Butler Ends Brief Homestand Against Youngstown State
WEEKEND WRAP: Butler will close out its
brief homestand and try to stretch the Horizon League’s
longest current winning streak when it hosts Youngstown State on
Saturday, Jan. 16. The game at Hinkle Fieldhouse is slated
for 2 p.m. (ET) and will be televised in Indianapolis on WNDY
23. The Bulldogs improved to 13-4 on the season, 6-0 in the
Horizon League with a hard-fought 64-55 decision over Cleveland
State on Thursday (Jan. 14). It was Butler’s fifth
straight win, the Bulldogs longest winning streak this season and
the longest active streak among Horizon League members.
Loyola owns the league’s longest overall win streak this
season with seven consecutive victories, Dec. 5-31. Butler
has won its last eight Horizon League regular season games, dating
back to last season. Youngstown State had its own two-game
winning streak snapped at Valparaiso, 70-66, on Thursday. The
Penguins are 7-9 on the season and 2-5 in Horizon League
action. Following Saturday’s game, Butler will face a
four-game road stretch, starting at Loyola on Jan. 21.
HOME RULE: The Bulldogs were 15-2 at Hinkle
Fieldhouse last year, and they’ve won their first seven home
games this season. Butler has been successful in 64 of its
last 70 games in Hinkle Fieldhouse, including 28 of its last 30
league contests. The Bulldogs posted a ten-year 125-17 (.880)
record on their homecourt, 2000-09.
The Bulldogs are 36-3 in Hinkle Fieldhouse under head coach
Brad Stevens.
NATIONAL SCENE: Butler climbed to No. 22 in
the ESPN/USA Today national poll following last week’s
victories over Wright State and Detroit, and the Bulldogs continue
to receive votes in the Associated Press (A.P.) “Top
25.” The Bulldogs were ranked in both polls for the
first seven weeks of the season and have been ranked in the
ESPN/USA Today poll for 10 straight weeks. Butler has been
ranked in the “Top 25” of the two national polls each
year since 2006-07.
MID-MAJOR LOOK: Butler remains third behind
Northern Iowa and Gonzaga in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top
25 this week. The Bulldogs held the top spot in the
CollegeInsider.com prior to their loss at UAB on Dec. 22.
Butler had been ranked first or second in the Mid-Major poll for
the first eight weeks of the rankings.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs shook off a
slow start and closed with a big finish to polish off Cleveland
State, the last team to defeat Butler in Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The visiting Vikings, who beat Butler in last year’s Horizon
League Tournament championship game on the Bulldogs’
homecourt, jumped to an early advantage and led by as many as nine
points on three different occasions in the first half.
Butler, fueled by sophomore Shelvin Mack, rallied to cut the
visitor’s margin to one point, 31-30, at halftime and then
took command in the second half, behind the one-two punch of senior
Willie Veasley and sophomore Ronald Nored. Veasley tied the
game for the final time at 38-38 with a three-point field goal with
15:24 remaining and Matt Howard gave the Bulldogs the lead for good
at 40-38 with a lay-up at 14:26. Butler out-scored the
Vikings, 34-24, in the final 20 minutes to post the nine-point
win. Mack scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half to
keep Butler in striking distance, while Veasley and Nored combined
for 17 points in the second
half.
Butler is 6-0 in the Horizon League for the second straight
year and for just the second time in 19 seasons.
PILLAGING PAIR: Senior Willie
Veasley and sophomore Ronald Nored ravaged the Cleveland
State Vikings for the second straight year. Veasley led the
Bulldogs and matched his career-high with 16 points in the Butler
win, while Nored matched his career-high of 11 points and added
five assists and three steals. Both players established their
career-highs a year ago in Butler’s 58-56 victory over
Cleveland State in Hinkle Fieldhouse. Veasley, who had two
steals in the game, hit six of nine shots, including two of four
from beyond the three-point arc. Nored hit four of nine
shots, including three of four in the second half.
CLOSING ARGUMENT: Butler continued a trend
it started at home in its victory over Milwaukee with strong
second-half shooting performances in each of its last three
wins. The Bulldogs, who hit at a 57.7% (15-26) clip in
the second half of their win over Milwaukee, shot 57.9% (11-19) in
the final 20 minutes at Wright State, 56.5% (13-23) in the second
half and overtime period at Detroit and 61.1% (11-18) in the final
period against Cleveland State.
