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March 6, 2003

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK: For the fourth consecutive year, the Bulldogs (24-4, 14-2) will enter the Horizon League Tournament as the No. 1 seed. And for the second straight year, Butler knows when and where it will play, but not who. The Bulldogs, who captured a fourth straight Horizon League regular season championship, will open tournament play at the U. S. Cellular Arena in Milwaukee, Wis., on Saturday, March 8, at 5 p.m. (CDT) against either #4 seed Loyola (15-15, 9-7) or #5 seed Detroit (17-11, 9-7). Loyola and Detroit will meet on Friday, March 7, in the second round of the tournament. UW-Milwaukee (22-7, 13-3), the #2 seed in the tournament, will play either #3 UIC (20-7, 12-4) or #7 Youngstown State (9-19, 4-12) in the other semifinal game. If UW-Milwaukee wins its semifinal game, the tournament championship game will be played at U. S. Cellular Arena on Tuesday, March 11. If the Panthers lose, the championship game will be moved to the campus site of the highest remaining seed. The winner of the Horizon League Tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Butler is seeking its fifth league tournament crown in seven years.

Butler is the first team in the history of the Horizon League to capture four consecutive regular season championships.

RECORD RUN: Butler's 76-74 victory over UW-Milwaukee in the final regular season game boosted the Bulldogs to 24 wins for the third consecutive season. The Bulldogs have posted the top three single season win totals in school history in the past three years! Butler is the first team in league history to record seven straight 20-win seasons!

Butler posted 20 regular season wins for the second consecutive year and for the second time in school history.

LEAGUE LEADER: Butler leads the current Horizon League membership with five regular season league championships. Loyola stands second with three, while Detroit owns a pair. TITLE TRAIL: A loss at Loyola on Feb. 13, dropped Butler from first place in the Horizon League standings for the first time since Jan. 9, and left the Bulldogs chasing UW-Milwaukee for the final two weeks of the league race. Butler caught and passed the Panthers by winning six consecutive games, including three on the road. The Bulldogs won five games in 10 days to end the regular season.

CLASSIC FINISH: Butler's showdown with UW-Milwaukee lived up to and surpassed its advanced billing. The two league heavyweights slugged it out for 40 minutes and the outcome wasn't decided until the final shot. Freshman Avery Sheets electrified a capacity crowd and provided the decisive blow with a three-point field goal at the buzzer to give Butler a 76-74 victory. The Panthers had taken only their second lead of the second half, 74-73, on a pair of free throws by Justin Lettenberger with 0:04.2 left on the clock. Sheets then took the in-bounds pass against UW-Milwaukee's pressing defense, dribbled past two defenders to the three-point arc at the opposite end of the floor and delivered the game-winner as time expired. The first-year guard was immediately lost in the swarm of fans who raced onto the court, only to appear moments later above the crowd on the shoulders of his teammates.

PERFECT DOZEN: The Bulldogs' win over UW-Milwaukee gave Butler a 12-0 record at home for 2002-03. It's the second time in the past four seasons that the Bulldogs finished with an unbeaten record in Hinkle Fieldhouse. SENIOR SALUTE: The Butler-UW-Milwaukee game was the final home appearance for the Bulldogs' six seniors - Darnell Archey, Joel Cornette, Lewis Curry, Brandon Miller, Mike Moore and Rob Walls. Archey, Cornette, Curry and Moore have each played four seasons, and they will finish as Butler's all-time winningest class with 97 wins entering the Horizon League Tournament. Miller and Walls have played three seasons and have contributed to a better than 80% winning percentage! Butler's seniors have played for three different coaches and have recorded the top three season win totals in school history. They've contributed to four regular season conference championships, two league tournament titles and made three post-season tournament bids.

Butler is 97-26 (.789) over the past four seasons.

BALANCED ATTACK: Senior Darnell Archey led five Bulldogs in double-figures against UW-Milwaukee with 15 points. The 6-1 guard hit five three-point field goals against the Panthers, including four in the second half. Center Joel Cornette added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while junior Duane Lightfoot came off the bench with 12 points before fouling out with 6:49 remaining. Senior Brandon Miller and junior Mike Monserez each added 10 points to the Butler attack.

