The top-seeded Providence Friars were in a battle Thursday against the Butler Bulldogs that came down to the final minute of their Big East Tournament quarterfinals match-up.
The teams found themselves tied at halftime and Butler had a very real shot at pulling off the upset. Providence then found themselves down one with 42 seconds left in the game when senior guard Al Durham hit a clutch three to put the Friars ahead, 61-59.
Providence would never relinquish this lead again, going on to win the game 65-61, though it certainly wasn’t for a lack of effort from the Bulldogs. Butler’s Bo Hodges made a layup with eight seconds left, and nearly got the steal on the inbounds pass from Providence. However, Providence retained the ball and scored once more to put themselves up four, solidifying the win on this crazy sequence of plays.
This crazy finish garnered a ton of reactions from the college basketball world after an extremely exciting back and forth game.
Butler gave Providence all they could handle in this game but ultimately fell short. The Bulldogs looked like a team that could be a bid stealer for the upcoming NCAA Tournament, but will certainly not be able to make it now.
Providence advances to face the winner of the Creighton-Marquette matchup on Thursday, where they will certainly be looking for a more stress-free victory than the one they got against Butler.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.