Butler Basketball

Every expert on ESPN picked Duke.

Every one of them was quoted as saying something to the effect of “For Butler to stay close…” The underdog playing at home, the Bulldogs of Butler, had more than just the outside chance they were given, and they proved it.

They matched Duke nearly point for point, staying close with physical defense and timely shot-making. The championship game was one for the ages. It was epic; a battle that was more than edge-of-your seat thrilling.

Butler used the long-ball early to hang with Duke, and even while getting sparse production from the last two Horizon League players of the year, Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward, they gritted it out to keep the deficit slim.

The Blue Devils defense was tight, so it hurt considerably when the Bulldogs missed inside shot after inside shot.

It seemed the lack of execution would bite them quickly, given Duke’s offensive arsenal, but no such thing took place. They fought and fought, and fought some more, proving they were not deserving of the underdog label.

The Bulldogs were within one at the break behind the play of power forward Avery Jukes. He had 11 points in the previous eight games and came in averaging three points on the season. Jukes scored 10 of their last 12 points to help them out of a six-point hole.

The closeness continued in the second half and Howard and Hayward started to heat up for Butler. The duo scored 18 of their 27 points, but most came from the free-throw line, meaning Duke’s defense would not allow many field goals.

The matchup between two very similar teams was a grueling one. Both played incredible defense, but the Blue Devils’ particularly stood out.

If the Bulldogs scored, it was a hard-earned two points. Hayward and Howard were swarmed; a watchful eye was on all five Butler players, both inside and outside, at all times.

On the other end, Duke had a few easy baskets, mainly attributed to the offensive rebounding of center Brian Zoubek. Still, the Bulldogs matched the Blue Devils, and the game remained within two points for the remainder.

What a finish it was. Butler was behind by five at the two-minute mark, 60-55, and milked some clock on their ensuing possession. They were rewarded for their patience, as a nice feed by Hayward set up a layup by Howard.

Their defense did the job, forcing a heavily contested missed layup by Nolan Smith. A quick three-pointer by Shelvin Mack in transition missed, but Howard was there to fend off Zoubek and clean the boards.

After once again staying poised, the Bulldogs methodical offense paid dividends, as this time Mack found Howard for the layup, trimming the deficit to one, 60-59, with 54 seconds remaining.

Duke forward Kyle Singler created some space in the middle of the lane and attempted a fall-away 10-footer with 38 ticks on the clock, but the shot was short and fell into the hands of a leaping Ronald Nored.

Butler frantically passed the ball around before calling a timeout with 13 seconds remaining. They would have the chance to win what was already one of the best championship games in NCAA history. The ball was in the right player’s hands to complete their unbelievable tournament run: Hayward.

Their star dribbled through traffic, matriculated through the lane, and did his best to create space for a potential go-ahead dagger.

He found himself on the left baseline and, falling away as to try to evade the outstretched hand of Zoubek, followed through in a mid-range jumper that looked good until it fell off the rim and into the arms of Zoubek.

The center was immediately fouled with three seconds remaining. He made the first, stretching the Blue Devils lead to two, but missed the second. Hayward grabbed the rebound and rushed upcourt.

Singler was trailing, but not for long, as Howard laid a devastating pick on the Oregon-native. The clock neared a second to play when Hayward lunged off one foot at the three-point line. There was an anxious silence as the ball traveled towards the hoop.

With every revolution, the more I thought ‘this may have a chance!’ Holding my breath, I watched along with the millions of others rooting for the little school from Indianapolis hoping.

It was dead-on with the basket, hit hard off the backboard, curled around the left side of the rim, and off. That was it. Game over. 

Duke had won the National Championship.

Butler did not lose, however. They just didn’t score more points than the Blue Devils. They gave it their best shot, and what a shot it was, sticking with a team that every basketball fan with sound ethics was rooting for to lose.

Duke won, but Butler, making their first championship game appearance, will never be forgotten.

