As Butler coach Brad Stevens walked over to the media table to do his interview with ESPN after the game, all he was able to say was “Hinkle magic.”
No. 8 Gonzaga vs. No. 13 Butler final score: Butler wins instant classic, 64-63
In a frantic four seconds, Roosevelt Jones came up with a huge steal and hit the game-winning shot to lift Butler over Gonzaga, 64-63.
Michael Hickey
That’s exactly what it was.
With the Butler Bulldogs down a point against the Gonzaga Bulldogs, without the ball and less than four seconds on the clock, Roosevelt Jones stole the ball, ran it down the floor and hoisted a game-winning floater just a fraction of a second before the buzzer. That shot lifted Butler to a 64-63 win Saturday night in front of a sold out Hinkle Fieldhouse and a national TV audience on ESPN's College GameDay.
And Butler was able to knock off Gonzaga without leading scorer Rotnei Clarke, who has been out of action since suffering a frightening neck injury in the Bulldogs' win over Dayton a week ago.
The two teams were evenly matched both on the scoresheet and on the court, with neither team being able to gain much of an advantage throughout. Butler held a 25-24 advantage on the glass and shot 50 percent to just over 47 percent for Gonzaga.
Sam Dower came off the bench to score 20 points for Gonzaga and Elias Harris had 20 points and seven rebounds. Jones led Butler with 20 points, the last two coming to finish off what might be the best game of the college basketball season so far, setting off a court-storming frenzy at the historic venue:
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