Every expert on ESPN picked Duke.
Every one of them was quoted as saying something to the effect of “For Butler to stay close…” The underdog playing at home, the Bulldogs of Butler, had more than just the outside chance they were given, and they proved it.
They matched Duke nearly point for point, staying close with physical defense and timely shot-making. The championship game was one for the ages. It was epic; a battle that was more than edge-of-your seat thrilling.
Butler used the long-ball early to hang with Duke, and even while getting sparse production from the last two Horizon League players of the year, Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward, they gritted it out to keep the deficit slim.
The Blue Devils defense was tight, so it hurt considerably when the Bulldogs missed inside shot after inside shot.
It seemed the lack of execution would bite them quickly, given Duke’s offensive arsenal, but no such thing took place. They fought and fought, and fought some more, proving they were not deserving of the underdog label.
The Bulldogs were within one at the break behind the play of power forw ...
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Article written by Nick Poust
So Close! Butler Loses Championship to Duke in Heartbreaking Fashion
April 5th, 2010 by Nick Poust Leave a reply »
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