Matt Howard and Butler are starting to make this look a little easier.
When the final horn sounded Thursday night, the Bulldogs calmly congratulated one another and walked over to shake hands with Wisconsin, yet another higher seed sent packing. It all seemed rather routine, at least for the Bulldogs.
After narrowly surviving its first two NCAA tournament games by margins of two points or fewer, Butler led by 20 points before holding on for a 61-54 victory over the Badgers.
Butler is in the Elite Eight. Defending champ Duke is out of the tournament. Few saw this coming.
The Bulldogs took down the Big Ten bruisers, proving again they can play with anyone, especially in March. Another sure thing about these Horizon League champs: They won't have to duke it out with Duke in this year's tournament.
The top-seeded Blue Devils, who beat Butler 61-59 in last season's thrilling title game, were upset by Arizona 93-77 earlier in the evening.
"I don't know necessarily that I'm shocked by [the upsets] because I know what this team is capable of," Howard said. "But [I'm] very happy that we were able to execute again tonight and get the job done."
The victory sent Butler into the Southeast Regional final, where the Bulldogs meet second-seeded Florida (29-7) on Saturday for a trip to what would be the Bulldogs' second straight Final Four.
"Obviously, we're thrilled to still be playing," Butler coach Brad Stevens said. "I don't think that this group goes into games not believing, and I don't think that this group came here not believing. And so we're going to see if we can't try to get one on Saturday and move on."
Jordan Taylor scored 22 for Wisconsin (25-9), which shot 30.4 percent (17-of-56). Jon Leuer, normally one of the Badgers' top offensive forces with 18.7 points per game coming in, was 1-of-12 shooting and finished with three points.
"We made plays that were uncharacteristic of us," Leuer said. "We tried to force some things, and Butler did some good things defensively. ... They're just tough kids who are all-around good players, and they play to their strengths."
Butler was the aggressor from the outset, using quickness and heady play to counter Wisconsin's size advantage. The Bulldogs took a 6-5 lead on Vanzant's 3 from the corner and never trailed again.
While the Bulldogs shot 50 percent (12-of-24) in the opening 20 minutes, their defense was equally impressive. Wisconsin came in averaging only 7.5 turnovers per game but had eight in the first half alone. Taylor, who entered the contest with the nation's best assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.18, had one assist and two turnovers to that point.
"It was just kinda one of those nights. The ball just wasn't going through the hoop. It's frustrating," Taylor said. "They're scrappy and relentless. I don't know -- they're just tough kids. They never quit, and that's what makes them winners."