As a fan, I learned not only about Hayward, Howard, Mack, Nored, Jukes, Shawn Vansant, and 33-year old head coach Brad Stevens, but a little-known team that had everything necessary to compete with the best and win a national title.

Sadly, they just came up two points short.

I was asked by a friend if perhaps Butler was just another mid-major that got "lucky" like George Mason, didn't end up winning the whole thing and were remembered as just a "Cinderella" from that particular year.

Now while part of it may be true, (George Mason ended up losing to eventual champion Florida in the Final Four, which also happened to be in Indianapolis) there is good reason to believe that Butler just might be in the mix of things for some time.

Even with Avery Jukes and Willie Veasley graduating, the Bulldogs might still have that "star" power with them in 2011. If Butler can get Gordon Hayward to return, he would be joined by pretty much the same team in Forward Matt Howard and Guards Shelvin Mack and Ronald Nored. Throw in freshman-to-be Khyle Marshall (Davie, FL) and the Bulldogs could have a pretty scary squad next year. Plus, you never know which bench players could step up and ignite a squad which has 0 McDonald's All-American's but still manages to beat the toughest of opponents.

Butler also has one of the hottest coaches in the country right now in Brad Stevens. He has a career coaching record of 89-15 in only 3 seasons. If he decides to stick around for a while, you might just see that "0" next to "McDonald's All-American's" change. Heck, if Isiah "Thompson" (FIU AD mispronounced Isiah Thomas's name during press conference) can go for a 7-25 season and still manage to recruit players like Dominique Ferguson, I think Stevens could do some damage in the Hoosier state.

Now, because of Butlers run being so deep this year, while most teams with coaching vacancies have been in the process of looking to hire a new one, Butler might have been able to relax for a little. But according to The Indianapolis Star, "Butler cant afford to award Stevens, or anyone else, a $1 million salary package," the Indianapolis Star reported almost exactly one year ago. "What it can do is extend his contract, which the university announced today. After extending his pact a year ago through 2014-15, another season has been added, through 2015-16." Oregon is reportedly seeking to hire Stevens, with Eugene Register-Guard columnist George Schroeder saying "All indications are the Ducks are going after Brad Stevens -- which would be a very good hire."

With the coaching matter aside, remember that Butler is also in the Horizon league, respectfully, where they went 18-0 this year, 49-5 since Stevens's arrival. Not to bring down the level of competition, but the Horizon League is NO ACC or Big East, but they still have some quality teams in there to keep Butler awake along with a Non-Conference schedule that will probably be interesting to see next year.

While they might not make it to the championship (who was saying the same thing last year at this time?) , Butler is DEFINITELY going to be a team to keep a close eye on come next year, not just a school that will be remembered forever as "Butler from 2009".

The clock struck midnight for the Butler Bulldogs Monday, as the Duke Blue Devils were able to pull out a 61-59 victory in the NCAA men's basketball national championship game.

Or has it?

I'm probably one of the world's most ardent Duke haters, and I'm not even a North Carolina fan. I still have to hand it to a group of good basketball players who toughed out one of the greatest games we've ever seen.

But to be honest, the Butler Bulldogs may have been the true winners of this tournament in the long run.

Here's a look at some factors to consider.

1) Recruiting

Butler has already been recruiting well for the past decade, bringing in quality teams left and right. They have been doing quite well within the state of Indiana, bringing in the likes of Gordon Hayward and Matt Howard. They've even done better than Indiana the past few years.

But this game, this EXPOSURE, takes that base to a whole new level.

How good will this look on a pamphlet or in a living room chat for Brad Stevens in the future: runner-up for national championship, top-10 preseason ranking, young talent base, play in one of the most historic arenas in the NCAA with Hinkle Fieldhouse, great student body, and a (possibly) growing athletic budget for facilities and travel. That would probably attract me.

2) Gordon Hayward, Matt Howard, and Shelvin Mack

These guys have tasted victory. They were only three points away from winning the national championship. They're going to be hungrier than ever.

