Big East goes 3-0 in DC; Butler also advances

[March 18, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Here's the price the Big East pays for being so good: It's already time for its teams to start beating up on each other in the NCAA tournament.

The top conference in the land went 3-0 in the four games played Thursday in the nation's capital.

Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Cincinnati all advanced, with Butler the one winner who was not like the others.

Now it's Connecticut vs. Cincinnati in the next round on Saturday, a rare pairing necessitated by the conference's record 11 bids to this year's tournament.

Bearcats coach Mick Cronin would rather be seeing someone less familiar.

"Absolutely," Cronin said. "The Big East is brutal. We've already played 20 of them. You'd like to avoid it. I understand the tournament committee would like to avoid it, too, but obviously it's unavoidable in certain situations."

Big East power was further evident in the way the teams won -- with double-digit victories all around. Pittsburgh, the top seed in the Southeast Regional, pulled away in the second half of a 74-51 rout of North Carolina-Asheville. Connecticut, the third seed in the West Regional, blew past Bucknell 81-52. Cincinnati, the No. 6 seed in the West, had little difficulty in eliminating Missouri 78-63.

It was left to Butler, last year's losing finalist, to pull off a buzzer-beater, adding another memorable segment to the school's expansive highlight reel of celebrated NCAA tournament moments. Matt Howard's tip-in at the final horn gave the eighth-seeded Bulldogs a 60-58 victory over Old Dominion.

With the score tied, Butler guard Shawn Vanzant was driving to the basket from the right side when he lost his footing and threw the ball toward the rim. Teammate Andrew Smith slapped the ball out of the air off the backboard, and Howard went up with his right hand and put the ball in from the left side an instant before time expired.

A year ago, Butler's magical run to the NCAA championship game ended with a narrow miss from halfcourt at the buzzer against Duke. In this game, the Bulldogs got the bounce they needed.

Butler will next face Pittsburgh. Possibly working to the Bulldogs' advantage: The manner in which they survived ODU.

"I do think there is some validity to winning that way," Butler coach Brad Stevens said. "We were only 40 minutes into the NCAA tournament, but nobody will be more tournament-tested by the (next) round than we will have been.

"You have to believe and you have to give everything you have together. And if you do those two things, you got a shot. That's all you want."

If the game against Pittsburgh is close at the end, the Bulldogs have the experience and determination to pull off an upset. That feeling -- and an improbable shot -- was enough to dispatch Old Dominion.

"When you've been in those situations and been through the battles and the close games and won them different ways," Howard said, "you have confidence that you're going to be able to pull it out."

Butler (24-9) has won 10 straight, but Pittsburgh presents a formidable challenge. The Panthers (28-5) got 25 points from Ashton Gibbs and were never really in danger of becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16.

"In the first half we played really poorly, careless with the ball," said Pitt's Gary McGhee, who had seven points and 11 rebounds. "We didn't move the ball around. We didn't get the loose balls. But then in the second half, we turned it up."

Matt Dickey scored 21 for UNC Asheville (20-14).

Connecticut guard Kemba Walker and coach Jim Calhoun reached milestones in the Huskies' runaway win. Walker set a school record for assists in an NCAA tournament game with 12, and Calhoun became the sixth coach to earn 850 wins at the Division I level.

Walker also scored 18 points and had eight rebounds, but his career-high assist total was what the Huskies spoke about most after the game.

"For a lot of these kids, everybody really except for Kemba, no one else had meaningful NCAA minutes," Calhoun said. "So Kemba, who's been our scorer, became out initiator. He made some big baskets, but his biggest contribution was controlling the game on the offensive end."

The Bison (25-9) did everything they could to prevent Walker from beating them with his sweet jumper and knifing moves to the basket. They often double-teamed the 6-foot-1 junior guard, leaving him no choice but to pass the ball.

Walker did just that, with unprecedented success.

Now it's time for another UConn-Cincy matchup. Yancy Gates helped hold up Cincinnati's end of that deal with 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Bearcats (26-8) against the 11th-seeded Tigers (23-11).

Cincinnati is back in the NCAAs for the first time since 2005 -- before coach Bob Huggins' messy departure.

"A lot of people had us losing because it was our first time in," Gates said. "The first time in, we got a win."

[Associated Press]

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