New York, Here We Come!

In just a few hours, the Collegian Sports editors and assistant editor plus our wonderful photographer will be traveling to NYC to watch the Bulldogs take on Georgetown at Madison Square Garden! Check back here for updates, pictures, and blog posts documenting the trip!

Emily Newell

Asst. Sports Editor

Looking ahead...

First and foremost, Coach Brad Stevens has been rewarded with a contract extension until the 2015-16 season.

And, according to David Woods, Butler is recruiting Michael Jordan's son. I already thought that Jordan had a son who played for Illinois, but apparently he has an 18-year-old younger son.

Here's a link to the story

Bracket Madness

Well, minus a few surprises in the opening rounds (Butler and Cleveland St.) - my bracket is staying alive.

My sweet sixteen included Louisville v. Wake Forest (I think everyone was shocked by the Wake Forest loss loss). Instead it's Louisville v. Arizona

Kansas v. USC - which obviously I was wrong there too, its Kansas v. Michigan St.

In the West, I had UConn, v. Purdue (Purdue already lost this game tonight)

Mizzou v. Memphis: the Tigers are my team! but they are not looking so good right now. If they lose, then my bracket will be messed up because I have Memphis in the final four.

In the East, I have Pitt v. Xavier (Xavier already lost)

Villanova v. Duke (Duke is losing currently, but that would also ruin my bracket. i also have Duke in the final four).

In the South, I have UNC v. Gonzaga (this is a potential upset)

Syracuse v. Oklahoma (My other team, go Syracuse!)

How's your bracket doing?

Reaction to Butler's Seeding

This is a little old, but I was unable to get it up on the Dawgnet site before the tournament started. Several students from the online journalism class went around campus asking people what they thought of the men's basketball seeding in the NCAA tournament. This occurred the Monday after Selection Sunday. Bobby Fong even has a comment!

An amazing season comes to an end

Yes, yes it's true. Everyone should know by now that we fell to the overrated LSU Tigers (sorry, I am still bitter). But, on the lighter side - the men's team still had an amazing season for a "rebuilding" year as some would describe. I just can't wait to see these guys tear up the court next year.

On worse news, Cleveland State won today, upsetting Wake Forest. I am not happy about this but at least the Horizon League still has a representative. I believe they take on Arizona next but don't quote me on that.

The women's team is still in their tournament as well having beat Duquesne in Pittsburgh, PA. They now face Marquette in Milwaukee, WI for the next stage of the WNIT. Go Dawgs! They play at on Monday night at 8 p.m. ET.

More for March Madness coming...my bracket is still somewhat alive.

Another seed, another opportunity

After the announcement of Butler's 9 seed, I am honestly not surprised. I was hoping for a 7...maybe even a 6, but alas, a 9 seed is reasonably fair and all too predictable a seeding from the NCAA Committee. Honestly, there is no difference between an 8 seed and a 9 seed; either places Butler in the same bracket location. I believe we got the 9 seed bc 1) we lost the HL tourney final and 2) we are in a non-power conference (power conf. = Pac-10, Big 12, ACC, Big East, SEC, and Big 10). The results are out, so now the men's team must take things for what they are and start preparing for LSU.

The LSU Tigers are an incredibly similar team to the Bulldogs, although Butler has a deeper bench. LSU's backcourt is led by redshirt junior guard Marcus Thornton, and their frontcourt is led by senior forward Tasmin Mitchell and senior center Chris Johnson. Predicted defensive match-ups are Ronald Nored & Shawn Vanzant trading responsibility for Thornton, Willie Veasley guarding Mitchell, and Matt Howard controlling Johnson. This should be one of the best games of the whole NCAA Tournament, and poetically enough, it will be the first game of the whole process (beginning at 12:20 EST).

Go Dawgs!!

9 seed in Greensboro

Biting my nails the entire time, they finally showed that Butler will be playing in Greensboro, NC as a 9 seed against the LSU Tigers. I think that is definitely a doable game, but that fact that the next step is UNC is a little scary - but hey, we can finally challenge Tyler Hansborough.

