Butler Wraps Up Road Stretch At Green Bay

Butler at Green Bay
Saturday, January 28, 6 p.m. (CT)
Resch Center - Green Bay, Wis.
Game Notes | Video | Audio

NORTHERN WRAP:  Butler will close out its two-game road trip to Wisconsin and try to bounce back from a loss at Milwaukee when it faces Green Bay on Saturday, Jan. 28.  The two Horizon League foes will meet at the Resch Center at 6 p.m. (CT, 7 p.m. in Indianapolis) for a contest that will be televised on ESPNU.  Butler (12-10, 6-4 HL) dropped a 53-42 decision at Milwaukee on Thursday.  The setback snapped Butler’s three-game winning streak and knocked  the Bulldogs out of a three-way tie for third place in the Horizon League standings.  It also gave Butler a tenth loss for only the second time since 2006.  Green Bay (8-12, 4-6 HL) snapped a two-game losing skid with a convincing 75-60 victory over previous league co-leader Valparaiso on Thursday.  The Phoenix, behind a solid second half shooting performance, out-scored Valparaiso, 29-18, over the final 11 minutes of the contest to secure the double-digits victory.  Green Bay improved to 8-1 in the Resch Center, matching the second-best home record in the league.  Butler’s game at Green Bay ends a stretch of four consecutive road games.  The Bulldogs return to Hinkle Fieldhouse to host Wright State on Feb. 2.            
   
RACE WEEK:  Two games separate the top five teams in the Horizon League.  Cleveland State (7-2) is in sole possession of first place in the league standings, while Valparaiso (7-3) and Milwaukee (7-3) are tied for second. Youngstown State (6-3) is a half-game back in fourth place and Butler (6-4) sits a game back in fifth.  Cleveland State visits Youngstown State and Milwaukee hosts Valparaiso on Saturday.  

Butler has won five consecutive Horizon League regular season titles.

FRIGID NORTH:  Butler struggled through its worst shooting performance of the season at Milwaukee on Thursday.  The Bulldogs hit just 16 of 58 shots in the loss, including just five of 26 attempts in the second half.  Butler’s effort from beyond the three-point arc was even worse.  The Bulldogs missed all seven three-point field goal attempts in the first 20 minutes of the game and finished the contest with just one three-pointer in 17 attempts!  The 27.6% shooting for the game and the 5.9% shooting from the three-point line both were season-lows.  Butler made just two field goals in the final 10 minutes of the game!  The last time Butler shot worse than 28% was against Connecticut in the 2011 NCAA Division I National Championship Game, when the Bulldogs hit just 18.8%.   

SCORE CARD:  Junior Andrew Smith (right) was the lone Butler player to score in double-figures at Milwaukee.  The 6-11 center hit five of 13 shots from the field and one of four from the free throw line and finished with 11 points.  It was just the second time this season that the Bulldogs finished a game with just one player scoring in double-figures.  Butler also had just one double-digit scorer in a loss at Ball State on Dec. 10.  Smith has averaged a team-best 12.4 points over the past five games, and he’s the only Butler player averaging in double-figures on the season (10.6).     

Andrew Smith has scored in double-figures in eight of Butler’s last 10 games.
 
POINT PLUS:  Senior Ronald Nored, the Horizon League’s active leader in assists, has continued to contribute to the Bulldogs in multiple ways this season.    He led Butler in rebounds with a career-high nine and shared the team lead in steals with four at Milwaukee on Thursday.  He also scored nine points and added two assists in the game.  In Butler’s last win at Loyola, the 6-0 point-guard led both teams in scoring with 16 points, and he added a career-high nine assists.  He also had six rebounds, a game-high three steals and no turnovers in the Butler victory!  Nored has averaged 10.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.0 steals over Butler’s last five games.  

Ronald Nored has had career-highs for points, rebounds and assists in Butler’s last 10 games.    

STEAL WILL:  Ronald Nored moved into second place on Butler’s all-time list for steals in the Bulldogs’ game at Milwaukee.  The Butler point-guard had four thefts in the game, boosting his career total to 186 and moving him ahead of A. J. Graves (2004-08) in the No. 2 spot on the all-time list.  Thomas Jackson (1998-2002) is Butler’s all-time leader with 207 career steals.
 
ON TARGET:  Sophomore Khyle Marshall was one of just two Butler players to shoot 50% from the field against Milwaukee.  The 6-6 Butler forward hit four of eight shots and finished with nine points (freshman Elliott Kampen came off the bench and hit one of two shots against the Panthers).  Marshall has shot .587 from the field in 12 games as a Butler starter, and he continues to lead the Bulldogs on the season with a .556 field goal percentage.  Marshall has shot 50% or better from the field in seven of Butler’s last eight games.

