Loyola's upset bid slips away in 48-47 loss to Butler

Seeking its first home win over a nationally ranked foe in 24 years, Loyola delivered everything except the mob-scene finish in the middle of the Gentile Center floor.

Terrance Hill's 3-point attempt went in and out with one second left, and Jordan Hicks' controlled tip fell off the rim at the buzzer to preserve Butler's 48-47 Horizon League victory before a wired crowd of 4,372 Thursday night in Rogers Park.

"Terrance's shot looked good to me," said Loyola coach Jim Whitesell. "And Hicks' look, I thought his tip was in. If that tip goes in there, I'm the happiest man in Chicago."

Butler, ranked 20th in the ESPN/USA Today poll, stayed perfect in conference play when senior Willie Veazley hit the second of 2 free throws with 34.4 seconds left in spite of the riot being created by Loyola's students.

"I tried not to focus on the noise and the arms in the background," Veazley said. "It's probably the loudest I've heard a gym this year."

The Ramblers (12-6, 3-5) doubled their best home attendance of the year and rode the crowd's rowdiness to a yeoman defensive effort.

Butler (15-4, 8-0) suffered its lowest point total in 76 games and shot a season-worst 3 of 20 from 3-point range.

Loyola also pounded the Bulldogs on the boards by a 42-29 margin but offset that by committing 17 turnovers in a low-possession affair.

"An unbelievably hard-fought game," said Butler coach Brad Stevens. "The easy answer is neither team could buy a shot, but from a coaching standpoint it was two teams playing terrific defense."

Hill (12 points) nailed a 16-footer with 7:06 to go to pull Loyola into a 43-43 knot - the first tie since eight minutes into the game.

Butler, which had missed 12 consecutive 3-point tries, called a play that set up Gordon Hayward (12 points) for an open 3-pointer at the top of the key with 6:45 to go.

"Gordon can miss for the rest of his career and I'll call it for him with the game on the line," Stevens said.

That was the game's last basket save Hill's 3-pointer that made it 47-47 with 47 seconds left.

"To win games like this is how you can move forward," Stevens said. "Every championship team, or every team that competes for a championship, has to win games like this."