By Christopher Marshall for MSNsportsNET.com
January 24, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.V. - Da’Sean Butler’s game winning jump shot with 5.6 seconds to go in Wednesday night’s Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic started with a simple question posed by West Virginia Coach Bob Huggins in the team’s huddle.
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Da'Sean Butler scored a team-high 18 points to help West Virginia to a 66-64 victory over Marshall.
AP photo
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“I asked him twice if I could trust him with the ball,” Huggins said.
Butler had a quick response for his coach that has won more than 600 career games.
“He asked me if I could handle the ball because I had that little mishap in the Oklahoma game where I tripped. I told him I could,” Butler said. “He told me with 10 seconds left to go and get the ball so I went and got it.”
Huggins explained that there were several options for what Da’Sean could do with the ball during the play.
“It’s for Da’Sean but if Da’Sean gets veered off then we’re going to set a guy up and dribble handoff and Darris is going to curl it to the middle,” Huggins explained. “He’s either going to get a shot or force help and Alex is over there to pitch it to.”
Butler didn’t need any other options. He took his man off the bounce and calmly sank an eight foot jump shot over Marshall guard Adam Williams, giving the Mountaineers their ninth win in 11 tries over the Thundering Herd.
“When I was putting it up I was like, ‘Please God let it go in.’ When it went in I just turned around and tried to get back on D,” Butler said. “I didn’t want to celebrate because they might throw the ball in and go get a lay up.”
The shot provided an exciting finish for the 12,580 fans in attendance, all of whom had apparently paid $20 apiece to watch refs call fouls for 2 1/2 hours.
While Butler would always like to have the ball in his hands with time winding down in a close game, he realizes that different situations call for different players to take the last shot.
“If you ask me to do it I will do it. I would love to just say I want to make the last shot but it depends on what kind of shot coach wants,” Butler said. “If he wants a standstill shot or somebody to create a shot then he has certain people in mind.”
Junior forward Joe Alexander, who played 25 minutes Wednesday night despite nursing a groin injury, believes Butler was the ideal guy to try to break Marshall down off the bounce.
“That is just Da’Sean doing what he does best. Da’Sean is our best guy off the dribble and he is a very underrated player in this league,” Alexander said. “While he is having a good season I don’t think he has really shown everything he can do.”
Apparently he can play a little defense as well. On Marshall’s final possession, Butler was the guy that knocked the ball away from Darryl Merthie, squelching any chance at a desperation shot at the buzzer.
“We were supposed to go to a triangle and two and the ball was on our baseline so Darris or Al were supposed to keep their (Marshall’s) best guys from touching the ball,” Butler said. “We just tried to deny them the ball and keep them from scoring.
“I smacked the ball away with my left hand. He almost had it and I tried to smack it away from him,” Butler said. “I smacked it back near the 3-point line and we got the ball. He didn’t get the shot off, thank God.”
And now back to that simple question that put Butler in position to win the game in the first place. Had Huggins ever had a player answer no when asked whether or not he could trust him with the ball?
“I know which ones to ask. Don’t forget I graduated magna cum laude from this school," Huggins said. “You might want to stick that in your article.”
No problem Coach.