loose ball as he was sailing out of bounds, and Clemente finished the layup to make it 27-20 at halftime.

Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack have seven points each to lead Butler, while Curtis Kelly was 6 of 10 from the field and scored 12 in the first half to pace K-State.

Twenty minutes left for a spot in the Final Four.

Butler has been proficient on offense, going 4 of 9 from beyond the arc and getting to the free throw line. Shelvin Mack just knocked down a pull-up jumper in transition, then drained a couple of foul shots to give seven points for the game.

Mack checked out for a well-deserved rest.

The Wildcats are relying heavily on Connecticut transfer Curtis Kelly; Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen still have a couple of goose eggs in the box score.

Butler knew it had to play physical against Kansas State, one of the most rugged teams from the Big 12. Well, so far the Bulldogs are landing more punches.

After holding top-seeded Syracuse to a season-low 25 first-half points in the regional semifinals, Butler appears intent on holding K-State to a season-low for the first half, too.

They lead 23-14 with 3 minutes left before the break.

Kansas State already has set a school-record for points in a season, and its 80.1-point average is the second-highest mark in school history. Only the 1952-53 team averaged more.

Curtis Kelly began the season as something of an unknown after transferring from UConn and showed flashes of brilliance in some games while disappearing in others.

He’s the only guy who has shown up for the Wildcats.

Kelly just made a nifty drop-step layup and is 5 for 8 from the field, giving him 10 early points. Freshman forward Wally Judge is the only other player to score for Kansas State, which means the high-scoring backcourt duo of Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente have been shut out.

Butler leads 20-14 with under 4 minutes left in the half.

Jacob Pullen needs to have a meltdown — in a good way. He’s ice cold.

The star guard whose timely 3-pointers lifted the Wildcats over Xavier hasn’t been able to get on track. He’s missed two open shots to go with a pair of turnovers and no assists.

No points? No assists? That adds up to being a non-factor.

The Wildcats have gone more than 4 minutes without scoring, missing several gimmes close to the basket, and Butler has opened a 20-10 lead that looks a lot bigger right now for a Kansas State team that couldn’t put a basketball through a hula-hoop.

Kansas State has been sloppy with the ball, but don’t forget to give some credit to Butler for the Wildcats’ seven turnovers. The Bulldogs are extending their defense way out on the perimeter, denying Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente open looks.

The Wildcats were successful early inside with Curtis Kelly, but Matt Howard — playing with two fouls — and Gordon Hayward have done a nice job of closing off the lane.

The Bulldogs still lead 18-10 with 7:38 left in the first half, and the score reflects something of a victory for Butler coach Brad Stevens. He’d love to see a low-scoring game after the Wildcats scored 82 and 84 in first- and second-round victories over North Texas and BYU, then put up 101 points in their double-overtime win against Xavier.

Both teams are exceptionally deep, and both head coaches have already substituted liberally. That is especially important in the thin air of Salt Lake City, where Kansas State also had to play 10 extra minutes on Thursday night.

Butler certainly seems to be the team with more energy, taking its largest lead at 18-10 and forcing Kansas State to take a timeout.

Six guys already have put numbers in the scoring column for the Bulldogs, including six points off the bench from Shawn Vanzant and Andrew Smith. Meanwhile, Shelvin Mack and Ronald Nored are doing a great job of denying Kansas State star Jacob Pullen the ball.

He’s missed his only shot and has two turnovers — after totaling four turnovers the first three rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Butler has done a terrific job of getting off to quick starts, using a 12-1 run against top-seeded Syracuse in the regional semifinals and a 10-4 spurt to open against Kansas State.

The Wildcats would love to push the tempo, and Denis Clemente is the guy who can do it. He just took it all the way to the basket, and although he missed the layup, Kansas State was in position for an easy layup.

Shelvin Mack just hit his first 3-pointer, though, and Butler still leads 13-8.

Blame it on the nerves, but both teams appear tight in the early going. Butler just committed its third turnover, and Matt Howard picked up his second foul with more than 14 minutes left in the first half.

The Wildcats also have three early turnovers to go with 2-for-8 shooting. They were plagued by foul trouble in their dramatic double-overtime win over Xavier, but so far no Kansas State player has picked up a personal foul.

There are plenty of college basketball programs looking for head coaches, and Butler top guy Brad Stevens has put together a resume that rivals just about anybody.

Since taking over for Todd Lickliter, the young head coach has gone 87-14 and now has his Bulldogs player for a spot in the Final Four for the first time. If they make it, they’ll be carrying the nation’s longest win streak — 23 straight games.

Lickliter recently was fired at Iowa. Perhaps the Hawkeyes want to take their chances on another Butler coach?

People might have noticed a patch on Kansas State jerseys, which mirrors a pin that coach Frank Martin wears on his suit lapel. The patch recognizes the 1-7 FA (Field Infantry) Division from the Fort Riley Military Base, which is about a 20-minute drive from campus.

The Kansas State athletic department has done a number of events with soldiers from Fort Riley over the past few years, including the football and basketball programs.

Martin took his entire team — players, coaches, staff — to Fort Riley in September 2008 to participate in a full training session, complete with the gear that soldiers must carry.

Keeps the game in perspective a little bit, even amid the pressure of the NCAA tournament.

Frank Martin is earning quite the reputation for his pregame and halftime pep talks, and before Kansas State’s regional final against Butler, the fiery coach with the often-furrowed brow toned it down a bit while giving the CBS cameras a little glimpse of his locker room:

“We’ve talked about it for 3 years: You never know when opportunities are going to come across in your life,” Martin said told his Wildcats, “but when you’ve earned the right, you are prepared for when they come across.”

That’s some deep stuff.

Maybe that’s why Kansas coach Bill Self, who offered his expert insight on the pregame show, picked Kansas State to win. He should know something about it, having beaten the Wildcats three times this season.

The Final Four is just minutes away for the teams tipping off Saturday in regional finals: second-seeded Kansas State and fifth-seeded Butler from Salt Lake City, and top-seeded Kentucky and second-seeded West Virginia from Syracuse, N.Y.

A tournament that has been big on upsets has ended up with no team in the round of eight that was seeded outside of the top six. Tennessee and Michigan State, which will play Sunday, are perhaps the most unlikely teams left standing after surviving a brutal bracket in which overall No. 1 seed Kansas and second-seeded Ohio State went home early.

The other game Sunday will feature No. 1 seed Duke and third-seeded Baylor.

But first up is a battle between ‘Cats and ‘Dogs: Kansas State and emerging superstar Jacob Pullen against a Butler team that would love nothing more than to head back home to Indianapolis for the Final Four, rather than simply heading home for class.

The Bulldogs are playing in a regional final for the first time, while Kansas State is in the round of eight for the 12th time — but first since 1988. The Wildcats haven’t advanced to the Final Four since 1964.