NCAA 2010 Final Four - Championship

[1] (South) Duke 61 - [5] (West) Butler 59

What an intense tourney this year. 1-seeds were dropping like flies. [1] (Midwest) Kansas was out 2nd round against [9] UNI: 67-69. [1] (South) Syracuse was beaten 3rd round by [5] Butler: 59-63. [1] (East) Kentucky dropped out 4th round to [2] West Virginia: 73-66. Duke was the only 1-seed able to make it to the Final Four pitted against a 2-seed, West Virginia. All of the close upsets in the West an Midwest brackets led to an unlikely semifinal battle of two 5-seeds Butler and Michigan St. Duke cruised into the final, beating out West Virginia 78-57. Butler was able to pull out a close victory over Michigan St. 52-50, setting up the unlikely championship between the Duke Blue Devils and Butler Bulldogs.

YouTube Video - Last 13.6 Seconds of Championship

This championship will be one to remember for years. A David and Goliath story. Duke came in heavily favored with their great talent, size, and tournament experience led by coach K. But Duke was prepared for a tough game, well aware of Butlers relentless defense, great teamwork and depth on the bench.

The game remained tight to the end, the leading team flipped multiple times in both halves. Butler was able to take a 2 point lead in both halves. Duke's largest lead was 6. Both teams played outstanding defense. It became a battle where each team would have to take a low percentage shot or make an outstanding offensive play to put points on the board.

Butler had the ball trailing by one in the final 20 seconds. They were attempting to control the clock for a shot around the 6 second mark, allowing time for a foul if needed. Duke stepped up their defense stripping the ball and knocking the ball out. They prevented an inbound pass, forcing Butler to use their last timeout to retry the inbound. Howard inbounded it to Butler's best player Hayward, who dribbled in inside and put up a tough jumper. Butler immediately fouled Zoubek on Duke's rebound, sending him to the line with 3 seconds on the clock. Zoubek sunk his first free throw, giving Duke a 2 point lead, then he intentionally missed the second to deny Butler the time an inbound pass could give them. Butler would need a miracle to convert their last shot. Hayward came down with the rebound, dribbled to half court and took a running buzzer beater shot. It hit the back board and nearly went in. What an excellently played end game by both teams taking it to the last second.

Butler's leader Gordon Hayward said the shot, ''Felt good. Just wasn't there. ... Just didn't go in.''

Following the game, Coach K. of Duke said, ''Well I've been fortunate enough to be in eight national championship games and this was a classic. This was the toughest and the best one.''