Khyle Marshall ranks fourth in the Horizon League in field goal shooting.

SECOND CHANCE:  Despite being out-rebounded at Milwaukee, 44-42, the Bulldogs did have a 15-14 advantage on the offensive boards in Thursday’s game.  Those offensive rebounds helped Butler to a 10-5 edge in second chance points.  The Bulldogs have had 10 or more offensive rebounds in 16 of the past 18 games, and Butler has pulled down 20 offensive rebounds in a game twice this season.

Butler leads the Horizon League in offensive rebounds (13.3).
 
CENTURY CLUB:  Ronald Nored and Garrett Butcher are bidding to become just the fourth senior class in Butler basketball history to record 100 career victories.  The two have helped Butler to a 99-30 record during their time in the program.  Willie Veasley and Nick Rodgers (2006-10) are Butler’s all-time winningest class with 118 victories, while Matt Howard, Zach Hahn, Shawn Vanzant, Grant Leiendecker and Alex Anglin (2007-11) finished with 117.  The class of Darnell Archey, Joel Cornette, Lewis Curry and Mike Moore (1999-2003) finished with 100 wins.

TOP TEN:  Brad Stevens became the tenth coach in Horizon League history to record 125 career victories while a member of the league earlier this season.  He enters Butler’s game at Green Bay with 129 career wins, two behind his former boss, Todd Lickliter (2001-07) in ninth place on the league’s overall wins list.  Perry Watson of Detroit owns the league record with 261 victories from 1993 to 2008.

AWARD FINALIST:  Senior Ronald Nored has been named one of 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, presented for notable achievement in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition.  Nored, a four-year starter, has excelled in the classroom, on the court and in the community during his four seasons with the Bulldogs.  He earned first team Horizon League Academic All-League honors last year, and he’s a former Horizon League Co-Defensive Player of the Year.  He’s one of two current collegiate players to see action in each of the past two Division I national championship games.  

BULLDOG BITS:

•Senior Ronald Nored became the fifth player in Butler basketball history to record 400 career assists in Butler’s game at Loyola.  He stands fifth on Butler’s all-time assist chart with 409 career assists.

•Ronald Nored ranks second in the Horizon League in assists (4.8) and he’s third in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.8).  Nored has had 32 assists and 10 turnovers in Butler’s last five games.

•Ronald Nored ranks third in the Horizon League in steals (2.0).

•Ronald Nored had a career-high 12 field goal attempts at Milwaukee on Thursday.

•Ronald Nored matched his career-high with 10 free throw attempts against Green Bay in last month’s game at Hinkle Fieldhouse.  He has 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists against the Phoenix in the first meeting this season.

•Junior Andrew Smith has averaged 12.9 points in Butler’s 12 wins this season, but just 7.8 points in the Bulldogs’ 10 losses.  Butler is 11-3 when Smith scores in double-figures.

•Andrew Smith is shooting 55% (43-78) against Horizon League foes this season.

•Andrew Smith ranks third in the Horizon League in offensive rebounds (2.5).

•Andrew Smith recorded career-highs for assists (4) and steals (4) at Milwaukee on Thursday,.

•Junior Chase Stigall is tied for seventh in the Horizon League in 3-pt. field goals (1.7).

•Sophomore Khyle Marshall has averaged 10.6 points in Butler’s last five road games.

•Freshman Kameron Woods ranks seventh in the Horizon League in blocked shots (1.1).

•Freshman Roosevelt Jones (top right) had a career-high 12 rebounds against Green Bay last month at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

•Roosevelt Jones ranks fourth in the league in offensive rebounds (2.5).

•Freshman Elliott Kampen came off the bench and scored his first collegiate points with a three-point field goal and two free throws in 14 minutes at Milwaukee.

•Freshman Jackson Aldridge has hit 24 of his last 25 free throw attempts, including 13 straight.

•None of Butler’s current players has ever had a double-figures scoring performance in the Resch Center.

•Butler’s 42 points at Milwaukee on Thursday were the fewest for the Bulldogs since last year’s national championship game.

•Butler head coach Brad Stevens is tied with Jim Crews of Evansville (1985-94) and Rob Jeter of Milwaukee (2005- ) for seventh place on the Horizon League’s all-time list for league wins (68).  Perry Watson of Detroit is the all-time leader with 131 victories.