Butler's defense does it again

That was Butler basketball last night.

Flash isn't something this team has. Style isn't in their vocabulary. Just ask Matt Howard's upper lip.

Butler gets it done by playing defense, by clearing the defensive glass, and by scoring just enough points to win. Look at last night. They forced Michigan State into 16 turnovers, gave up just six offensive rebounds, and, for the most part, held Durrell Summers and Raymar Morgan in check.

No, I don't believe Hayward should have been called for a foul on the final possession last night.
(photo credit: MLive)

What they didn't do was score.

At the 12:19 mark of the second half, Willie Veasley knocked the ball out of Korie Lucious' hands, going the other direction for a wide open dunk that gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead at 44-37.

They wouldn't make another shot from the field for more than 11 minutes.

During that stretch, Butler would miss 11 consecutive shots, five of which came within a foot of the rim. They would turn the ball over three times. They would only muster four points, hitting 4-7 free throws in that stretch.

And what did Michigan State do?

Well, nothing.

Never has a seven point lead felt larger than it did last night. Butler finally broke that field goal streak with 100 ticks left on the clock when Shawn Vanzant grabbed an offensive rebound and found a cutting Gordon Hayward as he fell out of bounds. Hayward finished a tough layup in traffic, pushing Butler's lead to 50-46.

You read that right.

As Butler managed just four points in an eleven minute stretch in the Final Four, Michigan State could only manage to cut a seven point lead to two.

Making it all the more impressive, Matt Howard took a shot to the head last night. He didn't play down the stretch, and may have gotten a concussion. That means that Butler, a small team to begin with, played the end of this game with a front line of Gordon Hayward, who may be 6'9" but is really a shooting guard, and Willie Veasley, who is a 6'3" power forward.

The final possession summed up this Bulldog effort. After Hayward's layup pushed the lead to four, Sparty hit three free throws to cut the lead to one. Ronald Nored -- who was fantastic chasing Durrell Summers off of screen after screen -- missed a jumper, giving Michigan State possession with a chance to win the game.

The play Tom Izzo drew was to try and get Summers coming off of a screen. When that wasn't open -- thanks to Nored -- Summers put the ball inside to Draymond Green, who was Michigan State's best option late in the game. Green backed down Hayward, who held his ground and forced Green into a tough turnaround over his out stretched arms.

Green airballed, Nored got the rebound and hit both free throws. Butler never let Michigan State get off a three to tie the game.

As unlikely as it seemed three weeks ago when the brackets were announced, Butler advanced to the national title game.

Let me repeat that: Butler, from the Horizon League, will be playing Duke tomorrow night for a chance to win a national title.

They may not be the prettiest team in the country, but these Bulldogs sure do have a lot of fight in them.