Bulldogs Visit Indiana Foe Valparaiso
STATE MEET: Butler faces a major road
test when it visits state foe Valparaiso for a key Horizon League
showdown on Saturday, Jan. 29. The contest at
Valparaiso’s Athletics-Recreation Center will start at 2 p.m
(ET) and will be the featured Horizon League Game of the
Week. The game will be televised in Indianapolis on
WNDY-TV. The Bulldogs (14-7, 6-3 Horizon League), who
defeated Valparaiso, 76-59, at Hinkle Fieldhouse on New
Year’s Day, are coming off an 86-80 loss in overtime to
Milwaukee, Butler’s second loss to the Panthers this
season. That setback left Butler chasing league co-leaders
Cleveland State (19-3, 8-2 HL) and Valparaiso (15-6, 7-2 HL) in the
league standings. The Crusaders are coming off a 63-61 loss
at home to Green Bay. That loss snapped Valparaiso’s
five-game winning streak and bumped the Crusaders from sole
possession of first place in the league standings. This
weekend’s game at the Athletics-Recreation Center will be the
final regular season meeting between the two Indiana
schools.
Butler is 18-3 in games following a loss under head coach Brad
Stevens.
ROAD WORK: Butler’s game at
Valparaiso will be the first of three consecutive road contests for
the Bulldogs. Following the game at the ARC, Butler will
travel to Youngstown State for a contest on Thursday, Feb. 3, and
then to first place Cleveland State for a nationally-televised game
on Saturday, Feb. 5. The Bulldogs have dropped four of seven
road games this year, including three of their last four.
Butler has led the Horizon League in road victories for four
consecutive seasons.
POINT PRODUCTION: Butler continues to lead
the Horizon League in team scoring offense with a 74.7 points per
game average. The Bulldogs have scored 80 or more points in
four of their last five games and in nine total games this
season. Only one other Butler team (2007-08) in the past
decade has had as many as six 80-point games, and no Butler team
since 1995 has had as many as nine.
LAST TIME OUT: Visiting Milwaukee used a
13-4 scoring run in the final four minutes of overtime to hang an
86-80 loss on Butler on Sunday (Jan. 23). It was
Butler’s first Horizon League home loss since 2008-09.
The Panthers overcame a six-point deficit in the second half and
tied the game for the final time on a pair of free throws by Tone
Boyle with 0:25 left. Butler had a final shot to win the game
in regulation, but Shelvin Mack’s three-point attempt came up
short. The Bulldogs’ took an early lead in the overtime
period, but Kyle Kelm’s basket with 2:30 left put the
Panthers in front for good, 77-76. The game featured 15 ties
and 21 lead changes. Neither team could build a margin of
more than six points. Milwaukee became the first team to
defeat the Bulldogs twice in a regular season since 2004-05.
WEEKEND WARRIOR: Junior Shelvin Mack led
all scorers with 23 points against Milwaukee, including 13 in the
first half when Butler jumped out to a 37-32 lead. It was his
fifth 20-point scoring performance this season and four have come
on a Saturday or Sunday. Mack, who had 16 points against
Valparaiso earlier this month, has averaged 17.1 points this season
in games played on Saturday and Sunday.
BACK-TO-BACK: Senior Matt Howard,
Butler’s on- and off-court leader for four seasons, turned in
a pair of prime time performances in Butler’s homestand
against Green Bay and Milwaukee. The 6-8 forward led all
scorers with a season-high 29 points, and he topped all rebounders
with a career-high 16 caroms in the Bulldogs’ victory over
Green Bay. He then posted 18 points and 10 rebounds against
Milwaukee. The two double-doubles gave him seven this season
and 16 for his Butler career. The 29 points against Green Bay
were one off his career-high set against Loyola in Hinkle
Fieldhouse in 2009. Howard’s performance against
Milwaukee came on his 22nd birthday.
Matt Howard has scored in double-figures in 19 of
Butler’s last 20 games.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DOUBLED: Freshman
Khyle Marshall came off the bench against
Milwaukee with 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, matching
teammate Matt Howard with a double-double in the contest. It
was Marshall’s first career double-double. Marshall hit
seven of 13 shots in the game, and he pulled down a career-best six
offensive rebounds. He scored 10 of his 14 points after
halftime.
Khyle Marshall is averaging 10.2 points in Butler’s last
five games.
