Butler leads WVU past Washington in semifinal

Associated Press

SYRACUSE, N.Y.

Clutching his right hand and writhing in pain on the court, West Virginia senior Da’Sean Butler allowed himself only two seconds to worry that his college career was over — and maybe the Mountaineers’ NCAA tournament run, too.

When Butler realized the hurt was subsiding, he got up and went about his business in lifting the second-seeded Mountaineers to the East Regional final with a 69-56 win over 11th-seeded Washington on Thursday night.

“Once I stood up, the one thing that was pretty numb was my hand, and I said, ‘All right, I’ll be fine,’” he said.

He was, and so were the Mountaineers (30-6). Coach Bob Huggins’ team set a school record for victories, extended its winning streak to nine and advanced to the round of eight for the second time since 2005.

Seeing Butler on the court, however, was a major scare for West Virginia, which was playing its first game without point guard Darryl Bryant, who broke his right foot in practice on Tuesday.

Butler plays an even more critical role on the Mountaineers, as he’s their leading scorer who’s also hit six game-winning shots in the final seconds this season.

“That was a very big sense of relief,” forward Kevin Jones said. “Something would really have to be wrong if he didn’t get up. Luckily, it wasn’t that. He got up and showed how tough he was.”

Butler had his right hand wrapped in ice in the Mountaineers’ locker room and said he’ll be ready to play Saturday.

Jones led the Big East tournament champions with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Butler finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Justin Holiday scored 14 and added eight rebounds for the Huskies (26-10), who were at a disadvantage after leading scorer Quincy Pondexter picked up his third foul with 4:27 left in the first half. Pondexter didn’t score his first basket until 2:30 into the second half, and finished with seven points.

Point guard Isaiah Thomas scored 13 before fouling out with 2:41 left. The Huskies had a nine-game win streak snapped. The Pac-10 tournament champions were trying to become only the fourth school seeded 11th or lower to reach the round of eight.

“It definitely hurts. We made a great run down the last stretch of the season,” Pondexter said. “It hurts right now. There’s nothing much to say about it.”