I guess you could say that Butler’s senior guard, Willie Veasley absolutely loves the friendly rims in Salt Lake City. For those of you who didn’t have the pleasure of watching the game, Veasley hit a three pointer from the corner with just under 2 minutes to go that carromed off of the front of the rim, bounced high off the glass, and rattled in, to give Butler the lead for good and sending the Bulldogs to their first ever Elite Eight appearance.
Although the rim rattling shot won’t go down in history like Christian Laettner’s catch and shoot to beat Kentucky or even Scottie Reynolds’ driving lay-up to beat Pitt in last year’s Elite 8, but I argue it was just as important of a shot as any of the buzzer beaters that we’ve seen in this year’s tournament so far. I say so far, since there’s a lot of basketball left to be played and we seem to have a new fantastic finish on a nightly basis.
Veasley’s shot along with a number of clutch free throws by his teammates down the stretch, helped secure the win for the Bulldogs, who may have finally shed the mid-major monicker to be compared with some of the top tier Division 1 programs in the country. After all, the Bulldogs are now riding a 23 game win streak heading into their Elite 8 match-up against 
Kansas State, who survived an incredible three point barrage from Xavier’s Jordan Crawford in a 2 OT thriller as well. In a surprising stat, the Butler Bulldogs have a higher winning percentage over the past 4 seasons than any program, except the Kansas Jayhawks.
The Bulldogs used a stifling defense to force 18 Syracuse turnovers to end the Orange’s hopes of winning their first National Championship since the 2003 season. The loss had to have come as a shock to the Syracuse faithful who had one of their best seasons in their illustrious program’s history. Coach Boeheim has one only 1 championship despite having 30+ twenty win seasons. The loss all but surely ends Big East Player of the Year’s Wesley Johnson’s NCAA career, as he is projected as a lottery pick in most early 2010 Mock Drafts.
Now, Butler faces a talented Kansas State team in the round of 8 for a chance to essentially have a home game in the Final Four, held in Indianapolis. Is Butler this year’s George Mason? Be sure to tune in Saturday to find out.
Check out Veasley’s amazing shot:
Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.
