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Weekly Basketball Notes
March 5, 2002 WAITING GAME: Butler's early exit from the Horizon League Tournament has left the Bulldogs sitting at home wondering what comes next. Chances are that Butler will be playing again this year, but the Bulldogs don't know when, where or in which tournament - NCAA or NIT. Few teams can match Butler's overall resume, which includes a school record 25 wins, a conference regular season championship, two regular season tournament championships, the most "away wins" (15) of any team in the nation and "Top 10" standings in Division I in both winning percentage and total wins. But the Bulldogs' hopes now rest in the hands of tournament selection committees, and Butler's fate won't be known until Sunday, March 10. The Horizon League regular season champ has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the past seven years, including four at-large bids. RECORD SEASON: Butler's win over UIC, 85-61, in the regular season finale gave the Bulldogs a school-record 25th victory. It marked the third time in the past three seasons that the Bulldogs have broken the school record for wins! Butler is the first team in league history to post six straight 20-win seasons. The Bulldogs have also set a league record for regular season with. PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Senior forward Rylan Hainje was named Horizon League "Player of the Year," after helping lead the Bulldogs to their third consecutive regular season title. Hainje is the first Butler player to be named conference "Player of the Year" since 1996-97, when Jon Neuhouser captured the league's top honor. ALL CONFERENCE: Senior Rylan Hainje and Thomas Jackson joined Clay Tucker of UW-Milwaukee, David Bailey of Loyola and Greg Grays of Detroit on the All-Horizon League First Team. It marked the second straight year that Jackson earned first team all-league honors, while Hainje was picked to the all-conference squad for the first time. Hainje and Jackson also joined teammate Joel Cornette on the Horizon League All-Defensive Team for the second consecutive year. TOP TEN: Butler's winning percentage of .833 (25-5) is 10th best in Division I. Butler is tied for seventh in the nation in victories with 25. EARLY EXIT: Butler was eliminated from the Horizon League Tournament by #8 seed UW-Green Bay, 49-48. The Phoenix used a 9-0 scoring run in the final 1:32 to upset the top-seeded Bulldogs. Guard DeVante Blanks hit a lay-up with 0:03 left for the game-winner. It was the first time in the last six league tournaments that Butler failed to win a game. COLD SPELL: Butler shot just 26% from the field in the first half against UW-Green Bay and fell behind by as many as 13 points. The Bulldogs did not score a field goal for more than 11 minutes at one stretch of the initial period and managed to convert just six of 23 field goal attempts in the first 20 minutes, while falling behind 23-20 at halftime. POINT POINTS: Butler point-guard Thomas Jackson led all scorers in the Bulldogs' first round Horizon League Tournament game against UW-Green Bay with 16 points. He scored 13 points in the second half. The Bulldogs also picked up 11 points apiece from senior Rylan Hainje and junior Brandon Miller. GRAND THEFT: Senior Thomas Jackson, who leads the Horizon League in steals (2.30), had three thefts against UW-Green Bay and became the first player in Butler history to record more than 200 career steals. He has 202 career thefts. Thomas Jackson has tied Butler's single season record for steals with 69. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Butler's five losses this season have come by a total of 18 points, and four of the five were decided by four points or less. The Bulldogs were beaten in double-overtime and lost two other games on shots at the buzzer. Butler is 21-1 this season in games decided by more than five points. FAMILIAR LINEUP: For the second consecutive year, Butler completed the entire regular season with one starting lineup. Seniors Rylan Hainje, Thomas Jackson and Scott Robisch, and juniors Joel Cornette and Brandon Miller started all 30 games for the Bulldogs this season. Hainje, Jackson, Cornette and Miller also started every game for the Bulldogs in 2000-01! PLAYING GAMES: Seniors Rylan Hainje and Thomas Jackson have each played in 125 games during their Butler careers. The Butler record for most games played is 126, set by current Butler assistant coach Mike Marshall, 1996-00. BULLDOG BITS: Butler leads the nation in wins away from home with 15 this season. Duke is second with 13 away wins. The Bulldogs lead the league and rank 11th in Division I in scoring margin (+13.1). Butler leads the Horizon League and ranks third in the nation in team scoring defense (57.1). The Bulldogs have established a new Butler season record for three-point field goals with 260 through 30 games. Butler ranks 14th in Division I in three-point field goals per game (8.7). Forward Rylan Hainje has started 118 games during his Butler career. Point-guard Thomas Jackson has started 99 consecutive games, while juniors Joel Cornette and Brandon Miller each have 62 straight starts for the Bulldogs. Rylan Hainje and Thomas Jackson both joined Butler's 1,000-point club this season. Hainje currently is 13th on Butler's all-time scoring list with 1,352 career points, while Jackson is 16th with 1,303 career points. Jeff Blue, 1961-64, holds the No. 12 spot with 1,392 points. Rylan Hainje stands in ninth place on Butler's all-time rebounding list with 646 career rebounds. Senior Thomas Jackson is Butler's all-time assist leader with 532 career assists. He holds three of the top seven spots on Butler's single season assist chart, including the No. 2 spot with 162 assists in 1999-00. Junior Darnell Archey has connected on 37 consecutive free throws, dating back to last season. Butler's 25th win elevated head coach Todd Lickliter to the winningest first-year men's basketball coach in school history. BUTLER'S 2001-02 RESUME: oSchool single season record of 25 wins oMost regular season wins in the 23-year history of the Horizon League oOne of just two teams in the nation (Duke is the other) to have beaten every team on its schedule oNo. 1 in the nation in wins away from home with 15 oRanked in the "Top 10" in Division I in Winning Percentage and Total Wins oFirst Butler team in school history to record more than 20 regular season wins oSixth consecutive 20-win season oFirst team in league history to record six straight 20-win seasons oThird consecutive conference regular season championship oFirst team in league history to record three straight outright regular season titles oBest start in school history (13-0) oFirst Butler team to win two regular season tournament titles in the same season oFirst Butler regular season tournament title in 41 years oFirst Butler team to be ranked in the A.P. "Top 25" in 53 years oRanked as high as #20 in both the A.P. and USA Today/ESPN polls oFirst Butler team to win at Purdue in 49 years oFirst team to beat Indiana in the 20-year history of the Hoosier Classic oFirst Butler team to finish with an unbeaten non-conference record oFirst Butler team to beat Indiana and Purdue in the same season in 53 years o"Top 25" win at #21 Ball State |
