The Bulldogs almost blew what looked to be a sure victory with a dumb play in the final seconds, but then saw the tables turned to give them another shot at the win.

In what was a crazy sequence, with Butler up by one, Shelvin Mack fouled Nasmir Robinson as he was about to heave a crazy half-court shot at the buzzer.

Robinson made the first free throw but missed the second, and Matt Howard grabbed the rebound.

As he desperately tried to heave the ball toward the other basket, he was fouled. He made the first free throw, and Butler walked away with a huge win.

Senior Matt Howard grabbed an airball that was tipped over to him and laid it into the basket as the buzzer sounded.

Howard finished with 15 points and five rebounds, but more importantly managed to stay out of foul trouble.

The most surprising aspect of the game was that Butler managed to outrebound the bruising Monarchs.

It was actually surprising that Old Dominion was able to hang so close given that they weren’t able to hold a huge rebounding advantage over the Bulldogs.

Butler took control of the game early and took a commanding 13-point lead into the locker room.

The second half was more of the same. Matt Howard lead the Bulldogs with 18 points and five rebounds.

The victory means that last year’s runner-up to Duke for the national championship will be back to try and make more noise.

Butler seems to be peaking at the right time of the year, so maybe they have another magical run in them.

Matt Howard scored 22 points to lead the charge for Butler, which hasn’t been the same team we saw last year.

Shelvin Mack, who was expected to really take over as a big-time scorer this year, added 13 points.

The Bulldogs are trying to climb up the Horizon League standings and have made some headway over the past couple of weeks.

Butler has jumped out of the middle of the pack, now sitting in third place and just one game behind Valparaiso at the top of the league.

The game was never really close from the opening minutes, and the Bulldogs trailed by 20 early in the second half.

They spent the entire game trying to catch up, but something just didn’t seem right about the team on this particular night.

You don’t want to overreact to just one game, but it seemed like Gordon Hayward’s absence was a big one.

Then again, Butler’s usually stingy defense allowed 88 points, and it will likely improve throughout the season.

Stevens reached near celebrity status as his Bulldogs ran their way through the NCAA tournament and barely missed a bucket to win the national championship.

He said he gets request to do different things all the time but has learned that he can’t do everything.

Stevens said that the loss in the national championship game still hurts and that he often replays the final shot in his mind.

The coach is looking forward to some quiet time in the summer before basketball season gets into full swing.

Hayward saw his draft stock take a meteoric rise thanks to a phenomenal performance in the NCAA tournament.

It’s unlikely that returning to school could improve his draft stock, so he will take the money and run.

He is projected to go anywhere from the late lottery to the middle of the first round, which means millions of dollars headingh is way.

The decision is a crushing blow for Butler, which would have been a top five team had he returned.

However, he does intend on hiring an agent yet, which leaves open the possibility he could return to school.

It’s a tough decision for Hayward, who would love to return to school and make another national title push.

At the same time, his value has skyrocketed so much that his stock may never be higher than it is now.

By returning to school, he could risk losing millions and millions of dollars should things change.

It is believed that Stevens received a significant payraise from the $750,000 he had been making.

At the same time, it was no secret that Butler lacked the kind of funds other big schools could throw at Stevens.

For that reason, they decided to take a leap of faith and give him a huge extension that at least gives him financial stability.

The school is now hopeful that Stevens return will also mean Gordon Hayward will elect to come back for his junior season.

Almost the whole team is back, with Willie Veasley being the only significant loss from the current group.

However, both sophomore Gordon Hayward and head coach Brad Stevens could be elsewhere come next season.

Hayward is soaring up NBA Draft boards, making it close to a lottery pick, and might end up turning pro.

Stevens is going to receive a big offer from Oregon to become their next head coach and will also likely be contacted by Clemson and Wake Forest.