Bulldogs Meet UCLA At 76 Classic
SECOND ROUND: Butler will try to bounce
back from its first setback of the 2009-10 campaign when it faces
UCLA in the second round of the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., on
Friday, Nov. 27. The consolation bracket game will be played
at 8:30 p.m. (PT, 11:30 p.m. in Indianapolis) and will be televised
nationally on ESPNU. Butler was knocked from the championship
bracket by #16/22 Minnesota, 83-72, in the first round. It
was Butler’s first regular season non-conference loss since
last December’s 54-51 setback at #21 Ohio State and just the
third regular season, non-league loss in 70 games under head coach
Brad Stevens. Each of Butler’s three regular season,
non-league losses under Stevens have come to teams ranked in the
“Top 25” nationally. The loss to Minnesota also
snapped Butler’s nine-game winning streak in regular season
tournament play, and the Bulldogs’ three-game winning streak
to open the 2009-10 season. Butler will be trying to rebound
from a tournament loss for the first time under Stevens. The
Bulldogs won the 2007 Great Alaska Shootout under the third-year
head coach, and Butler’s other two tournament appearances
concluded with season-ending losses in the NCAA Men’s
Basketball Championship. Butler will be facing a team from
the PAC 10 for the first time since beating Washington, 67-64 in
the title game of the 2001 Top of the World Classic and will be
playing UCLA for the first time since
1963.
The Bulldogs are 8-2 under head coach Brad Stevens in
games following a loss.
POLLING DATA: The Bulldogs are ranked in the
“Top 25” in both the Associated Press (A. P.) and
ESPN/USA Today national polls, released on Monday (Nov. 16).
Butler remained at No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and slipped to
No. 12 in the A. P. poll. The Bulldogs were ranked in both
preseason polls for the first time in school history! Butler
was ranked in the “Top 25” for 12 consecutive weeks
last season, and the Bulldogs have achieved a national ranking each
year since 2006-07.
TOP DOGS: Butler began this week the No. 1
spot in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The
Bulldogs, who received the top spot in the CollegeInsider.com
preseason poll on Nov. 2, received 28 first place votes in this
week’s poll to finish ahead of No. 2 Gonzaga and No. 3 Old
Dominion.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs committed an
uncharacteristic 21 turnovers and shot just 33% from the floor,
while dropping a nine-point decision to #16/22 Minnesota in the
opening round of the 76 Classic. Butler battled back from a
32-28 halftime deficit and tied the game at 38-38 with 14:20
remaining, but Minnesota went on a 9-1 scoring run to take the lead
for good. The Bulldogs hit just six of 20 (30%) in the first
half and just 16 of 48 for the game, while Minnesota countered with
50% shooting for the game and 47% shooting from the three-point
arc. The Gophers hit 13 of 22 (59%) shots in the final 20
minutes, including six of nine (67%) from three-point range, while
building as much as a 10-point lead in the final period.
COLD SPELL: Winter hasn’t officially
arrived, but the Bulldogs’ shooting touch has been hit by an
arctic blast over the past two games. Butler’s 33%
shooting performance against Minnesota was the second-lowest in the
past 19 games, dating back to last January. The lowest came
last Saturday (Nov. 21) when Butler made just 14 of 50 field goal
attempts in a four-point victory at Evansville. The 28%
shooting performance against the Aces was the lowest by a Butler
squad in the past 414 games! The last time a Butler team shot
worse from the field was on December 10, 1996, when the Bulldogs
shot 26.3% in a 67-55 loss in overtime at Bradley.
The Bulldogs are shooting a combined 31% over the past
two games.
CHARITABLE WORK: Butler set a 76 Classic
single game record for free throws made with 36 against
Minnesota. The Bulldogs’ 45 free throw attempts were
just shy of the tournament record of 48, set by Wake Forest against
Baylor last year. Butler has made 67 of 89 (.753) free throws
in the past two games.
