Bulldogs Host League-Leading Cleveland State
EARLY SHOWDOWN: Butler, coming off its
first league setback in more than a year, will face its stiffest
home test yet when it hosts league-leading Cleveland State on
Friday, Jan. 7. The prime time showdown at Hinkle Fieldhouse
is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET) and will be televised nationally on
ESPNU. Butler (10-5, 2-1 Horizon League) suffered its first
Horizon League setback since Feb. 18, 2009, when it dropped a 76-52
decision at Milwaukee on Monday (Jan. 3). The margin of
defeat was Butler’s biggest since Jan. 29, 2005, 198 games
ago, when the Bulldogs fell at UIC, 73-49. The loss at
Milwaukee snapped Butler’s Horizon League record of 22
consecutive regular season league victories. Cleveland State
brings the Horizon League’s best overall record (15-1) and an
unbeaten league mark (4-0) to Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Vikings
have won three straight since suffering their lone setback at West
Virginia, 74-63, on Dec. 18. Cleveland State is ranked No. 1
in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll. Butler and
Cleveland State will meet again at the Wolstein Center in
Cleveland, Ohio, on Feb. 5.
Butler has beaten 12 straight Horizon League foes in Hinkle
Fieldhouse.
HOME FIELD: The Bulldogs, who were 15-0 in
Hinkle Fieldhouse a year ago, improved to 5-1 at home this season
with a victory over Valparaiso, 76-59, on Jan. 1. Butler was
30-2 at home over the previous two seasons and had a 17-game
homecourt winning streak, prior to an overtime loss to Evansville
on Nov. 27. The Bulldogs are 49-4 at home in four seasons
under head coach Brad Stevens.
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 99-20 over the
past three and a half seasons. Only two previous men’s
basketball four-year 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: Host Milwaukee shot 67% in
the first half and 55% for the game, while racing past the
Bulldogs, 76-52, on Monday (Jan. 3). The Panthers grabbed a
37-29 lead at halftime and then pulled away with a 19-5 run in the
first 10 minutes of the second half. Milwaukee hit 11
three-point field goals in the win, and the Panthers made more free
throws (13) than the Bulldogs attempted (10). The potent
Milwaukee attack was led by Anthony Hill with 22 points and Tony
Meier with 20 and featured a triple-double by guard Kaylon Williams
(10 points, 10 rebounds and 10
assists).
SHORT STINT: Senior Matt Howard hit five of
nine shots from the field and scored 12 points in the first half to
keep Butler within striking distance of Milwaukee at halftime of
Monday’s game. But the 6-8 forward, who was averaging
fewer than three fouls per game over Butler’s first 14
contests, was whistled for three fouls in less than a minute to
start the second half, and he wound up sitting out all but eight
minutes of the final period. He finished with team-highs of
14 points and six rebounds, though both totals were below his
season averages. Howard entered the game averaging 19.5
points and 8.0 rebounds over Butler’s previous six
contests.
Matt Howard has led Butler in scoring in 41 career
games.
LOW MARK: Senior Shelvin Mack finished with
a career-low three points in 28 minutes of action in Butler’s
game at Milwaukee. The total snapped a string of eight
consecutive double-figures scoring performances by the 6-3 guard
from Lexington, Ky. He was held scoreless in the first half,
and he finished the game hitting just one of seven field goal
attempts. Mack’s previous career-low was four points at
Cleveland State in his sixth collegiate game.
Shelvin Mack has scored in double-figures in 44 of his last 52
games.
POINT(S) GUARD: Junior Ronald
Nored recorded a second consecutive double-figures scoring
performance for the first time in his career with 12 points at
Milwaukee. He hit five of 11 shots from the floor and both of
his free throw attempts in the game. One game earlier, Nored
scored 11 points in a Butler victory over Valparaiso. The 6-0
point-guard has shot 50% or better from the field in six of
Butler’s last eight games, after hitting at just a 29% clip
over his first five games this season. The 12 points at
Milwaukee represented the sixth-highest single game total of his
Butler career.
Ronald Nored is shooting .528 over Butler’s last seven
games.
LIMITED CHARITY: The Bulldogs converted a
season-low five free throws at Milwaukee and matched a season-low
with just 10 attempts from the charity stripe. Butler had
just one free throw attempt in the first 22 minutes of the game
against the Panthers. The Bulldogs entered the game averaging
18.1 free throws made and 24.1 free throws attempted over the first
14 games this season.
Butler leads the Horizon League in team free throw shooting
(.746).
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 at Milwaukee,
lead the Horizon League in fewest turnovers per game (10.9).
Butler is second in the league in assist/turnover radio (1.1).
•Senior Matt Howard has scored in 119 consecutive Butler
games, every game of his collegiate career.
•Matt Howard has scored in double-figures in 13 of his last 14
games.
•Matt Howard ranks second in the Horizon League in both
scoring (17.1) and rebounding (8.1). Howard ranks eighth in field
goal percentage (.503).
•Matt Howard is leading the Bulldogs, and he stands sixth in
the Horizon League in free throw shooting (.845).
•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 just six points and eight rebounds in 31
minutes against Cleveland State in last year’s game at Hinkle
Fieldhouse. He had 21 points and 13 rebounds in the return
game at Cleveland State.
•Matt Howard has averaged 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds in
eight career games against Cleveland State. He’s shot
50% from the field in those eight meetings.
•Matt Howard is shooting .588 from the field and .907 from the
free throw line in six games at Hinkle Fieldhouse this
season. He’s averaged 17.0 points and 8.7 rebounds in
those six games.
•Junior Shelvin Mack has three career double-figures scoring
performances against Cleveland State, including 18 points in the
2009 Horizon League Tournament championship game.
•Shelvin Mack is averaging 15.7 points and 4.5 assists at
Hinkle Fieldhouse this season.
•Shelvin Mack, who hit a single three-point field goal at
Milwaukee, now has 157 career three-pointers. He’s one
three-pointer 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 has averaged 10.0 points in
Butler’s last five games, with three double-figures scoring
performances.
•Ronald Nored has connected on 24 of his last 30 (.800) free
throw attempts. He entered this season with a .570 career
free throw percentage.
•Sophomore Andrew Smith has connected on 22 of his last 28
(.786) field goal attempts, including 11 of his last 12.
Smith is shooting .690 from the field in Hinkle Fieldhouse this
season.
•Andrew Smith did not play in either of Butler’s games
against Cleveland State last year.
•Senior Shawn Vanzant came off the bench with 11 points at
Milwaukee, his second consecutive double-figures scoring
performance and the fifth for the 6-0 guard this season.
•Freshman Khyle Marshall posted his second collegiate
double-figures scoring performance with 10 points against
Valparaiso in his last action at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
•Butler is shooting .826 from the charity stripe in six games
at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season. The Bulldogs have
out-scored their six Fieldhouse opponents, 128-76, at the free
throw line.
•The Bulldogs, who hit five three-point field goals at
Milwaukee on Monday, are averaging 7.5 three-pointers at Hinkle
Fieldhouse, including 24 in the last three home contests.
•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.
