A trip to Houston and the Final Four is on the line when the Horizon League throws down with the SEC.
For the second consecutive year and for the second time in school history, Butler has advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championships. The Bulldogs improved to 16-3 in the month of March in four seasons under head coach Brad Stevens. Butler has won 11 straight March games, since falling to LSU in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Butler is the third team in NCAA Tournament history to beat a No. 1 seed before the Final Four in consecutive years, and the first two were seeded third or higher. UCLA beat No. 1 seeds in 2006 and 2007 as a No. 2 seed, while Duke turned in wins over a top-seeded team in 1988, 1989 and 1990. The Blue Devils were a No. 2 seed in 1988 and 1989 and a No. 3 seed in 1990.
The University of Florida is 32-13 (.711) all-time in 16 NCAA Tournament appearances with titles in 2006 and 2007, while UF is 25-8 (.758) under head coach Billy Donovan. Florida is a No. 2 seed for the second time in school history. Florida has owned the better seed in its opening-round game in 10 of its last 11 appearances. Boosted by the strength of two NCAA Championships, Florida boasts the highest NCAA Tournament winning percentage all-time of any Southeastern Conference program. The Gators have won 71.1 percent (32-13) of their tournament games all-time. Kentucky ranks second all-time at 69.5 percent (105-46), while Auburn is third with a 60 percent winning percentage (12-8).
Notes courtesy of butlersports.com and gatorzone.com.
Gators and Bulldogs set for Elite Eight matchup
Butler has shown it belongs in the NCAA Tournament again and again
Experience has Florida, Butler in Elite Eight
Butler close to again crashing Final Four party
Butler coach Brad Stevens still learning even though team is on verge of 2nd straight Final Four
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
Florida’s probable starters
No. Name………………………….. Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr………….. PPG/RPG
25 Chandler Parsons…………….. F…. 6-9 218 Sr……….. 11.4/7.7
23 Alex Tyus ………………………..F…. 6-8 220 Sr……….. 8.6/5.7
32 Vernon Macklin ………………..C…. 6-10 240 RS Sr… 11.3/5.4
1 Kenny Boynton………………….. G….. 6-2 183 So. ……14.0/2.6
11 Erving Walker …………………..G…… 5-8 171 Jr. ……14.7/3.3
Statistical Comparison
Florida Category Butler
72.1 Points Per Game 72.4
63.0 Opp. Points Per Game 64.6
.465 Field Goal Percentage .445
.421 Opp. Field Goal Percentage .430
.355 3-Pt. Field Goal Percentage .361
.313 Opp. 3-Pt. Field Goal Percentage .333
.665 Free Throw Percentage .732
+5.9 Rebound Margin +2.9
6.4 3-Pts. Per Game 7.6
5.7 Opp. 3-Pts. Per Game 6.2
3.6 Blocks Per Game 1.6
6.0 Steals Per Game 6.0
14.2 Assists Per Game 12.5
12.4 Turnovers Per Game 11.1
12.5 Turnovers Forced Per Game 12.8
Stupid coaching by Donovan over the last 7 or so mins of regulation!!! They’re bread and butter this game was Macklin and Tyus down low which got em the 9 pt lead. So what do they do for the remainder of reg? Shoot long jumpers incl on the final play. Duh !!!!! If you lose in OT, just look in the mirror Donovan.
Boynton and Walker have had success as Parson from behind the arc throughout the tournament.
But they were awful today from long distance. The play design at 3 key junctures of this game by Florida all resulted in heaves from 28-29 ft when all they needed was a 2 pointer or to go to the FT line. Why they didn’t try to drive the lane and dish is beyond me. They gagged this one away totally and it was really stupidity and terrible coaching.
Parsons couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat today. And he NEVER followed his shot, which today constantly bounced right back to where he shot from.
Give credit to Butler and their defense. They made the adjustments late in the game. Yes, Macklin and Tyus carried them, but they weren’t getting much room in the final minutes. Butler’s perimeter defense made it difficult to make entry passes. Add in there some foul troubles for Macklin. Did Howard take two charges or was it just one?
I’ll give Butler credit and its nice to see them in the F4 again. BUT, Donovan’s coaching errors were egregious and yes the FLA players didn’t play very well down the stretch. But strategically, the SUCKED. Period.
Have you considered that it might be what one team does right as opposed to what another does wrong that decides the outcome of a game?
Yes.
Now let me ask you this simple question: with the score tied and Florida with the ball with 20+ seconds left at the end of the game, how did you like that play call?? Dribble up top, dribble, nothing , more dribble , nothing, 5 seconds dribble , shoot a 28 footer. Clank. Nicely designed, huh? Butler gets no credit for that at all!!!
Anyway, a 9 point lead with 7 min left is a gift … As long as you don’t #a@! It up, which is what FLA did. They mostly did it to themselves by ignoring what got them that nice lead. Yes, we’re in the bonus, so let’s shoot 20 ft jumpers for the rest of the game.
