In even more improbable fashion than last year, Butler reaches Final Four

The run Butler made last year to the NCAA championship game will always be special. It was this generation's ultimate college hoops Cinderella story.

This run, though, is much more impressive.

It was roughly eight weeks ago when the Bulldogs suffered a shocking 62-60 road loss to Horizon League cellar dweller Youngstown State. They were 14-9 at that point and a disappointing 5-5 in conference play.

Now, they've once again reaffirmed the notion that, no matter where they are in the NCAA tournament field, you can never count against Butler.

They trailed Florida by 11 with 9:25 left on Saturday in New Orleans, forced overtime and scored clutch bucket after clutch bucket en route to a 74-71 win and their second Final Four berth in as many years.

Boyish-looking Brad Stevens turned himself into a top young sideline prospect last season, but this year truly proved just how strong of an all-around coach he actually is.

After that embarrassing early February loss in Ohio, Butler regrouped when many were ready to write them off for good as a one-hit wonder. Despite a hot finish to the regular season, it was still no guarantee that they'd make the NCAA tourney again without winning the Horizon League tournament.

Saturday marked their 13th consecutive victory, and now they'll book a trip to Houston, awaiting the winner of Sunday's Elite Eight contest between Kansas and upstart VCU.

A year ago, despite having never been on college basketball's biggest stage, the Bulldogs were on everyone's radar well before the NCAA tournament. They only lost four regular season games, blitzed through the Horizon League unscathed and earned a 5-seed.

After that magical month, the guy who nearly provided the greatest shot in college basketball history — sophomore forward Gordon Hayward — wisely left school early to be a lottery pick in June's NBA draft. He was their leading scorer (15.5 ppg) and rebounder (8.2 rpg). Returning three starters in 2010-11 didn't look nearly as impressive as it normally would without guys like Hayward and glue guy Willie Veasley.

Despite not losing again after the debacle at Youngstown State, they were set up for early failure in the NCAAs this time around as an 8-seed, drawing a hot Old Dominion squad in their opener — who they ousted on a Matt Howard buzzer-beater — then having to meet No. 1 seed Pitt two days later. We all know by now what happened there.

And they're still finding ways to survive.

During the postgame handshake between Stevens and Florida's Billy Donovan, the Butler coach could be seen on camera telling Donovan "You out-coached me."

Even if he did, the incredible contributions from the thinner-than-a-year-ago Bulldogs were symbolic of how they cleared hurdles all season long.

• Star guard Shelvin Mack overcame a first half ankle injury, then a cut over his left eye en route to a game-high 27 points. That heroic performance included a monster 3-pointer with just over a minute left in OT that gave Butler the lead for good.

• Their ultimate push back from a double-digit deficit was sparked by little-used reserve guard Chrishawn Hopkins, who in a short second half stint provided a 3-pointer and an outstanding assist on a Howard lay-up.

• They got a crucial and-one score 90 seconds into OT by freshman forward Khyle Marshall — A Sunshine State native who felt spurned by UF during his recruitment. He finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Butler's reserves provided 23 points while Florida's chipped in only two.

• Starting big men Howard and Andrew Smith were abused in the first half — and the start of the second — by Florida's athletic duo of Alex Tyus and Vernon Macklin. But Butler's towers came up with more key hustle plays down the stretch, ultimately overcoming a physical disadvantage.

Stevens is again a rumored target of many larger programs looking to fill head coaching vacancies, but for him to go anywhere other than one of the nation's truly elite spots would just be senseless. He's at the wheel of college basketball's top little-program-that-could — One which has now become a March must-watch, no matter who the opponent is. He'd likely face ridiculously high expectations anywhere else, setting himself up too easily for failure.

The Bulldogs are 9-1 in their last 10 NCAA tournament games, which makes for a two-year run that only a few programs have ever experienced, and if it never gets better than this for Stevens at Butler, so be it.

One thing that the two Final Four runs have in common is that in both instances, Butler heads into the season's final weekend with no pressure. No one expected them to be there anyway.

No matter who rounds out the Final Four field, Butler will likely head to Houston as the absolute underdog.

So what?

Ryan Greene also covers UNLV and the Mountain West Conference for the Las Vegas Sun. Read his Rebels coverage and follow him on Twitter.

Related: Butler Bulldogs

View the original article here

Florida coach’s advice ultimately helps Butler into the Final Four

When Butler started the season 4-4, coach Brad Stevens looked to his coaching friends for help.

