Butler fans gather at Hinkle Fieldhouse to watch Championship despite loss

When Grace Wallace told her dad three years ago that she would be attending Butler University the following fall, he only had one regret.

“He was like, ‘My only regret is you won’t have the big sporting events like at IU.’ Then I come here and obviously sports are a huge deal,” the BU junior said.

An hour before the doors opened at Hinkle Fieldhouse beneath the “Hoosier Sky,” a line of Butler fans had formed, reaching several blocks past the parking lot’s edge — and that was just one half of the queue. The other half extended toward fraternity row, meeting the first group in the middle, at the entrance door of the historic basketball stadium.

Lauren Allen, an IU-Purdue University Indianapolis student who is looking to transfer to Butler, played a game with 8-year-old Julia Fryrear.

The game: concentration.

“The category was anything,” Fryrear said. “But just because Butler is in the national championship we’re only saying Butler things.”

More than 1,000 miles away, senior forward Matt Howard was focusing his concentration as his Bulldog team warmed up for its second-straight appearance in the NCAA Championship game. 

Arms bobbed in the air, drums banged and just like one year before, “Don’t Stop Believing” filled Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Unlike 2010, though, there was no No. 1 seed left in the tournament. No Coach K. No “this is just a Cinderella story” team.

There was No. 3 Connecticut against the No. 8 seed from the Hoosier state.

Just minutes before tipoff, Chris Port was all smiles. The sophomore goes to IU but said he has been a Butler basketball fan with his family for his entire life.

“I’m from West Lafayette,” Port said. “I’ve always hated Purdue.”

Port said his decision to come to IU was based on his admission into the Kelley School of Business and the price tag of an education at Butler.

“I’m definitely a huge IU fan,” Port said. “In the next couple years, IU will be back to this level. You got to believe.”

As 3-pointers rained down in Houston, the fans in Indianapolis remained on their feet.
They chanted with the student section on television. They yelled at the referees and donned T-shirts that read “Sorry for Bracket-Bustin.”

They chanted, “B-U, T-L-E, -R YOU A BULLDOG? ... HELL YEA!”

Malachy O’Connor said he has been a Butler fan since the 1960s, growing up on the north side of Indianapolis.

In the ’60s, O’Connor said he cheered on the Hoosiers, and he said he still does.
“Butler has gotten to the pinnacle,” O’Connor said. “IU’s program needs to be turned around, and that’s what a star like Cody Zeller — with his background — will bring to Indiana.”

On Monday night, O’Connor sat in the same section he had one year before, watching the 2010 National Championship game. This year, he said, the ending would be different.

“I have a good feeling about Butler tonight,” O’Connor said.

As the game continued, Wallace cheered from the front row with her sorority sisters. Then came missed shot after missed shot from their beloved Bulldogs.

Connecticut pulled ahead as the Butler fans stomped their feet in frustration and locked their fingers behind their heads in disappointment.

As the clock ran out on the Bulldogs’ season with the scoreboard showing a 12-point Connecticut victory, a lone voice came over the loudspeaker.

“Do not hang your head, Butler University. Make some noise for your Butler Bulldogs.”
One final chant rang through the halls of Hinkle.

“B-U, T-L-E, -R You A Bulldog?”