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Butler (33-4) vs. Duke (34-5)
FACTS & STATS: Site: Lucas Oil Stadium (71,300) -- Indianapolis, Indiana. Television: CBS. NCAA Tournament Record: Butler 13-9, Duke 93-30. Series Record: Duke leads, 1-0.
GAME NOTES: It all comes down to this. One game to decide the NCAA Division I men's basketball championship, as the nation's darlings, the Butler Bulldogs, take on the mighty Duke Blue Devils tonight in Indianapolis.
Butler, the No. 5 seed out of the West Region, is riding a 25-game win streak dating back to a December 22nd loss at UAB, and the Bulldogs have knocked off UTEP, Murray State, Syracuse, Kansas State and Michigan State to reach their first-ever NCAA Championship Game.
Butler is led by 33-year-old coach Brad Stevens, who has amassed an eye- popping 89-14 record in his three years at the helm, setting a new Division I standard for the most wins in his first three years. The Bulldogs went 18-0 in the Horizon League this season, and won the conference tournament as well. Their 33 wins on the year is both a school and league record.
Butler, one of only four teams to hold their first five NCAA Tournament opponents below 60 points, has won 118 games over the past four seasons to set a school and Horizon League mark for most wins in a four-year period. The Bulldogs are playing in their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament and their seventh in the past decade, and they own an all-time tourney record of 13-9 (6-2 under Stevens).
Duke, which is playing in its 34th NCAA Tournament and has won three national titles (1991, 1992, 2001), is making its 10th Championship Game appearance. The Blue Devils, who are an impressive 34-5 on the year, won both the ACC regular-season (shared with Maryland) and tournament titles, thus earning their 11th No. 1 seed all-time in this event.
The Blue Devils, who have won an NCAA-best 64 games over the past two seasons, are coached by Mike Krzyzewski, who is the winningest coach in NCAA Tournament history (76-22). Coach K's club took care of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, California, Purdue, Baylor and West Virginia to get to this point. Duke is 13-4 this season against teams that made the NCAA Tournament, and it has won 12 straight neutral-site affairs. The Blue Devils are 20-1 on a neutral court over the past two seasons.
Duke and Butler have met just one time previously, with the Blue Devils prevailing in an 80-60 verdict in Durham, North Carolina on January 30, 2003.
Butler's strength during its record-setting season, and in particular during this tournament, has been its play at the defensive end of the court. Foes have found it difficult to score easy baskets, as the Bulldogs swarm to the ball better than most. Case in point, BU logged 12 steals in the Final Four victory over Michigan State (52-50) -- just one shy of its season high. It was the second time in this tourney that the Bulldogs came up with a dozen steals, doing so against Syracuse as well.
Butler had a rough shooting night on Saturday against Michigan State, hitting a mere 30.6 percent of its field goal attempts, which included a dismal 5- of-21 effort from three-point range. But what the Bulldogs lacked in [offensive] bite, they more than made up for with defensive tenacity, limiting the Spartans to 22 points in the second half. BU outscored MSU off turnovers, 20-2, and Gordon Hayward led the Bulldogs with 19 points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Shelvin Mack added 14 points for Butler, which claimed a 17-10 edge in points from the foul line.
Coach Stevens, while obviously pleased with the outcome, knows his team can't shoot the ball the way it did on Saturday and hope to win tonight's game.
"Well, obviously I didn't think 15 for 49 was a great way to approach the game, and I never would have dreamed we would have won if we shot 15 for 49. But our guys did a great job defending in the last 30 minutes of the game. Really locked on, made it difficult," Stevens stated. "We had a lot of guys that had to dig in and did a great job. You know, this team and this program has been built on guys ready to come in and contribute to the good of the team. It makes me proud to be their coach."
Starting forward Matt Howard suffered a head injury on Saturday, and he will be a game-time decision. Otherwise, the Bulldogs are poised to play their brand of basketball in hopes of earning the school's first national title.
Stevens is well aware of the press his team, and the university, are receiving, and he has embraced it.
"You know, this is all about promoting Butler. That's my job. That's our players. Came to be part of a special program," Stevens continued. "You know, we've talked about this a little bit last week. We might not have believed it when we said it, you know, in our first team meeting in the fall, but, you know, if we focus and do our jobs, then why can't we play for a national championship? That's been our focus all along."