ROUGH HOUSE: Butler forward Matt
Howard made a career-high 18 trips to the free throw line
and converted a career-best 15 charity tosses against
Minnesota. Both marks set 76 Classic single game
records. The 6-8 junior scored 23 points in just 22 minutes
in the game, before fouling out with two and a half minutes
remaining. Howard has moved into 12th place on Butler’s
all-time list for free throws made with 341, three shy of Keith
Greve (1951-54, 1957-58) in 11th place on the all-time list.
DOUBLE TIME: Butler forward Gordon Hayward,
the reigning Horizon League Newcomer of the Year, recorded his
second double-double of the season and the fifth of his career with
13 points and 10 rebounds against Minnesota. Hayward has
scored in double-figures in 24 of 36 career games, and he has six
career double-figures rebounding efforts. The Bulldogs have
had three double-doubles in the first four games, including a
10-point, 13-rebound performance by Matt Howard at Evansville.
SHORT CHANGED: After hitting nine
three-point field goals in each of the first two games this season,
the Bulldogs cashed just five three-pointers each in the last
two. Butler is shooting a combined 24% (10-41) from the
three-point arc over the last two games. Eight
different Bulldogs have hit at least one three-point field goal
this season.
Butler has won its last 16 games when hitting at least
nine 3-point field
goals.
POINT BREAK: The 82 points by Minnesota were
the most scored against a Brad Stevens-coached Butler team.
The last team to score more points against the Bulldogs was
Milwaukee (87-71) in 2005-06.
AUTUMN SUCCESS: The Bulldogs had 23-game
November winning streak snapped by Minnesota. Butler’s
last previous November loss came at Big Ten foe Michigan, 78-74, on
Nov. 26, 2005.
BULLDOG BITS:
•Junior Matt Howard (23) and sophomore Shelvin Mack (20) each
had a season-high scoring total against Minnesota. The last
time Butler had two players each score 20 or more points in a game
was at Bradley on Dec. 10, 2008, when Gordon Hayward (20) and
Shelvin Mack (20) accomplished the feat.
•Matt Howard needs 46 points to become the 32nd Butler player
all-time to score 1,000 career points. The last Butler player
to score 1,000 points was A. J. Graves in 2006-07.
•Shelvin Mack has averaged 17.3 points in Butler’s last
three games, after opening the season with just seven points
against Davidson.
•Sophomore Gordon Hayward, who led the Bulldogs in three-point
field goals a year ago, has only hit three three-pointers in
Butler’s first four games this season. Hayward had at
least three three-point field goals in a game 12 times last
season.
•Butler’s 21 turnovers against Minnesota were the most
by the Bulldogs during the tenure of head coach Brad Stevens.
Butler was averaging 10.7 turnovers per game prior to the Minnesota
loss.
•The Bulldogs’ last lead against Minnesota came at 27-25
with 2:56 left in the first half.
•Minnesota’s bench out-scored Butler, 46-8. Senior
Avery Jukes scored all eight of Butler’s points off the
bench.
•The nine-point loss to Minnesota matched the largest margin
of defeat by a Butler team under head coach Brad Stevens.
Green Bay also defeated the Bulldogs by nine points (75-66) a year
ago. Butler’s 11 losses during the tenure of Stevens
have come by an average of 4.7 points.
•Butler head coach Brad Stevens used the first day of the fall
signing period to add three players to next year’s
roster. Signing with the Bulldogs on November 11 were 6-9
Erik Fromm of Bloomington (Ind.) South High School, 6-7 Khyle
Marshall of Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, Fla., and 6-1
Chrishawn Hopkins of Manual High School in Indianapolis.
Fromm averaged 10.3 points and 7.1 rebounds as a junior, while
leading his high school team to a 26-0 record and a Class 4A state
championship in Indiana. Marshall averaged 26 points and 12.5
rebounds a year ago, while earning All-State honors. Hopkins
averaged 17.3 points in just seven games at Manual, after
transferring from Las Vegas last year. The three new Bulldogs
complete Butler’s 2010-11 recruiting class.
