Horizon League tournament

3/6 – Butler vs Milwaukee (Horizon League Semifinals)

Bulldogs Begin Horizon League Tournament Play For the third straight year, Butler won't have to leave Hinkle Fieldhouse in its bid for a league tournament championship. The top-seeded Bulldogs will begin play in the 2010 Speedway Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship at home in the semifinals on Saturday, March 6.^[63]

3/9 – Butler vs Wright State (Horizon League Championship)

Bulldogs Capture Horizon League Tournament Crown Junior Matt Howard and sophomore Shelvin Mack each scored 14 points and top-seeded Butler unleashed a smothering defense to dispatch #2 Wright State, 70–45, in the title game of the 2010 Speedway Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Tuesday (Mar. 9). The win extended Butler's nation-leading winning streak to 20 in a row.^[64]

NCAA tournament

3/18 – Butler vs #25 (12 seed) Texas-El Paso (NCAA tournament – round 1)

Bulldogs Advance Past UTEP To NCAA Second Round Of the 32 first-round games, the match up between Butler and UTEP was the only one featuring two nationally ranked teams (UTEP was ranked 24th entering the game). Many basketball commentators picked UTEP to pull the upset,^[2] and in the first half of the game it looked like they might be right. UTEP outplayed Butler to take a 33–27 halftime lead. Stevens rallied the team, and the Bulldogs came out firing on all cylinders in the second half. Shelvin Mack hit two three-pointers within 90 seconds to tie the game and ignite a 22–4 run to start the half. Butler won the game 77–59 sinking 13 three-pointers.^[65] Shelvin Mack led the team with 25 points.^[66]

3/20 – Butler vs (13 seed) Murray St. (NCAA tournament – round 2)

Late Defense Sends Bulldogs To Sweet 16 In the second round, Butler faced off with 13th seeded Murray State. The game was close throughout and was tied at 50 with a minute to go. Ronald Nored put Butler ahead with a layup and added a free throw to make it 53–50 with 25.4 seconds remaining. Murray State made two free throws to cut the gap, but was forced to foul Matt Howard to extend the game. Howard hit 1 of 2 free throws, giving Murray State a chance to tie or win the game on its final possession. With less than five seconds on the clock, Hayward deflected a Murray State pass into the back court. By the time the ball was recovered, the game was over and Stevens was heading to his first Sweet Sixteen.^[67]

3/25 – Butler vs. #4 (1 seed) Syracuse (NCAA tournament – Sweet Sixteen)

Butler Headed To Elite Eight Butler faced top-seeded Syracuse. Unlike their first two games, the Bulldogs got off to a good start, jumping out to a 12–1 lead and taking a 35–25 lead to the break. Syracuse rallied in the second half, taking its first lead of the game, 40–39, off a Wes Johnson three-pointer. Stevens called timeout and Butler regained the lead on its next possession. The game remained tight for the next several minutes. At the 5:32 mark, Syracuse got a rare fast break opportunity that ended with a dunk and 54–50 lead. Stevens again called time out and Butler responded by holding Syracuse scoreless for the next 5 minutes. Butler took a 60–54 lead on a Willie Veasley tip in at the 0:59 mark and held on to win 63–59. The win allowed Butler to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.^[68]

3/27 – Butler vs. #7 (2 seed) Kansas St. (NCAA tournament – Elite Eight)

BU's NEXT STOP: Final Four In Indy! The Bulldogs met 2nd-seeded Kansas State in the regional finals. Perhaps feeling the effects of their double overtime 101–96 win two days prior, Kansas State got off to a slow start, scoring just 20 points in the first half to trail 27–20. Butler kept the lead in the upper single digits for most of the second half and led 49–39 with 7:38 to go. Kansas State then went on a 13–2 and took a 52–51 lead on a Denis Clemente 3-pointer with 4:50 to go. Brad Stevens immediately called time out and re-focused the team. "Play your game. Just play your game" he told the team.^[69] On the ensuing possession, Hayward pulled down an offensive rebounded on a Mack miss and was fouled. He hit both free throws and Butler didn't trail again, out-scoring Kansas State 12–2 before the Wildcats hit a meaningless shot at the buzzer to make the final margin 63–56.^[70] When asked how Butler won the game, Howard said "It’s all five guys out there defending, helping each other".^[2]

In the post game celebration, Stevens and walk-on forward Emerson Kampen connected on a flying back-bump that soon became one of the iconic images of the tournament. Stevens adopted the move after he saw it bringing together teammates during pregame rituals. Stevens and Kampden did a back-bump in the locker room after the Murray State and Syracuse games, revealing it to the public after beating Kansas State.^[71]

The win earned the Bulldogs a trip back to Indianapolis for the first Final Four appearance in school and Horizon League history.^[70] The win made Stevens, at age 33, the youngest coach to lead a team to the Final Four since Bob Knight made his first Final Four appearance at age 32 in 1973.^[72] Butler became the smallest school (enrollment 4,200) to make the Final Four since seeding began in 1979.^[73]

4/3 – Butler vs. #13/#12 (5 seed) Michigan St. (NCAA tournament – Final Four)

