Bulldogs Face Penn At The Palestra
Butler Vs. Penn
2012 College Basketball Invitational
presented by Zebra Penn
Monday, March 19, 8 p.m. (ET)
The Palestra - Philadelphia, Pa.
HISTORICAL
MEETING: Butler will move from one historical arena
to another when if visits the Palestra to face Penn in the
quarterfinals of the 2012 College Basketball Invitational presented
by Zebra Pen on Monday, March 19. The game on Penn’s
homecourt will start at 8 p.m (ET) and will be televised on
HDNet. The Bulldogs, who play their home games in historic
Hinkle Fieldhouse, will be making their first appearance in the
Palestra, often called the Cathedral of College Basketball.
The Philadelphia, Pa., arena, which has been home to Penn
basketball for more than eight decades, was opened in January of
1927, one year before Butler played its first game in Hinkle
Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs advanced to the quarterfinals of the
CBI with a 75-58 victory at home over Delaware in the first round
of the tournament. That win lifted Butler to 21-14 on the
season and set up a first-ever meeting with Penn. The Quakers
(20-12) advanced in the CBI with a 74-63 opening-round victory over
Quinnipiac at the Palestra. Butler will be playing a
men’s basketball game in Philadelphia for the first time
since 1994, when the Bulldogs won at La Salle, 87-68. The
winner of the Butler-Penn game will face the winner of the
Pitt-Princeton contest in a CBI semifinals game on Wednesday, March
21.
Butler is the last Horizon League team playing for the third
straight
year.
EXTENDED PLAY: The Bulldogs have advanced to
postseason tournament play for the 14th time in 16 years.
Butler earned bids to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball
Championship in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009,
2010 and 2011, and to the National Invitational Tournament in 1999,
2002 and 2006. Butler’s record in postseason tournament
play since 1997 is 21-13 (16-10 in the NCAA ; 4-3 in the NIT; 1-0
in the CBI).
TWENTY WINS: Butler’s victory over
Milwaukee in the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship
gave the Bulldogs 20 wins for the seventh consecutive season and
for the 14th time in the past 16 campaigns. The seven
straight 20-win campaigns matches the Horizon League record for
most consecutive 20-win seasons, set by Butler from 1996 to
2003. The Bulldogs are the only team in Horizon League
history to record five or more consecutive 20-win seasons and
they’ve done it twice (1996-2003 and 2006-2012).
OPENING ROUND: Butler built an eight-point
halftime lead and then opened the second half with a 9-0 run to
pull away from visiting Delaware in the first round of the College
Basketball Invitational. The Bulldogs, who trailed early in
the contest, out-scored Delaware, 16-8, in the final 7:25 of
the opening period to take a 31-23 halftime lead. That margin
ballooned to 17 points in the first five minutes of the second
half. Guard Chrishawn Hopkins scored the first five points
after halftime and forwards Andrew Smith and Kameron Woods each
added a basket before Delaware cashed its first points to give
Butler a 40-23 lead with 15:39 remaining in the game.
Delaware never got closer than nine points the rest of the way, and
the Bulldogs maintained a double-digit advantage for the final 10
minutes of the game. It was Butler’s first postseason
win at home since 2006, when the Bulldogs defeated Miami, Ohio,
53-52, in the NIT.
Butler has won a postseason tournament game in six of the past
the seven years.
REPEAT PERFORMANCE: Sophomore Chrishawn
Hopkins, who led the Bulldogs in scoring against Valparaiso in
their final Horizon League Tournament game, topped Butler in
scoring for the second consecutive contest with 19 points against
Delaware. It was the first time since early January that a
player led Butler in scoring in back-to-back games. Over the
past 14 games, Hopkins has led Butler in scoring five times,
Andrew Smith and Roosevelt Jones have led the team four times each,
and Khyle Marshall has topped the Bulldogs twice. Smith was
the last player to lead Butler in scoring in back-to-back games,
topping the Bulldogs against Cleveland State and Youngstown State
on Jan. 13 & 15.
Butler has had nine different players lead the team in scoring
in a game this year.