Butler is shooting .581 after halftime of its last four
games.
THEFT RING: Cleveland State entered the
game at Butler ranked 15th in the NCAA Division I in steals (9.8
pg). But it was the Bulldogs who should have been facing
larceny charges after the contest. Butler, led by sophomores
Shelvin Mack and Ronald Nored, finished with 11 thefts in the game,
while Cleveland State had four. The Butler total was the
highest in the past eight games and the third-highest total of the
season. Mack tied his career-high with three steals, a total
matched by Nored.
The Bulldogs have had at least 10 steals in seven games this
season.
QUICK RECOVERY: Butler head coach Brad
Stevens didn’t know until hours before tip-off whether his
leading scorer, Gordon Hayward, would play against
Cleveland State. Hayward was hospitalized on the morning of
the game with an upper respiratory infection. The 6-9
sophomore was cleared to play, and, though he later admitted to
feeling “sluggish,” he wound up with eight points, four
rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot in 30 minutes
of action.
Gordon Hayward has started 49 straight games, every game of
his Butler career.
POINTING UP: Junior Matt Howard became the
32nd Butler player to score 1,000 career points with his first
field goal in the Bulldogs’ home victory over Ohio
State. His 26 points in Butler’s past three games
boosted his career scoring total to 1,070 points, good for 29th
place on Butler’s all-time scoring list. The 6-8
forward trails Avery Sheets (2002-06) in 28th place on the all-time
list by 16 points. Howard is Butler’s first 1,000-point
scorer since former teammate A. J. Graves reached the milestone as
a junior in 2006-07.
BULLDOG BITS:
•Butler has won its first seven home games this season by an
average of 11.7 points per game. The Bulldogs have averaged
73.7 points at home, while yielding 62.0.
•The Bulldogs, seventh in the Horizon League in field goal
shooting (.428), are hitting at a 47.2% clip in Hinkle
Fieldhouse.
•Butler attempted a season-low 41 shots against Cleveland
State. The Bulldogs had a season-high five blocked shots in
the win.
•Junior Matt Howard has averaged 20.0 points and 7.5 rebounds
in four career games against Youngstown State. He had 48
points in last year’s two games against YSU.
•Matt Howard ranks second among active Horizon League players
in career scoring (1,070 points).
•Matt Howard had a game-high eight rebounds in Butler’s
victory over Cleveland State. It was the first time
he’s led the Bulldogs in rebounding since Dec. 5.
•Sophomore Gordon Hayward, despite posting just eight points
and four rebounds against Cleveland State, still ranks third in the
Horizon League in both scoring (16.3) and rebounding (8.6).
He’s the lone player in the league to rank in the “Top
5” in both categories.
•Gordon Hayward leads the Horizon League in free throws made
(87), while Matt Howard (80) stands second. Hayward is fourth
in the league in free throw percentage (.845), while Howard is tied
for sixth (.800).
•Gordon Hayward is tied for the Horizon League lead with six
double-doubles this season. He’s had two double-doubles
at home this season (vs. Xavier and Milwaukee).
•Gordon Hayward is averaging a team-best 16.9 points in
Butler’s six games at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season.
He’s shooting 56.7% at home.
•Gordon Hayward had a streak of 17 consecutive games in
double-figures snapped against Cleveland State.
•Shelvin Mack has had 16 straight games in double-figures,
after opening the season with just seven points against
Davidson. Butler is 19-4 when Mack scores at least 14 points
in a game, and 12-1 when the sophomore guard leads the team in
scoring.
•Shelvin Mack had his first collegiate 20-point scoring
performance in Butler’s victory at Youngstown State last
year. He hit four three-point field goals in the game and
finished with 22 points.
•Shelvin Mack has led the Bulldogs with a 17.0 scoring
average during the team’s current five-game winning
streak. Gordon Hayward (14.8) is second in scoring during
winning the streak.
•Senior Willie Veasley has scored in double-figures in seven
of Butler’s last eight games. Veasley is averaging 12.3
points in Hinkle Fieldhouse this season.
•Sophomore Ronald Nored, who had five assists and just two
turnovers in 34 minutes against Cleveland State, has taken over the
Horizon League lead in assist/turnover ratio (2.2).
