Butler Doesn't Want to be 'Runner-ups' Again

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

To some, the most important game in history for the Butler Bulldogs (27-9, 13-5) came last year against Duke, in their first ever National Championship.

To some, Butler is still considered a Cinderella mid-major team.

With their, young, but gifted head coach Brad Stevens, Butler made their second-straight Final Four with an OT thriller over No.2 seeded Florida.

The first mid-major to do so since UNLV did it in '90 and '91.

That same UNLV squad won the National Championship out of its two tries. Butler is trying to achieve the same feat.

Just after Butler punched it's ticket to the Final Four, they returned from New Orleans only to receive a standing ovation from their home fans.

Junior guard Ronald Nored was the most outspoken player saying, "I told somebody today that this year, we're going to get the real call from President Obama and not the runner-up call," which really got the crowd going.

Nored, was a key asset to last seasons team that just fell short of a National title. He did lose his starting position this season, but hasn't folded, it was only motivation to continue to get better.

In 2009, Butler needed late-game heroics from Gordon Hayward and a halfcourt shot that fell just short at the buzzer.

Coach Stevens surely wanted to win but even after defeat he told his players, "There's certainly nothing to hang your head about. I told them in there, what they've done, what they did together, will last longer than one night, regardless of the outcome."

It will be a similar feeling for Butler, but this time around, they want to win it. The Bulldogs should have a decided advantage, as far as experience goes.

This Butler team knows how to win and fight through adversity. It was just late January, early February, when you witnessed Butler lose three straight road games, one to bottom-feeder Youngstown State.

The one game at a time cliche paid dividends because, since then, Butler hasn't loss a game and went on to win the conference title and was selected as one of the 68 teams in the field after going off the radar for sometime.

The Bulldogs managed to squeak past Old Dominion in the first round after a buzzer beater by senior Matt Howard but really shocked the world with their last second defeat over No. 1 seeded Pittsburgh.

The Bulldogs, not only made two straight trips to the Final Four, but also has defeated the No. 1 and No. 2 seed in their region for the second straight year as well.

As usual, the path to the National Championship is never easy. The Bulldogs will have a tough time with one of the hottest teams in America in the VCU Rams, who are coming off a 10-point victory over No. 1 seeded Kansas.

If Butler does what is possible the next two games, this team, along with its gifted coach, should go down as one of the best teams of all-time.

Howard and Shelvin Mack have led Butler throughout the tournament thus far, but the Bulldogs will only go as far Shawn Vanzant and Khyle Marshall takes them.

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Butler Poised for Another Magical Run?

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

Gordon Haywards last second shot in last years NCAA Championship game will forever be known for what could have been.

The Butler Bulldogs (25-9, 13-5) had made their way to the National Championship game after knocking off No. 1 and No. 2 in their region, back-to-back.

After watching their desperation attempt fall short at the buzzer, Butler was left empty handed but shown potential to get back where all the magic started.

Although, without superstar Hayward, it would be more of a struggle.

Jumping up and down in joy, was Butler at mid-court after making another last second victory to knock off the No. 1 seed in their region for the second straight season.

Butler enters the Sweet 16 for the second straight year currently riding a 11-game win streak and are on the brink of reaching the schools second Final Four if they keep winning.

But in order to continue their improbable run to another Final Four, Butler will have to withstand some outstanding tasks.

Namely, stopping the red-hot Wisconsin Badgers (25-8, 13-5) who win games on the defensive side of the ball.

Wisconsin was thought to be defeated in the first round by Belmont, but their stifling defense held them to 58 points and cruised to victory.

Just yesterday, the Badgers used defense to defeat the Kansas State Wildcats. K-State senior Jacob Pullen had scored 38 points on Wisconsin but guard Jordan Taylor made sure it wasn't 41, as he blocked the potential game-tying shot.

Wisconsin is a veteran team with a combined eight juniors and seniors on their roster. Taylor and Jon Leuer have played like seniors rather than juniors averaging double-figured scoring on the season.

