Bulldogs Face #19 Clemson At 76 Classic
TOURNAMENT WRAP: Butler will play its
second nationally-ranked opponent in four days when it takes on #19
Clemson in the consolation finals of the 76 Classic in Anaheim,
Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 29. The game will be played at 4:30
p.m. (PT, 7:30 p.m. in Indianapolis) and will be televised
nationally on ESPNU. Butler rebounded from a first-round
tournament loss to #22/16 Minnesota and advanced to the consolation
finals with a two-point victory over UCLA in the second
round. It was Butler’s first meeting with the Bruins in
46 years and the Bulldogs’ first victory over UCLA in 49
years! Clemson bounced back from an opening-round loss to
Texas A & M with an 87-79 victory over Long Beach State in the
second round. Butler and Clemson will be playing for just the
second time, following a 1999 meeting in the quarterfinals of the
National Invitation Tournament at Clemson. The Tigers won
that game,
89-69.
The Bulldogs are 10-1 in their last 11 regular season
tournament games.
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. 23).
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 nationally-ranked for 12 consecutive weeks last season, and the
Bulldogs have been ranked 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.
CONSOLATION FINALS: Butler last participated
in the consolation finals of an eight-team tournament in 2005 at
the BCA Invitational in Laramie, Wyoming. The Bulldogs fell
in the opening round of that tournament to UNC-Wilmington, but
bounced back with a victory over Alabama State in the second
round. Butler then faced Lehigh in the consolation round
finals and prevailed with a 66-41 victory. That Butler team,
coached by Todd Lickliter, went on to post a 20-13 record and play
in the NIT.
LAST TIME OUT: Sophomore Gordon
Hayward hit a pair of free throws with 0:00.6 left on the
clock to lift Butler to a 69-67 victory over UCLA in the second
round of the 76 Classic. The Bruins, playing in front of a
home crowd rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final five
minutes of the game and tied the contest at 67-67 on a three-point
field goal by Jerime Anderson with just nine seconds
remaining. But the Bulldogs didn’t panic and Hayward
brought the ball up-court, drove to the basket and lifted for a
shot in the final second. He didn’t get the shot off,
but he was fouled just before the final buzzer sounded, setting the
stage for the dramatic finish. Butler scored the first four
points of the game and never trailed in the contest.
SCORING LEADER: Sophomore Shelvin Mack led
all scorers in the Butler’s victory over UCLA with 21
points. That performance followed his 20-point effort against
Minnesota one night earlier. It was the second time in his
young career that Mack put together back-to-back 20-point scoring
performances. A year ago, the 6-3 guard tallied a career-high
22 points against Youngstown State and 20 points against Bradley in
back-to-back Butler victories. Mack has led the Bulldogs in
scoring in three of five games this season.
Shelvin Mack is leading the 76 Classic in scoring (20.5) after
two rounds.
SOLID START: Butler broke a 6-6 tie against
UCLA with an 8-2 scoring run in the first eight minutes of the
contest, and the Bulldogs maintained a lead in the game until the
final 10 seconds on the clock. Sophomore Shelvin Mack scored
14 points in the first 20 minutes and helped Butler build as much
as a 14-point lead. The Bulldogs led by seven points at
halftime, 42-37.
WARMING TREND: The Bulldogs, coming off
their two worst shooting performances of the season, built a lead
against UCLA with 52% shooting in the first half. Butler
connected on 12 of its first 23 shots against the Bruins, while
pulling away to a double-figures lead. The warm front
didn’t last. Butler hit just seven of 25 shots (28%) in
the second half and finished the game with a .396 shooting
percentage. The Bulldogs have failed to reach 40% in field
goal shooting in three consecutive games for the first time under
head coach Brad Stevens.
CHARITABLE SEASON: One game after setting a
76 Classic single game record for free throws made with 36 against
Minnesota, the Bulldogs cashed 24 shots from the charity stripe
against UCLA. Butler enters the final game of this
year’s 76 Classic just 12 free throws shy of the three-game
tournament record (72 by UTEP and Wake Forest in 2008).
Butler has made 91 of 122 (.746) free throws in the past three
games.
BOARDING PASS: Butler sophomore Gordon
Hayward topped the Bulldogs in rebounding for the fourth time in
five outings with a game-high eight rebounds against UCLA. He
also led the Bulldogs against Minnesota with 10 rebounds. The
6-9 forward is tied for second in the tournament in rebounding
(9.0) after two rounds.
LINEUP CHANGE: Sophomore Ronald Nored was
inserted into Butler’s starting lineup in place of Shawn
Vanzant, who had started Butler’s first four games.
Nored, who started all 32 Butler games a year ago, finished with
six points, two rebounds and two assists. Vanzant came off
the bench with five points and one rebound. Butler head coach
Brad Stevens used the same starting lineup in all 32 games last
season.
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. Butler is 16-1 in November under coach Brad
Stevens.
BULLDOG BITS:
•Sophomore Shelvin Mack posted his second consecutive season
scoring-high with 21 points against UCLA. Mack had 20 points
against Minnesota one night earlier.
•Shelvin Mack has averaged 18.3 points in Butler’s last
four games, after opening the season with just seven points against
Davidson.
•Matt Howard needs 40 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.
•Matt Howard played just 16 minutes against UCLA before
fouling out for the fourth time in five games. Howard, the
reigning Horizon League Player of the Year, has been on the court
for an average of just 23.2 minutes per game this season.
•Sophomore Gordon Hayward is the lone Butler player to score
in double-figures in each game this season. He’s had
six consecutive double-figures scoring performances, dating back to
last year.
•Freshman center Andrew Smith played a career-high 10 minutes
against UCLA and matched his career-high with three rebounds in the
win.
•Junior Zach Hahn came off the bench and hit a career-high
four of four free throws against UCLA. Hahn, who is perfect
from the line this season (8-8), is shooting .875 (21-24) from the
charity stripe for his career.
•Butler has won its last 16 games when hitting at least nine
three-point field goals in a game. The Bulldogs hit seven
three-pointers against UCLA, after cashing just five long-range
shots in the previous two outings.
•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.
