Bulldogs Face League Road Challenge At Milwaukee
HOLIDAY TRAVEL: Butler, coming off a New
Year’s Day victory at home, will play its first road game of
2011 when it visits Milwaukee for a stiff Horizon League test on
Monday, Jan. 3. The game at Milwaukee’s U. S. Cellular
Arena is slated for a 7 p.m. (CT, 8 p.m. in Indianapolis)
tip. Butler (10-4, 2-0 Horizon League) opened the New Year
with a 76-59 win over Valparaiso at Hinkle Fieldhouse. It was
the sixth consecutive win for the Bulldogs, who were playing for
the first time since winning the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii on
Christmas Day. Milwaukee (7-8, 2-2 HL) picked up an
impressive New Year’s Day road win with an 84-81 decision in
overtime at Detroit, the team picked second behind the Bulldogs in
the league’s preseason poll. The Panthers had five
different players combine for a league-high 16 three-point field
goals in that victory. Butler and Milwaukee will meet again
later this month, when the Panthers visit Hinkle Fieldhouse for a
Sunday, Jan. 23, afternoon game.
Butler is 2-0 in Horizon League play for the third straight
year.
MILESTONE WIN: The victory over Valparaiso
was Butler’s 22nd straight Horizon League regular season win,
breaking the previous league record of 21 consecutive victories
that the Bulldogs shared with Green Bay. The Phoenix won 21
straight league games between 1994 and 1997, while Butler
accomplished the feat twice. The Bulldogs won 21 in a row
from Jan. 18, 2008, to Jan. 30, 2009, and then again during the
current streak.
Butler’s last Horizon League regular season loss came at
Milwaukee in 2009.
CENTURY MARK: Head coach Brad Stevens and
Butler’s five current seniors are one win away from their
100th career victory. Stevens and company are 99-19 over the
past three and a half seasons. Only two previous men’s
basketball senior classes at Butler have reached 100 career
victories. The 2003 class of Joel Cornette, Darnell Archey,
Lewis Curry and Mike Moore compiled 100 wins over four seasons,
while Willie Veasley and Nick Rodgers finished with a school-record
118 career victories last year.
LAST TIME OUT: Seven Butler players, led by
junior Shelvin Mack, scored eight or more points and the Bulldogs
used strong starts to both halves to defeat Valparaiso,
76-59. Butler jumped in front with a 13-3 run to start the
game and then built its largest lead, 44-25, with an 8-0 run to
start the second half. The Crusaders, who entered the contest
with a four-game winning streak and a 2-0 Horizon League record,
did chop Butler’s margin to five points at 53-48, but
back-to-back three-point field goals by senior Zach Hahn put the
Bulldogs back on top by double-digits. Butler added to the
final margin with an 8-0 run to close the game. Mack led all
scorers with 16 points, hitting four of eight shots from the floor,
including two of five from beyond the three-point arc, and all six
of his free throw attempts. The victory was Butler’s 10th
straight over the Crusaders.
PERIMETER PUNCH: Butler picked up 47 points
from its backcourt quartet of Shelvin Mack, Ronald Nored, Shawn
Vanzant and Zach Hahn to spark the home win over Valparaiso.
Mack, coming off a 20-point performance against Washington State in
the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic, led the way for
the second straight game with 16 points, while Nored had his second
double-figures scoring performance of the season with 11
points. Vanzant came off the bench with 11 points and Hahn
chipped in with nine points. The four guards combined to hit
15 of 29 (.517) shots, including 7 of 16 (.438) from three-point
range. Butler topped 70 points for the fifth time in the last
six games.
Butler is leading the Horizon League in team scoring offense
(74.4).
WARMING TREND: Junior Ronald
Nored hit five of nine shots, including one of two from
beyond the three-point arc, in Butler’s victory over
Valparaiso. It was the sixth time in the last seven games
that the 6-0 point-guard has shot 50% or better from the field,
after hitting at just a 29% clip over his first five games.
Nored is shooting .560 from the field, .500 from the three-point
arc and .786 from the free throw line, while averaging 8.8 points,
during Butler’s current six-game winning streak.
HOME DEFENSE: The Bulldogs limited
Valparaiso to just three field goals in the first ten minutes of
the game, while jumping out to a 21-8 lead. The Crusaders had
19 points with less than a minute to go in the first half, before
connecting on a pair of three-point field goals in the final
0:44. The 59 total points were the third-lowest total of the
season for the Crusaders, who entered the game as the top-scoring
team in the Horizon League.
Butler has won 25 of its last 26 games when holding its
opponent below 60 points.
