Butler-Wisconsin thread

A date in the Southeast Regional final is on the line when the Horizon League and Big Ten “go walking to New Orleans.”

Butler will make its fourth “Sweet 16” appearance in nine years. Butler’s last four NCAA Tournament games have been decided by two points or less, and the Bulldogs have played five games decided by two points or less in the last seven NCAA contests! The Bulldogs defeated Michigan State, 52-50, in last year’s NCAA Tournament semifinals and then fell to Duke, 61-59, in the national championship game. Butler also picked up a 54-52 victory over Murray State in the second round of last year’s tournament.

The Badgers are making their 17th appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Badgers are 23-15 (.605) all-time in the Big Dance, winning the 1941 NCAA title. The Badgers have been to each of the last 13 NCAA tournaments, including each of Bo Ryan’s 10 seasons at Wisconsin. Ryan’s teams own a 14-9 (.609) all-time record in the Big Dance. Wisconsin has advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time since 2000 and the fourth time under Bo Ryan. The Badgers also made Sweet 16 appearances in 2003 (losing to Kentucky) and 2008 (losing to Davidson), an Elite Eight appearance in 2005 (losing to North Carolina) and a Final Four appearance in 2000 (losing to Michigan State). The Badgers are making their 4th Sweet 16 appearance since 2003. Only fi ve schools — Duke (7), Kansas (6), UConn (5), Michigan State (5) and North Carolina (5) have made more trips to the Round of 16 more than Wisconsin over that span.

Notes courtesy of butlersports.com and uwbadgers.com

Badgers far from a flash in the pan

Badgers tournament central

No one dares to overlook Butler this year

Bulldogs, Badgers ready for battle

Taylor, teammates lead UW to Sweet 16

Probable Butler Starters
…………………………………………………………………..PPG….RPG
44 Andrew Smith 6-11 239 So.  …………………………8.9…. 5.4
54 Matt Howard 6-8 230 Sr.  ………………………….16.7…. 7.7
2 Shawn Vanzant 6-0 172 Sr.  …………………………….8.1…. 3.1
1 Shelvin Mack 6-3 215 Jr.  ……………………………….15.6 ….4.4
33 Chase Stigall 6-4 195 So.  ………………………………4.0….. 1.7

WISCONSIN’S PROBABLE STARTERS
No. Name …………………………..Pos. Yr. …………Pts.. Reb… Ast.
11 Jordan Taylor………………….. G… Jr…………. 18.1. 4.1… 4.7
21 Josh Gasser ………………………G.. Fr………….. 5.9 ..4.0… 2.3
24 Tim Jarmusz ……………………G/F Sr. ………….3.6.. 2.1… 1.2
30 Jon Leuer………………………… F.. Sr. …………18.6. 7.3…. 1.7
52 Keaton Nankivil………………… F… Sr………… 10.0.. 4.4… 0.7

TEAM STATISTICS                    BU          OPP
 --------------------------------------------------
 SCORING.................         2461         2197
   Points per game.......         72.4         64.6
   Scoring margin........         +7.8            -
 FIELD GOALS-ATT.........     843-1894     761-1768
   Field goal pct........         .445         .430
 3 POINT FG-ATT..........      258-715      210-631
   3-point FG pct........         .361         .333
   3-pt FG made per game.          7.6          6.2
 FREE THROWS-ATT.........      517-706      465-701
   Free throw pct........         .732         .663
   F-Throws made per game         15.2         13.7
 REBOUNDS................         1170         1070
   Rebounds per game.....         34.4         31.5
   Rebounding margin.....         +2.9            -
 ASSISTS.................          424          367
   Assists per game......         12.5         10.8
 TURNOVERS...............          377          435
   Turnovers per game....         11.1         12.8
   Turnover margin.......         +1.7            -
   Assist/turnover ratio.          1.1          0.8
 STEALS..................          203          181
   Steals per game.......          6.0          5.3
 BLOCKS..................           54           92
   Blocks per game.......          1.6          2.7
 ATTENDANCE..............       100486       121790
   Home games-Avg/Game...      14-7178      13-7785
   Neutral site-Avg/Game.            -       7-2940

 SCORE BY PERIODS:           1st  2nd   OT    Total
 -------------------------  ---- ---- ----     ----
 BUTLER...................  1195 1239   27  -  2461
 Opponents................   987 1168   42  -  2197

TEAM STATISTICS..................... UW...... OPP
SCORING ............................2256..... 1931
Points per game ....................68.4..... 58.5
Scoring margin .....................+9.8 -
FIELD GOALS-ATT ..................781-1752.. 686-1602
Field goal pct .................... 4 4 6 ... 4 2 8
3 POINT FG-ATT ...................271-715 ....174-466
3-point FG pct .................... 3 7 9 .... 3 7 3
3-pt FG made per game................ 8.2....... 5.3
FREE THROWS-ATT ...................423-514.... 385-516
Free throw pct .................... 8 2 3..... . 7 4 6
F-Throws made per game.............. 12.8....... 11.7
REBOUNDS ............................1057....... 931
Rebounds per game................... 32.0....... 28.2
Rebounding margin ...................+3.8 -
ASSISTS .............................433 .........318
Assists per game ...................13.1 .........9.6
TURNOVERS ...........................247 .........315
Turnovers per game ..................7.5 .........9.5
Turnover margin ....................+2.1 -
Assist/turnover ratio............... 1.8 .........1.0
STEALS ..............................114 .........125
Steals per game .....................3.5 .........3.8
BLOCKS ..............................102 ..........59
Blocks per game .....................3.1 ..........1.8
ATTENDANCE ........................275680 .......209000
Home games-Avg/Game ..............16-17230.... 11-14488
Neutral site-Avg/Game - 6-8272
Score by Periods........... 1st.......... 2nd...... OT... Totals
Wisconsin ..................1050......... 1189..... 17.... 2256
Opponents................... 876......... 1038..... 17.... 1931