In the final installment of Missing March Madness, we revisit the near miss of Boston Celtic veteran forward Gordon Hayward and his Butler Bulldogs in the title game of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
A tightly-contested game from start to finish, neither team had more than a six-point lead at any time in the contest.
But, the Cinderella-story story run of Butler and Hayward came to an end after the Bulldogs couldn’t quite regain the lead in the game’s final moments, despite coming as close as 60-69 with under a minute to go.
In the contest’s final possession, the future Celtic forward would launch a 50-foot shot that hit the backboard, then the rim…
And then fell to the ground, a miss.
There have been few games that have come closer to such a massive upset, a lowly mid-major nearly stealing a national title from the bluest of blue blood programs.
The loss would sting greatly despite the improbability of Butler, Hayward, and future Celtics and then-Butler head coach Brad Stevens having made it that far in the first place.
The Indiana native would score just 12 points on 2-of-11 shooting in the loss along with 8 rebounds, the cold-shooting night ultimately sinking the Bulldogs title aspirations.
“There’s certainly nothing to hang your head about,” said coach Stevens at the time (courtesy of the Associated Press). I told them in there, what they’ve done, what they did together, will last longer than one night, regardless of the outcome.”
He wasn’t wrong.
