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Butler Begins NCAA Tournament Play On Thursday, March 15
March 14, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
SPECIAL INVITE: Butler is returning to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship for the first time since 2003 and for the seventh time overall. The Bulldogs (27-6) are seeded fifth in the Midwest Region and will square off against No. 12 seed Old Dominion (24-8) at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y, on Thursday, March 15. The game will be the second contest of the afternoon session and will start at approximately 2:50 p.m. (EDT). Butler earned its invitation to the 2007 NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection, the second consecutive time that the Bulldogs have reached the national meet as an at-large team and the third time overall. The Bulldogs, who tied the school single season record for wins with 27, were regular season co-champs of the Horizon League and champions of the 2006 NIT Season Tip-Off. Butler was ranked in the "Top 20" of both the Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today national polls for a school-record 15 consecutive weeks (prior to this week). Old Dominion, runner-up in the Colonial Athletic Association, won 12 consecutive games before falling to George Mason in the CAA Tournament semifinals. Butler reached the "Sweet 16" in its last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2003. Butler is 4-2 in NCAA Tournament play as an at-large selection. EXTRA PLAY: Butler has advanced to post-season tournament play for the ninth time in 11 years. The Bulldogs earned bids to the NCAA Tournament in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003 and this year, and berths in the National Invitation Tournament in 1999, 2002 and 2006. Butler's post-season record over that 11-year stretch is 7-8.
LAST TIME OUT: Butler fell in the championship game of the Horizon League Tournament to host Wright State, 60-55. The Bulldogs trailed 56-55 with 0:11 remaining, but Wright State's Will Graham sealed the victory with four free throws in the final 11 seconds. Butler advanced to the league championship game for the ninth time with a 67-66 victory in overtime against Loyola in the league semifinals. The Bulldogs took the lead for good on a pair of free throws by A. J. Graves with 0:51 left in overtime. Butler's final 10 points came at the free throw line. ALL-TOURNAMENT: Butler placed two players on the Horizon League All-Tournament team, announced at the conclusion of the league championship. Senior Brandon Crone and junior A. J. Graves both earned a berth on the all-tourney team, along with DaShaun Wood and Scottie Wilson of Wright State and Blake Schilb of Loyola. Wood was named the tournament M.V.P. BEST MARK: The Bulldogs (27-6) have matched the best 33-game record in Butler basketball history. Butler's 2002-03 team also posted a 27-6 mark under head coach Todd Lickliter. The Bulldogs became the first team in Butler and Horizon League history to record 26 wins in the regular season this year. Butler is one win shy of the Horizon League season record for victories held by Xavier (1989-90). 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 regular season 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 (17.0), three-point field goals (2.81) and free throw shooting (.958), 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 (4.03) and rebounding (5.8) while standing second in scoring (14.1), earned a spot on the all-league second team. Butler was the lone team to have both of its starting guards named 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 (.514). 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 and this year, and 26 in 2001-02. He's had four 20-win seasons in his six years at Butler. IRON MEN: Butler has 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 on "Senior Day." He continued that hot streak with team-highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds against Loyola in the league tournament semifinals and 18 points against Wright State in the tournament championship game. Brandon Crone has averaged 15.3 points and 6.5 rebounds over Butler's last eight 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 an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers in the two Horizon League Tournament games, snapping a streak of four straight games that the Bulldogs finished with fewer than 10 miscues. The Bulldogs have committed less than 10 turnovers in 13 of the past 18 contests and in 20 games overall this season. Butler leads the NCAA Division I in fewest turnovers per game (9.4). FIRST DEFENSE: The Bulldogs limited Loyola, the Horizon League's top scoring team, to 54 points in regulation play and 66 points overall in the semifinals of the league tournament and the yielded 60 points to Wright State in the championship contest. Butler continues to lead the Horizon League in team scoring defense (57.2) and field goal percentage defense (.405). The Bulldogs are second in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (.331). 