BOARDING PASS: The Bulldogs, paced by the
10-rebound performances of Matt Howard and Khyle Marshall,
out-rebounded Milwaukee, 41-36, two days after battling Green Bay
to a 36-36 draw on the boards. It was the third time in the
last four games that Butler has finished with a rebounding
advantage and two of those four games were against the Horizon
League’s top two rebounding teams. Butler had 15
offensive rebounds against Milwaukee, the Bulldogs’
second-highest total this season.
HANDLE WITH CARE: Butler averaged fewer
than 10 turnovers in the two league games last weekend, and the
Bulldogs continued to lead the Horizon League in fewest turnovers
per game (11.1). Butler entered this week’s action
ranked 17th in Division I in fewest turnovers per game.
CHARITY LEADERS: Butler’s team free
throw percentage dipped slightly over the weekend, but the Bulldogs
continue to be the top free throw shooting team in the Horizon
League. The Bulldogs shot only 58% from the line against
Green Bay, but out-scored the Phoenix, 21-9. Butler then shot
72% (18-25) against Milwaukee. The Bulldogs, who have
out-scored their opponents 378-299 at the charity stripe, are
second in the league in both free throws made (378) and free throws
attempted (512).
BULLDOG BITS:
•Matt Howard has been named one of 10
finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, presented for
notable achievement in four areas of excellence - community,
classroom, character and competition.
•Senior Matt Howard has scored in 125 consecutive Butler
games, every game of his collegiate career. He has 92 career
double-figures scoring performances.
•Matt Howard stands seventh on Butler’s all-time
scoring list with 1,707 career points. He ranks third on
Butler’s all-time rebounding list with 770 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 seventh in
the Horizon League in free throw shooting (.815).
•Matt Howard is the lone player in the Horizon League to rank
among the league’s “Top 10” players in scoring,
rebounding, blocked shots, field goal percentage, free throw
percentage and three-point field goal percentage.
•Matt Howard has averaged 20.4 points and 8.8 rebounds in
Butler’s last five games. He’s shooting .536 from
the field over that stretch.
•Matt Howard has averaged 12.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in
seven career games against Valparaiso.
•Matt Howard is third in the Horizon League in three-point
field goal shooting (.463). Howard, who was 0-3 from long
range against the Crusaders earlier this month, has hit 11 of 20
(.550) shots from the three-point arc since Butler’s last
meeting with Valparaiso.
•Junior Shelvin Mack stands in 21st place on Butler’s
all-time scoring list with 1,227 career points. He’s 16
points behind Gerry WIlliams (1960-63) in the No. 20 spot on the
Bulldogs’ all-time chart.
•Shelvin Mack, who hit a single three-point field goal
against Milwaukee, stands in 10th place on Butler’s all-time
list for three-point field goals. He’s connected on 168
career three-pointers, six behind Jermaine Guice (1990-94) in ninth
place.
•Shelvin Mack is 10th on Butler’s all-time assist chart
with 302 career assists, three behind Ohio State assistant coach
Brandon Miller (2000-03) in the No. 9 spot.
•Shelvin Mack has averaged 15.0 points in two previous visits
to the Athletics-Recreation Center. Overall, he’s
averaged 13.0 points in five career meetings with the
Crusaders.
•The Bulldogs are 36-7 when Shelvin Mack scores at least 14
points and 22-4 when he leads the team in scoring.
•Junior Ronald Nored, who had five assists last weekend,
stands in 14th place on Butler’s all-time assist chart with
267 career assists. He’s four assists behind Travis
Trice (1993-95) and Tom Orner (1975-79), who share the No. 12
position.
•Sophomore Andrew Smith has connected on 52 of his last 69
(.754) field goal attempts, including 41 of his last 53.
Smith leads the Horizon League in field goal shooting (.660).
•Andrew Smith is shooting .760 (38-50) against Horizon League
foes. The 6-11 center hit four of five shots against the
Crusaders earlier this month.
•Senior guard Shawn Vanzant came off the bench with 11 points
against Valparaiso earlier this month. The 6-1 guard has
started six of Butler’s seven games since.
•Junior Garrett Butcher sat out the Milwaukee game with deep
bone bruise in his lower left leg. His status for this
weekend’s game at Valparaiso is undetermined. Butcher
has played in 18 games this season, including two as a starter.
•The Bulldogs are shooting a league-best .389 from beyond the
three-point arc against Horizon League foes.
•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.
•Butler has won 25 of its last 26 games when yielding fewer
than 60 points.