This leaves me to believe that none of these guys will be taking early leave to begin their NBA careers. Howard probably won't even get to play in the NBA. Hayward and Mack are rising stars that have bright futures.

The wisest thing for these kids to do is STAY IN SCHOOL. These three have one more year together, and with the talent that Butler has on the bench getting ready to replace the seniors of the squad, Butler should be in competition for another title next year.

P.S. It took Milan two years to win one too.

3) Brad Stevens

He's the hottest commodity on the market. Every power six school in need of a coach will want him. He's a great recruiter and leader on the floor.

That's exactly why Butler is the place for him. Stevens is good enough to coach anywhere he wants, but he doesn't have to. His recruiting skills will now be used to appeal to big-name recruits across the country, not just in Indiana.

More than anything, we could be seeing the rise of a future great here. Stevens has the basketball intelligence, personality, recruiting ability, and leadership to lead Butler into the future.

4) Gonzaga

You may ask how the Gonzaga Bulldogs have any correlation with the rise of Butler. Well, here it is: Gonzaga has been there, done that already.

You can see many similarities between the two programs' rises. Gonzaga went into a tournament, had a boatload of success, began to recruit, and have become a power program outside of the power six. Butler can do the same thing.

Something else Gonzaga's rise did? It shaped up the West Coast Conference. The WCC is not a power six conference, so a lot of people didn't take it very seriously. But after Gonzaga rose to prominence, the rest of the WCC had catching up to do. They had to work harder and find new recruiting grounds to compete.

The result has been St. Mary's reaching the Sweet 16 this season and probably having more success in the future.

The same will apply to the Horizon League. Wright State is already a respectable team, and Cleveland State has been good in the past. With Butler suddenly rising to prominence, could we see a repeat of the Gonzaga situation? Not only is it possible, I believe it's going to happen.

As we look back in five to 10 years, we will see a new landscape in the NCAA. New powers will have risen, and powers rising now will have established themselves. Could we see Butler being not only a champion, but a repeat champion?

Stranger things have happened.

Matt Howard, the 6'8" junior center for Butler, will play in tonight's National Championship game against Duke.

After suffering two blows to the head in Saturday's semifinal against Michigan State, Howard was forced to leave the game with what head coach Brad Stevens called the "mildest of concussions."

All indications yesterday were that Howard seemed like he would be fine even though he was forced to sit out of practice, but concussions are tricky injuries to diagnose and require extreme caution. Stevens stressed yesterday that if there was any health risk that Howard would not be allowed to take the floor.

Hours after the team's shootaround earlier this afternoon, however, the team doctors gave Howard the thumbs up to play tonight as long as he remains symptom free.

Howard's presence on the floor should be critical for Butler, which is a 6.5 point underdog to Duke and looking to pull off a historic national championship for a mid-major school.

The junior is the team's third leading scorer and their only real interior frontcourt presence on a roster with no player in the main rotation over 6'9".

Facing off against a Duke team with four players that are 6'10" or taller, including standout 7'1" senior center Brian Zoubek, the Bulldogs will need every big body they can put under the basket for defense and for offensive rebounding.

While Howard will start the game, he will still need to keep himself on the court. That has been a problem throughout the tournament as he has gotten himself into early foul trouble in every game aside from the first round contest against UTEP and has barely managed to play in 20 minutes each game.

Nevertheless, the junior will have a chance to play in the biggest game of his life tonight and perhaps redeem himself for what has been a bit of a disappointing tournament on personal level despite his team's success.

Every dog has his day. Unfortunately for the Butler Bulldogs, today is not that day.

The Whatifsports.com college basketball simulation engines "played" the 2010 NCAA championship game 2,000 times, and it predicted the Duke Blue Devils will win 81 percent of the time.

If you had told Butler head coach Brad Stevens three weeks ago he'd have a 19-percent chance to cut down the nets seven miles down the road from his home gym, he'd probably take that action.

So, there are the numbers crunched, but not the end of the story.

