Last year Butler and Gordon Hayward clipped Xavier on one of the more bizarre endings you will ever see in college basketball. Gordon Hayward put the Bulldogs up one with seemingly 1.2 seconds remaining. However, after referees consulted the monitors for a seven minute delay, they determined the clock had inadvertantly stopped for roughly one and half seconds during the play.
The refs retroactively corrected the timing error, counted the Hayward basket and then determined the game was over.
Muskie fans hadn't forgotten the tough-to-swallow loss and were revved up for revenge. The Cintas center was packed in a "Whiteout" with all fans wearing white shirts for tonight's rematch, and many came equipped with signs referrencing the clock error and using words like "cheated" to describe the controversial ending.
The fans got their wish for revenge, though it certainly wasn't pretty to watch. Xavier shot just 32% from the floor and an abysmal 11% from behind the arc. And they still outshot Butler. The Bulldogs shot just 31% from the floor, and were it not for 16 of 18 from the line (the only two misses coming in the final minute) the score could have been even worse than the 51-49 final.
Butler managed only 15 made baskets from the floor during the entire game, including a nearly 15 minute drought in the first half.
It wasn't pretty, but it was a win the Muskies desperately needed to keep their at-large profile afloat.
With the loss, Butler dropped to 4-4 on the season, with no ranked opponents on tap for the remainder of the season.
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