Catching Up

Sorry that I have not been posting lately. Here is an update from my perspective.

Men's Scores
Jan 5th
Valpo 73
Butler 65

Jan 7th
Butler 66
Loyola 55

Jan 10th
UW- Green Bay 74
Butler 65

Jan 12th
UW- Milwaukee 72
Butler 56

Women's Scores
Jan 5th
Butler 69
Valpo 77

Jan 10th
Butler 61
Loyola 50

Jan 12th
Butler 72
UIC 57

Men's Record: 16-1 (5-1)
This is the best start in school history!

Women's Record: 12-2 (2-1)

Thoughts
Matt Howard has played extremely well the past few games. He has earned a place in the starting lineup. In the Valpo game he scored 17 points in 12 minutes of action. In the Loyola game he scored 19 points in 20 minutes. In the Green Bay game he scored 22 points in 29 minutes. Last Saturday he scored 17 points in 22 minutes. Throughout this stretch Howard has started games out by scoring points in the paint. During the games Butler's offense has gotten away from passing the ball to him in the post. There are several possible reasons for this. One is that the his scoring has made open shots from beyond the arc. Another is that he has been taken out of the game to rest. Sometimes they never go back to this method of scoring and I wonder why. I should not complain thought since the dawgs are winning. Howard was also named Horizon League player of the week on Monday.

Zach Hahn has found has finally has scored points from three point range. Just like any shooter, it was simply a matter of time before he was going to make shots. A recent high point was scoring 8 points in the Green Bay victory. I think he will continue to improve as the season progresses.

The game at Loyola was more/less a home game for Butler. While I was watching the game on my computer, I noticed that a ton of Butler blue in the audience.

The crowd for the Green Bay game, last Thursday night, was only 3,226. The biggest reason for that was the start time 9:00. The game started late due to being televised on ESPNU. Very few people get that channel. I often reference the channel as ESPN U don't get it. Because of that it was not worth the late start time . If the game was on ESPN or ESPN2 a very good argument can be made that starting at 9:00 is worth it.

The men's team is ranked 12 in the AP and Coach's poll this week.

Tara Miller of the Butler's women's team currently leads the nation in assists to turnover ratio. She has 46 assists thus far and 13 turnovers for a ration of 3.54.

The men play Cleveland State Thursday night at 7:30. Cleveland State is currently the leader in the Horizon League with a 5-0 record in league play. The Bulldogs are 5-1 in league. Also on Thursday night the Women play Green Bay at Hinkle Feildhouse starting at 7:00.