The only real question mark this season has been, who will step up outside of the two juniors, and Wisconsin has proved their is more to the team than the two talented stars.

Butler has its share of talented stars led by Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack. Howard hit two clutch shots to win the game in both outings in March, and Mack led the Bulldogs in scoring with 30-points against one of the better defensive teams in the nation.

It's hard to find many weaknesses on both sides, which is why this game will be filled with interesting match-ups. The one potential mismatch could be Ronald Nored against Taylor.

Nored is a great on-ball defender, and Taylor is coming off a poor-offensive outing against Kansas State. If Butler is able to utilize Nored's defensive prowess on Taylor, the Bulldogs will be in great position to win the game.

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Butler Down But Not Out Following Loss to Duke

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

The Butler Bulldogs (4-3), last years runner-ups, recently fell to the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils (8-0) 82-70.

With 13:04 left in the second half Ronald Nored picked up a cheap fourth foul after grazing Nolan Smith on a three-point attempt that sidelined him with his fourth foul.

At the 12:48 mark in the second half, Shelvin Mack fired up a three and came down awkwardly.

Many people found out later that it was leg cramps, and instead of coming back in Mack sat for the rest of the game, which hurted the Bulldogs.

With those two on the bench, Duke's knockout punch was a 12-0 run that pushed the game out of range for Butler.

Howard returned only to pick up his fifth foul with 2:17 left in the game, with Shawn Vanzant working to pull Butler closer to the lead.

Thereafter, Duke knocked down nine straight free-throws and marched away with a 12-point victory in the National Championship rematch.

With Butler falling for the third time in seven games, the Bulldogs are off to their worst start since 2005-06. Now many people are starting to count Butler out, but that is not the right thing to do.

The Bulldogs are on a rough stretch with losses coming at Louisville, against Evansville and Duke.

Three losses in which Matt Howard faced foul trouble. Nored, Butler's best on-ball defender, and leader of the defense did not play against Evansville, and with all three, the Bulldogs were 10-minutes away from getting closure on the defending National Champs.

Butler also saw an emerging guard in Vanzant who can score the basketball on offense just as good as any player on the team. Andrew Smith, and Garret Butcher stepped up big for the Bulldogs in the post showing a lot of maturity.

If both can start finishing around the rim, the Bulldogs might establish a lot of depth in the frontcourt. Despite the (4-3) record, I expect the Bulldogs to improve as the season progresses.

The Bulldogs are back to health, hopefully, and have a chance to make a statement against the Xavier Musketeers (5-2) December 9, 9 PM ET.

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Butler, Duke Re-Match From March; Duke Wins Again, 82-70

Posted by CoHoops Josh Dhani

 

It was a re-match of last season’s National Championship. The Duke Blue Devils were leading, 61-59, over the Butler Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were the Cinderella team entering this match-up, but the Blue Devils came out on top with their great veteran experience from coach Mike Krzyzweski. Gordon Hayward had a chance to win the game for Butler, almost making a half-court shot to win the game, but it barely missed!

With Hayward gone, the Bulldogs hoped to bring revenge still on the Devils. It was basically a game going back and forth. But later in the game, star-player Shelvin Mack would injury himself with cramps. He would not return. With that, the Bulldogs were in a hole. But they would bounce back. But later in the second half, Kyrie Irving would get hot, and he would help end the game for a Duke win, 82-70. The Blue Devils improve to 8-0 while Butler falls to 4-3.

This would be Coach K’s 876th career victory, passing coach Rupp on the all-time wins list.

“I’m going to win more I think than Coach Rupp, God bless him, who won’t win any more,” Krzyzewski said of the late coach. “He won a lot of them and he won them in his way and they didn’t play as many games then. Each era has outstanding achievements by individuals, whether they be players or coaches and in this era I’ve been fortunate to have some.

“It’s tough to compare,” Krzyzewski said. “I much rather would have tied him in April than today because I’m going to keep coaching and we should win more games. You get too caught up with what your own team is doing to focus on that kind of stuff.”