BOARD REVIEW: Butler showed why it led the
Horizon League in rebounding by building a commanding 37-25 rebound
margin over Delaware. The Bulldogs pulled down 17 offensive
rebounds in the win, leading to a 21-6 advantage in second chance
points. Junior Andrew Smith led the Bulldogs with a game-high
seven rebounds, while freshman Roosevelt Jones added six, including
five offensive boards. Butler has out-rebounded 21 opponents
on the season, including nine of the past 12.
SERVANT LEADER: Senior Ronald Nored, who has
averaged 6.6 assists over the Bulldogs’ last 11 games, added
to his Butler single season assist record in the first round of the
CBI. Nored shared the team lead with three assists against
Delaware, boosting his season total to a school-record 183
assists. He previously erased the former record of 172
assists, set by Mike Green in 2007-08. Nored also boosted his
career total for assists to 487. He stands second on
Butler’s all-time assist chart, trailing only Thomas Jackson
who had 540 assists from 1998-2002. Earlier this season,
Nored became just the second player in Butler basketball history
(Thomas Jackson is the other) to record 400 career points, 400
career rebounds and 400 career assists.
TOURNAMENT LEADER: Sophomore Chrishawn
Hopkins (right), who led the Bulldogs in scoring during the Horizon
League Tournament, continued his surge in the opening round of the
CBI. Hopkins averaged 11.7 points in the Bulldogs’
three league tournament games, notching double-figures in two of
the three contests, and he’s now averaging 13.5 points in
four tournament games since the end of the regular season. He
finished the regular season slate with seven double-figures scoring
performances in Butler’s final 11 games. The 6-1 guard
averaged 10.9 points in 22 games as a starter for the Bulldogs this
season.
DOUBLES RECORD: Roosevelt Jones, who posted
double-figures totals for both points and rebounds in two of the
Bulldogs’ final three regular season games, set a Butler
record this season for most double-doubles by a freshman.
Jones has four double-doubles on the year, breaking the school mark
he shared with former Butler player Matt Howard, current NBA player
Gordon Hayward (2008-09) and teammate Kameron Woods.
SENIOR MOMENTS: Butler seniors Ronald Nored
and Garrett Butcher rank third on the Bulldogs’ all-time list
for senior class wins with a 108-34 record during their four
seasons. The two have helped Butler to three Horizon League
regular season championships, two league tournament titles and four
consecutive trips to postseason tournament play, including
back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division I Men’s
Basketball Championship national title game. They’ve
helped Butler to an 11-3 postseason record during their four
seasons
SMART PICK: Senior Ronald Nored, who’s
combined success on the basketball court with excellence in the
classroom, was named second team on the 2012 Capital One Academic
All-America Team. The honor student majoring in Early
Childhood/Middle Childhood Education is the sixth Butler player to
earn Academic All-America recognition and the fifth since
2007. Butler has had one or more players named to the
Academic All-America Team in each of the past six seasons,
including three-time Academic All-American and 2011 Academic
All-American of the Year Matt Howard.
ALL-LEAGUE: Senior Ronald Nored and freshman
Roosevelt Jones were recognized on the 2011-12 Horizon League
Men’s Basketball All-League Team, announced prior to the
league tournament. Nored was named second team All-League,
while Jones was chosen the league’s All-Newcomer Team.
Butler has had a player named first or second team All-League for
14 consecutive years.
FIRST DEFENSE: Butler’s Ronald Nored
was named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year for the
second time in his career. Nored, who was named league
Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2009-10, was selected to the
league’s All-Defensive Team for the third consecutive
year.
LEAD ROLE: Brad Stevens has led the Bulldogs
to five 20-win seasons, matching former coach (and current Athletic
Director) Barry Collier for the most 20-campaigns by a Butler
coach. Todd Lickliter, Stevens’ former boss, led Butler
to four 20-win seasons, Harlan O. “Pat” Page had two
20-win campaigns and Paul D. “Tony” Hinkle and Thad
Matta each led Butler to one 20-win season.
QUICK START: Butler head coach Brad Stevens
has moved into the top spot on the NCAA Division I list for Best
Career Coaching Starts By Wins, 5 Seasons. The
Bulldogs’ coach, who boasts a 138-39 record, moved ahead of
former five-year leader, Everett Case of North Carolina State
(1947-51). Stevens holds the NCAA three-year (89) and
four-year (117) records, and he’s second on the two-year (56)
list.
