Butler suffers another oh-so-close NCAA tournament defeat

DETROIT – Butler has endured such heartbreak before. The climactic shot, released a step inside midcourt, looked like it might fall.

The Bulldogs have made so much March magic, you always wonder if it will happen again.

“I thought it had a shot of going in,” Kamar Baldwin said.

Baldwin’s shot, released Sunday as time expired, was at nearly the same spot on the court as Gordon Hayward’s in Lucas Oil Stadium eight years ago. Hayward’s miss allowed Duke to be college basketball’s national champion. Baldwin’s rimmed off, breathing life into the Purdue Boilermakers.

Box score: Purdue 76, Butler 73

Doyel: Martin, Mathias have one more battle royale

No. 2 seed Purdue held on for a 76-73 victory over the 10th-seeded Bulldogs in an NCAA tournament that has had so many great games. The Boilermakers (30-6) will meet Texas Tech (26-9) on Friday in an East Regional semifinal.

The Bulldogs trailed by 10 points with less than 6 minutes left but trimmed that to 73-71 under the 2-minute mark. Just as in the Duke game, when Hayward’s baseline jumper missed over Brian Zoubek, it wasn’t the half-court shot that was the difference. It was the shot before the shot.

Baldwin stole the ball from Purdue’s Vincent Edwards and was headed toward the other end for a tying layup. Instead, Edwards trailed and blocked the attempt from behind with 1:28 left. Baldwin said he could see the Purdue defender but did not know how close he was.

“I thought it got up pretty high,” Baldwin said of his shot.

So it went.

The Bulldogs made plays. The Boilers made more.

The Bulldogs made 3-pointers. The Boilers made more.

Yet the game in no way resembled that of Dec. 16, when Purdue led by 26 points and beat Butler 82-67 in the Crossroads Classic.

LaVall Jordan’s first season as Butler coach ended with a 21-14 record, with losses in seven of the last 11.

“Guys in that locker room truly love each other,” he said. “There’s a special bond. You just don’t want it to end. Guys are battling, fighting, doing whatever they can to try to keep it going.”

Kelan Martin tried to keep his career going. In his final college game, he shot 9-of-18 and scored 29 points, second-most by a Butler player in the NCAA tournament. (Shelvin Mack scored 30 against Pittsburgh in 2011.)  Martin finished No. 2 in Butler history for points in a career (2,047) and season (743).

In a play that was consequential at the time, and more so in hindsight, Martin had a basket disallowed by a charging foul with 11:01 left. Instead of a basket and free throw that could have brought the  Bulldogs within 57-54, they immediately fell behind 59-51.

Martin’s potential go-ahead 3-pointer missed with 39 seconds left. Coincidentally, his summer workout partner, Dakota Mathias hit one with 13 seconds left to extend Purdue’s lead to 76-71.

That should have ended it. Except with the Bulldogs, there is always a chance.

After P.J. Thompson missed a free throw with 2.1 seconds left, Butler called timeout with 1.6 left. Baldwin took the inbounds pass and dribbled twice before launching from about 40 feet.

Afterward, Martin dismissed questions about his post-college career and NBA draft. He said he was focused on this team, these Bulldogs.

“I mean, I just can’t put it into words,” he said. “I’m going to miss this team. And I love every single person on this team, even the coaching staff. It’s just . . . I’m just going to miss it.”

Early on, the Bulldogs could not miss.

They started 4-of-5 from the field and led 13-8. They started 5-of-8 on 3s and led 24-15.

As the half wore on, Edwards, fouls and Purdue free throws wore on the Bulldogs. They fell behind 40-36 at halftime before reclaiming the lead briefly early in the second half. Purdue never trailed over the closing 16 minutes.

After that hot start, Butler was 1-of-12 on 3s.

The Bulldogs shot 49 percent, were outrebounded just 30-28 and made eight turnovers, compared with 17 in the first meeting. Other than not beating a higher-seeded team, there was little to fault.

“We talk all the time about if we’re going to go down, go down doing things our way,” Jordan said. “I thought we did.”

Butler’s yearlong issue has been an inability to find a consistent third scorer to complement Baldwin and Martin. Baldwin scored 14 points but shot 5-of-16. Sean McDermott scored nine points and Paul Jorgensen, playing on a sore ankle, had eight.

Purdue coach Matt Painter said when Baldwin and Martin played well simultaneously, Butler beat strong teams.

“We had to make it tough for them and try to get more shots than points for at least one of them,” Painter said. “We were able to do that with Baldwin and bottle him up and keep making it difficult for him.”

It was a difficult day for the Dawgs, even in a season that began with them being picked for eighth in the Big East and included their lowest NCAA tourney seed since 2003. Every March, they expect to march on. 

Call IndyStar reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.