2010 NCAA Championship Game 2000 Simulations
Matchup	Win%	Avg Score
Butler Bulldogs	18.7	67	Boxscore
@ Duke Blue Devils	81.3	76

Easter Sunday I had to get out of the city, so I took a trip north searching for a coffee shop to get some work done on my computer. Driving down a main stretch of road, I kept telling myself there had to be a coffee shop around here somewhere. Mile after mile, tree-lined green space acted as my guide while I traveled outside the city limits.

I was lost.

I purposely avoided typing my hopeful destination into my GPS because in my world it seems as if Wi-Fi is available around every corner. These are the northern suburbs of Indianapolis, where it does not.

Eventually I decided to make a sharp right into a part of town where business seemed inevitable. Two blocks later, surrounded by houses built in the early part of the 20th century, it hit me.

I was on Butler's campus. What are the odds? Five to one?

Driving around the small, quaint university, the campus seemed to welcome me with open arms. I felt for a brief moment like I should have attended college here. It was homey, and I was blanketed in a coat of comfort.

Two left turns later, Hinkle Fieldhouse appeared before me. It's a high school gymnasium in essence from the outside. Inside, well, Hinkle's core description will have to wait for another day. It's closed on Sundays.

The time had come to drive away from Butler University and reach the destination I set out to reach in the first place.

About 15 minutes outside of BU I finally found my coffee shop. I started prepping for this article when a woman walked into the caffeine haven and sat down next to me.

She was in her mid to late 50s, and the aches and pains of a bad back had forced her to rely on the assistance of a walker. Hunched over and full of vigor, she ordered a coffee with an extra shot of espresso when she asked what I was doing.

I found out her name was Jacqueline and that she was a violinist. At one time she played for a living, and now she teaches lessons to pay the bills. Oh, and she loves basketball.

Jacqui proceeded to rattle off a story of how her father grew up in Milan, Indiana. Remember the movie Hoosiers? Yeah, Milan High School was the inspiration. Her dad did not play on the team but followed the dramatic run in the tournament that eventually landed on the silver screen.

She wanted me to drop everything I was doing and make the trip south to take in the rolling countryside where flowers in full bloom outnumbered people.

We eventually got back to talking about Butler and their chances of winning the championship. Though a graduate of Indiana University's School of Music, Jacqui was pro-Bulldog come Monday night. She said Indiana does basketball better than any other state or school, including Duke. As you can imagine, she was not a huge fan of WIS' prediction of a Devils win.

The barista handed her the cup of coffee with the extra shot of espresso, and she dug through her coin purse to pick out a few bills.

It was a simple Indiana business transaction. Nothing too flashy, no debit cards—just a couple ones and some change.

The simplicity of it all reminds one of the ways Butler plays basketball. The Bulldogs get down to basics, and it may not be pretty all 40 minutes; however, the job gets done, and at the end of the day their opponents wonder what just hit them.

Jacqueline is a true Hoosier in every sense of the word: simple, kind, and a fan of basketball. She truly believes Butler will win tonight. No computer is going to convince her otherwise.

However, if she is wrong, she may have to break out the violin and play Butler off the court one last time.

It always seems a little odd that a tournament referred to as March Madness ends in April.

But really, the phrase is still apropos.

The “madness” of this tournament generally confines itself to March, with all of the major upsets taking place during the first two weeks and the underdogs bowing out before the monthly calendar turns its pages.

Need proof?

Since 1984, when the field expanded to 64 teams, 21 out of 24 national championships have been won by teams with a No. 3 seed or better, including 15 times by a No. 1 seed.

The bottom line is that no matter how busted the bracket may become in March, the cream almost without fail rises to the top in April.

Despite all of the upsets, Cinderella teams, and mid-major success tales of this March, the 2010 NCAA Tournament more likely than not will end tonight with a No. 1 seed as its champion.

Unless, of course, No. 5 seed Butler from the mid-major Horizon League can pull off one final upset and dethrone Duke in its quest for a fourth national championship.

History and logic dictate that the Bulldogs’ impressive run should end tonight.