It’s the 18th straight win overall for Duke now. Nolan Smith had 24 points while Irving had 21, including 17 in the second half. Like mentioned earlier, Irving hit two keys three-pointers to finish the game off.

“Nolan did a tremendous job tonight. He played like a veteran,” Irving said. “He put us on his back in the second half of this game.”

Smith said, “Kyrie brings a lot. He’s a dangerous point guard.”

Butler will face Xavier next while Duke will the Bradley Braves.
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Louisville Opens New Arena With Upset Over No. 18 Butler

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

The Louisville Cardinals (1-0) opened the game with a 6-0 advantage over the No. 18 Butler Bulldogs (1-1).

They also watched Matt Howard leave the game after picking up his second foul with 16:44 left in the first half.

Soon after that, Louisville asserted dominance inside and pulled out a 41-23 halftime lead.

Checking back into the history book, the Bulldogs have not allowed a team to score 40 first half points since losing to the Milwaukee Panthers by 16 in '06.

Nonetheless, things changed up a bit in the second half. Louisville got a scare from Butler late in the second half, however, the Cardinals just would not let the Bulldogs back in the game.

Despite leading by more than 20-plus, the Cardinals stayed in front of the Bulldogs and ran towards a 88-73 victory.

Shelvin Mack paced all scorers with 25 points, but also added seven rebounds. Howard, who was in early foul trouble, came alive in the second half and is one of the main reasons why the Bulldogs were able to pull close to the lead.

After scoring two points in the first half, Howard exploded for 21 second half points. Howard ended with 23 points, and nine rebounds.

Rakeem Buckles, pulled in the second double-double of his career with a 17 point, 11 rebound performance to lead Louisville to victory.

Four other players were in double-figures for the Cardinals; Terrence Jennings (13), Mike Marra (11), Preston Knowles, and Elisha Justice both scored 13 apiece.

The Cardinals could surprise a lot of people this season. They forced a No. 18 Butler team to turn the ball over 17-times, and commit 31 total fouls, many which came under one minute left to play.

Nonetheless, the key statistic of the game can be place on the 18 assist to 27 made field goals. The Cardinals move the ball very well on offense, and at least seven players had more than two assist.

The Bulldogs are the third ranked team to lose today following the Virginia Tech Hokies, and Florida Gators.

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Shelvin Mack's 20 Helps Butler Rout Marian 83-54

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

Once Gordon Hayward decided to leave for the NBA, nobody expected to see the Butler Bulldogs doing good anymore.

However, after today that is an afterthought. The Bulldogs made a statement in their season-opening win agains the Marian Knights 83-54.

Shelvin Mack, and Andrew Smith were the only Bulldogs in double-figures. Mack paced the Bulldogs with 20 points, four rebounds and three steals.

Smith added 10 points and four rebounds. Matt Howard nailed 3-of-4 field goals and came away with six points and seven rebounds.

Freshman Khyle Marshall made his Butler debut and accumulated nine points, three rebounds, and two blocks.

Overall, after a slow start by Butler things started picking up right before half. Mack, and Ronald Nored both made significant plays to put Butler up 42-28 at the half.

Nored was locked in on the defensive end coming away with four steals. Nored also got into the scoring column with five points, along with five assist, while turning the ball over once.

Butler as a team out-rebounded Marian 31-17, and forced 15 turnovers. Despite the slow start, Butler was able to overcome their sluggish first 15 minutes and come away with a 29-point victory.

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Believe or Not, Butler Will Be Fine Without Gordon Hayward

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

Last season, Butler reminded all college basketball junkies just how much we enjoy Cinderella's. 

The Bulldogs knocked off the number one and two seeds in their bracket before reaching the Final Four.

Once they reached the Final Four, Gordon Hayward led the Bulldogs over Michigan State by two. He posted a 19 point, nine rebound performance that enabled Butler to play in their first ever National Championship.

Statically, Hayward was the top contributor. But if you watched the game, Shelvin Mack was the backbone of the Bulldogs.