Seven different players have led Butler in scoring in a game this season.

MR. BIG SHOT: Freshman Avery Sheets wasn't the first option on Butler's game-winning play against UW-Milwaukee, but he wasn't a bad second choice. The 6-0 point-guard has been fearless in his first season with the Bulldogs. He came off the bench against Western Kentucky in the Rainbow Classic and hit four three-point field goals to help the Bulldogs to a 63-60 win. He scored six clutch points in the second overtime period to lead Butler to a double-overtime win over Loyola, and he hit four three-point field goals in Butler's three-point win at Detroit. Sheets came off the bench with 14 points to help Butler to a double-overtime victory over Cleveland State, 79-75. PEOPLE'S CHOICE: Butler's title showdown with UW-Milwaukee drew a capacity crowd of 11,043. It was the first official "sellout" at Butler since November 27, 1993, when the Bulldogs hosted nationally-ranked Indiana. Butler averaged nearly 6,000 fans for 12 home contests and finished with the second-highest single season attendance in school history. The 70,951 total for the season trailed only last year's school-record attendance of 75,500 (for 12 games).

Butler led the Horizon League in home attendance for the second straight year.

FINISHING TOUCH: Senior Joel Cornette is putting a strong finish on his already stellar career. The 6-9 center has averaged 15.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists over Butler's last eight games. He had 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots in Butler's victory over UW-Green Bay and then posted 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in the league title showdown with UW-Milwaukee.

MILLER TIME: With Butler facing a "must-win" situation to keep pace with UW-Milwaukee in the final week of the season, senior Brandon Miller stepped up with three consecutive double-figure scoring performances. The 6-0 point guard led the Bulldogs in scoring with 23 points, including the game-winner in the second overtime period in a double-overtime victory at Cleveland State. He topped Butler with 14 points in a win at home over UW-Green Bay and then finished the week with 10 points and four assists in the title win over UW-Milwaukee.

RELIEF ACE: Junior Duane Lightfoot has come off the bench with seven consecutive double-figure scoring performances. Lightfoot hit nine of 10 shots and finished with 18 points at Youngstown State and then posted 14 points on seven of 10 shooting at Cleveland State. He hit five of eight shots and scored 10 points against UW-Green Bay, before finishing the regular season with 12 points on six of eight shooting against UW-Milwaukee.

Duane Lightfoot ranks fourth in the NCAA Division I in individual field goal shooting (.679).

DIALING LONG DISTANCE: The Bulldogs nailed 11 three-point field goals in their title-clinching victory over UW-Milwaukee, including seven in the second half. Butler has hit 10 or more three-pointers in 12 games this season.

Butler is ranked 13th in the NCAA Division I in 3-point field goal shooting (.400) and 14th in 3-point field goals made (8.6 pg).

GRAND PERFORMERS: Senior Joel Cornette became the 28th player to join Butler's 1,000-point club with his first basket in the second half at Cleveland State. He ranks 27th on the Bulldog's all-time scoring list with 1,027 points for his Butler career. Senior Brandon Miller joined the 1,000-point club earlier in February. The Butler point-guard stands 25th on the Bulldogs' all-time scoring list with 1,081 career points. He's only the eighth player in Butler history to score 1,000 points in just three seasons. Senior Darnell Archey has tallied 924 career points.

GOOD HANDS PEOPLE: Butler leads the NCAA Division I in fewest turnovers per game (10.4). GUARD 'DOGS: The Bulldogs continue to lead the Horizon League in team scoring defense with a yield of 60.0 points per game. Butler has led the Horizon League in team scoring defense for four consecutive years.

Butler ranks ninth in Division I in team scoring defense.

FAMILIAR FIVE: For the third consecutive season, Butler completed its schedule without changing its starting lineup! Seniors Brandon Miller, Darnell Archey, Joel Cornette and Lewis Curry and junior Mike Monserez started all 28 games for the Bulldogs this year. Miller and Cornette also started every game in the previous two seasons.

ALL-LEAGUE: Butler seniors Brandon Miller and Joel Cornette were named second team on the 2003 All-Horizon League Team, chosen by league coaches, sports information directors and media. The two also were picked to the five-player league All-Defensive Team. Cornette became only the second player in league history to be named to the All-Defensive Team for three consecutive years.