Coaches lose games, Casey. This is almost right up there with Brian Kelly’s refusal to simply kick the GW field goal vs Tulsa. So basically simple.
Is it the play call or the execution? It looked like Florida tried to run a high, ball screen, but the Bulldogs did a great job hedging and denying penetration into the paint.
Do you think there is any coincidence that Butler turned Wisconsin, the most efficient team on offense in the country, into a team that shot 30.4 percent from the field in the previous game?
Didn’t Wisconsin score like 33 points in a loss to Penn State 2 weeks ago?? Let’s not get carried away with the Butler worship. They’re a very good team and a nice Hoosiers story. But FLA handed them the game today.
From Florida’s post-game press conference:
Q. Alex seemed a little frustrated that the ball wasn’t going more in the post in the second half and overtime. Did you think the guards maybe looked away a little bit and settled a little for threes?
COACH DONOVAN: I don’t think so. I mean, Vernon had 27, 25 points. Alex had 14 points. I mean, they really did the bulk of our scoring. I think if you looked at our backcourt, Kenny Boynton only took nine shots. Going into the last shot there in overtime, he had eight shots. So I don’t feel that way. I think — you know, I think that Vernon we went to and he was able to score, and he did some good things. Alex made some plays, he offensive rebounded. I don’t think Alex has ever been a guy for us that we’ve just gone to him. He’s been a pick-and-pop guy, knocked down some shots, inside pivot, offensive rebounds, run the floor. That’s really how he scored his 19 points against BYU the other night, and that’s kind of what he does. But I think like anything else, those guys would like to impact the ball.
But give Butler credit because they really got out there in passing lanes hard. And we’ve got smaller guards and it made it harder for them to throw the ball in there. I was pleased with our balance offensively. I thought we had really, really good inside-outside action. I would have liked to have utilized Vernon a lot more in the second half but it was hard because he was in foul trouble.
And then really once we got into overtime at the end of regulation, because of his free throw situation we had to play Patric. And I think then a lot falls on Walker and Boynton to try to get in lane and try to make some plays. I thought Erving and Scottie a couple times drove it down and made some great dump down passes to Alex for some finishes around the basket.
That’s like Richard NIxon claiming: “I am not a crook.” Donovan was in denial … just like Nixon, just like Brian Kelly. We hear this all the time from coaches when they’re second-guessed … “I would do the exact same thing over again in that situation”.
More from the post-game press conference:
Q. Chandler and Erving never seemed to really get in a rhythm of the game. Do you think somehow that the fact that they were such a low post team in the first half that maybe that worked against them finding their rhythm?
COACH DONOVAN: I think the one thing you have to do in order to be a really good team is you have to have balance. You know, and in the BYU game, they sold out on Vernon Macklin on every post catch. They sold out on him. So he had to be a post passer.
This was a game where they decided to take our perimeter away, and you’ve got to throw the ball inside to Vernon and you’ve got to let him score. I don’t think he’s had — maybe he has, I shouldn’t say this, but he had 25 points. I mean, he’s not a guy that averages a lot of points. He did a heck of a job tonight when we needed to throw the ball to him.
I thought the other thing, too, the biggest differential in the game, and I’ve said this before, we did as good of a job I think you can do guarding the three-point line in terms of their percentages. They took a lot against us. But we really struggled and even if we could have made a couple more because what happens is the game is going on, we didn’t — Erving Walker was 1 for 10, and he’s been such a clutch shooter for us. But I did think — I thought our guys threw the ball inside and I thought we needed to do that.
Again, I think if you looked down at the stats sheet and Vernon Macklin’s 6 for 6 and Walker and Boynton are — both of them are 3 for 16, then you look at the shot distribution there, it’s pretty, pretty evenly balanced the right way. I mean, in the game Vernon Macklin and Alex Tyus took the most shots for our team, and that’s kind of what you want to do.
Erving Walker made a big three for us. He also had a couple of drives when the ball didn’t do go in the basket. We created some good looks in the first half that didn’t go in. I thought Kenny Boynton really played within himself. He was 5 for 9 from the field, he shot over 50 percent.
You know, I thought, like I said earlier, the loose ball situation, the fact that they got to the free-throw line five more times than they did. And if you look down at a huge stat on the stat sheet, they had 16 offensive rebounds to our eight, and that offensive rebounding by Marshall, by Howard, by Smith, it ultimately — when you get into those situations where the game is coming down to the wire like that and it’s one-possession games, anything can happen. And you’re in a position to win it, you’re in a position to lose it.
ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb raked Donovan over the coals this morning. Same observations I had.
While he was at it, did Gottlieb turn water into wine?
He did, but later admitted he had been staying at a Holiday Inn Express.
Good line, that last one, Wally!