Hinkle magic nearly lifted Butler alumni team but Indy-area underdogs finish another TBT upset
INDIANAPOLIS — When a basketball team is trailing late in a game it must battle against two forces: The opposing team and time.
The Basketball Tournament uses the Elam Ending to establish a target score, now the element of time is taken away and the losing team can fight and claw its way back for as long as it has the willpower to do so.
All Good Dawgs, a Butler basketball alumni team, had its back against the wall, trailing by 13 with Fail Harder needing just six points to reach the target score of 80. Searching for one last dose of Hinkle magic with a lively home crowd cheering them on, All Good Dawgs mounted a furious comeback closing the gap to one with a chance to win the game.
Dawgs big man Tyler Wideman had two looks at the winning 3-pointer, but both shots missed the mark. Fail Harder corralled the rebound after Wideman's second missed Elam Ender and Jordan Walker (Cathedral) slammed home a tip dunk, giving Fail Harder an 80-77 victory.
Darius Adams led Fail Harder with 24 points. Kobe Webster (Park Tudor) scored 11 points. Reginald Kissoonlal added 10 points and four rebounds.
Fail Harder advances to face reigning champion and No. 1 seed Carmen's Crew at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
"The two 3s, we thought were going in, honestly," Walker said. "Both of them looked good, especially the second one. After the stop and rebound, we wanted to get something easy. ... Multiple efforts win the game."
Here are three takeaways.
Butler alumni got the look it wanted late
Two days after his hot shooting lifted All Good Dawgs to victory in the opening round of the tournament, there was no doubt who would have the final shot with the game on the line.
Needing a 3 to win, the Dawgs swung the ball to Wideman on the right wing. The nearest Fail Harder defender closed out late, giving Wideman a clean look at the basket, but the shot fell short. In a scramble for the ball, the rebound landed back in Wideman's hands. He lined up another shot and missed again.
Wideman led All Good Dawgs with 25 points, but he shot just 2 for 10 from 3.
"I got a good look at it, I just left it short," Wideman said. "If I could do it again, I'd take the same shot. ... We got two open looks, you can't really ask for much more after that."
Fail Harder is keeping its underdog mentality
Winning two games won't change Fail Harder's mentality heading into Tuesday's game.
Fail Harder doesn't have any players with NBA experience. Most of its players played at the Division II, mid-major Division I or NAIA level. Locals Webster, Jesse Bingham II (Warren Central), Djimon Henson (Lawrence North), Jaden Terry (Lawrence Central) and Joshua Price (Shortridge Magnet) weren't recruited by Butler or IU coming out of high school. Walker said they're used to being overlooked and underestimated, advancing further in the tournament won't change that in their minds.
"We still want to be underdogs and keep pushing," Walker said. "We don't want to be overconfident because we beat two good teams. (IU and Butler) were two big programs. We're a grassroots program, a city team.
"It keeps that chip on our shoulder," added Adams. "Of course, we believe in our talents. We think we can play with anybody, but you look on paper and see some of these names. ... People may think that they can beat us. That's been our whole careers. The underdogs, never being looked at as the top dogs.
"For me personally, you line up and knock them all out the way."
TBT brings Hinkle magic to the summertime
The crowd of 1,100 made their presence felt late in Monday's game.
With each shot All Good Dawgs made during its comeback bid, the crowd became more and more engaged. When Shelvin Mack brought the ball up the court, setting up a potential winning shot, the Hinkle crowd was on its feet.
Mack played a key role in Butler's two national championship runner-up teams. Sean McDermott played on Butler's last tournament team in 2018. Wideman played in the NCAA tournament all four seasons at Butler. These Butler legends know how special playing and winning at Hinkle is. TBT gave several generations of Butler players a taste of Hinkle Magic.
"Being back at Hinkle, that's that Hinkle Magic, we were hoping to have a little more of that today," Ty Groce said. "These are the moments we live for. Making the comeback and getting the shot.
"Anyone who's a true competitor in any type of environment, once the crowd gets into it, it brings another atmosphere to the game," added Wideman. "The Elam Ending aspect of it was pretty fun. It has everybody in the arena standing up."