Primarily a collection of news links about all 11 Horizon League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
Butler players all originally planned to grow mustaches for a late-season game against Valparaiso, but they abandoned the plan immediately upon realizing how ridiculous they looked. Well, all except junior Matt Howard, who opted to keep his wispy mustache for the remainder of the season.
Howard's 'stache has developed somewhat of a cult following, evoking comparisons to Adam Morrison and even earning a facebook page in its honor.
"The mustache is awesome," guard Ronald Nored said. "I love it."
West Region (Andrew Murawa) ... * Butler is coming off an emotional win over top-seeded Syracuse, but their regional final opponent, Kansas State, is also coming off a wild win, one being measured against the best college basketball games ever. Both teams are ready for more. It should be a game of conflicting tempos, with Butler wanting to play slow and the Wildcats wanting to get out and run, and whoever gets the pace their way will have a significant edge.
West Region (Andrew Murawa) ... * With Butler knocking off Syracuse on Thursday night, they are now one game away from playing in the Final Four in their hometown, and regardless of the outcome on Saturday, they’ll be heading back to Indianapolis. The Bulldogs got several huge (and somewhat fortunate) plays by senior Willie Veasley down the stretch.
On paper, this looks like a terrible matchup for the Bulldogs. A lot of people wrote off Butler early in the season after watching them struggle against much of their premiere competition. The knock? The Bulldogs can't handle the size and athleticism of the best teams in the country.
Butler is probably the smallest team left in the tournament. Gordon Hayward, their three man, is the tallest player that sees minutes. Their center -- Matt Howard -- is 6'8", a land warrior, and as foul prone as any player in the country. Their power forward is the same height as the Syracuse back court.
As you might imagine, that's a problem.
Syracuse is big. Even if Arinze Onuaku's quad isn't ready to go on Thursday, they are big (UPDATE: Jim Boeheim has announced that Onuaku will not, in fact, be playing tomorrow). Rick Jackson was one of the most underrated players in the Big East this past season. A lefty, Jackson is a good rebounder and a solid post scorer. He blocks his share of shots, and shouldn't have an issue matching up with Howard. If Onuaku is ready to go, Butler is going to be in some trouble. How are they going to defend and rebound against that much size?
The paint isn't the only place Syracuse is big.
Wes Johnson and Kris Joseph are both 6'7" and athletic with long arms. Andy Rautins, Scoop Jardine, and Brandon Triche are all big, physical guards that love to get in the passing lanes on the perimeter. Add in the fact that Butler doesn't have a lot of great shooter, and you can see how this team might struggle against a zone with that much length that can force turnovers.
Should I even mention that Johnson played his best game of the season on Sunday? He went for 31 points and 14 boards, hit a season high four threes, and was as aggressive offensively as we have seen him.
Having said all of that, Butler is a tough team that plays hard, smart basketball. But eventually, athletic talent will outweigh effort.
If Syracuse advances: The Orange dodged this very bullet on Sunday when Rick Jackson picked up his third foul in the middle of the first half, but Syracuse absolutely must keep Jackson on the floor for 32-35 minutes of this game given Arinze Onuaku isn’t ready to play. Not that Butler has an assembly line of bruising big bodies, but Jackson is the one clear matchup advantage for Jim Boeheim and Co. If DaShonte Riley is forced into more crucial minutes and Matt Howard stays on the floor, Butler may be in line to pull off the upset. This could all be rendered moot if Syracuse shoots the lights out again. Their three main guards and swingman Wes Johnson put on an absolute clinic against Gonzaga. Just continue to do what they’ve been doing- score efficiently, knock down perimeter jumpers with Rautins and Johnson and have their two-headed point guard monster control and push at the right times.
If Butler advances: Butler needs Gordon Hayward to hit perimeter jumpers against the 2-3 zone. A 45% long range shooter as a freshman, Hayward has dipped to a woeful 28% this season and is 1-10 in the NCAA Tournament. Hayward and point guard Shelvin Mack opening up the zone by hitting from deep all of a sudden puts Butler in the driver’s seat. It’s been repeated ad nauseam by anyone that’s watched Butler on a regular basis, but they must keep Matt Howard on the floor against Rick Jackson. Howard had more foul difficulties against Murray State, but the play of Mack and Ronald Nored helped send the Bulldogs to Syracuse. Howard is the only legitimate post presence coach Brad Stevens can throw at Syracuse’s big men. Controlling the Orange transition game is also key.
