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Butler Begins Horizon League Tournament Play In Semifinals
March 1, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK: Butler will begin its quest for the 2007 Horizon League Tournament championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in the semifinals of the league meet at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. The Bulldogs, seeded second in the tournament, will face the winner of Friday's second round game between #3 Loyola (20-10, 10-6 HL) and #6 UIC (14-17, 7-9 HL) on Saturday, March 3, at 5 p.m. (EDT). The game will be televised to a national audience on ESPNU. Butler (26-5, 13-3 HL) grabbed a share of the Horizon League regular season championship with a 56-36 victory over Detroit on Feb. 24, but co-champ Wright State (21-9, 13-3 HL) earned the top seed and the right to host the league quarterfinals and semifinals by virtue of its season sweep of Loyola. The top two seeds each earned a bye to the tournament semifinals. The Bulldogs, who own a league-high four Horizon League Tournament titles, will be playing in the league tournament semifinals for the ninth time in 11 years. Butler's last Horizon League Tournament championship came in 2001 at the Ervin J. Nutter Center. POLL WATCH: Butler slipped slightly in both the Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today national college basketball polls released on Monday (Feb. 26). The Bulldogs fell from No. 15 to No. 16 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and from No. 15 to No. 18 in the A. P. poll. Butler has been ranked in the "Top 20" of the two polls for a school- and league-record 14 straight weeks, including a stint in the "Top 10" in both polls during the week of Feb. 5!
RATINGS GAME: The Bulldogs, who held the No. 1 spot in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) for more than three weeks in November and December, currently sit in 33rd place in the computer ranking (as of Feb. 27). Butler was in the "Top 10" of the RPI for nine straight weeks. The Bulldogs are 14th in the Sagarin ratings. TITLE GAME: Butler wrapped up a share of its sixth Horizon League regular season championship with a convincing 20-point win over Detroit in the final regularly-scheduled game. The Bulldogs jumped to a ten-point lead, 13-3, in the first six minutes of the contest and were never headed, while recording a 26th win for the second time in school history. Butler limited Detroit to just 16 points in the first 20 minutes, holding the Titans below 10 points for the first 14:31 of the contest! BEST MARK: The Bulldogs (26-5) have matched the best 31-game record in Butler basketball history. Butler's 2001-02 and 2002-03 teams also posted a 26-5 mark under head coach Todd Lickliter. The Bulldogs are the first team in Butler and Horizon League history to record 26 wins in the regular season. Butler's school record for wins is 27, set by the 2002-03 Bulldogs. COACH OF THE YEAR: For the second consecutive year, Butler head coach Todd Lickliter was named Horizon League Coach of the Year. The Butler coach was tabbed for the league honor a year ago, after leading the Bulldogs to an 18-11 regular season record and a league runner-up finish. This season, he guided a team that was picked sixth in the league's preseason poll to a league-record 26 wins and a regular season conference co-championship! Lickliter is the third Butler coach to earn Horizon League Coach of the Year honors, and he served as an assistant coach under the previous two. Current Butler Director of Athletics Barry Collier was a four-time league Coach of the Year, while current Ohio State head coach Thad Matta earned the league honor in 2000-01. Todd Lickliter is a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year award. ALL-LEAGUE GUARDS: Butler's backcourt tandem of A. J. Graves and Mike Green both earned recognition on the 2006-07 All-Horizon League team, chosen by league coaches, sports information directors and media. Graves, who leads the Bulldogs in scoring (17.3), three-point field goals (2.93) and free throw shooting (.954), was one of three unanimous picks (along with Blake Schilb of Loyola and DaShaun Wood of Wright State) to the all-league first team. Green, who tops Butler in assists (4.00) and rebounding (5.8), earned a spot on the all-league second team. Butler was the lone team to have both of its starting guards named either first or second team All-Horizon League. NEW KIDS: Junior Mike Green, who transferred to Butler from Towson, was selected as the 2006-07 Horizon League Newcomer of the Year. He ended the regular season as one of the league leaders in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, free throw shooting and assist/turnover ratio. Junior forward Pete Campbell, who transferred to Butler from IPFW, joined Green on the league's All-Newcomer team. Campbell currently leads the league in three-point field goal shooting (.519). ALL-DISTRICT: Butler juniors A. J. Graves and Mike Green were among 10 players named to the All-District 10 team, chosen by the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Graves was named first team All-District 10, along with Carl Landry of Purdue, Greg Oden of Ohio State, DJ White of Indiana and Russell Carter of Notre Dame. Green earned second team recognition, along with Mike