EditorsNote: Adds missing "later" in Graf 6; other minor edits
Sandro Mamukelashvili laid in a basket off an inbound lob pass with 0.6 seconds remaining, capping No. 16 Seton Hall's 74-72 comeback win over No. 21 Butler on Wednesday in Newark, N.J.
Seton Hall (19-7, 11-3 Big East) came into the night with back-to-back losses. In the early going against Butler (19-7, 7-7), the Pirates appeared headed for another blow to their regular-season championship pursuit.
The Bulldogs jumped ahead in the opening minutes and extended their lead to as many as 10 points before taking a six-point edge into halftime, 34-28.
Seton Hall cut into the deficit immediately in the second half, and the two sides went back-and-forth with the lead for much of the final 11:08.
The Pirates took a lead with 3:52 remaining when Romaro Gill dunked home two of his 15 points off of a Shavar Reynolds Jr. alley-oop pass.
Seton Hall's Quincy McKnight hit a 3-pointer with 1:51 to go to break a tie, and another Gill dunk 47 seconds later gave the Pirates a five-point lead, 68-63.
But Butler battled back from the 3-point arc. Jordan Tucker hit the first of three Bulldogs 3-pointers in the final 35 seconds, and Sean McDermott scored six of his 11 points with a pair of triples at 21 and 10 seconds left.
His second knotted the game at 72-72.
Overtime looked certain when a McKnight shot attempt and the pursuit of the miss caromed out of bounds. But Mamukelashvili's aggressive back-cut to the rim and a precise lob from McKnight won it in regulation.
McKnight finished with a team-high 18 points and dished out three assists. Seton Hall's Myles Powell scored 16 points, grabbed six rebounds and made two steals. Mamukelashvili scored 15 points.
Kamar Baldwin led Butler with 20 points, including five straight in a late burst that kept the Bulldogs within striking distance. Bryce Golden contributed 17 points for Butler, Aaron Thompson scored 12 and McDermott had 11.
--Field Level Media