Only two teams—Villanova in 1985 and Kansas in 1988—seeded worse than Butler have ever won the tournament.

A No. 5 seed has never won the NCAA Tournament.

A school from outside the six power conferences has not won the national championship since UNLV did in 1990, and that was with a dominant, top-ranked team filled with future professionals.

Even putting history aside, the matchup doesn’t look all that favorable for Butler.

Duke has a far more experienced coach with three national titles and 11 Final Fours to his credit in Mike Krzyzewski and a more experienced roster with five upperclassmen in the starting lineup.

Butler’s lack of size—with no players over 6’9” in the team’s main rotation—will be challenged more than ever tonight as they face a superior rebounding team and their toughest big man of the tournament yet in 7’1” Duke center Bryan Zoubek.

Complicating matters further, the Bulldogs may be without their own center, junior Matt Howard, who is said to still be a bit woozy from the “mildest of concussions” that kept him out of the end of the semifinal game on Saturday against Michigan State.

Any hope of a Butler upset could fall once again on the shoulders of sophomore sensation Gordon Hayward, who carried the Bulldogs with 19 points and nine rebounds against Michigan State, as Howard and the team’s second biggest scoring threat after Hayward, Shelvin Mack, sat on the bench with injuries during crunch time.

The good news for Butler is that Mack should be 100 percent tonight after suffering from cramps and dehydration caused by food poisoning in Saturday’s game.

The bad news is that Duke’s Kyle Singler is every bit Hayward’s equal in scoring, rebounding, and in the type of game he plays. Mack might be able to negate the points of one of Duke’s two stellar guards, junior Nolan Smith and senior Jon Scheyer, but probably not both.

Essentially, Butler has a two-headed scoring monster going against a three-headed one, and most of the other factors in the game, including size, depth, and experience, are all in Duke’s favor.

So can Butler win this game?

History would suggest not, but the Bulldogs have already exceeded expectations too many times in this tournament to count them out.

In the first round, UTEP was a trendy pick to upset the Bulldogs.

Butler was supposed to be no match for Syracuse, the No. 1 seed in the West region, in the Sweet 16.

Then that victory was supposed to be the team’s one shining moment, but Butler still came back two days later and outlasted the No. 2 team in the region, Kansas State, to reach the Final Four.

In Indianapolis on Saturday, Michigan State’s experience of being in six of the last 12 Final Fours, including last year’s championship game, was supposed to be too much for the Bulldogs once again. Yet for the fourth straight game the scrappy, undersized, mid-major squad survived to play another game by holding their opponent to under 60 points.

This one, win or lose, will finally be their last.

And it will be the toughest challenge yet.

Duke is not only the best team Butler has faced this year, but they face them at a time when the cream always rises to the top and the team with a top-seed line, having survived pesky challengers for the past three weeks, can finally almost touch its grand prize and almost never falters to snag it against a less talented or less respected opponent.

But it’s happened before.

In 1985, Villanova, as a No. 8 seed, pulled one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history by defeating No. 1 seed Georgetown in the championship game.

They did so with tough defense against a talented offense and by holding on to the ball for long periods of time to run down the clock on a superior team. They also happened to make an incredible 78 percent of their shots and missed just one shot in the entire second half.

Butler’s likely to miss more than one shot in the second half tonight, and they don’t have the advantage that the 1985 Wildcats had in playing in the final game of the pre-shot clock era (meaning a team could hold on to the ball seemingly forever on offense).

But expect the Bulldogs to play deep into the shot clock on offense, defend with all of their energy, and hope that they can hit timely three-point shots as they did in the first four rounds of the tournament (before struggling mightily with their shots in the second half against Michigan State in the Final Four) to try to follow a similar recipe for success against a heavily favored opponent.

Butler has shown that anything is possible in this tournament.

Yet it remains to be seen if they can bring some of March’s madness into April and, for a change, have the tournament go out as it came in—like a lion, rather than a lamb.