Save for a seven-point win over Baylor, Duke's road to the title tilt has been a relatively easy one. The Blue Devils hammered West Virginia on Saturday night, 78-57, getting 23 points from Jon Scheyer, 21 from Kyle Singler and 19 from Nolan Smith. Brian Zoubek grabbed 10 rebounds, and Singler another nine for Duke, which shot 52.7 percent from the field, nailing 13 three-pointers along the way. The Blue Devils held the Mountaineers to 41.3 percent field goal accuracy, and dished out 20 assists while committing only six turnovers.
Like its counterpart tonight, Duke's play at the defensive end has been exemplary in the tournament, yielding a mere 56.4 ppg and allowing foes to shoot just 27.6 percent from three-point range.
Coach Krzyzewski touted his team's effort after the win over West Virginia.
"Our team played really well tonight. Thought our defense was outstanding. Our care for the ball was excellent, to get 20 assists and only six turnovers," Krzyzewski remarked. "All three of our perimeter guys had outstanding shooting games. So I thought we were difficult to guard as a result of that. And we guarded well. Zoubek really asserted himself on the board. Some of his offensive rebounds really turned into, you know, big plays for us when he kicked it out. So, you know, we beat a really good team. And I thought we played an outstanding game."
Smith knows that he and his teammates will have a dogfight on their hands tonight.
"People are calling Butler the Cinderella and, of course, Duke the big-time program. But it's going to be a fight," Smith said. "You know, both teams are very good. I just can't wait to play."
Coach K added that it will be his job to make sure his team knows the Bulldogs aren't just some little-known program that has caught lightning in a bottle.
"They'll [his player] find it very intriguing after we give them the scouting report and tell them they've won 25 in a row," Krzyzewski stated.
Are these the two best teams in the country? Maybe, maybe not. The bottom line is these are the two that have navigated the treacherous waters of NCAA Tournament play successfully to this point. That said, both play stingy defense, but whether the Bulldogs have what it takes to keep up with the Blue Devils out on the perimeter remains to be seen.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Duke 65, Butler 59
FACTS & STATS: Site: Lucas Oil Stadium (71,300) -- Indianapolis, Indiana. Television: CBS. NCAA Tournament Record: Butler 13-9, Duke 93-30. Series Record: Duke leads, 1-0.
GAME NOTES: It all comes down to this. One game to decide the NCAA Division I men's basketball championship, as the nation's darlings, the Butler Bulldogs, take on the mighty Duke Blue Devils tonight in Indianapolis.
Butler, the No. 5 seed out of the West Region, is riding a 25-game win streak dating back to a December 22nd loss at UAB, and the Bulldogs have knocked off UTEP, Murray State, Syracuse, Kansas State and Michigan State to reach their first-ever NCAA Championship Game.
Butler is led by 33-year-old coach Brad Stevens, who has amassed an eye- popping 89-14 record in his three years at the helm, setting a new Division I standard for the most wins in his first three years. The Bulldogs went 18-0 in the Horizon League this season, and won the conference tournament as well. Their 33 wins on the year is both a school and league record.
Butler, one of only four teams to hold their first five NCAA Tournament opponents below 60 points, has won 118 games over the past four seasons to set a school and Horizon League mark for most wins in a four-year period. The Bulldogs are playing in their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament and their seventh in the past decade, and they own an all-time tourney record of 13-9 (6-2 under Stevens).
Duke, which is playing in its 34th NCAA Tournament and has won three national titles (1991, 1992, 2001), is making its 10th Championship Game appearance. The Blue Devils, who are an impressive 34-5 on the year, won both the ACC regular-season (shared with Maryland) and tournament titles, thus earning their 11th No. 1 seed all-time in this event.
The Blue Devils, who have won an NCAA-best 64 games over the past two seasons, are coached by Mike Krzyzewski, who is the winningest coach in NCAA Tournament history (76-22). Coach K's club took care of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, California, Purdue, Baylor and West Virginia to get to this point. Duke is 13-4 this season against teams that made the NCAA Tournament, and it has won 12 straight neutral-site affairs. The Blue Devils are 20-1 on a neutral court over the past two seasons.
