Butler Hosts #13/15 Ohio State, Former Coach
HOMECOMING GAME: Butler, having played
seven of its last eight games outside of Indianapolis, returns home
to host #13/15 Ohio State on Saturday, Dec. 12. The game will
start at 12 noon at Hinkle Fieldhouse and will be
nationally-televised on ESPN. The Buckeyes (7-1) are the
first “Top 25” team to visit Hinkle Fieldhouse since
February of 2008, when #16/18 Drake played Butler in a
BracketBusters game. Ohio State is the highest-ranked team to
visit Butler since 1993, when #11 Indiana came to Indianapolis to
play the Bulldogs. The game also will be a homecoming for
Ohio State head coach Thad Matta, Ohio State assistant coach
Brandon Miller and Buckeyes’ video coordinator Kevin
Kuwik. Matta (‘90) played at Butler, 1988-90, served as
an assistant coach for the Bulldogs, 1992-94, and was
Butler’s head coach in 2000-01. Miller (‘03) was
a 1,000-point scorer for the Bulldogs, 2001-03, and he served as an
assistant coach at Butler, 2007-08. Kuwik was Butler’s
coordinator of basketball operations last season. In his one
season as head coach at Butler, Matta hired current Butler head
coach Brad Stevens as the Bulldogs’ coordinator of basketball
operations. The Buckeyes will be Butler’s second
consecutive “Top 25” foe this week. The Bulldogs
opened the week in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in
New York, dropping a 72-65 decision to #15/13 Georgetown on Tuesday
(Dec.
8).
The Bulldogs are 10-2 under head coach Brad Stevens in games
following a loss.
TOP COMPETITION: Ohio State is the fourth
“Top 25” foe on Butler’s early schedule.
The Bulldogs played #16 Minnesota and #19 Clemson in a four-day
period at the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., last month, and #15/13
Georgetown on Tuesday (Dec. 8) at the Jimmy V Classic in New
York.
POLL NUMBERS: The Bulldogs continue to be
ranked in the “Top 25” in both the Associated Press (A.
P.) and ESPN/USA Today national polls, released on Monday (Dec.
7). Butler sits at No. 20 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and No.
22 in the A. P. poll. Two weeks ago, Bulldogs were ranked in
the “Top 10” for the second consecutive season.
Butler was nationally-ranked for 12 consecutive weeks last season,
and the Bulldogs have been nationally-ranked each year since
2006-07.
MORE POLLING: Butler is back on top of the
CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll this week. The
Bulldogs held the top spot in the CollegeInsider.com poll for the
first three weeks of the season, before falling to second for the
last two weeks.
RANKINGS RECORD: Butler is 9-14 in its last
23 games against “Top 25” teams, but only one of those
wins (Maryland in 2007) came when the Bulldogs also were
ranked.
BUTLER AND THE BIG TEN: Ohio State is the
third of three Big Ten teams on Butler’s 2009-10
schedule. The Bulldogs defeated Northwestern, 67-54, in
Evanston, Ill., on Nov. 21, but fell to then #22/16-ranked
Minnesota, 82-73, on Thanksgiving Day at the 76 Classic in Anaheim,
Calif.
Butler has a 6-2 record in its last eight games against teams
from the Big Ten.
HOME WORK: The Bulldogs were 15-2 at Hinkle
Fieldhouse last year, and they’ve won their first two home
games this season. Butler has been successful in 21 of its
last 23 home games and 59 of its last 65 in Hinkle
Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs are 127-17 (.882) on their homecourt
since 1999-2000.
Butler is 31-3 at Hinkle Fieldhouse under head coach Brad
Stevens.
LAST TIME OUT: Center Greg Monroe posted
career-highs of 24 points and 15 rebounds to power #15/13
Georgetown to a 72-65 victory over the Bulldogs in the first game
of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday (Dec.
8). Monroe’s first field goal just over seven minutes
into the game gave the Hoyas a 12-11 lead and sparked a 10-0 run
that put Georgetown in front for good. Despite shooting just
27% in the second half, Butler trimmed a 17-point Georgetown second
half lead to five, 67-62, with under a minute to play. But
the Hoyas held on by hitting five of six free throws in the final
50 seconds.