First off, congratulations to the three out of every 1,000 bracket pickers (0.3 percent, based on ESPN data) that picked Butler in the final game. Even if 80 percent of you are Butler students, faculty, or alumni, you all deserve to win your pool.

(Factoid: About three in every 10,000 brackets, or .03 percent, had Butler versus Duke in the final game. Tough tarts if you were competing against one of them!)

Just for kicks, we went back to check where these teams ranked in our NCAA Basketball Predictive Power Ratings as of the start of the 2010 NCAA tournament. Duke checked in at No. 2 behind Kansas, while Butler had just moved up to No. 22. On a neutral court, Duke projected as the better team by exactly five points.

After its tournament run, Butler has improved its predictive ranking from No. 22 to No. 9. However, Duke has also been playing well, and still projects as the better team by 4.6 points based on a power ratings analysis.

There's no getting around the fact that Duke projects as a significant favorite in the NCAA tournament final. Whether that edge is as large as seven points, as the Vegas point spread currently implies, most likely depends on your assessment of the potential impact of two Butler injuries. If forward Matt Howard (listed as "questionable" as of Sunday night) and/or guard Shelvin Mack ("probable") doesn't play, the Bulldogs will lose one or two double-digit scorers.

It's also easy to lean toward Duke because of their recent play, especially against West Virginia, when the triple-S-club (Scheyer, Singler, and Smith) were all on fire, going 12-for-23 from three-point land and scoring 23, 21, and 19 points respectively—all above their season averages.

The odds of that happening for a second game in a row are likely not great. And those three players combined for a full 81 percent of Duke's total scoring against West Virginia. If one of them cools off in the final, this game could be closer than a lot of people think. If two of them go cold, it could be a lot closer.

Butler will almost certainly need to keep Duke from dominating the offensive boards in order to win. Something will need to give on this front, since this season, the Blue Devils have rebounded nearly 40 percent of their missed shots, while the Butler defense has only allowed opponents to rebound about 25 percent of their missed shots. (However, Butler faced a significantly weaker schedule.)

Both defenses hold opponents to lower effective field goal percentages and scoring efficiency than their offenses average, but Duke has both the more efficient offense (by a fair amount) and defense (by a teeny bit).

Three-point shooting will be another interesting angle.

Butler is clearly a team of bombers (40 percent of Butler's shots this season have been three-pointers, versus 33 percent for Duke), but Duke seems to be airing it out in the tournament.

Against West Virginia, a whopping 45 percent of Duke's shot attempts were threes. And Duke absolutely lit it up last game, making 52 percent of its three-pointers, while Butler sucked up the joint, shooting just 23.8 percent from behind the arc, well below its season average.

Hopefully, this will be a fun game to watch, as there are a number of statistical, as well as more random factors, (e.g. Duke goes cold shooting after an extraordinary performance on Saturday, while Butler heats up after an off game) at play that could break Butler's way and give the Bulldogs a decent shot.

But at the end of the day, the trade we ply is ruthless and unforgiving data analysis, and our predictive models say Duke has at least a 70-75 percent chance to win this game.

Let's put that in perspective. It's Red Sox 2, Yankees 1. Bottom of the ninth. Two out. Men on second and third. Jorge Posada (.285 average) takes his stance in the batter's box. If he gets a hit, Butler wins the national championship.

Call them unlikely. Call them underdogs. Call them whatever you want.

Tthe Butler Bulldogs climb into the ring tomorrow night with forty minutes of perfection standing between them and immortality.

The small school from America’s heartland, hailing from a conference few fans realized even existed, can climb the podium as the NCAA’s top team.

Raining hay-makers, Brad Stevens and his Bulldogs have knocked out teams from three heavyweight conferences.

Now, 25 wins in a row, including five in the NCAA Tournament,  Stevens and his squad  stand toe-to-toe with one of the heaviest of heavyweights, Coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils.

In his third year of coaching, Stevens gets to trade jabs with Coach K—winner of three NCAA titles.

Butler’s run is monumental enough to bear a slight resemblance to when Michael Spinks won the Olympic Gold.