CHARITY FIRST: The Bulldogs missed their
first free throw attempt against Valparaiso and then finished the
game by connecting on their final 19 charity tosses. The 19
for 20 (.950) effort was Butler’s best this season and the
third-best single game free throw percentage in the Horizon League
this season. It was the second time this season that the
Bulldogs have shot better than 90% from the free throw line.
Butler leads the Horizon League in team free throw shooting
(.754).
SUCCESSFUL DECADE: The Bulldogs’
victory over Washington State in the championship game of the
Diamond Head Classic wrapped up the most successful decade in
Butler basketball history. Over the past ten seasons, Butler
compiled a 244-84 (.748) record, including eight seasons of 20 or
more wins. The Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Tournament six
times, made three “Sweet 16” appearances, earned one
“Elite Eight” berth and became the first team in
Horizon League history to reach the Final Four during the ten-year
period. Butler captured seven Horizon League regular season
championships and three league tournament titles during the decade,
and the Bulldogs advanced to post-season tournament play in eight
of the ten seasons.
BULLDOG BITS:
•The Bulldogs, who committed 11 turnovers in their victory
over Valparaiso, lead the Horizon League in fewest turnovers per
game (10.9). Butler also leads the league in assist/turnover
radio (1.2).
•Senior Matt Howard has scored in 118 consecutive Butler
games, every game of his collegiate career.
•Matt Howard had a streak of 12 straight games in
double-figures snapped with his eight points against
Valparaiso.
•Matt Howard is averaging 19.5 points and 8.0 rebounds during
Butler’s current winning streak.
•Matt Howard ranks second in the Horizon League in both
scoring (17.4) and rebounding (8.2). Howard stands seventh in field
goal percentage (.503).
•Matt Howard is leading the Bulldogs, and he ranks sixth in
the Horizon League in free throw shooting (.840).
•Matt Howard is the lone player in the Horizon League to rank
among the league’s “Top 10” players in scoring,
rebounding, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and
three-point field goal percentage.
•Matt Howard had 11 points and six rebounds before fouling out
against Milwaukee in last year’s game at U. S. Cellular
Arena. He had 20 points and nine rebounds on
Milwaukee’s homecourt as a sophomore.
•Junior Shelvin Mack scored a career-high 25 points against
Milwaukee on Jan. 2, 2010. He’s matched that total
twice since.
•Shelvin Mack has averaged 15.3 points and 4.8 assists during
Butler’s six-game winning streak.
•Shelvin Mack had a game-high six assists and just one
turnover in Butler’s win over Valparaiso. Mack ranks
fifth in the Horizon League in assist/turnover ratio (1.8).
•Shelvin Mack, who hit a pair of three-point field goals
against Valparaiso, now has 156 career three-pointers.
He’s two three-pointers behind Darrin Fitzgerald (1986-87) in
10th place on Butler’s all-time list for three-point field
goals. (Fitzgerald accomplished his feat in one season, and he
still holds the NCAA record for three-point field goals per game -
5.6).
•The Bulldogs are 34-6 when Shelvin Mack scores at least 14
points and 21-3 when he leads the team in scoring.
•Junior Ronald Nored matched his season-high with four steals
in Butler’s victory over Valparaiso.
•Ronald Nored had a career-high eight rebounds in
Butler’s last meeting with Milwaukee at the Horizon League
Tournament last spring.
•Sophomore Andrew Smith has connected on 20 of his last 26
(.769) field goal attempts, including nine of his last 10.
•Senior Zach Hahn has hit six or 12 shots from beyond the
three-point arc in Butler’s last two games. He had hit
just three of 25 three-point field goal attempts in Butler’s
previous six games.
•Senior Shawn Vanzant was perfect on four free throw attempts
against Valparaiso, and he’s now connected on his last
14 attempts from the charity stripe. The 6-1 guard hit eight
of eight free throws against Milwaukee on Jan. 2, 2010.
•Freshman Khyle Marshall posted his second collegiate
double-figures scoring performance with 10 points against
Valparaiso. The 6-7 forward also grabbed five rebounds in 16
minutes of action.
•Butler, which out-scored Valparaiso 19-5 at the free throw
line, is shooting .809 from the charity stripe during its current
six-game winning streak. The Bulldogs have out-scored their
last six opponents, 127-71, at the free throw line.
•Butler had a season-low two (of 13) three-point field goals
in last year’s game against Milwaukee at U. S. Cellular
Arena. Shelvin Mack and Willie Veasley each hit one
long-range shot in the game.
•Butler has won its last 27 games when hitting at least nine
three-point field goals. The Bulldogs have hit nine or more
three-pointers four times this season.
•The Bulldogs are 44-1 under head coach Brad Stevens when
hitting nine or more three-pointers.
•Butler is one of just three NCAA Division I schools to win at
least 25 games in each of the last four seasons. The other
two are Kansas and BYU.