Butler’s last four losses have come to teams ranked in
the “Top 25.”
BIG STAGE: Butler sophomore Gordon
Hayward, playing in Madison Square Garden for the first
time in his young career, led the Bulldogs with a season-high 24
points and eight rebounds against the Hoyas. Hayward
connected on a season-high four three-point field goals in the
game, and he was perfect on six free throw attempts. The 6-9
guard added two assists, two blocked shots and a steal, while
matching his career-high with 39 minutes played. Hayward
scored 19 points in the second half.
CHARITABLE SEASON: The Bulldogs have
continued to surge at the free throw line in recent games.
Over the past six contests, Butler is shooting .776 (128-165) from
the charity stripe. The Bulldogs hit 19 of 22 (.864) free
throw attempts against Georgetown. Sophomore Gordon Hayward
has been perfect from the charity stripe in the last three games,
making his last 19 attempts, while junior Matt Howard has connected
on 21 of 26 (.808) free throws over the same stretch.
Butler has made more free throws (187) than its opponents have
shot (169).
GRAND FINISH: Junior Matt Howard needs just
two points to become the 32nd Butler player to score 1,000 career
points. He enters the Ohio State contest with 998 points in
75 career games. The last Butler player to score 1,000 career
points was Howard’s former teammate A. J. Graves, who turned
the trick as a junior in 2006-07.
BULLDOG BITS:
•Junior Matt Howard has averaged 17.0 points and 8.5 rebounds
in two previous meetings with Ohio State. The 6-8 Butler
forward had 23 points and seven rebounds in Butler’s victory
over the Buckeyes as a freshman, and then he posted a double-double
with 11 points and 10 rebounds at Ohio State last year.
•Matt Howard has averaged 15.1 points in 34 career games in
Hinkle Fieldhouse. He’s averaged 18.8 points in his
last eight games at the Fieldhouse. His career-high in the
Fieldhouse is 30 points against Loyola last year.
•Matt Howard leads the Horizon League in free throws made with
54, three ahead of teammate Gordon Hayward. Howard, who ranks
seventh in the league in free throw shooting (.818), hit seven of
eight from the charity stripe against Georgetown.
•Sophomore Gordon Hayward became the third Butler player this
season to record a 20-point scoring night with his effort against
Georgetown. Teammate Shelvin Mack has two 20-point scoring
efforts, while Matt Howard has one.
•Gordon Hayward is the lone Butler player to score in
double-figures in each game this season. He’s had 10
consecutive double-figures scoring performances, dating back to
last year.
•Gordon Hayward led the Bulldogs in rebounding for the seventh
time in nine games with his eight rebounds against Georgetown.
•Gordon Hayward currently ranks second in the Horizon League
in rebounding (8.2). He’s third in the league in free
throw shooting (.864), fourth in the circuit in scoring (16.1) and
fifth in blocked shots (0.9).
•Gordon Hayward is tied for the Horizon League lead with three
double-doubles this season.
•Shelvin Mack has averaged 15.8 points in Butler’s last
eight games, after opening the season with just seven points
against Davidson. Mack has scored at least 15 points in six
of the last eight contests.
•Shelvin Mack, who had seven assists against Ohio State a year
ago, is tied for fifth in the Horizon League in assists
(3.3). Mack also is fifth in the league in assist/turnover
ratio (1.3).
•Sophomore Ronald Nored has recorded 10 assists and six
turnovers since returning to Butler’s starting lineup against
UCLA on Nov. 27. His 1.8 assist/turnover ratio on the season
would rank third in the Horizon League, but he’s five assists
shy of qualifying for league statistical rankings.
•Junior Zach Hahn came off the bench with 11 points against
Georgetown, his second game in double-figures this year.
•Senior Willie Veasley has had a season-high 15 points in each
of Butler’s first two games in Hinkle Fieldhouse this
season. His career-high is 16 points, set last year.
•Redshirt freshman Chase Stigall suffered a sprained right
knee in Butler’s win at Ball State, and he hasn’t
played since. He’s doubtful for the Ohio State game.