The year was 1976. 

A time when boxing still captured the interest of many. Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, and George Foreman ruled the professional ranks, but the U.S.A. enjoyed little amateur success up to that point in history.

That is until the Summer Olympics of 1976.

The United States boxing corps that went to Montreal came to be known as “The Golden Team.”  A bunch of unlikely kids brought home seven medals.

“Big” John Tate took the bronze in the heavyweight division.

Charles Mooney won the bantamweight silver.

Leo Randolph, Howard Davis, “Sugar” Ray Leonard, and Leon Spinks all struck gold.

As did maybe the most unlikeliest of all, Michael Spinks. The 19-year-old Spinks entered the tournament as an underdog in the experienced Middleweight division.

Like the Butler Bulldogs, Spinks advanced in a manner that created skepticism. Nicknamed “The Jinx,” Spinks coasted through the Olympics. Butler’s ride shows some of those same charmed traits.

Before a punch was even thrown, Spinks, by virtue of the draw, caught a break when he avoided Cuba’s Luis Felipe Martinez until the finals.

Butler’s weakest outing of The Dance came, perhaps, against their weakest opponent. After eliminating UTEP in the opening round, the Bulldogs overcame a halftime deficit to defeat thirteen-seed Murray State.

Maybe the less-than-convincing victory affected their next-round opponent, the Syracuse Orange. Whether he needed to or not, Hall-of-Fame coach Jim Boeheim chose to sit injured-senior center, Arinze Onuaku.

Minus ten points and five rebounds, the No. 1 seed Orange fell 63-59.

Spinks won his first Olympic fight without throwing a punch when Cameroon’s Jean-Marie Emebe forfeited .

Boxing, like basketball, does not account for style points.

Butler advanced to take on Kansas State.

Dogged by a double-overtime victory two days earlier, the Wildcats played without an edge. Their problems compounded five minutes in when point guard Denis Clemente rolled his ankle. 

Butler took advantage and won 63-56.

The St. Louis native was anything but overwhelming when he won his second fight, a close decision over Poland’s Ryszard Pasiewicz.

As the saying goes—a win is a win.

Butler’s first Final Four found them facing a Michigan State team minus their starting point guard, Kalin Lucas. Ten minutes into the game, Raymar Morgan took a seat on the bench with his third foul.

The Bulldogs triumphed 52-50.

Spinks moved to the Gold Medal match when Romania’s Alec Nastac was forced to forfeit.

Spinks never faced the favorite. Cuba’s Martinez lost to Russia’s Rufat Riskiyev. Spinks continued his run with a TKO in the third and final round.

Butler will look to get a TKO of their own when they take the floor at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Bulldogs have held each of their tournament opponents under 60. The only time Duke scored less than 60 this year, they won. Stevens and his squad hope to change those fortunes.

Pickin' Splinters

With Saturday’s semi-final games completed, college basketball’s best ever storybook has just one more chapter to complete.

The final game.

And Butler, the ultimate Cinderella could not have a more appropriate opponent than Duke—college basketball’s most envied and reviled program.

Butler basketball is the equivalent of Boise State football.

The two are extremely successful “mid-major” schools which have fought years for respect. The difference though is that unlike Boise State’s football team, on Monday night, Butler gets a chance to prove its worthiness in the championship game.

Even better, Butler gets to play it at home in Indianapolis.

But get one thing straight: this is no gladiator mismatch.

Butler earned its way into the final game against Duke. The Bulldogs have won five-straight tournament games. And have held every opponent under 60 points.

Importantly too, since December, the Bulldogs have won 25 games in a row.

Still, Duke represents the biggest hurdle yet for Butler basketball.

On it’s side, Duke has legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski, who is far and away college basketball’s best coach. And as usual Duke has a collection of some of the best players in the nation.

Duke basketball is America’s most successful college sports program over the last 25 years.

But the rub is that Duke gets under your skin.

First of all they win too much for some people, winning three national championships and 12 Final Four appearances over the past quarter century.

