Bulldogs Host Former Coach In Exhibition Contest
BUTLER VS.
MARIAN
Saturday, Oct. 27, 2 p.m. (ET)
Hinkle Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, Ind.
Live Stats | Audio |
Tickets
FIRST SHOT: Butler will face its first
2012-13 basketball opponent and a familiar coach when it hosts
Marian in an exhibition game on Saturday, Oct. 27. The
preseason test at Hinkle Fieldhouse will tip-off at 2 p.m.
(ET). Marian, located just five miles from Butler, is guided
by former Butler head coach Todd Lickliter. From 2001 to
2007, Lickliter led the Bulldogs to 131 victories, three conference
championships and a pair of NCAA "Sweet 16" appearances. He
was named National Coach of the Year in 2006-07, and he still ranks
third all-time at Butler in winning percentage. Lickliter, a
1979 Butler graduate, is beginning his first season as head coach
at Marian. Butler will wrap up two weeks of preseason
practice with Saturday's opening exhibition contest against the
Knights. The Bulldogs will host a second exhibition game
against the University of Indianapolis on Saturday, Nov. 3, before
beginning the regular season at home against Elon on Saturday, Nov.
10.
Butler is 69-11 at home under head coach Brad
Stevens.
NEW LEAGUE: Butler ended a 33-year
affiliation with the Horizon League and joined the Atlantic 10
Conference during the summer of 2012. The A-10 is the new
home for all Butler sports except football (Pioneer Football
League) and women's golf (Metro Atlantic Athletic
Conference). The Bulldogs will play a 16-game men's
basketball schedule in the a-10 in 2012-13. Butler's first
game in the new league will be at preseason favorite Saint Joseph's
on Wednesday, Jan. 9. The Bulldogs will play their first A-10
home game against Richmond on Wednesday, Jan. 16.
FAMILIAR LOOK: Butler head coach Brad
Stevens has 11 of the 14 players from last year's 22-15 squad back
this season, and that group includes three returning
starters. Leading the returnees is 6-11 senior center Andrew
Smith, who topped the Bulldogs in scoring and finished second
in rebounding a year ago. Smith, who started 36 of the
Bulldogs' 37 games in 2011-12, is the last active Butler player who
saw action in the Final Four in both 2010 and 2011. Stevens
also can look to returning regulars Khyle
Marshall and Roosevelt
Jones. Marshall was Butler's second-leading scorer a year
ago, while Jones led the squad in rebounding. Four other
players, senior Chase
Stigall, junior Erik Fromm
and sophomores Kameron
Woods and Jackson
Aldridge each played in 35 or more games last season.
Stigall, who started 18 games, led the Bulldogs with 50 three-point
field goals, while Woods topped the team in blocked shots
(39). Butler earned a bid to the postseason College
Basketball Invitational (CBI) and advanced to the semifinals of the
tournament. before losing in overtime to eventual tournament champ
Pittsburgh.
Butler won nine of its final 12 games in
2011-12.
NEW ADDITIONS: Four players will be suiting
up for Butler for the first time in 2012-13, though one has already
spent a season with the Bulldogs. Senior Rotnei
Clarke, who transferred to Butler from Arkansas and sat out
last season, brings both experience and talent to the Bulldogs'
lineup. The 6-0 guard is the all-time leading scorer in
Oklahoma high school history, and he led the Razorbacks in scoring
(15.2) while earning second team All-SEC honors in 2010-11.
He's already scored 1,306 collegiate points. Also joining the
Bulldogs are a trio of freshmen, 6-6 Kellen
Dunham, 6-3 Devontae
Morgan and 5-11 Chris
Harrison-Docks. Dunham led the state of Indiana in
scoring with a 29.5 average last year, while Morgan was Florida's
3A Player of the Year. Harrison-Docks averaged 23 points and
seven rebounds, while earning All-State honors in Michigan last
year.
EXTENDED PLAY: Last year, the Bulldogs
advanced to postseason tournament play for the 21st time in school
history and for the 14th time since 1997. In the past 16
seasons, Butler earned bids to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball
Championship (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
and 2011), the National Invitational Tournament (1999, 2002 and
2006) and the College Basketball Invitational (2012). Butler
is 22-14 in postseason tournament play since 1997, and 29-20
all-time.
TWENTY PLUS: The Bulldogs posted 20 wins
for the seventh consecutive season and for the 14th time in the
past 16 campaigns a year ago. The seven straight 20-win
campaigns matched the school (and conference) record for most
consecutive 20-win seasons, originally set by Butler from 1996 to
2003.
Butler has averaged 24 victories over the past 16
seasons.
HOME WORK: The Bulldogs stretched their
streak of consecutive years with at least 10 homecourt wins to 17
in a row with their victory over Indiana State in 2012 Sears
BracketBuster X. Butler added three more home wins and
finished the 2011-12 season with a 13-6 record in Hinkle
Fieldhouse.
Butler is 165-25 at Hinkle Fieldhouse since the start of the
1999-2000 season.