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. POLL WATCH: Butler will enter the NCAA Tournament with a "Top 20" ranking in the ESPN/USA Today national college basketball poll released on Monday (Mar. 12). The Bulldogs slipped from No. 17 to No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and from No. 19 to No. 21 in the Associated Press Poll. Butler has been ranked in the "Top 20" of the national polls for a school- and league-record 16 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 27th place in the computer ranking (as of Mar. 5). Butler was in the "Top 10" of the RPI for nine straight weeks. The Bulldogs are 21st in the Sagarin ratings. BULLDOG BITS: •Junior guard A. J. Graves has been named a finalist for the 2006-07 John R. Wooden Award, presented to the nation's top player. Earlier, Graves was named to the Wooden Award Midseason All-America Team. •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 1,296 career points. •Junior A. J. Graves ranks second in the NCAA Division I lead in free throw shooting (.958). Derek Raivio of Gonzaga (.961) leads the nation. •A. J. Graves ranks fifth in the Horizon League in scoring (17.0). He stands second in the league in three-point field goals (2.81). •A. J. Graves is the third player in Butler basketball history to record 200 three-point field goals. He trails Darnell Archey (217, 1999-2003) in second place on Butler's all-time list by 17 three-pointers. •A. J. Graves stands fifth on Butler's single season list for three-point field goals with 90, six three-pointers behind Bruce Horan (2003-04) in fourth place. •A. J. Graves owns the fourth-highest point total (543) ever for a Butler junior. •A. J. Graves averaged 21.0 points in Butler's six neutral court games this season. He led the Bulldogs in scoring in five of the six neutral site contests, scoring 20 or more points in each of those five games. •Mike Green is tied for second place on Butler's single season list for free throws made with 187. He's two free throws away from the school-record of 189, set by Darin Archbold in 1991-92. •Mike Green has moved into ninth place on Butler's single season list for assists with 133, four shy of the No. 8 spot held by Thomas Jackson (2000-01). •Mike Green ranks second in the Horizon League in assists (4.03), fourth in defensive rebounds (4.73), eighth in rebounding (5.8), ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.37), 10th in steals (1.15) and 11th in scoring (14.1) and free throw shooting (.751). •Senior Brandon Crone has led the Bulldogs in rebounding in three of the past four games, twice matching his season-high of 10 rebounds in a game. Two of his three double-doubles this season have come in the last three games. •Brandon Crone is shooting .529 from the field and .480 from the three-point arc over Butler's last five games. He's averaging 16.2 points over that stretch. •Brandon Crone led the Bulldogs in scoring in the Horizon League Tournament with 35 points (17.5) in two games. A. J. Graves had 24 points (12.0) in the Bulldogs' two tournament contests. •Brandon Crone needs 38 points to become the 32nd player in Butler basketball history to score 1,000 career points. He needs 15 rebounds to reach 500 for his Butler career. •Junior Pete Campbell, who led the Bulldogs in the Horizon League semifinals with 18 points, has come off the bench with 15 double-figures scoring performances in Butler's last 19 games. Campbell has averaged 13.2 points over that 19-game stretch. •Pete Campbell has hit 62 of 109 (.569) three-point field goal attempts since Jan. 1, 2007 (19 games). He hit just 9 of 29 three-pointers in Butler's first 14 games. •Pete Campbell has moved into ninth place on Butler's single season list for three-point field goals (71), seven behind Darnell Archey (2002-03) in eighth place and 10 behind Darin Archbold (1991-92) in seventh place. •Butler leads the Horizon League in scoring margin (+11.3), three-point field goals (8.88), free throw shooting (.763), turnover margin (+3.79), and assist/turnover margin (1.31). The Bulldogs are third in scoring offense (68.4). •Butler is ranked sixth in the NCAA Division I in free throw shooting (.763) and seventh in scoring defense (57.2). •Butler's No. 5 seed is the highest in school history. •Butler is 5-6 all-time in NCAA Tournament play. The Bulldogs are 2-1 with a "Sweet 16" appearance under head coach Todd Lickliter. •The Bulldogs made their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1962 and then went 35 years before earning a second tournament berth. This year's bid is Butler's sixth in the past 11 years. •Butler's best previous seed in the NCAA Tournament was No. 10 in the 2001 Championship. All five of Butler's NCAA Tournament wins have come over higher seeded teams. •Todd Lickliter is making his second NCAA Tournament appearance as a head coach, but he's certainly no stranger to NCAA Tournament play. He was an administrative assistant with the Bulldogs when they reached the NCAA Tournament in 1997, and he was an assistant coach for Butler's 2000 and 2001 tournament teams. He also was an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan when the Hurons advanced to the tournament in 1998. •While none of Butler's current players have been to the NCAA Tournament, there is considerable tournament experience on Butler's coaching staff. Assistant Coach Brad Stevens was on the staff of Butler's 2001 and 2003 tournament teams, while assistant coach Matthew Graves was a player for the Bulldogs in the 1997 and 1998 tournaments and a coach at Butler in 2003. Assistant coach LaVall Jordan played in the NCAA Tournament in 1998, 2000 and 2001. And Coordinator of Basketball Operations Joel Cornette played on Butler's tournament teams in 2000, 2001 and 2003! •Current assistant coach LaVall Jordan became the first player in Butler history to play in four NCAA Tournament games. The Butler record for most NCAA Tournament games is six, shared by Joel Cornette and Darnell Archey. |