Bulldogs Advance To National Title Game Brad Stevens and the Butler Bulldogs faced off with Michigan State in the national semi-finals. Korie Lucious opened the game by hitting two straight three-pointers, but Gordon Hayward responded with two three-pointers of his own to tie the score at 6. Butler took a 7–6 lead on a Shelvin Mack free throw before Michigan State went on an 8–0 run. Matt Howard got in early foul trouble and sat most of the first half. Butler fought back though, tying the game at 28 on a Mack three-pointer with 35 seconds left in the first half.^[74]

Lucious hit another three to open the second half, giving Michigan State a 31–28 lead. The teams traded the lead a few times before Mack hit a layup to put Butler up 34–33 with 17:43 to go. Butler then held Michigan State scoreless for the next 3:30, pushing the lead to 38–33. After two free throws by Howard made the Butler lead 46–41 with 9:24 to go, both teams locked down on defense. The score was 47–44 with 2:45 to go in the game when Michigan State called a time out to set up a play. Stevens correctly anticipated the play call and had Ronald Nored, the team's best defender, switch onto Lucious off a screen. Nored stole the ball and Shawn Vanzant got fouled on the resulting run out, hitting 1 of 2. After a Draymond Green jump shot cut the lead to 48–46, Hayward got a layup off an offensive rebound by Willie Veasley. Durrell Summers then got fouled with 1:18 remaining. He hit the first free throw, but missed the second. However, Michigan State got an offensive rebound and Green was fouled. He made both foul shots to bring Michigan State within a point with 56 seconds to go. Butler came up empty on its possession, giving Michigan State a chance to take the lead. Green missed a layup with 8 seconds on the clock and Nored came down with the rebound. He was quickly fouled. Nored, who had shot only 61% on the year and 3 of 12 during the tournament on free throws, hit both shots to give Butler a 52–49 lead. After a Michigan State time out, Butler intentionally fouled Lucious with 2 seconds remaining to prevent a potentially game tying 3-pointer. After making the first, Lucious intentionally missed the second free throw. Hayward came down with the rebound, his ninth of the game, to seal the victory.^[74]

Butler won the game despite shooting just 30.6% for the game and going without Howard and Mack for a large portion of the second half. Howard hit his head and left the game dazed, while Mack was experiencing leg cramps. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo called it "one of the more physical games we've been involved in." He added "I like the way they play, I like their story. They play like a Big Ten team."^[74] Of 595 games played on neutral courts during the 2009–10 season, Butler's 30.6% was the third-lowest shooting percentage by a winning team.^[75] Butler became the first team since the shot clock was adopted for the 1985–86 season to hold five straight tournament opponents under 60 points.^[76]

4/5 – Butler vs. #3 (1 seed) Duke (NCAA tournament – Championship Game)

On April 5, 2010, Butler became the smallest school to play for a National Championship since Jacksonville in 1970, facing Duke, who was seeking its fourth national championship.^[77] The New York Times called the game "the most eagerly awaited championship game in years".^[78]

Duke jumped out to a 6–1 lead to start the game, but Butler rallied back, taking a 12–11 lead at the 12:28 mark of the first half. At the under eight-minute TV timeout, Butler held a 20–18 lead. After the timeout, Duke went on an 8–0 run to take a 26–20 lead. Coach Stevens then called a timeout. With starters Matt Howard and Ronald Nored on the bench in foul trouble, backup center Avery Jukes hit two three-pointers and a made tip-in en route to 10 first half points, tying his single-game season high. At half time, Duke's lead stood at 33–32.^[79]

The second half was played very closely, with neither team taking a lead larger than two points until a Brian Zoubek layup put Duke up 47–43 with 12:27 remaining. Butler stayed within 5 points the rest of the way. With 3:16 to play, Duke took a 60–55 lead on two made free throws by Nolan Smith. Butler missed its next shot, but forced a missed shot and turned Duke over after an offensive rebound. Matt Howard made a layup for Butler to make it a 60–57 game with 1:44 remaining. Smith missed a layup for Duke and Howard made another layup after collecting an offensive rebound on a missed three-pointer by Shelvin Mack. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski then called a time out. Kyle Singler missed a jump shot from the right corner with 36 seconds remaining, giving Butler a chance to take the lead. Butler was unable to initiate their offense and Stevens called a timeout to set up a play. They were then forced to call their last timeout when they were unable to get the ball in-bounds. Next, Gordon Hayward missed a short fade-away jumper while being defended by center Brian Zoubek. Zoubek came down strong with the rebound, forcing Butler to foul with less than 3.6 seconds remaining. Zoubek made the first foul shot and then intentionally missed the second, likely knowing Butler had no timeouts remaining. Hayward threw a desperation shot from half court. The ball bounced off the backboard and then the rim.^[79] According to an analysis by ESPN, Hayward's aim was off by three inches (7.6 cm), or less than one degree, on the x-axis.^[80]

The loss ended the winningest season in school history. It also snapped Butler's 25-game winning streak, which was also a school record. The following day President Barack Obama called and congratulated the team, despite the loss. "I just didn't want to call the winner because you guys grabbed the nation's attention. We appreciate the way you guys play." he told the team.^[81]