Duke and Butler have met just one time previously, with the Blue Devils prevailing in an 80-60 verdict in Durham, North Carolina on January 30, 2003.
Butler's strength during its record-setting season, and in particular during this tournament, has been its play at the defensive end of the court. Foes have found it difficult to score easy baskets, as the Bulldogs swarm to the ball better than most. Case in point, BU logged 12 steals in the Final Four victory over Michigan State (52-50) -- just one shy of its season high. It was the second time in this tourney that the Bulldogs came up with a dozen steals, doing so against Syracuse as well.
Butler had a rough shooting night on Saturday against Michigan State, hitting a mere 30.6 percent of its field goal attempts, which included a dismal 5- of-21 effort from three-point range. But what the Bulldogs lacked in [offensive] bite, they more than made up for with defensive tenacity, limiting the Spartans to 22 points in the second half. BU outscored MSU off turnovers, 20-2, and Gordon Hayward led the Bulldogs with 19 points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Shelvin Mack added 14 points for Butler, which claimed a 17-10 edge in points from the foul line.
Coach Stevens, while obviously pleased with the outcome, knows his team can't shoot the ball the way it did on Saturday and hope to win tonight's game.
"Well, obviously I didn't think 15 for 49 was a great way to approach the game, and I never would have dreamed we would have won if we shot 15 for 49. But our guys did a great job defending in the last 30 minutes of the game. Really locked on, made it difficult," Stevens stated. "We had a lot of guys that had to dig in and did a great job. You know, this team and this program has been built on guys ready to come in and contribute to the good of the team. It makes me proud to be their coach."
Starting forward Matt Howard suffered a head injury on Saturday, and he will be a game-time decision. Otherwise, the Bulldogs are poised to play their brand of basketball in hopes of earning the school's first national title.
Stevens is well aware of the press his team, and the university, are receiving, and he has embraced it.
"You know, this is all about promoting Butler. That's my job. That's our players. Came to be part of a special program," Stevens continued. "You know, we've talked about this a little bit last week. We might not have believed it when we said it, you know, in our first team meeting in the fall, but, you know, if we focus and do our jobs, then why can't we play for a national championship? That's been our focus all along."
Save for a seven-point win over Baylor, Duke's road to the title tilt has been a relatively easy one. The Blue Devils hammered West Virginia on Saturday night, 78-57, getting 23 points from Jon Scheyer, 21 from Kyle Singler and 19 from Nolan Smith. Brian Zoubek grabbed 10 rebounds, and Singler another nine for Duke, which shot 52.7 percent from the field, nailing 13 three-pointers along the way. The Blue Devils held the Mountaineers to 41.3 percent field goal accuracy, and dished out 20 assists while committing only six turnovers.
Like its counterpart tonight, Duke's play at the defensive end has been exemplary in the tournament, yielding a mere 56.4 ppg and allowing foes to shoot just 27.6 percent from three-point range.
Coach Krzyzewski touted his team's effort after the win over West Virginia.
"Our team played really well tonight. Thought our defense was outstanding. Our care for the ball was excellent, to get 20 assists and only six turnovers," Krzyzewski remarked. "All three of our perimeter guys had outstanding shooting games. So I thought we were difficult to guard as a result of that. And we guarded well. Zoubek really asserted himself on the board. Some of his offensive rebounds really turned into, you know, big plays for us when he kicked it out. So, you know, we beat a really good team. And I thought we played an outstanding game."
Smith knows that he and his teammates will have a dogfight on their hands tonight.
"People are calling Butler the Cinderella and, of course, Duke the big-time program. But it's going to be a fight," Smith said. "You know, both teams are very good. I just can't wait to play."
Coach K added that it will be his job to make sure his team knows the Bulldogs aren't just some little-known program that has caught lightning in a bottle.
"They'll [his player] find it very intriguing after we give them the scouting report and tell them they've won 25 in a row," Krzyzewski stated.
Are these the two best teams in the country? Maybe, maybe not. The bottom line is these are the two that have navigated the treacherous waters of NCAA Tournament play successfully to this point. That said, both play stingy defense, but whether the Bulldogs have what it takes to keep up with the Blue Devils out on the perimeter remains to be seen.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Duke 65, Butler 59
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