Strong Trees

One of the most annoying losses during last season's Sweet 16 run came at the hands of Indiana State. The Dawgs were 11-0 going into Terre Haute with a Pre-Season NIT championship and wins over Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga.

So, the 72-64 loss really shocked me, and the ISU fans were horrible, not as bad as Wright State fans though. If you've never been to a Wright State vs. Butler game, take some boxing gloves and brass knuckles. It can get rough. I can't blame the fans though, Butler was one of the best teams in the country. So, those games were huge for them.

Back to the point. Indiana State should test the Dawgs more than Ball State. The Sycamores were picked to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley, but have returned most of the players that beat the Dawgs last season. Gabe Moore, Jay Tunnell, Marico Stinson and Todd McCoy will look to repeat their performances from a year ago.

Moore scored 24 points and made 3-of-4 three pointers, while Tunnell added nine points and Stinson and McCoy both contributed eight. Moore may be the only standout, but the other numbers were good enough for a win.

Stinson led the way in the Sycamores' first game this season with 15 points, hitting 3-of-7 three pointers, in 23 minutes in a 78-45 win over Oakland City. Tunnell netted 10 points in 16 minutes, while McCoy added nine points with eight rebounds in 18 minutes. Moore only scored 3 points, hitting 1-of-2 three pointers, but only played 26 minutes.

Cole Holstrom stood out for ISU in this win, making 4-of-6 three-point attempts.The sophomore guard scored 12 points in 18 minutes.

Other contributors for ISU included sophomore Harry Marshall and freshman Aaron Carter, both added eight points with Carter making 2-of-5 three-point attempts. The Sycamores 6'10'' center Mick Yelovich netted two points with one rebound in six minutes.

ISU shot 46.2 percent from behind the arc against Oakland City, and made 6-of-10 attempts in the second half. In last season's contest, the Sycamores shot 43.8 percent from three-point land and made 7-of-16 attempts for the entire game.

The Sycamores also scored 30 points in the paint against Oakland City, with 19 second chance points and 35 points coming off of 22 turnovers. So, they appear to have a great post presence and a very good defense. They also showed consistency in their offense and defense, netting 38 points in the first half and 40 in the second, while Oakland City managed 20 in the first half and 25 in the second.

It appears that ISU will roll into Indianapolis with an experienced and deep team that can score from the paint and from behind the arc and play good defense.

Butler will need to jump out to an early lead and force Indiana State to settle for threes. Matt Howard has been playing great on the block and should be able to match any one of his opponents down low. Pete Campbell is going to have to step up again and hit big shots when his team needs a lift, like he did in the Ball State game.

The Dawgs only made 8-of-28 three-point shots in last season's loss. That percentage needs to be more balanced. If they miss 20 three pointers in tonight's game, BU will have to feed Howard in the post or look to Graves and Green to penetrate the ISU defense.

The Sycamores out-rebounded the Bulldogs 37-29 as well. ISU has already shown that they will play in the paint. So, Butler will have to fight for every rebound to prevent any second chance points. The Dawgs will also need to be more consistent from the free throw line. They made 12-of-19 from the charity stripe last year, and hit 11-of-17 in last weekend's Ball State game. BU will have to capitalize on every opportunity that the Sycamores give them.

In last season's loss, Brandon Crone scored 15 points and made 3-of-7 three pointers. Campbell recorded three points in only 2 minutes of play in that same game. Tonight, Pete is going to have to fill Crone's shoes. He's going to get the playing time. So, he needs to be patient and play his game. At Ball State, the three's weren't dropping at the start of the second half, but Pete kept shooting and eventually dropped three in a row. He will need to keep firing tonight.

Julian Betko only scored four points in 34 minutes in last season's loss. He only scored four against Ball State last weekend. He will definitely need to contribute more tonight.

The Dawgs played a bad first half against ISU last year, and that really hurt them. They out-scored the Sycamores 41-37 in the second half and held them to only 16 points in the paint.

The Bulldogs are a very good team this year. They are more balanced with Howard down low, and can still make the three-pointers. So, they should beat Indiana State in Hinkle. The Sycamores will put up a fight though.