* Here we are, a couple of days away from the start of the Sweet 16 round and Syracuse is a likely favorite to play in the national championship game in two weeks, a lofty set of expectations that were entirely unlikely four and a half months ago when expectations for the Orange were low, and got even lower with an exhibition loss to LeMoyne. * While Syracuse is led by a Hall-of-Fame head coach, their opponent in the Sweet 16 has a coach that is younger than Jim Boeheim’s coaching career. Butler head coach Brad Stevens is 33; Boeheim is in his 34th year as the Syracuse coach. Nevertheless, Stevens has his Bulldogs a weekend away from potentially playing in the Final Four down the street from the school’s campus.
BEST FRONTCOURTS ... Coldest: Matt Howard, Willie Veasley, Gordon Hayward, and Avery Jukes - Butler
Butler doesn't have a great front line by any stretch of the imagination. Matt Howard has been a bit of a disappointment this season, struggling to avoid foul trouble all season long. Howard did not play well in either of the first two games, and played just 18 minutes against the smaller Murray State Racers as Butler went small for much of the second half. Gordon Hayward may be the tallest Bulldog on the court, but he is a two-guard at heart. But he has still struggled in the two games, shooting just 6-21 from the field, 1-10 from three, and averaging just 12.5 ppg. Butler is going to need Hayward and Howard to play well if they have a chance against Syracuse.
8) Butler. The story line to follow with this team is that it’s based out of Indianapolis. That just so happens to be where the Final Four is. If Butler manages to beat Syracuse — and it most certainly can — then the little factoid above will really start to spread. Why Butler makes the top half of our list: dynamic play. This team can hit from outside with ridiculous efficiency but also has crafty big men in future pro Gordon Hayward and solid-but-foul-prone Matt Howard. Syracuse’s Onuaku will be needed more against Butler than any other opponent in the field except Kentucky.
Women’s Basketball Season Ends In NCAA First Round Vikings Win 19 Games For Third Straight Season
Cleveland State’s postseason run came to an end in the opening round of the NCAA Championships when the 15th-seeded Vikings fell at second-seeded Notre Dame, 86-58, on Sunday (March 21). It marked the second time in the last three seasons that CSU was playing in the NCAA tournament after claiming the Horizon League Championship with wins over UIC, Green Bay and Butler.
“I am so proud of my team and everything that we accomplished this season,” head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. “The team believed in the goals we set and worked hard to accomplish them. We had an outstanding group of four seniors who carried us down the stretch and we will really miss them next year, but they showed that winning is possible at Cleveland State. They will always have a place in this program.”
Senior Kailey Klein closed her brilliant career with 31 points and eight rebounds in Sunday’s loss to the Fighting Irish. She concluded her career with 2,140 points, ranking second all-time in the Horizon League. Klein also ranked first in the CSU record books in free throws made (605), free throws attempted (762) and games started (114), while also ranking third in field goals made (686), field goals attempted (1,591), three-pointers made (163) and eighth in rebounds (733) and assists (311).
Senior Stephaine Crosley had seven points and seven rebounds in her final collegiate contest, while senior Angel Roque dished out a career-best eight assists against Notre Dame.
CSU will return seven letterwinners next season, including junior Shawnita Garland, a two-time second team All-Horizon League selection.
Obviously, the Missouri Valley (Northern Iowa), Ivy League (Cornell) and Horizon League (Butler) are one-bid leagues that are feeling like they’ve hit the lottery with their representative’s performance so far. Only Butler was expected to win one game and two was a stretch, but they’re all still standing. The big question is whether one of them can become the next Davidson and get to the Elite Eight or, even better, channel George Mason and make the Four. All three have a reasonable shot at it in this crazy year.
* Butler has advanced to their third Sweet 16 in eight years, and while they will be a big underdog to Syracuse on Thursday, they’ve shed the Cinderella label.
Butler, like Michigan State, was a sexy preseason pick that failed to live up to lifty expectations.
Or so people thought.
Butler, who is fast becoming the Gonzaga of the Midwest, loaded their non-conference schedule, and proceeded to lose to just about everyone. Yes, they beat Ohio State, but that win came without Evan Turner. Yes, they beat Xavier, but that win was marred by a decision by the officials to end the game due to a timing issue.
Prior to the start of the tournament, not many people believed that Butler had what it took to make it to the Sweet 16, let alone get out of the first round.
Yet, here the Bulldogs are. The knock on Brad Stevens' crew coming in was that they were unable to handle the athleticism of a power program. Well, they seemed to have answered those doubts by running -- or more accurately shooting -- an long and athletic UTEP team out of the gym in the second half of their first round game. Against Murray State, it was prototypical Butler, playing their stout defense and executing just well enough offensively to win a game.
The Bulldogs will have their work cut out for them in the Sweet 16, as they get a Syracuse team that seems to have rediscovered their stride. But even with a loss to the Orange, Butler has proven themselves to a lot of their detractors.
