NEW ORLEANS -- Now it’s the Big Ten in the Big Easy for Butler’s Bulldogs.
Tomorrow night in New Orleans Arena, the eighth-seeded Horizon League champions meet the fourth-seeded Wisconsin Badgers in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament’s Southeast Regional (9:57 p.m. ET, TBS).
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan was emphatic that his team, 25-8 and third-place finishers in the Big Ten, will not treat the Bulldogs as underdogs, even though they are.
“No one will ever be taken granted by our staff our team,” said Ryan.
Least of all Butler. After all, Ryan -- when he was coach at Milwaukee of the Horizon League -- went 0-5 against the Bulldogs.
And while the Badgers, led by one of the nation’s top guards in Jason Taylor (18.0 points per game, 4.8 assists per game), are infinitely better equipped for battle than those Panther teams, the notion of Butler as being more “mid” than “major” has long since worn off.
Syracuse, Kansas State, Michigan State and -- just last week -- Pittsburgh can provide references about the Bulldogs’ mettle and mastery of higher-seeded NCAA tournament foes.
Three Sweet Sixteens in four years and last year’s run to the national championship game have unmasked the Bulldogs. Indeed, many of the national commentators who dismissed Butler not only earlier in the season, but earlier this month, are now predicting they are a legitimate contender for another Final Four.
“You just get the feeling that nothing is going to rattle them,” said Wisconsin forward Keaton Nankivil. “So we’re going to have to play a pretty solid game and do whatever we do well to win this one.”
Noted ESPN columnist Rick Reilly posed this question to Butler coach Brad Stevens:
“There’s no such thing as back-to-back Cinderellas,” he said. “It can’t happen. You’re a Cinderella one year so what should we call you the next?”
“Bulldogs,” Stevens replied. “I didn’t mind being called bulldogs last year either and maybe it’s corny because it’s our nickname. But hey, the way we got through those last two games (the last-second wins over Old Dominion and Pitt) I don’t know if there’s a more appropriate nickname.”
Certainly, no one is expecting anything any less than a down-to-the-wire bump-and-grind game. Butler survives with a mental and physical toughness that belies any size disadvantages they may encounter. Wisconsin plays with a similar grit that sometimes is mistaken for a less-than-pretty brand of basketball.
Stevens was asked about the Badgers’ “less than flattering” style.
“I could sit up here and flatter them all day,” he said. “Why wouldn’t you want to play a way where everybody is completely unselfish. Where if they have a good shot, they try to find a better shot for their team. Where guys are diving on the floor, taking charges, where they are physically and mentally tough.
“There’s a reason why they don’t lose very often, and there’s a reason why they have had probably one of the most under-discussed and more remarkable runs in the last 10 years under Bo Ryan. They are one of the hardest teams to guard in the country, and they’re one of the hardest teams to score on, and that’s usually a pretty good combination.”
But, again, Butler has displayed those same traits, especially during the 11-game winning streak that carried them to a share of the Horizon League regular-season title, the tournament championship and now into the Sweet Sixteen.
The Bulldogs are, if anything, battle-tested. They will be a tough out. Bulldogs. Underdawgs. Bring it on.
ODDS AND ENDS -- Wisconsin’s last three tournament runs have ended at the hands of mid-majors: Davidson, Xavier, Cornell … Butler is the third team in tournament to knock a No. 1 seed in consecutive years prior to the Final Four … Butler holds a 17-13 all-time series lead against Wisconsin, including a 58-44 over the then 10th-ranked Badgers in the Kohl Center in 2001, their last meeting … Current assistant Darnell Archey, then a sophomore, scored three points in that last game … Shelvin Mack and Wisconsin’s Jon Leuer were teammates on last summer’s USA Basketball Select Team … After scoring just 33 points in a Big Ten quarterfinal loss to Penn State, Wisconsin has averaged 71 points in its two tournament games … the Badgers rank first in the country in turnovers per game (7.5), their assist to turnover ratio (1.75) is first and their 1.19 points per possession is No. 2 … This is Wisconsin’s fifth Sweet Sixteen since 2000 ... The Badgers have bagged a school record 271 3-pointers this season.
Tags: Butler - Men's Basketball · Horizon League - Men's Basketball
