Butler’s Roosevelt Jones, 1, guards Chattanooga’s Dontay Hampton, 2, in first half action between the Butler Bulldogs and the Chattanooga Mocs at Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler University in Indianapolis Tuesday November 15, 2011. Joe Vitti / The StarINDIANAPOLIS — John Shulman tugged at his sleeves, took a deep breath and simply said, “I’m exhausted.”
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga basketball coach screamed all night, paced in front of his bench, squatted and slapped the floor and pleaded for his Mocs to catch a break on almost every possession of a 57-46 loss to Butler in historic Hinkle Fieldhouse.
He gave it his all. And so did his players, he said.
“We left it all on the floor,” Shulman said. “They were just a bit better. They’re pretty good and we’re pretty good.
“That was two boxers going at it pretty good.”
Butler unveiled its second straight national runner-up banner in a pregame ceremony that the Mocs watched from their bench. The crowd of 6,078 enjoyed rehearing radio clips from its 2010 tournament games and roared when a black drape disappeared to reveal the white banner.
“What a cool place to play and what a special night for Butler,” Shulman said of Hinkle. which is a National Historic Landmark and the climactic setting for “Hoosiers.” “I would have loved to win, but I don’t know if we were supposed to win.”
The Mocs were within striking distance of the Bulldogs (1-1) for most of the slow-paced, possession-by-possession game that was reminiscent of conference tournament contests.
Butler owned a 10-point lead early in the second half, but UTC (0-2) quickly pulled within five points and remained down by two possessions or less until 2:22 remained.
Point guard Keegan Bell tapped the ball away from Butler near midcourt. He had it, he said, and could have gone in for a layup. But the Bulldogs gathered it and found Chase Stigall for a wide-open 3-pointer and a 52-44 lead.
“I think it’s the Buter Voodoo they have up here,” said Bell, who had six assists, four points and four rebounds. “I had it and the ball bounced back to my guy.”
Butler junior center Andrew Smith led all players with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Chrishawn Hopkins added 12 points for the Bulldogs.
Ricky Taylor led the Mocs with 13 points. and Omar Watted scored 10. Drazen Zlovaric and Chris Early each had eight points.
UTC scored only six points in the final 13:32, all on free throws. Usually, that would result in a blowout loss for the Mocs, who have been known in the past to drop their heads on defense when shots miss their mark.
But UTC stayed within a basket or two with its defense. Butler shot 37 percent from the floor and 35.7 percent in the second half. While UTC scored only six points in the final 13:32, the Bulldogs tallied just 16 points, including three freebies in the final minute.
“We were right there in the middle of it,” Shulman said. “We had a chance to win the game by making [no] buckets in the final 13 minutes. Our effort was tremendous.
“To come in here of all nights, Butler unveiling a banner, for us to have a chance as poorly as we shot it, wow.
“We won tonight, but the score doesn’t look like it.”
Butler coach Brad Stevens sounded almost as exhausted as Shulman — just slightly happier because his team won.
“I told our guys to persevere when things aren’t going our way,” Stevens said. “I said, ‘You looked like a Butler basketball team,’ and that was pretty neat for me to see.”