SMART PICK: Butler senior Brandon Miller was named to the Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-District V Team for the second consecutive year. Miller is a secondary education major.

BULLDOG BITS:

*Butler ranks in the "Top 10" in the NCAA Division I in winning percentage with a 24-4 (.857) mark. Only three teams - Arizona (23-2), Kentucky (24-3) and Creighton (26-4) - have a better record than the Bulldogs.

*Butler is ranked 30th in the ESPN/USA Today poll and 31st in the A.P. poll.

*The Bulldogs have won more conference games over the past five seasons than any other Horizon League team. Butler is 60-14 in league play since the start of the 1999 conference campaign. The Bulldogs have finished among the top three teams in the league race in each of the last seven seasons and own four league titles during that span. Butler owns three straight Horizon League regular season championships.

*Butler is the first team in league history to record 10 conference wins in five consecutive seasons.

*Butler is leading the Horizon League in scoring margin (+9.2), free throw percentage (.731), field goal percentage (.481) and 3-point field goals (8.61), in addition to scoring defense. The Bulldogs are second in three-point field goal percentage (.400) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.338).

*Senior Darnell Archey became Butler's all-time leader in three-point field goals with his first three-pointer at Duke. He's added 21 three-point field goals since then, and his Butler career record currently stands at 203.

*Darnell Archey has hit 127 of his last 130 (.977) free throws.

*Senior Brandon Miller hit a pair of 3-point field goals against UW-Milwaukee, boosting his career total for 3-point goals to 185. He ranks second behind teammate Darnell Archey on Butler's all-time list for three-point field goals.

*Seniors Brandon Miller and Joel Cornette have each started 92 consecutive games for the Bulldogs. Miller has started every game of his Butler career, while Cornette has played in all 123 games of his collegiate career, including 102 as a starter.

*Brandon Miller has moved into fifth place on Butler's all-time assist chart with 290 career assists. He ranks eighth in the Horizon League in assists (3.46 pg) and fourth in assist/turnover radio (1.67) this season.

*Brandon Miller ranks third in the Horizon League in three-point field goal shooting (.442), while teammate Darnell Archey ranks fifth (.416).

*Brandon Miller is third in the Horizon League in free throw shooting (.806). Darnell Archey (.968) and Mike Monserez (.827) have not made enough free throws to be ranked.

*Darnell Archey leads the Bulldogs and ranks fifth in the Horizon League in three-point field goals with 64. He's tied for sixth on Butler's single season chart for three-point field goals.

*Butler is 51-10 all-time when Brandon Miller scores in double figures. The Bulldogs are 35-6 when Darnell Archey reaches twin-digits.

*Senior Joel Cornette recorded his 600th career rebound with his second rebound at Duke. He's moved into 9th place on Butler's all-time rebound list with 672 career rebounds. He's three rebound shy of Ken Pennington (1957-60) in the No. 8 spot.

*Butler's four losses this season have come on the road to teams that are a combined 47-3 at home.

*Butler boasts two of the top four field goals shooters in the Horizon League. Junior Duane Lightfoot leads the conference with a .679 mark, while senior Joel Cornette is fourth at .533. Lightfoot currently has the best single season field goal percentage in Butler history.

*Junior Duane Lightfoot has shot .735 (36-49) from the field during Butler's current six-game winning streak.

*Butler ran its homecourt win streak to 18 straight games with the victory over UW-Milwaukee. Butler's current seniors compiled a 49-3 record at home!

MAYBE YOU MISSED THIS: Butler's opening-round loss in last year's Horizon League Tournament marked the first time since 1996 that the Bulldogs failed to advance in the conference meet. Butler has more conference tournament wins over the past six seasons than any other league team. The Bulldogs have compiled a 14-2 record in league tournament play since that 1996 setback. Detroit stands second over that same stretch with nine league tournament victories. Butler has four league tournament championships and one conference tournament runner-up finish in the past six seasons. The successful run has lifted Butler's all-time league tournament record to 18-19 through 23 league championships. Amazingly, Butler failed to win a conference tournament game in the first 12 years of the league's existence!