Alex Barlow Picked a Great Time for His First Ever Game Winning Shot

It seems like every year Butler continues to find ways to shock the college basketball world and pull off some kind of upset that very few expect. They did it once again this past Saturday. This time it was number one ranked Indiana that was the victim. In an overtime thriller, with the game tied and under 10 seconds to play, in true Butler fashion the ball ended up in the hands of the most unlikeliest of heroes. Former walk on Alex Barlow, who averages just two points per game on the season, put the ball up, it bounced, bounced again, bounced again and dropped in to give the Bulldogs a two point win over Indiana and the program’s first ever regular season win over the number one team in the country. It’s just another example of the Butler Way. Alex Barlow joined 1070 the Fan in Indianapolis with Dan Dakich to talk about what the game winning play against Indiana was designed to do, whether he thought the shot was going in, whether he had it in his mind to take the shot all along, if he had ever made a game winning shot prior to the one against Indiana and why he decided to attend Butler as a walk-on even though he had other scholarship offers.

What the game winning play against Indiana was designed to do:

“We were just trying to run a set that we were running for a decent part of the game. It was like a baseline screen to try to get Rotnei (Clarke) or Kellen (Dunham) the ball. (Victor) Oladipo was playing really on top of Rotnei and Rotnei just kind of cleared out to the top and I just saw the game clock get down to seven and I just thought I needed to go make a move, try to make a play, try to get the ball on the rim with enough time for us to get an offensive rebound. If I missed then they wouldn’t have much time to get up a shot.”

Whether he thought the shot was going in:

“Honestly no. I thought it looked a little right and a little short but I got it up high enough where it was able to get a bounce and then got another bounce and I think it bounced four times and then went in so once it got the second bounce I thought it had a chance to go in.”

Whether it was his intention to take the shot all along:

“I was just looking to make a play and when I started to drive I really didn’t see anybody open so I figured it was going to be a shot unless someone came over to help me at the last second. When nobody came over to help I just kind of shot it up there and got the bounce.”

If he had ever made a game winning shot prior to the one against Indiana:

“Actually no I hadn’t. It was my first career game winner. I had a few in high school that could’ve won it when games were tied but I missed so it was pretty cool to hit my first game winner like that.”

Why he was willing to walk on at Butler when he had other offers to play elsewhere:

“I wanted to become a college coach and I did a lot of research and I figured Coach Stevens is the best there is in the business and there wasn’t anyone else I wanted to learn from to become a coach and have a mentor besides for him. It just so happened he gave me a chance to walk on and I’m grateful for that opportunity.”