He was in uncharted territory. He'd never come off a national championship appearance and been so highly rated to start the year. The Bulldogs played a tough early schedule, which included Louisville, Duke and Xavier, and it wasn't handling the pressure or hype very well.

So Stevens turned to Florida coach Billy Donovan, whose Gators had played in back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. Little did Donovan know that his pep talk would not only get Butler out of its funk -- it's gone on to win 23 of its last 28 games -- but that it would also ultimately help the Bulldogs knock the Gators out of the NCAA tournament.

Butler defeated Florida 74-71 in overtime to notch their second consecutive trip to the Final Four.

"I was just asking him what it was like to go and come off of those national championship game appearances and he's had a lot more than we have," Stevens said in the interview with CBS that was taped Friday. "Certainly there's something to be said about a person who's been through that and understands what that target feels like. "

Neither Donovan nor Stevens got into any of the specifics of the conversation and I doubt that Donovan pointed out any of the current weaknesses of his program that could have helped Butler to Saturday's win. But it's interesting that what was an innocuous conversation in December ended up playing a pivotal role in Butler's confidence heading into the tournament and the game, and probably gave Stevens enough confidence to help lead his team to yet another improbable win.

"My responsibility as a coach is to try and help other people," Donovan said during the interview. "I love talking back and forth. I don't know if I helped Brad or not. He's done a great job with his team."

Related: Butler Bulldogs

View the original article here

Horizon League, Butler highlight start of conference tourneys

As the Horizon League championship gets underway Tuesday, there's a little more pressure on the conference than there has been in past years thanks to Butler's miraculous run to the NCAA Tournament final a year ago.

That improbable final matchup against Duke, which was a missed Hail Mary 3-pointer away from being one of the most historic upsets in Tournament history, set the Horizon League apart from other mid-majors and makes it the centerpiece as college basketball's most exciting time begins.

And once again, Butler is at its core, but not necessarily as the darling, but rather as a team that could miss the tournament after it's one shining moment a year ago.

Unlike two of the past four seasons, the Bulldogs might not have the credentials to get into the NCAA Tournament without winning its conference tournament title and might be sweating it out with the rest of the bubble teams come Selection Sunday.

It's not like Butler hasn't done its best to erase its poor 4-4 start to the season, which might be the determining factor when the final bracket is set. Winners of their last seven games, the Bulldogs finished the season 21-9 and locked in a three-way tie -- the first in conference history -- with Milwaukee and Cleveland State. With the exception of a two-point win against Green Bay, Butler has handled its competition relatively easily.

But Butler isn't exactly getting help from teams from the Big Six conferences. Some teams who are shoo-ins for the NCAA Tournament have had key losses to expand the proverbial bubble, making the notion of the Horizon League getting two teams into the tournament a lot of hot air.

Butler has been in this position before. In 2009 and 2007, the Bulldogs finished runner-up in their league tournament, but won the regular season championship and earned an at-large bid because of its success for the bulk of the season. This year's numbers are the most appealing of all the Horizon League teams. Butler is 21-9 with an RPI of 47. And while it has no wins over the RPI Top 25, it is 3-3 against the RPI Top 50 and 5-4 against the Top 100.

Even though Butler has the history and the credentials -- it's been to the NCAA Tournament every year since 2007 -- it's Milwaukee that's carrying the torch for the Horizon League this week. The Panthers clinched the No. 1 seed after an overtime win over Youngstown State last Saturday, marking the team's ninth consecutive win. But both teams earned a double bye, which automatically put both of them into the semifinals in opposing brackets.

Rest assured that both teams would love to meet each other with a spot in the NCAA Tournament on the line. Butler lost to Milwaukee in both meetings, including an 86-80 overtime loss back on Jan. 23, which ultimately cost the Bulldogs the top seed in the conference tournament. 

But Butler's ready to make a potential third game count. According to Milwaukee fan blog PantherU, in the waining seconds of Butler's 63-56 win against Loyola on Saturday, Bulldogs guard Shelvin Mack went to the scorers table and asked the final score of the Milwaukee game to see if his team had any chance at the league top tournament seed.

But the obsession with Milwaukee did not end there. After the game, during the senior day festivities, assistant coach Matt Graves, filling in for Brad Stevens, who left the game during the first half with an irritated eye (don't worry, he's OK), took the microphone and threw down the challenge hammer to the Bulldogs' rival.

"We're gunning for Milwaukee," Graves said to the cheering crowd while talking about the tournament. "We're coming there to getcha."

View the original article here