FINISHING TOUCH: For the seventh straight
year and for the 14th time in 16 seasons, Butler ended its
men's basketball season in postseason tournament
play. And for the third straight year and the
eighth time in school history, the Bulldogs finished with a winning
postseason record. Butler's streak of postseason
tournament bids appeared to be in jeopardy when the Bulldogs were
13-12 and tied for fifth place in the Horizon League in early
February. But the team rallied to win five of its final six
regular season games and then advanced to the semifinals of the
Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship. That
strong finish helped earn Butler its first bid to the College
Basketball Invitational, a 16-team tournament that was begun in
2008. The Bulldogs began the tournament with a 75-58 victory
over Delaware at Hinkle Fieldhouse, before posting a 63-53 victory
over Penn at the Palestra. Butler fell at home in the CBI
semifinals to eventual tournament champion Pittsburgh, 68-62 in
overtime. The Bulldogs won nine of their final 12 games and
finished the season with a 22-15 overall record. The 22 wins
matched the 12th-highest single season total in Butler men's
basketball history and tied the top victory total in the Horizon
League in 2011-12. Nine of Butler's 22 wins came
against teams that advanced to postseason tournament
play
Butler has 12 postseason tournament wins in the past three
seasons.
EXTENDED PLAY: The Bulldogs advanced to
postseason tournament play for the 21st time in school history and
for the 14th time since 1997. In the past 16 seasons, Butler
earned bids to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball
Championship (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
and 2011), the National Invitational Tournament (1999, 2002 and
2006) and the College Basketball Invitational (2012).
Butler's record in postseason tournament play since 1997 is
22-14 (16-10 in the NCAA ; 4-3 in the NIT; 2-1 in the CBI).
Overall, the Bulldogs are 29-20 all-time in postseason action.
Butler leads all Horizon League teams in postseason tournament
wins (22) since the league was founded in 1979.
TWENTY PLUS: Butler's victory over
Milwaukee in the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship
quarterfinals gave the Bulldogs 20 wins for the seventh consecutive
season and for the 14th time in the past 16 campaigns. The
seven straight 20-win campaigns matches the Horizon League record
for most consecutive 20-win seasons, originally set by Butler from
1996 to 2003. The Bulldogs are the only team in Horizon
League history to record five or more consecutive 20-win seasons
and they've done it twice (1996-2003 and 2006-2012).
Butler has averaged 24 victories over the past 16
seasons.
BULLDOG SPRING: The month of March seems to
bring out the best in Butler basketball. Over the past three
seasons, the Bulldogs are 15-2 in March, the month of postseason
basketball tournaments. Butler's 12 postseason
tournament wins over the past three campaigns ranks second
nationally among all NCAA Division I teams. Only reigning
national champion Kentucky (13) has more postseason tournament wins
since 2010. Butler is one of just four teams with 10 or more
postseason tournament wins in the last three years.
HOME WORK: The Bulldogs stretched their
streak of consecutive years with at least 10 homecourt wins to 17
in a row with their victory over Indiana State in Sears
BracketBuster X. Butler added three home wins and finished
the season with a 13-6 record in Hinkle Fieldhouse. Since
Brad Stevens took over as head coach, the Bulldogs are 69-11 at
Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Butler is 165-25 at Hinkle Fieldhouse since the start of the
1999-2000 season.
TEAM DEFENSE: Butler turned up its defensive
intensity during the Horizon League Men's Basketball
Championship and the College Basketball Invitational. In six
tournament games (3 HL, 3 CBI), the Bulldogs held their opponents
to an average of 57.5 points and kept all six under 70
points. Butler wound up leading the Horizon League in field
goal percentage defense (.411) in 2011-12, while finishing second
in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense
(.307). The Bulldogs, who held 10 of their final 14 opponents
under 60 points, finished second in the league in scoring defense
(60.7).
Butler finished 29th in the NCAA Division I in team scoring defense
in 2011-12.
BOARD REVIEW: Butler only had one player
ranked among the “Top 10” rebounders in the Horizon
League, but the Bulldogs were No. 1 in the league in rebounding as
a team. Freshman Roosevelt Jones led the Bulldogs and ranked
eighth in the Horizon League in rebounding with an average of 6.0
rebounds per game. The 6-4 forward finished third in the
league in offensive rebounds (2.6). The Bulldogs topped the
league in rebounding margin (+4.0) and in offensive rebounds
(12.6). Butler out-rebounded 22 opponents on the season,
including 10 of the final 14.
SENIOR MOMENTS: Butler seniors Ronald Nored
(right) and Garrett Butcher closed out their collegiate careers in
third place on the Bulldogs' all-time list for senior class
wins with a 109-35 record during their four seasons. The two
helped Butler to three Horizon League regular season championships,
two league tournament titles and four consecutive trips to
postseason tournament play, including back-to-back appearances in
the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship national
title game. They helped Butler to an 12-4 postseason
tournament record during their four seasons.
LOWE'S ALL-AMERICAN: Butler's
Ronald Nored was named a Lowe's Senior CLASS Award First Team
All-American, along with Draymond Green of Michigan State, Robbie
Hummel of Purdue, Zack Rosen of Penn and Tyler Zeller of North
Carolina, at the 2012 NCAA Final Four. Nored was 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. The 6-0 Butler guard,
who was a four-year starter at Butler, excelled in the classroom,
on the court and in the community during his career with the
Bulldogs. He earned Horizon League All-League and Academic
All-League honors during his four seasons. Nored was the
second Butler player in two years to be named a finalist for the
Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Matt Howard was honored at
the 2011 Final Four as one of 10 finalists for last season's
award.
