Butler Faces Rematch With Milwaukee
ROUND TWO: Butler will close out its
brief homestand when it faces Milwaukee for the second time this
month in a key Horizon League game on Sunday, Jan. 23. The
rematch is slated for 2 p.m. (ET) at Butler’s Hinkle
Fieldhouse and will be televised regionally on WNDY-TV and Time
Warner Wisconsin. The Bulldogs (14-6, 6-2 Horizon League),
coming off an 81-75 victory over Green Bay in the first game of the
homestand on Friday (Jan. 21), are trying to keep pace with
league-leading Valparaiso, a 60-43 winner over Milwaukee (9-11, 4-5
HL) on Friday. Butler trails the first place Crusaders by a
single game in the league standings, and the two teams will meet in
Valparaiso next Saturday (Jan. 29). Milwaukee handed Butler
its biggest margin of defeat in 198 games in the first meeting
between the two teams back on Jan. 3 at U.S. Cellular Arena.
The Panthers shot .553 (26-47) for the game and hit 11 three-point
field goals, while hanging a 76-52 beating on the Bulldogs.
The 55% shooting is a season-best by a Butler opponent. The
loss snapped Butler’s six-game winning
streak.
Butler has not lost to a team twice in the regular season since
2004-05.
HOME IMPROVEMENT: The Bulldogs improved to
8-1 at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season with the win over Green Bay on
Friday. It was Butler’s sixth straight win at home and
the 23rd victory in the last 24 home contests. The Bulldogs,
who were 15-0 at home last year, are 52-4 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in
four seasons under head coach Brad Stevens.
Butler has beaten 15 straight Horizon League foes at Hinkle
Fieldhouse.
HIGH NUMBERS: Butler continues to lead the
Horizon League in team scoring offense with a 74.4 points per game
average. The Bulldogs topped 80 points for the third time in
four games with their victory over Green Bay on Friday.
It was the eighth time this season that Butler has scored 80 or
more points in a game. Only one other Butler team (2007-08)
in the past decade has had as many as six 80-point games.
LAST TIME OUT: Butler overcame a nine-point
deficit, amassed a 21-point lead and then held off a charging Green
Bay squad to post an 81-75 victory on Friday (Jan. 21). The
Bulldogs who trailed, 22-13, ten minutes into the first half, used
a 27-10 scoring run to grab a 40-32 halftime lead. Butler
then extended that margin to 68-47 in the first ten minutes of the
final period. But the Phoenix stormed back behind guards
Rahmon Fletcher, Bryquis Perine and Steve Baker to cut
Butler’s lead to three, 78-75, with under a minute
remaining. Fletcher had a three-point field goal attempt to
tie the game with 0:35 left, but the shot rimmed out, and Butler
held on by hitting three free throws down the
stretch. Baker led Green Bay with 20 points off
the bench, while Butler’s Matt Howard led all scorers with 29
points. The win, which snapped Green Bay’s four-game
winning streak, helped Butler rebound from a loss at Wright State
five days earlier.
FRIGID START: Butler’s shooting touch
matched the single-digit temperature outside of Hinkle Fieldhouse
on Friday night. The Bulldogs hit just three of their first
12 field goal attempts, while falling behind visiting Green Bay
(which responded to the cold night by hitting five of its first
seven shots). Butler then climbed back into the game by
hitting 12 of 18 (.667) shots in the final 11 minutes of the first
half. Butler connected on 12 of 23 (.522) shots in the second
half and finished with a .509 shooting percentage for the game.
OLD FAITHFUL: Senior Matt
Howard, Butler’s on- and off-court leader for four
seasons, was at his very best in Butler’s victory over Green
Bay. The 6-8 forward led all scorers with a season-high 29
points, and he topped all rebounders with a career-high 16
caroms. It was his sixth double-double this season and the
15th of his Butler career. Howard scored 17 points in the
first half, helping Butler turn a nine-point deficit into an
eight-point halftime lead, before adding 12 points and seven
rebounds in the final 20 minutes. His 29 points were one off
his career-high set against Loyola in Hinkle Fieldhouse in
2009. Howard has led Butler in scoring in eight of the past
13 games.
Matt Howard is averaging 19.3 points and 8.8 rebounds at Hinkle
Fieldhouse this season.
INSIDE OFFENSE: Sophomore Andrew Smith
recorded his third consecutive double-figures scoring performance
with 12 points against Green Bay. The 6-11 Butler forward,
who had the best back-to-back scoring performances of his young
career with a pair of 15-point efforts at Detroit and Wright State,
hit all five shots that he attempted against Green Bay and two of
three from the free throw line. Smith has had his top five
career scoring performances in Butler’s last eight games.
Andrew Smith is averaging 14.2 points in Butler’s last
five games.
