 |
March 27, 2002 RECORD RUN: Butler (26-6, 12-4 Horizon League) closed out its 2001-02 campaign at Syracuse, N.Y., in the quarterfinals of the National Invitation Tournament, but not before compiling the finest basketball season in school history. The Bulldogs broke the school single season record for victories for the third consecutive year and became the first team in Butler history to record three championships (Horizon League, Top of the World Classic, Hoosier Classic) in the same season. Butler had wins over Big Ten champ and Final Four team Indiana, Purdue and Ball State, when it was ranked #21 in the nation. The Bulldogs also became the first team in school history to post both preseason and post-season tournament wins. Butler is the first team in the 23-year history of the Horizon League to post six consecutive 20-win seasons. NIT: Butler advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT for the second time in four years, before bowing out with a 66-65 loss to Syracuse in overtime. The Bulldogs led by as many as 13 points in the first half, before Syracuse rebounded behind a strong second-half defensive effort and the scoring of senior forward Preston Shumpert. Butler scored just 21 points in the final 20 minutes and failed to tally a field goal in the overtime period. Shumpert finished with 36 points on 12 of 19 shooting from the field. Butler was led by junior Brandon Miller with 15 points, while senior Thomas Jackson added 13. The Bulldogs opened NIT play at home with an 81-69 victory over Bowling Green of the Mid-American Conference. Senior Rylan Hainje paced the Bulldogs with 28 points, while Jackson added 18. Junior Joel Cornette grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in the win. The Bulldogs overcame a 14-point, first half deficit and the 55% field goal shooting of Bowling Green (24-9) to record the 12-point victory. Butler recorded postseason tournament wins in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history. SIMPLY THE BEST: Butler's loss at Syracuse ended the collegiate careers of seniors Thomas Jackson, Rylan Hainje and Scott Robisch, the most successful group of seniors in Butler basketball history! Jackson and Hainje rank as the winningest senior class in Butler history with 95 wins over their four seasons. Robisch, who graduated last spring, finished an abbreviated Butler career that saw the Bulldogs win 85% of the games that he played. The three contributed to three straight conference regular season, back-to-back league tournament titles and two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Butler is 95-32 (.748) over the past four seasons. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Butler's six losses this season came by a total of just 19 points, and five of the six were decided by four points or less. The Bulldogs were beaten in double-overtime by three points, in overtime by one point and lost two other games on shots at the buzzer. Butler's biggest margin of defeat was a nine-point loss at Detroit. Butler was one of only two teams in Division I to not lose a game by double-figures (Marist was the other) in 2001-02 TOP DOG: Butler's 25th win elevated head coach Todd Lickliter to the winningest first-year men's basketball coach in school history. BEST DEFENSE: The Bulldogs led the Horizon League in team scoring defense for the third consecutive season. Butler held six of its last 11 opponents below 60 points and kept three of those foes below 50 points! The Bulldogs held 17 opponents below 60 points for the season and were 16-1 in those games! Only four of Butler's opponents scored more than 70 points against the Bulldogs, and the only time Butler gave up more than 74 points in a game was in a double-overtime loss to Wright State. IRON FIVE: For the second consecutive season, Butler went through the campaign with the same starting lineup. Seniors Rylan Hainje, Thomas Jackson and Scott Robisch and juniors Brandon Miller and Joel Cornette each started all 32 games for the Bulldogs. BULLDOG BITS: The Bulldogs led the Horizon League and set a Butler single season record for scoring margin (+12.5) this season. Butler toppled the school single season records for three-point field goals and three-point field goal attempts in 2001-02. The Bulldogs connected on 280 of 730 attempts from beyond the three-point arc. Senior Thomas Jackson led the Horizon League in assist/turnover ratio (2.69) for the second consecutive season. He also led the conference in steals (2.31). Forward Rylan Hainje started a school-record 120 games during his Butler career. Point-guard Thomas Jackson started 101 consecutive games, while juniors Joel Cornette and Brandon Miller each have 64 straight starts for the Bulldogs. Rylan Hainje and Thomas Jackson both joined Butler's 1,000-point club in 2001-02. Hainje finished 13th on Butler's all-time scoring list with 1,388 career points, while Jackson wound up in a tie for 14th place with 1,334 career points. Thomas Jackson became the first player in Butler basketball history to record over 1,000 points and more than 500 assists. Jackson set Butler all-time records for assists (540) and steals (207), and a Butler single season record for steals with 74 in 2001-02. Rylan Hainje moved into ninth place on Butler's all-time rebounding list with 658 career rebounds. Thomas Jackson and Rylan Hainje set a Butler all-time record for games played with 127 each. The two Butler seniors played in four consecutive postseason tournaments. BUTLER'S 2001-02 BASKETBALL RESUME: Established school single season record of 26 wins Set conference record for regular season wins (25) One of just two teams in the nation (Duke was the other) to beat every team on its regular season schedule No. 1 in the nation in regular season wins away from home (15) First Butler team in school history to record more than 20 regular season wins (25) Recorded sixth consecutive 20-win season First team in league history to record six straight 20-win seasons Third consecutive conference regular season championship First team in league history to record three straight outright regular season titles Champions of Top of the World Classic preseason tournament Champions of Hoosier Classic holiday tournament First Butler team to win to two regular season tournament titles in the same year First Butler regular season tournament title in 41 years Posted the best start in school history First Butler team to be ranked in the A.P. "Top 25" in 53 years Ranked as high as #20 in both the A.P. and USA Today/ESPN national polls First Butler team to win at Purdue in 49 years First team to beat Indiana in the 20-year history of the Hoosier Classic First Butler team to beat Indiana and Purdue in the same season in 53 years First Butler team to finish with an unbeaten non-conference record Posted a "Top 25" win over #21 Ball State on the road Tied second-longest winning streak in school history with season-opening 13-game win streak Tied ninth-longest winning streak in school history with eight-game streak in Jan.-Feb. Won nine of final 10 regular season contests Ranked in the top five in the nation in team scoring defense Ranked among the national leaders in winning percentage, winning margin and three-point field goals Ranked first in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (10.1) Led the nation in lowest margin of defeat (six losses by 19 points) First team in school history to post both pre-season and post-season tournament wins. |
