On The Horizon

Jim Squire

Tourney Central 3/8/2011 (Day 8)--The Mid-Majority

Three championships will be decided tonight. The Badlands Conference will send one of its top two seeds, but the Sun Belt bracket is wrecked beyond recognition. Thanks to research by @RaginCajunsBeat, we know that if the seeds were flattened instead of division-based, North Texas and UALR would be a 7/8 matchup. In the Horizon League. Butler, the 2010 national runner-ups and No. 2 seed in this tourney, will play at top seed Milwaukee.
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Horizon League

[2] Butler at [1] Milwaukee - 9:00 pm ET • BBState Preview/Box
BUTL - 22-9 (13-5) RPI: 37 State: 28 SOS: 71 Last 10: 8-2 Form: WWWWW PF/PA: 73.3/65.3
MILW - 19-12 (13-5) RPI: 92 State: 112 SOS: 120 Last 10: 9-1 Form: WLWWW PF/PA: 69.7/70.0
NCAA Selection Sheets: Butler • Milwaukee
Recent meetings: 01/23/2011 MILW 86 @BUTL 80 01/03/2011 BUTL 52 @MILW 76
Players to watch:
BUTL - #54 Matt Howard Sr. F (16.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.4 apg)
MILW - #23 Anthony Hill Sr. F (15.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.4 apg)

Final Countdown On For Tuesday's League Title Battle At Cell - Preparations are nearly compete and tipoff is less than 24 hours away as Milwaukee and Butler get set to square off for the 2011 Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship. The title game starts at 8 p.m. at Milwaukee's U.S. Cellular Arena and will be televised live on ESPN. The Panthers advanced to the title game with a 70-63 win over Valparaiso Saturday night, while Butler knocked off Cleveland State, 76-68, earlier Saturday. ... via Milwaukee

Set Your Tivo: 03.08.11--Rush The Court

Horizon Championship (at Milwaukee, WI): Butler @ Milwaukee – 9 pm on ESPN (****)

Stevens and His Bulldogs Would Prefer To Settle Matters Tonight Instead of Waiting For Their Name to Appear On Sunday

The best game of the night is here in Milwaukee where you have Butler trying to win the Horizon League’s automatic bid and avoid the bubble while the homestanding Panthers are looking to complete one of the best stories of the season in college basketball. On January 21, Milwaukee was 9-11 overall and 4-5 in league play after scoring 43 points in a loss to Valparaiso. Coach Rob Jeter held a team meeting (with no assistant coaches in the room) until 3 AM according to reports and the team has been clicking ever since. The next day Milwaukee went out and beat Butler on the road in overtime, their second win over last year’s national runners-up this season. How fitting it would be if they were to bookend this remarkable run with victories over Butler. Since that game, the Panthers have lost only once (to non-league Buffalo). Butler is on a similar hot streak. Since an ugly loss at Youngstown State on February 3, Butler has reeled off eight straight league wins, including the win over Cleveland State in the semifinals on Saturday. The Bulldogs have found their defensive groove again, the key ingredient in their unforgettable run to last year’s national title game. Brad Stevens’ team has held opponents to an average of 59.8 PPG over this winning streak but they remain very much on the bubble if they end up needing an at-large bid. Butler is a much more efficient team than Milwaukee but the Panthers play faster and have a strong core of experienced players. Junior forward Tony Meier has played extremely well of late, averaging 20.3 PPG over his last three on the strength of 45% three point shooting over that stretch. Milwaukee has tremendous balance with Meier and Tone Boyle doing the damage from outside and Anthony Hill (22/7 last six games) tearing up the paint. Jeter also has a reliable point guard in junior Kaylon Williams. He’s averaged 11 APG in the two games against Butler this year and has been dropping dimes everywhere for most of the season, plus he chipped in 16 points in their last win over Valpo. Milwaukee gets to the line very well and Matt Howard has to stay out of foul trouble. He played great against the Panthers the last time these teams met but fouled out in only 24 minutes of play, his most recent disqualification this season. The battle between Howard and Hill, along with the play of Shelvin Mack, could determine this game. It’ll be interesting to see who Stevens places Ronald Nored on defensively. Nored is a stellar defender and could really be useful guarding Hill. If Butler can stop Hill from driving and setting up the Panther offense, they should have an edge. Nored could also guard Boyle and limit his three point chancess, so that’s definitely something to watch for when you tune in later tonight. It would be something else if Milwaukee can knock off Butler for the third time this season, but we feel they have an excellent chance to do it with all the momentum and the home court advantage. Both teams will play their hearts out for the title and you know Butler doesn’t want to sweat it out on Sunday. Expect a terrific game tonight, one that personifies what March is all about.

No. 1 seeds aren’t living up to expectations--Rivals.com
Another lonely Selection Sunday approaches for Hoosiers.--The Crimson Quarry

OFFICIALLY IN:
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Butler, Horizon League. The defending NCAA runner-up appeared NIT-bound for much of the season, but the Bulldogs rallied and won the Horizon League Tournament last night, defeating Wisconsin-Milwaukee on the road. The Bulldogs now have won 9 in a row and are going to make someone very unhappy on Selection Sunday.

ALL BUT OFFICIALLY DONE:
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Valparaiso, Horizon League. The Crusaders had a solid season in the top-heavy Horizon League. Valpo finished 12-6 in conference, and defeated conference leaders Butler, Cleveland State, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee once each, but lost to UWM in the third round of the Horizon Tournament.

Horizon League Championship 2011: Butler Returns To NCAA Tournament With 59-44 Win Over UW-Milwaukee--SB Nation Indiana
Very Early Horizon League 2011-12 Predictions--ChicagoNow.com