BEYOND SCORING: Junior Shelvin Mack
struggled with his shooting touch for the third straight game, but
he gave the Bulldogs a boost against Green Bay with five rebounds
and a team-high four assists. It was the second straight game
that he topped the Bulldogs in assists and the fourth time in five
outings. Mack hit five of 13 shots from the floor and three
of eight from the free throw line, while finishing with 14
points. Since scoring 28 points in Butler’s victory
over Youngstown State (Jan. 9), the 6-3 guard has shot just .333
(11-33) from the field and .231 (3-13) from the three-point arc
LEAGUE LEADERS: Butler and Milwaukee have
been the two most dominant programs in the Horizon League over the
past decade. Since 2000-01, Butler ha won or shared seven
Horizon League regular season championships, while Milwaukee stands
second with three regular season title. Both programs own
three league tournament titles over the ten-year span. Butler
leads the Horizon League with 131 regular season league victories
since 2000-01, while Milwaukee is second with 110.
BULLDOG BITS:
•Senior Matt Howard has scored in 124 consecutive Butler
games, every game of his collegiate career. He has 91 career
double-figures scoring performances.
•Matt Howard stands seventh on Butler’s all-time scoring
list with 1,689 career points. He’s moved into third
place on Butler’s all-time rebounding chart with 760 career
rebounds.
•Matt Howard ranks second in the Horizon League in scoring
(17.9) and third rebounding (8.1).
•Matt Howard is leading the Bulldogs, and he ranks second in
the Horizon League in free throw shooting (.841).
•Matt Howard is the lone player in the Horizon League to rank
among the league’s “Top 10” players in scoring,
rebounding, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and
three-point field goal percentage.
•Matt Howard has averaged 20.2 points and 8.0 rebounds in
Butler’s last five games. He’s shooting .547 from
the field over that stretch.
•Matt Howard has averaged 12.5 points in eight career games
against Milwaukee. His average at home against the Panthers
also is 12.5.
•Matt Howard was named Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the
Month for December. The two-time Academic All-American
averaged 19.3 points last month.
•Matt Howard is leading the Horizon League in three-point
field goal shooting (.480). Howard has hit nine of 14 (.643)
shots from the three-point arc since Butler’s last meeting
with Milwaukee.
•Matt Howard is celebrating his 22nd birthday today.
Last year, he had nine points and six rebounds in 27 minutes in a
victory at UIC on his birthday.
•Junior Shelvin Mack stands in 23rd place on Butler’s
all-time scoring list with 1,204 career points. He’s
four points behind Tim McRoberts (1980-84) in the No. 22 spot on
Butler’s all-time chart.
•Shelvin Mack, who hit a single three-point field goal against
Green Bay, stands in 10th place on Butler’s all-time list for
three-point field goals. He’s connected on 167 career
three-pointers, seven behind Jermaine Guice (1990-94) in ninth
place.
•Shelvin Mack is 10th on Butler’s all-time assist chart
with 297 career assists, eight behind Ohio State assistant coach
Brandon Miller (2000-03) in the No. 9 spot.
•Shelvin Mack had a career-low three points in 28 minutes
against Milwaukee on Jan. 3. Mack averaged 16.7 points in
three meetings with the Panthers a year ago.
•The Bulldogs are 36-6 when Shelvin Mack scores at least 14
points and 22-3 when he leads the team in scoring.
•Junior Ronald Nored, who had three assists against Green Bay,
stands in 14th place on Butler’s all-time assist chart with
265 career assists. He’s six assists behind Travis
Trice (1993-95) and Tom Orner (1975-79), who share the No. 12
position.
•Sophomore Andrew Smith has connected on 49 of his last 65
(.754) field goal attempts, including 38 of his last 49.
Smith leads the Horizon League in field goal shooting (.657).
•Andrew Smith is shooting .761 (35-46) against Horizon League
foes. Smith is hitting at a .745 (35-47) clip in nine games
in Hinkle Fieldhouse this season.
•Senior guard Shawn Vanzant scored a career-high 20 points
against Milwaukee on Jan. 24, 2009. Three of Vanzant’s
top eight career scoring performances have come against the
Panthers, including 11 points earlier this month.
•Shawn Vanzant has had just three turnovers as a starter in
the last five Butler games.
•Freshman Khyle Marshall has averaged 8.6 points and 3.4
rebounds in a reserve role in Butler’s past seven
games. He’s had three double-figures scoring
performances over that stretch.
•Butler has won 25 of its last 26 games when yielding fewer
than 60 points.
•Butler has won its last 28 games when hitting at least nine
three-point field goals. The Bulldogs have hit nine or more
three-pointers five times this season.
•The Bulldogs are 45-1 under head coach Brad Stevens when
hitting nine or more three-pointers.
