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Butler has trailed by 10 or more points in 19 of 24 games this season.
In five of those instances, the Bulldogs rallied to win.
The team’s latest comeback victory came Wednesday on the biggest stage yet, as the 10th-seeded Bulldogs stormed back from a 19-point deficit to defeat Xavier 70-69 in overtime in an opening round game at the Big East tournament.
While falling into a hole against second-seeded Creighton in Thursday’s quarterfinal at Madison Square Garden in New York might not be advisable, the Bulldogs have experience with this sort of thing, if not a knack.
Down by 13 points to visiting Creighton on Jan. 16, the Bulldogs came back to defeat the then-No. 8 Bluejays in OT, one of Butler’s three overtime wins this season.
“You know what, they love each other,” Bulldogs coach LaVall Jordan said after Wednesday’s game. “We’ve been through some ups, some downs, but you know, what it reveals is definitely character. Everything hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to, but they refuse to let each other lose.”
Butler (10-14) closed regulation on a 6-0 run to force an extra session against Xavier, which swept the regular-season series, winning twice by a combined 25 points.
With the Bulldogs trailing by 14 at halftime Wednesday, things looked dire again. But an opportunistic attack and stout defense that hounded the Musketeers into 11-for-31 shooting after intermission keyed a late surge.
Freshman Chuck Harris scored each of his 21 points in the second half and overtime and Bryce Golden chipped in a career-best 20 points to go with nine boards.
“You come into these tournament settings, we’ve all played each other, and our guys had a confidence coming in,” Jordan said. “(Xavier) hit us in the mouth; we had to respond. So I’m just proud of our guys’ response and proud of the toughness they’ve showed. We’ve got to get off our feet and get ready for tomorrow.”
No. 17 Creighton (18-7) closed the regular season with a resounding 93-73 victory against visiting Butler on Saturday to snap a two-game losing streak. The Bluejays trailed for a mere 13 seconds.
Marcus Zegarowski tied his career high with 32 points on 10-for-12 shooting, including 5-for-7 accuracy from beyond the arc as Creighton topped 90 points for the sixth time this season.
“You know, I just try and always take what the defense gives me,” Zegarowski said. “I’m always going to try to facilitate. That’s the point guard position. You try and get guys involved, try and get guys going on the offensive end because then it will feed off both ends of the floor.”
Christian Bishop notched a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Denzel Mahoney (15 points) and Damien Jefferson (12) followed in double figures.
Harris scored a career-high 29 to pace Butler.
Creighton was without head coach Greg McDermott as he served a suspension for making racially insensitive remarks to players after a Feb. 27 loss. McDermott was reinstated this week.
“We’re just focused on finishing strong,” Jefferson said. “It’s definitely been a long journey, but it’s been good.”
–Field Level Media
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