Valpo Caps Historic Regular Season with Win Over Butler

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard:
Valparaiso 71, Butler 59

VALPARAISO, Ind. – Playing without the burden of needing to win to satisfy a seed, Valparaiso raced out to a 16-2 lead and held off Butler throughout, closing the regular season with a 14-4 Horizon League record.

Valparaiso (21-10, 14-4 Horizon) took advantage of a Butler (18-13, 11-7 Horizon) team that opened the game 0-for-12 from the floor. The Bulldogs missed three chances in close on their first possession, setting a tone for the remainder of the night that was, for Butler fans, eerily reminiscent of the teams’ first meeting in December, a 77-71 Valpo win at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

That victory helped ensure that tonight’s game was not for the Horizon League regular season title, as the Crusaders entered the night having already clinched the top spot and hosting duties for at least the second round and semifinals of the Horizon League Championship on March 2-3.

Will Bogan got Valparaiso rolling early and picked them up late, knocking down two key three-pointers to help the Crusaders build the 14-point lead in the first half, and after Butler had trimmed the deficit to 51-41, Bogan drove left and pulled up from the wing, with his off-balance triple cutting through the net to put the Crusaders up, 56-43, with 5:38 left in the game.

Butler’s effort was nearly Sisyphean in the second half, as the Bulldogs were able to climb within three possessions down the stretch, only to see Valpo respond via Kevin Van Wijk. The big man had 11 of his game-high 18 in the second half, with layup with 1:42 left helping Valpo respond after threes by Ronald Nored and Chrishawn Hopkins had cut the deficit to six.

The Bulldogs would draw no closer than eight points after Van Wijk’s final basket.

Khyle Marshall led Butler with 17 points, helping pick the Bulldogs off the mat in the first half, with the physicality of he and Andrew Smith against Van Wijk and Richie Edwards ensuring that both teams’ training staffs would be hard at work after the game.

Smith had 12 points in the loss, while Nored added 11 points to go along with eight assists.

Bogan finished with 14 points and Ben Boggs 11. Ryan Broekhoff was held to four points as Roosevelt Jones showed off his defensive prowess, but stuffed the box score with nine rebounds and two blocks.

With the loss, Butler is left to wait on results from tomorrow’s final four Horizon League games. The Bulldogs need a Cleveland State loss and Youngstown State win to secure the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

Valparaiso, meanwhile, can recuperate after a grueling regular season that saw Van Wijk banged up two weeks ago, while Matt Kenney left tonight’s game with an apparent shoulder injury.

Kenney’s injury aside, it was all smiles for a Valparaiso program pegged to finish fifth in the preseason, only to claim its first Horizon League men’s basketball regular season title since joining the conference in 2007-08.