TOURNAMENT NOTES
•Butler is making its first appearance in the College
Basketball Invitational, but the Bulldogs are playing in the
postseason for the seventh consecutive year and for the 21st time
overall.
•With the invitation to the CBI this season, the Bulldogs have
tied the Butler record for most consecutive postseason tournament
appearances. Butler also appeared in postseason tournaments
for seven straight years from 1997 to 2003.
•Butler is 28-19 overall in postseason tournament games.
The Bulldogs are 18-11 in NCAA Tournament play, 5-8 in NIT
postseason action and 1-0 in the CBI. Butler was 4-0 and
captured the national championship at the 1924 AAU National
Tournament.
•The Bulldogs have won 11 of their last 13 postseason
tournament games, with both losses coming in the national
championship game.
•Butler is playing its first postseason road game since 2006,
when the Bulldogs fell at Florida State, 67-63, in the NIT.
The last postseason road win for the Bulldogs came at Bradley,
51-50, in the 1999 NIT. Butler is 1-6 all-time in postseason
road games.
•Brad Stevens has led the Bulldogs to postseason play in each
of his five seasons as a head coach. He also participated in
postseason action as Butler’s Director of Basketball
Operations in 2001 and as an assistant coach with the Bulldogs in
2003, 2006 and 2007. Butler is 12-4 in postseason play under
Stevens as a head coach and 19-9 with Stevens as a member of the
Bulldogs’ staff.
•Senior Ronald Nored has played in 14 postseason tournament
games. The Butler record for most postseason tournament games
is 15, shared by Matt Howard, Shawn Vanzant and Zach Hahn
(2007-11).
BULLDOG BITS:
•The Bulldogs are tied for 15th place on Butler’s
all-time list for single season victories with 21. A 22nd win
would move this year’s team into a tie for 12th place on the
all-time list.
•Ronald Nored has moved into a tie with former teammate
Matt Howard (2007-11) for first place on Butler’s all-time
list for games played (141).
•Ronald Nored, who scored 12 points against Delaware, boosted
his career postseason scoring total to 68 points and moved into
ninth place on Butler’s all-time postseason scoring
list. He trails Pete Campbell, 2007-08, in eighth place by
two points.
•Ronald Nored stands second on Butler’s all-time list
for steals (204), three behind career-leader Thomas Jackson (207
from 1998-2002).
•Ronald Nored ranks second in the Horizon League in assists
(5.2) and in assist/turnover ratio (1.9). Nored has 54
assists (6.8) in Butler’s last eight games.
•Ronald Nored has posted career-highs for points (18),
rebounds (11) and assists (10) since mid-December.
•Junior Andrew Smith has shot .595 from the field, .464 from
beyond the three-point arc and averaged 12.9 points in
Butler’s 21 wins this season.
•Andrew Smith ranks seventh in the Horizon League in field
goal shooting (.525).
•Andrew Smith had Butler’s top single game output this
season with 25 points against Wright State in the league
tournament.
•Sophomore Khyle Marshall continues to lead the Bulldogs in
field goal shooting (.561). He’s third in the Horizon
League.
•Khyle Marshall has averaged 10.0 points in nine games since
returning from a concussion that sidelined him for two games.
•Junior Chase Stigall came off the bench with 10 points
against Delaware. It was his first double-figures scoring
performance since Jan. 13.
•Freshman Roosevelt Jones leads the Bulldogs and ranks eighth
in the Horizon League in rebounding (6.0).
•Roosevelt Jones ranks third in the Horizon League in
offensive rebounds (2.6).
•Freshman Alex Barlow came off the bench against Delaware with
career-highs of four points, four rebounds and three steals.
•Butler played 19 regular season games this year against teams
that advanced to postseason play.
•Butler’s loss at Valparaiso in the Horizon League
Tournament snapped the Bulldogs’ 13-game March winning
streak. The Bulldogs had not lost in March since a 2009
setback to LSU in the NCAA Tournament. Butler is 18-4 in
March under head coach Brad Stevens.
