Bulldogs Face Detroit In First Place Showdown
MARQUEE MATCH-UP: Butler will face one of
the top teams in the Horizon League for the second time in eight
days when it visits Detroit for a nationally-televised game on
Friday, Jan. 14. The feature contest at Calihan Hall will tip
at 9 p.m. (ET) and be broadcast on ESPNU. The Bulldogs
(12-5, 4-1 Horizon League) are making their second consecutive
Friday night ESPNU appearance. A week ago, Butler handed then
league-leading Cleveland State its first conference loss, 79-56, on
the national network. The Bulldogs then completed the home
weekend sweep with an 84-79 victory over Youngstown State on Sunday
(Jan. 9). The two wins lifted Butler into a share of first
place in the league standings, along with Detroit, Wright State and
Valparaiso. The Titans (10-7, 4-1 HL), who stand 6-2 at home
this season, are coming off their own league sweep, after picking
up road victories at Loyola and UIC last weekend. Butler and
Detroit both suffered their lone Horizon League setback at the
hands of Milwaukee earlier this month. The Bulldogs will
continue their two-game, league road trip with another top test on
Sunday evening at Wright
State.
Butler is 24-5 in Horizon League road games under head coach
Brad Stevens.
RACE WEEK: The logjam at the top of the
Horizon League standings could gain some clarity this weekend, or
become even more confused. The four teams tied for first
place face off against each other with Butler visiting Detroit and
Valparaiso traveling to Wright State on Friday. The two home
teams will switch opponents on Sunday, with Butler going to Wright
State and Valparaiso visiting Detroit. Cleveland State (4-2),
trailing the quad-leaders by a half game, has a single contest at
Youngstown State on Saturday (Jan. 15).
VICTORIES 101: Butler’s five current
seniors picked up their 101st career victory with the win over
Youngstown State. That’s the second-most career wins by
a four-year class in Butler men’s basketball history,
trailing the 118 career wins of last year’s duo of Willie
Veasley and Nick Rodgers. The 2003 class of Joel Cornette,
Darnell Archey, Lewis Curry and Mike Moore compiled 100 wins over
four seasons.
LAST TIME OUT: Butler survived a sizzling,
second half shooting performance by visiting Youngstown State and
held on for an 84-79 league victory. The win was
Butler’s second straight and eighth in the last nine
outings. Youngstown State rallied from a nine-point deficit
in the final 20 minutes by connecting on 10 of 14 (.714)
three-point field goal attempts. The Penguins missed their
first three-point attempt after intermission and then connected on
nine of their next ten long-range shots! The sharp-shooting
exhibition helped Youngstown State build an eight-point lead 61-53,
but the Bulldogs battled back and eventually took the lead for
good, 81-79, on a tip-in by sophomore Andrew Smith with a minute
remaining. The Penguins wound up hitting a school-record 14
three-point field goals in the game.
BOUNCE BACK: Junior Shelvin
Mack, who had scored just nine points in Butler’s
first two games last week, exploded with a career-high 28 points in
the Bulldogs’ victory over Youngstown State. The 6-3
guard hit five of eight shots, including three of five from beyond
the three-point arc, and scored 15 points in the first half, while
leading Butler to a 41-37 halftime lead. He added 13 points
in the second half, including eight of Butler’s final 10
points. His three free throws in the final 0:33 sealed the
Bulldogs’ 12th victory. Mack had just three points in
Butler’s loss at Milwaukee, and he scored just six points in
the Bulldogs’ victory over Cleveland State.
Shelvin Mack has 15 career 20-point scoring performances, and
three have been against Youngstown
State.
CLUTCH PERFORMER: Senior Matt Howard scored
11 of 13 Butler points, including eight straight, midway through
the second half against Youngstown State to help the Bulldogs erase
an eight-point deficit. He scored six straight points after
Butler fell behind, 61-53, and later added a conventional
three-point play to give Butler a 64-63 lead. The 6-8 Butler
forward wound up scoring 15 points in the final 20 minutes, and he
finished the game with 26 points, his fourth 20-plus scoring
performance in the past nine games. Howard hit seven of 11
shots against the Penguins and added 11 of 12 from the free throw
line. He also shared Butler’s rebounding lead in the
game with six. Howard was coming off a 17-point performance
against Cleveland State.
Matt Howard ranks second in the Horizon League in scoring
(17.6).