LSU is more than beatable. This year has been somewhat hilarious and terrible for the SEC. One example of why we can beat LSU - easy, THEY LOST TO VANDERBILT. As much as I love Vandy, and I do, they simply did not have a good year. They also lost to Auburn, Miss St (the SEC champs), and Xavier (whom we beat). There are a few others as well. In summary, we should have been the 8 seed, but beggars can't be choosers.

To view the entire 65 team bracket, click here.

Since the final game....

In case anyone has been out of it for several days, the Bulldogs lost the tournament final game to Cleveland State. They led most of the game up until about five minutes to go when they couldn't really even buy a basket. The final score ended up being 57-54, close but not enough. It's sad but not a complete tragedy (or really even close). The bright side is that the Horizon League gets a little more attention in the March Madness festivities. With two teams in the tournament, this is a great thing for the league. And if you are a die-hard fan like myself, you will enjoy seeing Cleveland State get stomped in the first round....just kidding, a little.

On to Bracketology...it is guaranteed (well pretty much guaranteed) that Butler will receive an at-large bid for the tournament. If they don't, many ESPN analysts including Joe Lunardi will be dubbed dumba..., excuse me, idiots. Right now, in Lunardi's bracketology, he has us listed as an 8 seed in Philadelphia playing Dayton. This isn't the first time he had us matched against Dayton, but I am never sure how correct he actually is. Last year, he had us at a 5 and we were officially seeded as a 7. So, while I am sure we will receive at least an 8, you never know - those over at the NCAA confuse me. Preferably, it would be nice to be a 5 or 6, but that's just wishful thinking. Either way or what we get, at least we are in it. If we do receive an 8, in Philly, against who Lunardi thinks we will play...and if we make it past round 1, we will be up against the 1 seed Connecticut. But this could definitely change considering last night's Syracuse game against Connecticut. After 6 overtimes in the Big East's Quarterfinals, Syracuse beat UConn 127-117...the game was truly phenomenal. How two teams can continue overtime that long is beyond me, but they are sure to receive nice seedings in the tournament (just maybe not number ones). Syracuse continued to the semifinals tonight and beat West Virginia with only one overtime, 74-69.

Anywho, back to the Bulldogs....if I had to guess, I would say we will be an 8 seed most likely playing either in Philly or Greensboro, NC...but who knows. Selection Sunday is in two days, so we will find out soon enough. The Selection Show airs at 6p.m. EST on CBS.

To check out Joe Lunardi's Bracketology predictions on ESPN, click here.

To create your own predictions on ESPN, click here.
I don't quite understand this one, it doesn't even include all the teams, but I guess it is to compare with past games.

Keep reading the blog for an update of the brackets on Sunday.

Saturday night's semi-final win

Hello, Bulldog fans. It's been awhile, so I thought I'd drop a line.

While it is incredibly nice to be on Spring Break, it is even better to be spending a good part of it at home...for two reasons: 1) I live in Carmel, so I'm 20 minutes from Hinkle Fieldhouse, and 2) I live in Carmel, so I'm 20 minutes from Hinkle Fieldhouse!! Needless to say, I'll be at Tuesday night's conference final game...I'm also recording it on the house DVR. One can never get enough of Butler Basketball.

It's exciting to think that the Dawgs could secure another solid NCAA tournament seed with just one more win, and it's even more exciting to think that the same squad will be back next year to defend whatever success they find in the coming weeks of college hoops.

Tuesday night's game will be the third BU-Cleveland State meeting this season, and it will also be a rematch of last season's conference tournament final. Butler won the 07-08 tournament matchup, 70-55. This year's game, however, will be more competitive, I think. The two BU wins in the 08-09 regular season were by two points each...one off of a Zach Hahn buzzer-beating three and one off of a halted Viking advance at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The coming final game goes down at 9 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on ESPN.

