WASHINGTON, March 20 (UPI) -- Matt Howard's free throw with 0.8 seconds left Saturday allowed No. 8 Butler to knock off top-seeded Pittsburgh 71-70 in an NCAA tourney third-round game.
Howard, whose late basket in the first round boosted the Bulldogs over Old Dominion, played the hero for the second straight game, and Butler (25-9) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.
Butler got a layup from Andrew Smith with 2.2 seconds remaining to seize a 70-69 lead. A controversial foul call on Shelvin Mack (30 points) then put Pittsburgh's Gilbert Brown at the foul line. He made the first shot to forge a tie with 1.4 seconds left.
The second shot missed and Pitt's Nasir Robinson fouled Howard on the left arm, setting up the game-winning foul shot.
Butler moves on to play No. 4 Wisconsin, which beat No. 5 Kansas State 70-65 Saturday, in the Southeast Region Sweet 16 Thursday in New Orleans.
The Bulldogs also eliminated a No. 1 seed last year -- Syracuse -- en route to their magical run to the NCAA championship game, which they lost to Duke by two points.
Pittsburgh (28-6) was led by Brown's 24 points.
