Da'Sean Butler doesn't like to look back at the occasion.
It is apropos, because had he looked over his shoulder last year and seen Patrick Ewing Jr. timing his leap, Butler might have scored at the buzzer and beaten Georgetown at the WVU Coliseum.
As it was, Ewing swatted Butler's layup as time expired and let the Hoyas escape with a 58-57 Big East Conference victory over West Virginia. The majority of the 14,048 in the stands erupted in disbelief thinking Ewing was guilty of goaltending. Coach Bob Huggins hounded official Ed Hightower.
"I honestly felt it was goaltending," Butler said that day. "I got it off in time and I thought it was coming down when he got the ball. I looked at the ref and thought he was going to call goaltending, but he said, 'No goaltending.'"
Nearly a year later, Butler is somewhat reluctant to relive that moment, but admits he sometimes thinks what might have been.
"Of course -- that's a layup," he said. "And now that you've brought it up, I'll probably have it in the back of my head when I'm driving to the basket."
Butler and the Mountaineers (13-4, 2-2) meet the 12th-ranked Hoyas (12-4, 3-2) for the second time since the block when they play at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN telecast) at the MCI Center.
Georgetown eliminated WVU in the Big East Conference tournament last season.
The Hoyas have won three in a row in the series and Alex Ruoff is the only player who has beaten Georgetown. He played one minute in a 69-56 victory in 2006.
"The last couple of times we've played, things didn't go too well," Butler said.
Nothing is more haunting, though, than the deciding play at home last year, which is one of the two games WVU hast lost under Huggins while leading by 10 points.
Once up 37-27, the Mountaineers led 54-49 with 2:16 remaining, but gave up two baskets on offensive rebounds and a 3-pointer by Jessie Sapp with 6.2 seconds to go.
On the inbound, Darris Nichols passed to Butler, who was alone in the left corner. He drove inside of Sapp to the basket while Ewing made several long strides to catch up with the play.
"If I could go back, I'm not going to lie to you, I'd probably lay it up again," Butler said. "I'd hurt my hand in the Marshall game (three days earlier) when I punched the (basket support).
"I couldn't really shoot the ball, so I probably would have laid it up. If I had two healthy hands, I would have definitely tried to dunk it."
Butler figures he's dunked five times in college, maybe 10, but most have been this season, which is no coincidence. He's made it a point to finish plays and understands the importance of points in the Big East, especially late in the game.
WVU lost games at the buzzer against Pitt and Georgetown and needed overtime to get by St. John's last year. Already this season, the Mountaineers squandered chances late against UConn and survived South Florida's late rally.
"We're happy just to be in that situation as good as these teams are," Huggins said. "We run some specials and have some things we run (late in the game). For instance, the UConn game, we had decent shots. We just didn't make them.
"You can run what you want to run. You have to finish the play."
It's doubly important for the Mountaineers, who are smaller than just about everyone they will play, but also struggle with 3-point shooting (33 percent, No. 10 in the 16-team Big East) and rely on scoring around the basket.
That responsibility generally goes to Butler, who averages 16.4 points per game, but didn't score in the final six minutes against the Bulls.
"On another team, I'd probably play the perimeter," the 6-foot-7 junior said. "On this team, I have to play down low. Sometimes straight-up doesn't work and you have to have a series of things you can do and ways to score. It doesn't matter how as long as you put the ball in the hole."
Butler is extremely confident in his ability to score and uses a number of go-to moves to create opportunities. He has favorites, but is aware few secrets remain about the way he prefers to play.
"I work on my bank shot a lot and I work on my spin move a lot," he said. "I have a bunch of other moves I like, like step-backs, but if I had to do something and get my feet set, I'd definitely be spinning to get my feet set and put the ball up.
"I like to go left and if they don't stop me, I'm going to keep going. If they do stop me or double-team me, I have other things I can do, but if they're going to leave Truck (Bryant) and Alex (Ruoff) open, be my guest. I'll kick it out to them."