P.S. For those who watched/heard about Shelvin Mack's leg injury, per information from student assistant Erick Brown, the leg issue was cramp-related, not a medical injury so to speak. Mack is said to be ready for the final conference game. You can read Erick's stories on the men's basketball team (as well as other stories on all BU athletics) in the Dawgnet Sports section at http://www.dawgnetnews.com/index.php/sports.

Thanks for reading.
Go Dawgs!!

Dawgs bring the championship home

Thanks to their ability to pull off a successful win on Saturday, the men's basketball team have brought the Horizon League championship to Hinkle Fieldhouse. Their last two games were, in a brief description, dynamically different. For everyone at Thursday night's game against Youngstown St., they got to see several players that rarely receive game time, take the court. The bulldogs stomped the Penguins, 78-57. That's putting it nicely. The game might even got a little boring, no offense to the team - I always love to see them win. I was almost wishing for that on Saturday, however the closer games are always more exciting (if we win of course).

On Saturday however, the lead changed a couple of times throughout the game - with the Cleveland State Vikings taking a small lead in the beginning. The Bulldogs recovered the lead however before half-time. In the second half, there was a period when the dawgs did not score for awhile, giving the Vikings a chance to catch up. The last five minutes became the most nerve-wrenching. Butler freshman Ronald Nored made the last points of the game that gave the Bulldogs the final lead. Both games against Cleveland State this season came down to two points. They will undoubtedly face the Vikings again in the HL Tournament.

The women's bball team have two more games in their season before their season is over as well. The Bulldogs faced HL leader Green Bay on Saturday, losing by only five points. However, they pulled out a win on Thursday evening, beating Milwaukee in overtime. The Bulldogs go on the road against Youngstown St. and Cleveland St. this Thursday and Saturday.

The following pics are from the Thursday night men's and women's games (photos by Sports Editor Steven Peek):









Check out Dawgnetnews.com for more pictures.

2 losses + an awesome win

As some might say it was out of characteristic for the Bulldogs to drop two losses in a row, which may or may not be true, but every team loses at some point. I'm hoping those losses are mostly behind us now (even if we still feel the reburcussions). The Bulldogs played phenomally on Saturday against Davidson. Despite a little rough shooting in the beginning, it is easy to say that their defense was unstoppable. As David Wood's mentions in his article on Indystar.com about Ronald Nored's performance against Stephen Curry, it was rather mind-boggling. As Wood's describes Nored's performance against Curry, he related it to the dizzy bat game where a person places their head to the top of a baseball bat, spins several times, then tries to run. He says thats what it looked like when Nored was running all over the court chasing Curry. Not only did he play consistant and dominating defense in the game, he scored six points (one including a dunk) and led the team with the number of steals (3). Gordon Hayward led the team in points, with 27, and rebounds, with 9. Click here for a link to his story.

Apparently the decision to let Curry play (after an ankle injury two games ago) was only made an hour before the game. Curry was held to only 20 points in Saturday's game (which is significantly lower for the nation's leading scorer). This is exactly what the Bulldogs needed in order to win this game. Ironically enough, the Bulldogs had to go away to actually win the Bracketbuster. The bracketbuster games in the past three years have been at home and have been losses(Southern Illinois in 2007, Drake in 2008 and Kent State in 2006). It could be irony but I honestly thought they were fed up with losing. Oh, and if you were wondering what the score was to the Davidson game, it was 75-63.

This game also might have secured the Bulldogs an at-large seed for the NCAA tournament (coming up pretty soon). Though they shouldn't risk anything, clinching the horizon league title and winning the championship would be nice to have. The Bulldogs have two games left, and the way it looks, if they win both games - the tournament will indeed be at Hinkle Fieldhouse (although Green Bay is one game out).

The women's basketball team also played Saturday, at Valparaiso. Unfortunately they fell short, 75-65. Three of the Bulldogs were in double digits, but unfortunately it was not enough to hold Valpo, who shot 52 percent throughout the game. The Bulldogs are still staying strong at second place within the Horizon League, three games behind UW-Green Bay (who are undefeated in league play). The Bulldogs have a winning record (16-9, 11-3).

