INDIANAPOLIS — All Butler guard Alex Barlow saw Saturday was space and an opportunity to make a play.
So the unlikeliest player on the floor took a chance and made the biggest shot of the game.
When Indiana’s defenders failed to converge on the 5-11 walk-on, Barlow kept right on going through the lane, drove to the basket and hit a spinning 6-foot jumper with 2.4 seconds left in overtime Saturday to give the Bulldogs another stunning upset - 88-86 over No. 1 Indiana in the Crossroads Classic.
“The floater is a shot I work on a lot and I happened to get a lucky bounce,” Barlow said. “It was a good feeling.”
Luckily for the Bulldogs (8-2), Barlow was on the floor.
The kid who spurned college scholarship offers to play his best sport, baseball, and opted to come to Butler for only one reason - to learn how to coach basketball from Brad Stevens - showed everyone he can play, too.
Stevens didn’t hesitate to constantly keep the ball in Barlow’s hands after three key Butler players had already fouled out. The sophomore who had scored only 12 points in nine games this season and 18 in his college career delivered with a series of key plays.
Barlow finished with a career-high six points, came up with a big steal that led to a go-ahead three-pointer late in overtime and finally won it with a shot that bounced off the back of the rim, straight into the air and finally through the net.
Indiana (9-1) immediately called timeout to set up a play but could only muster Jordan Hulls’ heave from near half court, a shot that faded to the left of the basket and suddenly the first college in Indiana to go to back-to-back Final Fours had another school first - its first victory in five tries over a No. 1 ranked team.
The sold-out arena roared as the game ended, and the Bulldogs rushed to midcourt where they celebrated with Barlow.
Butler (8-2) has now won six consecutive at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, better known as the home to the NBA’s Indiana Pacers, and four of the last five when this series been played in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs have victories over Marquette of the Big East, North Carolina of the Atlantic Coast Conference and back-to-back victories over Northwestern and Indiana of the Big Ten.
NO. 3 MICHIGAN 81, WEST VIRGINIA 66
NEW YORK - Tim Burke scored a season-best 27 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. matched his season high with 25 and Michigan remained unbeaten with a victory over West Virginia at the Barclays Center.
NO. 4 SYRACUSE 85, CANISIUS 61
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - James Southerland broke out of a slump with 21 points and Brandon Triche had 19 to lead Syracuse over Canisius in the Gotham Classic.
Michael Carter-Williams added 12 points and 14 assists as Syracuse (9-0) extended its home winning streak to 29 games - the longest in the nation - and moved Coach Jim Boeheim within one victory of 900. Mike Krzyzewski (936) and Bob Knight (902) are the only Division I men’s coaches to reach that milestone.
NO. 6 LOUISVILLE 87, MEMPHIS 78
MEMPHIS - Chane Behanan scored 22 points and Louisville rallied from 16 points down in the first half to beat Memphis.
Russ Smith scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half for Louisville. Peyton Siva added 19 points, and Luke Hancock had 11.
Joe Jackson led Memphis (6-3) with 23 points and eight assists, and Tarik Black scored 21.
NO. 7 OHIO STATE 90, UNC ASHEVILLE 72
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Sam Thompson scored a career-high 18 points and Ohio State made the most of an opportunity to get out and run to beat UNC Asheville.
Deshaun Thomas had 17 points, Lenzelle Smith Jr. 16 and Evan Ravenel tied a career best with 12 points in the first half for the Buckeyes (8-1). Keith Hornsby had a career-high 26 points for UNC Asheville (3-7).
NO. 8 ARIZONA 65, NO. 5 FLORIDA 64
TUCSON, Ariz. - Mark Lyons hit a contested layup with seven seconds left and No. 8 Arizona rallied from a sixpoint deficit in the final minute to pull out a victory over No. 5 Florida.
NO. 9 KANSAS 89, BELMONT 60
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Ben McLemore and Travis Releford scored 17 points each, Jeff Withey had 14 points and blocked five shots, and Kansas cruised to a victory over Belmont.
NO. 11 CINCINNATI 72, MARSHALL 56
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Cashmere Wright scored 14 points and Cincinnati overcame an off game from top scorer Sean Kilpatrick to beat Marshall.
Kilpatrick tied his season low with 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting, while Justin Jackson scored 10 for the Bearcats. Kilpatrick overcame a poor first half with nine points in the final eight minutes.
D.D. Scarver and Elijah Pittman scored 20 points apiece for Marshall.
NO. 14 GONZAGA 68, KANSAS STATE 52
SEATTLE - Kelly Olynyk dominated inside with 20 points and No. 14 Gonzaga rebounded from its first loss of the season with a victory over Kansas State at Key Arena. Angel Rodriguez led Kansas State (7-2) with 14 points.
NO. 15 GEORGETOWN 81, WESTERN CAROLINA 68
WASHINGTON - Greg Whittington scored a career-high 25 points to lead Georgetown over Western Carolina.
Jabril Trawick added a career-high 14 points and Otto Porter had 12 for the Hoyas (9-1), who took control with a 13-3 run at the end of the first half.
Tom Tankelewicz made six three-pointers and scored 24 points to lead the Catamounts (4-7).
NO. 17 NEW MEXICO 73, NEW MEXICO ST. 58
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Alex Kirk scored seven of his 15 points in an early New Mexico run to help the Lobos beat downstate rival New Mexico State.
Kendall Williams added 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for the Lobos (11-0), while Chad Adams had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
NO. 21 NORTH CAROLINA 93, EAST CAROLINA 87
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - James Michael McAdoo scored 19 points to help North Carolina hold off East Carolina.
P.J. Hairston added 18 for the Tar Heels (8-2). Akeem Richmond scored 17 points to lead East Carolina (6-2).
NO. 22 NOTRE DAME 81, PURDUE 68
INDIANAPOLIS - Jack Cooley had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Notre Dame to its seventh consecutive victory with a victory over Purdue in the Crossroads Classic.
Eric Atkins had 17 points and seven assists, Pat Connaughton scored 16 and Garrick Sherman 11 for the Fighting Irish (9-1).
Purdue freshman Rapheal Davis scored all 21 of his points in the second half. Ronnie Johnson scored 15 points and D.J. Byrd added 13 for Purdue (4-6).
NO. 25 NO. CAROLINA ST. 84, NORFOLK ST. 62
RALEIGH, N.C. - Freshman forward T.J. Warren scored 21 points to lead North Carolina State past Norfolk State.
Lorenzo Brown scored 16 points and Richard Howell added 12 points and a career-high 19 rebounds for the Wolfpack (7-2). Malcolm Hawkins had 16 points for the Spartans (6-7).
Sports, Pages 35 on 12/16/2012