Butler’s Shot Lifts Bruins : College basketball: UCLA rallies from an eight-point deficit by outscoring Florida State, 13-2, in the final minutes.

UCLA escaped from New York with an unexpected consolation prize, upsetting seventh-ranked Florida State, 86-83, Friday night at Madison Square Garden to finish third in the preseason National Invitation Tournament.

A driving layup by Mitchell Butler with 4.3 seconds to play provided the winning basket for the Bruins, who rallied from an eight-point deficit to outscore the Seminoles, 13-2, in the last 4:08.

Butler, fouled as he scored, failed to complete a three-point play when he missed the ensuing free throw, but teammate Richard Petruska tipped in the rebound to provide the final margin.

A final wild shot by Florida State fell short.

“It’s a real confidence-booster,” UCLA sophomore Tyus Edney said of the victory, which came only 48 hours after the Bruins were outscored, 11-2, in the last 2:47 of a 73-64 semifinal loss to sixth-ranked Seton Hall. “It shows that we can play well in tough situations.”

Florida State, which missed its last four shots and committed six turnovers during the last 4 1/2 minutes, still led, 83-82, as it tried to inbound the ball under its basket with about 10 seconds to play.

The Seminoles called their last timeout to avoid a five-second violation, but had no choice but to bring the ball into play after that, and Byron Wells’ inbound pass was deflected to the Bruins’ Shon Tarver.

Tarver passed the ball ahead to Edney, who passed to the streaking Butler for the last of his personal-best 13 assists.

“We wanted the guy who was taking it out to panic a little bit, and he did,” Tarver said. “Luckily, I got ahold of the ball and we made some great things happen.”

Tarver and Petruska scored 18 points apiece, with Tarver adding six assists and three steals and Petruska, who made eight of nine shots, adding eight rebounds. Butler had 16 points and nine rebounds. Edney, who made six of eight shots, scored 15 points and Ed O’Bannon had 13.

Sophomore guard Bob Sura, rookie of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season, scored 27 points to lead Florida State, making six of nine three-point shots and adding six rebounds and five assists.

Forward Doug Edwards scored 18 points and took eight rebounds and guard Sam Cassell added 17 points, six rebounds and eight assists.

UCLA made 63.6% of its shots during the first half, taking a 47-37 halftime lead as Butler scored 14 points in the first 20 minutes. The Bruins stayed hot after the break, increasing their lead to 55-40 with about 18 minutes to play.

But Florida State, which squandered a 12-point second-half lead during an 81-78 overtime loss to fourth-ranked Indiana in the semifinals, dominated the next 14 minutes, outscoring the Bruins, 41-18, as Coach Pat Kennedy went to a smaller lineup to compensate for UCLA’s superior quickness.

“If they keep going with their big lineup, they were going to get blown out, because they couldn’t stay with us,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said. “We played the first half like you dream about playing.”

But much of the second half was like a nightmare for UCLA.

Two three-point shots by Sura, the second with 4:51 to play, gave the charging Seminoles an 81-73 lead.

Then they faltered.

O’Bannon made a layup, which was followed by two steals by Edney, both leading to baskets by Edney to bring UCLA to 81-79.

Edwards made two free throws with 1:30 left to make the score 83-79, but Florida State didn’t score again.

At the other end, Tarver made a three-point shot.

Then came the wild finish.

“We deserved to win,” said Harrick, whose team outshot the Seminoles, 57.8% to 49.3%, and outrebounded the taller Seminoles, 39-34. “We really outplayed them for most of the game.”

But especially at the end.

Bruin Notes

Florida State played without two of its most experienced players. Point guard Charlie Ward is the quarterback for the third-ranked Seminole football team and guard Chuck Graham is expected to be sidelined for most of the season after suffering a knee injury only three minutes into the Seminoles’ opener. . . . UCLA made five of nine three-point shots after missing all 15 of its three-point attempts during its last two games. . . . UCLA, which improved to 3-1, will play Santa Clara on Dec. 5 at Pauley Pavilion.