Both the men's and women's next games are on Thursday, back-to-back at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The women's team is taking on UW-Milwaukee at 5 p.m. est. The men are battling Youngstown State at 7 p.m. est. Their game will be shown on WNDY-23 as well.

On the Bright Side...

While I am sure many Butler Basketball fans are somewhat unhappy due to this afternoon's loss to Loyola-Chicago (13-15, 5-11), this isn't something to worry too much about. Chalk it up for another loss, only unfortunately, it is their first loss of the season at home. What some sports analysts would say is that this was going to happen eventually - being a young team and all, but honestly, a game is a game. Today, the Bulldogs were just not on their game, and it's not because they are so young either. Granted, they are young and still have some growing to do, but it just seems that Loyola came out stronger and wanted it more. There were a few moments in the end where we could have pulled it off, but the game would have still belonged to Loyola. They fought and held the lead the entire game. Sorry to say, but they were the better team....today. Let them have their glory today, because we still have a long road ahead of us.

The Bulldogs are still in the lead in the Horizon League (the closest is UW-Green Bay who are two and half games out) and still have a few more games to go in this season, not to mention taking on strong mid-major Davidson next weekend. While Davidson is not ranked, they are a pretty tough team with Stephen Curry leading the pack. They are a lot similar to us in that many can consider them underestimated, mostly due to the league they are in. They were the mid-major team last year that made it to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament, only to lose to 2008 NCAA Champion, Kansas. Like us, they do not have really any other power teams in their league. Next weekend's game will surely be tough for the both of them...and I hope this loss will give the Bulldogs that extra boost to walk all over their next opponents, but that's only wishful thinking.

In summary, while difficult, this loss was nothing but a loss. All we can do is cheer for the team again when they take the court. Their next couple of games are away at U-W Milwaukee and Davidson, followed by Youngstown State and Cleveland State at home. Without a doubt, we will be in the Horizon League Tournament and hopefully granted a great seed for the NCAA Tournament.

Message from Matt Howard!!

Sophomore forward Matt Howard has graced this blog with his words. Below are some thoughts on the team's recent developments that he sent me to publish for all of you...enjoy!!

It's great to be back at the friendly confines of Hinkle Fieldhouse after what seems like a very long road trip. The only nice thing about the roadtrips are the comfortable beds at the hotels. I must say they are much better than the thing I sleep on at school! I think everybody but Gordon [Hayward] would rather play at home (if you look at his road stats, you may understand). It's always great to have the support and also the familiar surroundings to help us.

The past week has been something else, though. It seems like from the two times I've played in Detroit, that nothing "good" has come from playing there, regardless of their record. This year, we had another tough game and lost Shawn [Vanzant], or the "BTP" as he is called by some, to injury. But it did feel great to leave Wright State on Saturday with a solid win. I still haven't forgotten the feeling I had from leaving there with a loss last year. I knew it meant something more to last year's seniors than just our first loss of the year because of the history there. Games that are considered rivalries and feel like that because of the atmosphere and way people talk about them really do mean a litlle more emotionally.

On a different note, I think everyone has put last Monday's game [at Green Bay] in the past and decided that while there were lessons to be learned, such as not fouling so much (of course talking to myself more than anyone else), it is better to take a motivated mindset into our future games. Teams rarely go undefeated in conference, and so the goal is to make sure that after a loss, you don't compile it with back-to-back losses. That is where conference titles are lost.

This weekend brings some different and unique challenges for us. UIC likes to zone with their big frontcourt and see if we can hit shots, and Loyola has a lot of talent offensively. I think my goal for the weekend is to play as hard as normal without picking up the cheap fouls. I know Coach Stevens would appreciate it and may be surprised as well if I do that!

