Butler carries Horizon League banner into NCAA Championship; Cleveland State earns NIT invitation
Complete Release in PDF Format 
March 16, 2008
Indianapolis, Ind. -- For the third consecutive year, the Horizon League has two men's basketball teams playing in the postseason. Horizon League champion Butler University and League Championship runner-up Cleveland State University will continue their seasons after receiving tournament invitations Sunday night.
Butler earned the circuit's automatic berth in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship by defeating Cleveland State 70-55 in the final of the Horizon League Championship last Tuesday and enters the NCAA Tournament with a 29-3 overall record, including a 16-2 League ledger. The Bulldogs are the seventh seed in the East Region and open tournament play Friday (Mar. 21) versus tenth-seed University of South Alabama at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham at approximately 2:35 p.m. (EST). The winner advances to second-round play on Sunday (Mar. 23) versus (second-seed) University of Tennessee or (15th-seed) American University.
The Bulldogs' 29 victories match the school- and Horizon League-record set by last year's Bulldog squad which finished 29-7 and advanced to the Sweet 16 with victories over Old Dominion University (57-46) and the University of Maryland (62-59) before losing to eventual national champion University of Florida (65-57) in the regional semifinal. This year's team is ranked 12th in the current Associated Press national poll and tenth in last week's ESPN/USA Today coaches' canvass, having spent nearly the entire season among the nation's top 25 teams. The Bulldogs were ranked as high as eighth in both polls on February 18.
Butler entered the top 25 after winning the championship of last November's Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout with victories over the University of Michigan, Virginia Tech University and Texas Tech University, and remained in the national spotlight throughout the season. Butler's ledger also includes a 65-46 victory over Ohio State University on Dec. 1---a game in which BU outscored the Buckeyes 45-16 in the second half---and a 57-55 triumph at Southern Illinois University on Dec. 28. Butler has won four games in a row and 13 of its last 14.
Head coach Brad Stevens' Bulldogs rank sixth in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to 57.8 points per game, and stand fourth with an average of 10.3 turnovers per contest. Butler also rates near the top of the list in scoring margin (plus-10.6 points per outing) and three-point field goals per game (9.22).
Senior guard Mike Green paces the Bulldogs, leading the team in scoring (14.9 points per game, seventh-best in the League), rebounding (eighth at 6.6 per outing) and assists (a League-best 5.13 per contest) and is the only player to rate among the League's top ten performers in all three categories. Green was the League's Player of the Year as well as the Most Valuable Player of the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship.
Senior backcourt mate A.J. Graves earned First-Team All-League honors for the second year in a row and adds 13.3 points per contest, hitting 88 three-pointers. Freshman forward Matt Howard, the League's Newcomer of the Year, provides 12.6 points per contest and leads the circuit in field-goal percentage (.604), while senior forward Pete Campbell's 11.2 points-per-game pace includes 91 treys on 44 percent shooting behind the arc.
Butler is in the national tournament for the seventh time in the last 12 years, and the eighth overall. The Bulldogs also reached the Sweet 16 in 2003 by defeating Mississippi State University (47-46) and the University of Louisville (79-71) prior to a (65-54) loss to the University of Oklahoma.
South Alabama (26-6) won the regular-season title in the Sun Belt Conference's East Division, finishing 16-2 in SBC play before losing to 82-73 to Middle Tennessee State University in the semifinals of the conference tournament. USA has won 22 of its last 25 games overall.
Cleveland State is one of 32 teams competing in the MasterCard National Invitation Tournament, opening NIT play Wednesday night (March 19) at the University of Dayton. The 6 p.m. (Eastern time) game between the Vikings and Flyers at UD Arena airs nationally on ESPNU, with the winner advancing to meet either second-seeded Illinois State University or seventh-seed Utah State University in second-round action. Dates, times and locations for all eight second-round games have yet to be determined.
Cleveland State tied for second place in the regular-season standings (12-6) and enters the NIT with a 21-12 overall record. Coach Gary Waters has engineered a dramatic turnaround in the CSU program as the Vikings became only the second team in League history to record 20 victories the season after a 20-loss campaign (Cleveland State finished 10-21 last winter). The Vikings were picked ninth in the League's preseason poll, with only one of the 46 voters projecting better than a sixth-place finish, but advanced to the Horizon League Championship Game for the first time and reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since the 1992-93 season.
The Vikings' roster features several newcomers, including junior guard Cedric Jackson. The transfer from St. John's University earned Second-Team All-League honors, All-Newcomer Team recognition and a spot on the League's All-Defensive Team for his all-around play, averaging 14 points, 4.94 assists and 2.61 steals per contest. His theft count tops the Horizon League charts, with only Green's assist rate keeping Jackson from becoming the first player since 1997-98 to lead the League in both categories.
Junior forward J'Nathan Bullock leads CSU in scoring (15 points per game, sixth in the League) and rebounding (seventh with 6.6 caroms per contest). Bullock was a First-Team All-League honoree and joined the Vikings' 1,000-point club earlier this season. Sophomore guard Joe Davis adds 8.4 points per contest, while junior center George Tandy ranks second on the League with an average of 1.25 blocked shots per game.
For Waters, this marks his seventh postseason invitation in 12 years on the sidelines. He led Kent State University to two NCAA Tournaments and one NIT berth from 1996-2001 and guided Rutgers University to the NIT three times during his (2001-06) stint at that school.
Cleveland State makes its first postseason appearance since 1988, when the Vikings defeated Illinois State University (89-83) before being eliminated by Ohio State University (86-80) in the second round. CSU also played in the 1987 NIT, one year after its only NCAA Tournament action in 1986.
Dayton (21-10) won 14 of its first 15 games this season before being beset by a series of injuries. UD finished 8-8 in Atlantic-10 Conference play during the regular season before falling 74-65 to Xavier University in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
The Horizon League has had multiple teams reach the postseason 19 times in the last 22 years, including last season when Butler and Wright State University both qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
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The pairings for the NCAA Championship and MasterCard NIT are available in the PDF version of this release.