FREE HELP: Butler was able to offset the
long-range shooting of Youngstown State with a strong performance
at the free throw line. The Bulldogs shot .788 from the
charity stripe in the win and out-scored Youngstown State,
26-7. It was the ninth time this season that the Bulldogs
have shot 75% or better from the free throw line, and the 26 free
throws made were the second-most in a game this year. Butler
hit 10 of 13 (.769) free throws in the first half and 16 of 20
(.800) in the final 20 minutes.
Butler leads the Horizon League in team free throw shooting
(.752).
FAST LANE: Head coach Brad Stevens picked up
his 100th career win in his 120th game with Butler’s victory
over Cleveland State. Only five coaches in NCAA men’s
basketball history reached 100 career victories faster than the
Butler coach, and none has done it in the last three decades.
Doc Meanwell of Wisconsin reached the milestone in his 109th game
in 1918, Buck Freeman of St. John’s did it in his 110th game
in 1932, and Adolph Rupp of Kentucky made it in his 116th game in
1936. Jerry Tarkanian at Long Beach State (1973) and Jim
Boeheim of Syracuse (1980) both reached career victory No. 100 in
their 117th game. Stevens is tied for sixth on the NCAA list
of “Fastest to 100 Wins” with Fred Taylor of Ohio State
(1963), Everett Case of North Carolina State (1950) and Charles
Osborn of Bradley (1961). Butler’s coach also is tied
for fifth on the list of “Fastest To 50 Wins.” He
recorded his 50th career victory in his 56th game in 2009.
BULLDOG BITS:
•Senior Matt Howard has scored in 121 consecutive Butler
games, every game of his collegiate career. He has 88 career
double-figures scoring performances.
•Matt Howard has moved into seventh place on Butler’s
all-time scoring list with 1,631 career points. He’s
fifth on Butler’s all-time rebounding chart with 732 career
rebounds.
•Matt Howard ranks third in the Horizon League in rebounding
(7.8).
•Matt Howard is leading the Bulldogs, and he ranks second in
the Horizon League in free throw shooting (.849).
•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 has averaged 11.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in six
career games against Detroit. He’s averaged 12.6 points
and 8.0 rebounds against the Titans in Calihan Hall.
•Matt Howard is shooting .522 from the field, .500 from the
three-point arc and .900 from the free throw line against Horizon
League foes this season.
•Junior Shelvin Mack’s 28 points against Youngstown
State were the most by a Butler player since Feb. 15, 2009, when
Matt Howard scored 30 against Loyola.
•Shelvin Mack moved into 24th place on Butler’s all-time
scoring list with 1,168 career points. He needs just two
points to catch Chris Miskel (1992-96) in the No. 23 spot on
Butler’s all-time chart.
•Shelvin Mack, who hit five three-point field goals against
Youngstown State has moved into 10th place on Butler’s
all-time list for three-point field goals. He’s
connected on 164 career three-pointers, 10 behind Jermaine Guice
(1990-94) in ninth place.
•Shelvin Mack had six assists in Butler’s two wins last
weekend, giving him 284 for his Butler career and moving him into
10th place on Butler’s all-time assist chart.
•The Bulldogs are 35-6 when Shelvin Mack scores at least 14
points and 22-3 when he leads the team in scoring.
•Junior Ronald Nored has had four double-figures scoring
performances in Butler’s last seven games.
•Ronald Nored matched his season-high with four steals against
Youngstown State. Nored leads the Bulldogs and ranks 10th in
the Horizon League in steals.
•Ronald Nored had a pair of assists against Youngstown State,
boosting his career total to 259. He stands 15th on
Butler’s all-time list, one behind Wayne Burris (1973-77) in
the No. 14 spot.
•Sophomore Andrew Smith has connected on 32 of his last 41
(.780) field goal attempts, including 21 of his last 25.
•Senior Zach Hahn, who had started Butler’s previous 13
games, did not play against Cleveland State, because of a bout with
the flu. The 6-1 guard did play seven minutes against
Youngstown State.
•Senior guard Shawn Vanzant played 31 minutes against
Cleveland State with three assists and no turnovers. He then
played 30 minutes with two assists and no turnovers against
Youngstown State.
•Sophomore Chase Stigall came off the bench and scored eight
points in a career-high 26 minutes against Youngstown State.
He also matched his career-high with two assists in the reserve
stint.
•Freshman Khyle Marshall has averaged 7.5 points and 3.3
rebounds in a reserve role in Butler’s past four games.
He matched his career-high with 11 points against Cleveland
State.
•The 14 three-point field goals that Youngstown State hit
against the Bulldogs were the most by a Butler opponent since
Loyola cashed 14 three-pointers eight years ago to the day.
•Butler has won 25 of its last 26 games when yielding fewer
than 60 points.
•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.