Conley, Jr., of Ohio State, DaShaun Wood of Wright State, Colin Falls of Notre Dame and Romeo Travis of Akron. The 150 Division I players honored from 15 districts are now eligible for the NABC All-America team To Be Announced at the conclusion of the 2006-07 season. WINS LEADER: Head coach Todd Lickliter owns the top three single season win totals in Butler basketball history - 27 in 2002-03, 26 in 2001-02 and 26 in 2006-07. He's had four 20-win seasons in his six years at Butler. IRON MEN: Butler used the same starting lineup of A. J. Graves, Mike Green, Julian Betko, Brandon Crone and Brian Ligon in all but two games this season. Graves didn't start two games after having his wisdom teeth extracted on Jan. 11. Junior Drew Streicher was given the start in those two contests. FINISHING TOUCH: Senior co-captain Brandon Crone closed out the regular season with seven consecutive double-figures scoring performances, including a team-high 17 points against Detroit. He averaged 12.2 points and 5.0 rebounds over Butler's final 10 games, and he led the Bulldogs in rebounding in three of the final five contests. The 6-6 forward averaged 15.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in Butler's final three regular season games. LEAGUE MARK: Junior Pete Campbell broke the Horizon League record for three-point field goal shooting in league games by connecting on 50 of 86 (58.13%) three-point field goal attempts against conference foes. He narrowly eclipsed the previous record of 58.06%, set by Quitman Dillard of St. Louis in 1990-91. HANDLE WITH CARE: Butler committed just eight turnovers in the regular season finale against Detroit. It was the fourth straight game that Butler finished with fewer than 10 miscues. The Bulldogs have committed less than 10 turnovers in 13 of the past 16 contests and in 20 games overall this season. Butler leads the NCAA Division I in fewest turnovers per game (9.3). FIRST DEFENSE: Butler turned up the defensive heat against Detroit in the regular season finale for both teams. The Bulldogs held Detroit to 28% shooting for the game, including just 16% from the three-point arc, and held the Titans to their lowest point total of the season. The 36 points were the fewest allowed by a Butler team since Dec. 1, 2001, when the Bulldogs defeated Birmingham Southern, 70-34. Butler continues to lead the Horizon League in team scoring defense (56.8), field goal percentage defense (.400) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.324). Butler is 19-0 when holding an opponent below 60 points. LEAGUE FIRST: Butler became the first team in Horizon League history to lead the conference in both scoring offense (69.4) and scoring defense (54.9) in league games. BULLDOG BITS: •Junior guard A. J. Graves has been named to the Wooden Award Midseason All-America Team. The 30 players selected are the top candidates for the 2006-07 John R. Wooden Award, presented to the nation's top player. •A. J. Graves became the 31st Butler player to score 1,000 career points during Butler's win at UW-Milwaukee. He currently sits in 17th place on Butler's all-time scoring list with 1,272 career points. •Junior A. J. Graves has slipped to second the NCAA Division I lead in free throw shooting (.954), after leading the nation for most of the current season. He trails Derek Ravaio of Gonzaga (.958). •A. J. Graves ranks fourth in the Horizon League in scoring (17.3). He leads the league in three-point field goals (2.93). •A. J. Graves has moved into third place on Butler's all-time list for three-point field goals with 198 career three-pointers. •A. J. Graves stands fifth on Butler's single season list for three-point field goals with 88, eight three-pointers behind Bruce Horan (2003-04) in fourth place. •Junior Mike Green has averaged 17.1 points and 6.9 rebounds over Butler's last 10 games. The 6-0 guard scored in double-figures in 11 straight games. •Mike Green stands third on Butler's single season list for free throws made with 181. He's six free throws shy of second place and eight away from the school-record of 189, set by Darin Archbold in 1991-92. •Mike Green is 11th on Butler's single season list for assists with 124, three shy of the No. 10 spot held by Tim Bown (1991-92). •Mike Green ranks third in the Horizon League in assists (4.00), fourth in defensive rebounds (4.65), seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.35), ninth in steals (1.19), 10th in rebounding (5.8), 11th in scoring (14.5) and 12th in free throw shooting (.748). •Junior Pete Campbell has come off the bench with 14 double-figures scoring performances in Butler's last 17 games. Campbell has averaged 14.0 points in Butler's last 10 games. •Pete Campbell has hit 58 of 100 (.580) three-point field goal attempts in Butler's last 17 games. •Pete Campbell has moved into 11th place on Butler's single season list for three-point field goals (67), one behind A. J. Graves (2005-06) and Brandon Miller (2000-01) in ninth place. •Butler leads the Horizon League in scoring margin (+12.1), three-point field goals (8.97), free throw shooting (.760), turnover margin (+3.87), and assist/turnover margin (1.32). The Bulldogs are third in scoring offense (68.9). •Butler is the all-time leader in Horizon League victories. The Bulldogs have 215 league victories since 1979. Detroit is second with 177 league wins. |
