Blue helps Marquette slip past Butler
Back and forth went Marquette and Butler, trading makes and misses in a high-intensity rematch that made a case for being the best game so far of this NCAA tournament.
In the end, Vander Blue and the third-seeded Golden Eagles (25-8) advanced as the sixth-seeded Bulldogs (28-9) couldn’t muster any more of their March magic.
Blue scored 19 in the second half to rally Marquette out of another hole, and the Golden Eagles survived 74-72 on Saturday in Lexington, Ky., to reach the round of 16.
“I know everybody in our team, we weren’t ready to go home,” said Blue, who made a last-second layup to win Marquette’s first game of this tournament. “We had two close games — we had a lot of those this year. What we went through earlier this year prepared us for this weekend.”
Like November’s meeting between the teams at the Maui Invitational — won 72-71 by Butler on Rotnei Clarke’s buzzer-beating three-pointer — it came down to the final shot. Only this time, Butler missed.
“The difference in the game was the level of pressure they put on us in the second half and certainly the shots they made,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “They had a few I didn’t think were going in that bounced in.”
Marquette will meet the winner of Sunday’s game between Illinois and Miami on Thursday in the East Regional semifinals at Washington.
“We could have easily been beat by Davidson,” Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. “We could easily have been beaten tonight. Our character, toughness and the resiliency of our guys is maybe unlike any team I’ve ever been around. I stand at attention and respect for how those kids are.
“It’s just another Marquette game. We’re not good enough to blow anybody out. We’re just good enough to get blown out. And if we can turn it into a fight and make it ugly, then it probably trends toward it helps us the most.”
Syracuse 66, California 60
C.J. Fair scored 18, James Southerland added 14 and the fourthseeded Orange (28-9) survived a second-half drought of more than 12 minutes without a field goal to beat the 12th-seeded Golden Bears (21-12) in San Jose, Calif. Syracuse frustrated Cal with its zone defense to overcome a dismal shooting night when it shot 39 percent and missed 15 of 41 free throws.