There's no quetsion, wait,it's not even close. The No. 23 Butler Bulldgos are better than they were last year. It' almost unthinkable, a Butler win over Michigan? That's not all, it was a double digit win. Behind 18 Pete Campbell points, all 3-pointers, and another 17 from A.J. Graves the Bulldogs cruised into the semi-finals of one of the premeir preseason tournaments (The Great Alaskan Shootout) in Anchorage. The 79-64 victory at times looked easy despite a couple of Michigan runs in the second half. How was Butler, a small, slow mid major college able to beat a heralded, athletic, and huge Michigan program. The simple answer to that question is freshman forward, Matt Howard. Howard put up the first double double of his career with 12 points and 12 boards. He's the first Bulldog freshman to ever accomplish that and is the reason that Butler is a serious contender to not only win the Alaskan tournament, but make a late (and I mean a late) post season run. Mike Green also continued his versatile play with 14 points and 8 rebounds. However, the story was purely Howard. The freshman look like a man among boys against a Wolverine team whose starting small forward was taller than Howard. On ESPN, Butler showed the country that they are once again for real. They showed that they can stretch a two point lead to 11 in a matter of mintutes. They are the ultimate heartbreakers. Once Michigan began to close the gap BU would go on a seemingly effortless three point barrage against the almost inviting 2-3 defense. Another athletic program in Virginia Tech will attempt to show that Bulldogs, "a group of players that weren't recruited by anyone else", are flukes on Friday night. With a win, Butler will not only show the Hookies, but the entire nation again, that they are a legitimate FINAL FOUR contender.
Drew Schmelzer
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