STELLAR SERVICE: Senior Ronald Nored,
averaged 6.2 assists over the Bulldogs' final 14 games and
became the first player in Butler basketball history to top 190
assists in a season. He finished his final campaign at Butler with
a school-record 193 assists, well ahead of the previous mark of
172, set by Mike Green in 2007-08. Nored also boosted his
career total for assists to 497. He closed out his career in
second place on Butler's all-time assist chart, trailing only
Thomas Jackson who had 540 assists from 1998-2002. During the
2011-12 season, Nored became just the second player in Butler
basketball history (Thomas Jackson is the other) to record 400
career points, 400 career rebounds and 400 career assists.
Ronald Nored led the Horizon League in assist/turnover ratio
(1.9).
TOURNAMENT LEADER: Sophomore Chrishawn
Hopkins (right), who played a key role in Butler's strong
finish, wound up leading the Bulldogs in scoring in both the
Horizon League Tournament and the College Basketball
Invitational. Hopkins averaged a team-best 11.7 points in
Butler's three league tournament games and then topped the
Bulldogs with a 14.3 average in the team's three CBI
contests. He was Butler's leading scorer in three of
the team's final four games in 2011-12.
ALL-LEAGUE: Senior Ronald Nored and freshman
Roosevelt Jones were recognized on the 2011-12 Horizon League
Men's Basketball All-League Team, announced prior to the
league tournament. Nored was named second team All-League,
while Jones was chosen the league's All-Newcomer Team.
Butler has had a player named first or second team All-League for
14 consecutive years.
BEST DEFENSE: Butler's Ronald Nored
was named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year for the
second time in his career. Nored, who was named league
Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2009-10, was selected to the
league's All-Defensive Team for the third consecutive
year.
SMART CHOICE: Butler's Ronald Nored
was named second team on the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America
Team. The honor student majoring in Early Childhood/Middle
Childhood Education became the sixth Butler player to earn Academic
All-America recognition and the fifth since 2007. Butler has
had one or more players named to the Academic All-America Team in
each of the past six seasons, including three-time Academic
All-American and 2011 Academic All-American of the Year Matt
Howard.
LEAD POSITION: Head coach Brad Stevens
recorded his fifth straight 20-win season with the Bulldogs,
matching former coach (and current Athletic Director) Barry Collier
for the most 20-win campaigns by a Butler coach. Todd
Lickliter, Stevens' former boss, led Butler to four 20-win
seasons, Harlan O. “Pat” Page had two, and Paul D.
“Tony” Hinkle and Thad Matta each led Butler to one
20-win season.
QUICK START: Butler head coach Brad Stevens
finished 2011-12 in first place on the NCAA Division I list for
Best Career Coaching Starts By Wins, 5 Seasons. The
Bulldogs' coach, who boasts a 139 career wins, moved ahead of
Everett Case of North Carolina State (1947-51) to take over the No.
1 spot. Stevens also holds the NCAA three-year (89) and
four-year (117) records, and he's second on the two-year (56)
list.
BULLDOG BITS:
•The Bulldogs advanced to postseason tournament play for the
school-record seventh consecutive year. Butler also appeared
in postseason tournaments for seven straight years from 1997 to
2003.
•Ronald Nored completed his Butler career with a school record
for games played (143). Nored also set a school for
postseason games played with 16.
•Ronald Nored scored 28 points in Butler's three CBI
games, boosting his career postseason scoring total to 84
points. He's tied with Rylan Hainje (1998-2002) for
sixth place on Butler's all-time postseason scoring list.
•Ronald Nored finished his career in a tie with Thomas Jackson
(1998-2002) for first place on Butler's all-time list for
steals. Both players recorded 207 career steals.
•Ronald Nored ranked second in the Horizon League in assists
(5.2) in 2011-12.
•Ronald Nored had career-best totals for points (290),
rebounds (154) and assists (193) in his final season.
•Junior Andrew Smith will enter 2012-13 in sixth place on
Butler's all-time list for field goal shooting. Smith
has shot .546 from the field in his first three seasons with the
Bulldogs.
•Andrew Smith ranked seventh in the Horizon League in field
goal shooting (.525) in 2011-12.
•Andrew Smith had Butler's top single game output this
season with 25 points against Wright State in the league
tournament.
•Andrew Smith shot .593 from the field, .464 from beyond the
three-point arc and averaged 12.5 points in Butler's 22 wins
this season.
•Sophomore Khyle Marshall led the Bulldogs and ranked third in
the Horizon League in field goal shooting (.553). He'll
enter next season in a tie for 11th place on Butler's
all-time list for FG% (.536).
•Khyle Marshall averaged 11.5 points in 11 games after
returning from a concussion that sidelined him for two games in
early February.
•Sophomore Chrishawn Hopkins was the only player to lead the
Bulldogs in scoring in three consecutive games in 2011-12. He
topped Butler against Valparaiso in the Horizon League Tournament
and then in the first two games of the CBI.
•Chrishawn Hopkins was named to the All-Tournament Team at the
2011 Hoosier Invitational. Hopkins averaged 13.3 points in
the four tournament games.
•Freshman Roosevelt Jones set a Butler freshman record with
four double-doubles in 2011-12, one better than teammate Kameron
Woods, Matt Howard (2007-08) and current NBA player Gordon Hayward
(2008-09). Jones had three double-doubles in Butler's
final 13 games.