TEAM DEFENSE: Butler turned up its
defensive intensity during the Horizon League Men's Basketball
Championship and the College Basketball Invitational last
year. In six tournament games (3 HL, 3 CBI), the Bulldogs
held their opponents to an average of 57.5 points and kept all six
foes under 70 points. Butler wound up leading the Horizon
League in field goal percentage defense (.411) in 2011-12, while
finishing second in the league in three-point field goal percentage
defense (.307). The Bulldogs, who held 10 of their final 14
opponents under 60 points, finished second in the league in scoring
defense (60.7).
Butler finished 29th in the NCAA Division I in team scoring
defense in 2011-12.
WINNING WAYS: Butler shared the highest win
total in the Horizon League in 2011-12. The Bulldogs' 22 wins
tied the 12th-highest single season total in Butler basketball
history.
QUICK START: Butler head coach Brad Stevens
finished 2011-12 in first place on the NCAA Division I list for
Best Career Coaching Starts By Wins, 5 Seasons. The Bulldogs'
coach, who boasts a 139 career wins, moved ahead of Everett Case of
North Carolina State (1947-51) to take over the No. 1 spot.
Stevens also holds the NCAA three-year (89) and four-year (117)
records, and he's second on the two-year (56) list.
COACHING TREE: Three of the five winningest
coaches in Butler basketball history will be present in Hinkle
Fieldhouse for the Bulldogs' exhibition opener against
Marian. Butler Director of Athletics Barry Collier led the
Bulldogs to 196 wins as head basketball coach from 1989-2000.
Todd Lickliter (left), one of Collier's assistant coaches in
1999-2000, took over as Butler's head coach in 2001 and guided the
Bulldogs to 131 victories in six seasons. Brad Stevens, who
served as an assistant coach for six seasons under Lickliter, has
won 139 games over the past five years. Collier ranks second
on Butler's all-time list for victories, Stevens is fourth and
Lickliter stands fifth.
BULLDOG BITS:
•The Bulldogs advanced to postseason tournament play for the
school-record seventh consecutive year. Butler also appeared
in postseason tournaments for seven straight years from 1997 to
2003.
•Butler played 19 regular season games in 2011-12 against
teams that advanced to postseason play. Among the Bulldogs'
regular season opponents were Final Four team Louisville and NIT
champ Stanford. Nine of Butler's wins last season came
against teams that advanced to postseason tournament play.
•Center Andrew Smith will enter 2012-13 in sixth place on
Butler's all-time list for field goal shooting. Smith has
shot .546 from the field in his first three seasons with the
Bulldogs.
•Andrew Smith had Butler's top single-game scoring output in
2011-12 with 25 points against Wright State in the league
tournament.
•Andrew Smith shot .593 from the field, .464 from beyond the
three-point arc and averaged 12.5 points in Butler's 22 wins.
•Forward Khyle Marshall led the Bulldogs and ranked third in
the Horizon League in field goal shooting (.553). He'll enter
the 2012-13 season in a tie for 11th place on Butler's all-time
list for FG% (.536).
•Khyle Marshall averaged 11.5 points in 11 games after
returning from a concussion that sidelined him for two games in
early February of last season.
•Forward Roosevelt Jones set a Butler freshman record with
four double-doubles in 2011-12, one better than teammate Kameron
Woods, Matt Howard (2007-08) and current NBA player Gordon Hayward
(2008-09). Jones had three double-doubles in Butler's final
13 games.
•Roosevelt Jones led the Bulldogs with six games of 10 or
more rebounds. Teammate Khyle Marshall hit double-figures in
rebounds four times, while Andrew Smith and Kameron Woods each hit
the mark three times.
•Roosevelt Jones was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer
Team.
•Head coach Brad Stevens, entering his sixth season at the
Bulldogs' helm, needs just four wins to catch Joe Sexson, 1977-89,
in third place on Butler's all-time list for coaching wins.
•The top seven single season win totals in Butler basketball
history have been recorded since Brad Stevens joined the Bulldogs'
coaching staff. He's guided the Bulldogs to the No. 1 (33 in
2009-10), No. 2 (30 in 2007-08), No. 4 (28 in 2010-11) and No. 6-T
(26 in 2008-09) win totals as Butler's head coach, and he served as
an assistant coach on teams that posted the No. 3 (29 in 2006-07),
No. 5 (27 in 2002-03) and No. 6-T (26 in 2001-02) totals.
•Brad Stevens recorded his fifth straight 20-win season with
the Bulldogs, matching former coach (and current Athletic Director)
Barry Collier for the most 20-win campaigns by a Butler
coach. Todd Lickliter, Stevens' former boss, led Butler to
four 20-win seasons, Harlan O. "Pat" Page had two, and Paul D.
"Tony" Hinkle and Thad Matta each led Butler to one 20-win
season.
•Brad Stevens has led the Bulldogs to postseason play in each
of his five seasons as head coach. He also participated in
postseason action while serving as Butler's Director of Basketball
Operations in 2001 and as an assistant coach with the Bulldogs in
2003, 2006 and 2007. Butler is 13-5 in postseason play under
Stevens as a head coach and 20-10 with Stevens as a member of the
Bulldogs' staff.