-Matt, #54

Thanks for the message, Matt. The men's team plays at home this Friday (ESPNU) & Sunday. The women's team is on the road Thurs. night and Sat. afternoon. Try to keep up with all the basketball action...Go Dawgs!!

Bracketbuster

The Butler Men's Basketball team is taking on the Davidson Wildcats on Feb. 21. The game will be an away game for the Bulldogs.

....just in case you were wondering, Davidson is in North Carolina

Recovering from a loss

After Monday night's first conference loss to UW-Green Bay, Butler bounced back tonight with a 66-61 win over Detroit. Both of these games were away, and they were both very close throughout the entire game. In my own personal opinion, I would say that the Bulldogs usually rebound with more stamina and vengeance after a loss, but then again, this may be true for most basketball teams.

During Monday night's game, the Bulldogs sort of ran into a wall of perfect free throw shooting. Green Bay's leading scorer, Ryan Tillema had 21 point total, 10 of which were free throws. However, during tonight's game, one of the sports announcers made the comment that Gordon Hayward scores most of his points at away games. I believe they said he averages about 16 points per game when they are away. As evidence to support their theory, he scored 22 points in Monday night's game and in tonight's game.

In the league standings, their win tonight against Detroit kept them a game ahead of Green Bay. Their next game is against Wright State...at Wright State. Now, the past two years, I have made the roughly 2-3 hour trip to Dayton, OH. They have also lost the last three games they played at the Nutter Center. Both of the past two year's away games there, and the Horizon League Championship game that was played there in 2007. There is just something about the Nutter Center that is a curse. So in summary, Saturday night's game is going to be huge!

Rankings:
ESPN/AP Poll - 11 in the country
RPI Rating - #9
Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 - #1
Bracketology (updated Feb. 2) - #4 seed in Portland

Before Saturday's game, the women's team is playing Wright State at home. It is also going to be playing on ESPNU. They lost their past two games, both away and both against University of Wisconsin (Milwaukee and Green Bay). Until their first loss to UW-Green Bay, they were undefeated in their conference. UW-Green Bay is the only undefeated team in the conference now.

In other news: University of Tennessee Women's basketball coach Pat Summitt won her 1,000th game tonight against Georgia. She is the first coach of both men's and women's D-1 basketball, to reach this milestone. To read more about it, click here.

Men's B-Ball: Jan. 30th - Feb. 7th

Hello, Bulldog Basketball fans. I am very excited to now be a part of your blogging experience, especially when that experience involves Butler Basketball!!

The coming 8 days are important ones for the men's team here at BU. They begin the second circuit of conference play tonight when Valparaiso comes to Hinkle for a 7 p.m. EST game. The Bulldogs (9-0 in the HL) beat the Crusaders, 75-62, in Valparaiso in what was an incredibly intense game earlier this month. I attended the game, and there is certainly no shortage of competition in this in-state rivalry. Look for tonight's game to be an especially exciting one, considering the Crusaders have a couple of starters returning from injuries.

Tonight's game will unfortunately be the last home game until Feb. 13th. The men will travel to UW-Green Bay for a Monday night game and then will return back to campus for a day before beginning a weekend on the road. The coming Thursday's game will be at the Univ. of Detroit, and then BU will finish the road trip with a game at Wright State next Saturday. (BU students, look for information on a fan bus to the Wright State game.)

Keep on cheering for the Dawgs these next 8 days; they are are big ones. Tonight's game vs. Valpo can be watched on ESPNU for those of you who aren't able to make it to Hinkle. Go Dawgs!!

P.S. Look for the women's basketball team (7-1 in the HL) to be playing at Hinkle next weekend (Feb. 6th & Feb. 8th).

Will be posting again soon!

Just a small recap and post that we will soon be blogging about Butler Basketball soon!

The men played an away game against UIC on Saturday, Jan. 17. They pulled it out in the end with a 59-52 win, after trailing most of the game.

The women's team played on Saturday as well. They played the UIC Flames at home, and pulled out a 58-48 win.