 |
Bulldogs Face A Key League Test At Wright State
Feb. 6, 2005 RACE WEEK: The Bulldogs (9-11, 4-6 HL), facing three games in six days, will try to make a jump in the Horizon League standings when they visit Wright State (10-12, 5-6 HL) on Monday, Feb. 7. The game, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Nutter Center, is the second meeting this season between the two league foes. The Raiders captured the first meeting, 59-54, last month in Indianapolis. Butler has won back-to-back league games for the first time this season, and the Bulldogs can move into a tie for fourth place in the league standings with a win at Wright State. The Raiders, who dropped a home game to Loyola on Saturday (Feb. 5), are one-half game ahead of Butler in the league standings. Following tonight's game, Butler will return to Indianapolis for a pair of home games, beginning with a contest against Cleveland State on Thursday, Feb. 10. Butler has won its last two games by an average of 25.5 points. TIGHTLY PACKED: One game separates third place from eighth place in the current Horizon League standings. UIC sits in third place with a 5-5 record, while the Bulldogs are in the eighth spot with a 4-6 mark. The top three teams in the final league standings get a first round bye in the Horizon League Tournament.
TEMPERATURE RISING: The Bulldogs turned up the heat in Hinkle Fieldhouse with a sizzling second half shooting performance while handing visiting Loyola a 79-51 setback. Butler turned a 37-31 halftime lead into a 28-point victory by shooting 67% in the final 20 minutes! The Bulldogs, who hit 14 of 21 shots in the second half, opened the final period with a 9-0 run and then maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the game. Butler shot 51% from the field for the game, including a season-best 62% from the three-point arc. FIRST DEFENSE: Butler's best back-to-back offensive performances since Christmas, may have overshadowed a pair of strong defensive efforts by the Bulldogs. Coach Todd Lickliter's club limited both UW-Green Bay and Loyola to their second-lowest point totals of the season! UW-Green Bay failed to reach 25 points in either half against the Bulldogs, and Loyola scored just 20 points in the second half! The Bulldogs have held seven opponents under 55 points this season. Butler leads the Horizon League in team scoring defense (59.9 ppg). LONG BALL: Butler shook off a long range shooting slump in a big way against UW-Green Bay and Loyola. The Bulldogs connected on a season-high 14 three-point field goals on 44% shooting in the win at UW-Green Bay and then followed up with 13 three-pointers while hitting 62% from the arc against Loyola. Butler hit 51% of its three-point shots in the two wins. In the previous four games (three losses), the Bulldogs had hit 22 of 60 (.367) three-point attempts. Butler leads the Horizon League in three-point field goals (8.55 pg). NEARLY PERFECT: Junior Avery Sheets was limited to just 24 minutes against Loyola because of illness. It's a bug he may want to keep! The 6-0 guard turned in a career performance with a game-high 26 points, three rebounds, five assists, one steal and just one turnover. He hit a school-record seven of seven three-point field goal attempts and five of five from the free throw line. His only miss in the game came early in the first period when he had a lay-up attempt blocked. His three-point shooting performance topped the previous Butler mark for best single game three-point field goal percentage set by Jon Neuhouser (6-6) against Northern Illinois in 1997. Sheets, who had 20 points in Butler's win at UW-Green Bay, has posted back-to-back, 20-point scoring performances for the second time in his career. Avery Sheets has hit 13 of 19 three-point field goals in Butler's past two games. FROM A DISTANCE: Guard Bruce Horan has hit 15 three-point field goals in Butler's last four games, including three in the Bulldogs' win over Loyola. The long distance effort moved him into fourth place on Butler's all-time list for three-point field goals with 180 career three-pointers. He's one of three New Castle Chrysler High School athletes on the list, joining No. 1 Darnell Archey (217) and No. 2 Brandon Miller (189). Horan is one three-pointer shy of the No. 3 spot held by Jody Littrell (1986-90). Bruce Horan ranks second in the Horizon League in 3-point field goals (3.15). NATIONAL LEADER: Freshman A. J. Graves has moved into the No. 1 spot in the NCAA Division I in free throw shooting, according to the most recent national statistics released by ESPN. The 6-1 guard hit four of four free throws in Butler?s victory over Loyola, boosting his season percentage to .956. Graves, who has hit his last 17 free throw attempts, doesn't have enough free throws made (2.5 pg) to qualify for NCAA rankings. BULLDOG BITS: *Butler was named one of the "100 Greatest College Basketball Programs of All Time" by Street & Smith?s College Basketball Magazine. Three hundred and nine NCAA Division I schools were eligible for consideration by the specialty publication. *The Bulldogs hit 18 of 24 (.750) free throws in their win over Loyola. Butler leads the Horizon League in team free throw shooting (.730). *Butler committed just nine turnovers in each of its past two games. The Bulldogs lead the Horizon League in fewest turnovers (10.4 pg). Butler ranks third in the nation in fewest turnovers according to the most recent NCAA statistics. *Junior Brandon Polk leads the Horizon League in field goal shooting (.590). Polk has shot 67% or better in 11 of Butler's 20 games this year. *Brandon Polk has scored in double-figures in ten straight games, including 11 points against UW-Green Bay and 14 in Butler's win over Loyola. *Bruce Horan leads the Horizon League in three-point field goal percentage (.426). *Bruce Horan has hit at least one three-point field goal in 39 consecutive games. *Bruce Horan had a career-high five assists in Butler's win over Loyola. *Freshman A. J. Graves, who leads the Horizon League in free throw shooting (.956), is following in the footsteps of two of his brothers. His older brother, Andrew, led the league in free throw shooting while playing at Butler in 1999-00, while his older brother, (current assistant coach) Matthew, topped the league in free throw percentage in both 1995-96 and 1997-98! *A. J. Graves scored 13 points at UW-Green Bay and 16 against Loyola. It's his best back-to-back scoring performances since the start of league play. A LOOK BACK: Butler earned its first win in the Nutter Center in dramatic fashion in January of 1996. With the game tied at 68-68 and just 0:04 remaining, the Bulldogs pushed the ball upcourt and guard Jason McKenzie launched a shot from 30 feet out that found the bottom of the net as the final buzzer sounded. It was McKenzie's fourth three-point field goal in five attempts in the game. The Bulldogs were led by 7-2 center Rolf van Rijn with 18 points, while forward Chris Miskel added 17. NBA-bound Vitaly Potapenko led the Raiders with 20 points and nine rebounds. Current Butler assistant coach Matthew Graves came off the bench in the contest and hit a pair of three-point field goals while scoring eight points. |