It is apropos, because had he looked over his shoulder last year and seen Patrick Ewing Jr. timing his leap, Butler might have scored at the buzzer and beaten Georgetown at the WVU Coliseum.
As it was, Ewing swatted Butler's layup as time expired and let the Hoyas escape with a 58-57 Big East Conference victory over West Virginia. The majority of the 14,048 in the stands erupted in disbelief thinking Ewing was guilty of goaltending. Coach Bob Huggins hounded official Ed Hightower.
"I honestly felt it was goaltending," Butler said that day. "I got it off in time and I thought it was coming down when he got the ball. I looked at the ref and thought he was going to call goaltending, but he said, 'No goaltending.'"
Nearly a year later, Butler is somewhat reluctant to relive that moment, but admits he sometimes thinks what might have been.
"Of course -- that's a layup," he said. "And now that you've brought it up, I'll probably have it in the back of my head when I'm driving to the basket."
Butler and the Mountaineers (13-4, 2-2) meet the 12th-ranked Hoyas (12-4, 3-2) for the second time since the block when they play at 7 p.m. Thursday (ESPN telecast) at the MCI Center.
Georgetown eliminated WVU in the Big East Conference tournament last season.
The Hoyas have won three in a row in the series and Alex Ruoff is the only player who has beaten Georgetown. He played one minute in a 69-56 victory in 2006.
"The last couple of times we've played, things didn't go too well," Butler said.
Nothing is more haunting, though, than the deciding play at home last year, which is one of the two games WVU hast lost under Huggins while leading by 10 points.
Once up 37-27, the Mountaineers led 54-49 with 2:16 remaining, but gave up two baskets on offensive rebounds and a 3-pointer by Jessie Sapp with 6.2 seconds to go.
On the inbound, Darris Nichols passed to Butler, who was alone in the left corner. He drove inside of Sapp to the basket while Ewing made several long strides to catch up with the play.
"If I could go back, I'm not going to lie to you, I'd probably lay it up again," Butler said. "I'd hurt my hand in the Marshall game (three days earlier) when I punched the (basket support).
"I couldn't really shoot the ball, so I probably would have laid it up. If I had two healthy hands, I would have definitely tried to dunk it."
Butler figures he's dunked five times in college, maybe 10, but most have been this season, which is no coincidence. He's made it a point to finish plays and understands the importance of points in the Big East, especially late in the game.
WVU lost games at the buzzer against Pitt and Georgetown and needed overtime to get by St. John's last year. Already this season, the Mountaineers squandered chances late against UConn and survived South Florida's late rally.
"We're happy just to be in that situation as good as these teams are," Huggins said. "We run some specials and have some things we run (late in the game). For instance, the UConn game, we had decent shots. We just didn't make them.
"You can run what you want to run. You have to finish the play."
It's doubly important for the Mountaineers, who are smaller than just about everyone they will play, but also struggle with 3-point shooting (33 percent, No. 10 in the 16-team Big East) and rely on scoring around the basket.
That responsibility generally goes to Butler, who averages 16.4 points per game, but didn't score in the final six minutes against the Bulls.
"On another team, I'd probably play the perimeter," the 6-foot-7 junior said. "On this team, I have to play down low. Sometimes straight-up doesn't work and you have to have a series of things you can do and ways to score. It doesn't matter how as long as you put the ball in the hole."
Butler is extremely confident in his ability to score and uses a number of go-to moves to create opportunities. He has favorites, but is aware few secrets remain about the way he prefers to play.
"I work on my bank shot a lot and I work on my spin move a lot," he said. "I have a bunch of other moves I like, like step-backs, but if I had to do something and get my feet set, I'd definitely be spinning to get my feet set and put the ball up.
"I like to go left and if they don't stop me, I'm going to keep going. If they do stop me or double-team me, I have other things I can do, but if they're going to leave Truck (Bryant) and Alex (Ruoff) open, be my guest. I'll kick it out to them."
