Butler men's basketball enters national rankings

Nov. 27, 2006

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Indianapolis, Ind. -- For a team picked to finish sixth in its own league, Butler University has made a dramatic jump in the first two weeks of the men's basketball season. The Bulldogs have already defeated teams from the Big East, Big Ten and Southeastern conferences, and have vaulted into the national top 25 in both major polls announced Monday afternoon (Nov. 27), ranking 19th according to the Associated Press and 18th in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

The Bulldogs captured the title of the NIT Season Tip-Off---arguably the most prestigious early-season tournament---last week, defeating Gonzaga University 79-71 in the title game at Madison Square Garden on Friday (Nov. 24). Butler reached the final with a 56-44 victory over then-22nd-ranked University of Tennessee on Wednesday (Nov. 22)---holding the Volunteers to three-of-28 (11 percent) field-goal shooting in the second half. Butler finished a busy week with an 83-80, double-overtime victory at home over Kent State University on Saturday (Nov. 25), the team's third game in four days.

Butler's run to the title began Nov. 13, when the Bulldogs edged the University of Notre Dame, 71-69, at Conseco Fieldhouse, and continued the following evening with a 60-55 victory over Indiana University. Junior guard A.J. Graves earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors, averaging 22.3 points per game in the four tourney victories, while junior guard Mike Green added 14.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists during the tournament. Graves' line included 28 points against Notre Dame and 26 versus Gonzaga.

For the season, Graves leads the League with a rate of 19.7 points per contest, with Green second on the circuit assist charts at 4.29 per outing. He had 19 points and 12 set-ups versus Notre Dame. As a team, Butler leads the League in scoring defense, allowing 58.9 points per game.Butler was picked sixth when the League released its preseason poll last month after losing three seniors---including 2005-06 League Player of the Year Brandon Polk---to graduaton. Graves and senior forward Brandon Crone joined newcomers Green and seniors Brian Ligon and Julian Betko to form this year's starting quintet.

The Bullogs are the first Horizon League team in the AP's Top 25 in nearly five years. Butler reached the No. 20 spot late in the 2001-02 campaign, while the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee finished the 2004-05 season ranked 23rd by ESPN/USA Today after advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament that year.

Butler was one of three teams entering the AP's Top 25 for the first time this year, with Gonzaga now ranked 22nd and the University of Virginia 25th. BU and Wichita State University (22nd) were the only newcomers to the ESPN/USA Today list.

At the top of the charts, UCLA takes over at the top of the current AP poll, with the Bruins' 4-0 start earning 36 first-place votes and 1,727 points. The University of Pittsburgh (6-0) is second with 18 first-place nods and 1,666 points, followed by Ohio State University (6-0), the University of Florida (6-1) and the University of Kansas (5-1). Ohio State is atop the ESPN/USA Today rankings with 11 first-place votes and 740 points, edging UCLA (734 points, 13 top picks) for that distinction. Pittsburgh, Florida and Kansas round out the top five on that list.

Butler is in action Wednesday (Nov. 29), visiting future League rival Valparaiso University in a (8:05 p.m. Eastern time) non-conference battle. The Bulldogs open Horizon League play on Saturday (Dec. 2) by hosting Cleveland State University at 8 p.m. in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Note: The major national polls can be found in the PDF version of this release.