And to make matters worse, too often Duke teams come off as just a little too smart and entitled, with the referees seemingly always calling it the Blue Devils way.

But rest assured, Duke’s game against Butler will be a fight. To those who don’t know or who haven’t been paying attention, Butler has been planning on going to this Monday night party for at least 15 years.

The school has been steadily building a basketball program that can compete with anyone.

Butler has won more games than any college basketball team in the state of Indiana over the last decade. More games than Indiana, more than Purdue and more than Notre Dame.

But few noticed and it seems, even fewer cared. The name on the jersey said Butler, which simply meant to the uninformed that these guys can’t really be that good.

But if you believe in the magic of sports and what your own eyes have actually seen, then keep an open mind about how the Butler-Duke championship game plays out.

One of basketball’s biggest ever stories happened in the city of Indianapolis more than 50 years ago.

An even bigger and better story will happen Monday night should Butler beat Duke.

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Butler has already done the improbable by making it to the championship game, but the Bulldogs now have a chance to do the impossible.

Many had Butler losing in the first round of the tournament, and few had it going past the Sweet 16. But Butler has proved the nation wrong by pulling off upset after upset and making its way back home for the Final Four. 

Butler opened up the first round against the No. 12 seed UTEP Miners. Butler trailed 33-27 at the half, but Shelvin Mack sparked the Bulldogs early in the second half. The Bulldogs would go on to outscore UTEP 50-26 in the second half and win the game 77-59.

Next up was No. 13 seed Murray State, who was coming off an upset over No. 4 seed Vanderbilt. For the second straight game, Butler trailed at halftime (26-22). Butler played a low-scoring, defensive game and pulled out the close 54-52 victory. 

Butler then played No. 1 seed Syracuse in the Sweet 16. Syracuse had dominated its opponents through the first two rounds. Butler's defense held Syracuse to only 25 points in the first half, and the Bulldogs led 35-25 at intermission.

Everybody was waiting for Syracuse to make its move and take a lead in the second half—and Syracuse did.

The Orange took their first lead on a Wes Johnson three-pointer seven minutes into the second half. Butler kept fighting, but the game looked to be getting out of reach as Andy Rautins' three-pointer was followed up by a Kris Joseph dunk and Syracuse took a 54-50 lead.

However, Butler then used an improbable 11-0 run to take a 61-54 lead in the final minute and go on to win 63-59.

Then Butler did more of the same against No. 2 seed Kansas State. Butler's defense held Kansas State to only 20 first-half points. But similarly to Syracuse, the Wildcats made a run late in the second half to give them a lead. Denis Clemente's three-pointer with 4:51 capped off the 13-2 run and gave them a 52-51 lead. 

Butler's defense and offensive rebounding then stepped up and held Kansas State scoreless from the 3:05 mark to the nine-second mark. The Bulldogs would make the school's first Final Four appearance after a 63-56 win.

Butler's defense then carried the Bulldogs to the championship game with a 52-50 win over Michigan State. Butler managed to not make a field goal for almost 11 minutes but still held its lead. Gordon Hayward grabbed the rebound off a missed free throw with two seconds left, and the Butler Bulldogs got to celebrate once more.

That leads us to right now: Butler is getting ready to play Duke in the national championship game. 

Here is my preview for what each team needs to do in order to win on Monday night.

Keys for Duke to Win a National Championship

Brian Zoubek needs to take advantage of size on the boards

Zoubek is possibly the best offensive rebounder in the country, and he will be going up against guys much smaller than him on Monday. When Zoubek gets offensive rebounds, it leads to open looks on the perimeter for Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, and Nolan Smith.

Speed up the tempo

Butler enjoys playing a slower game. Duke enjoys a faster game. Butler was able to control Michigan State on Saturday by slowing down the game and keeping the score in the low 50s. It will help Duke a lot to make this game faster-paced.

Keys for Butler to Win a National Championship

Control Zoubek's offensive rebounding

Butler will need to do everything possible to limit Zoubek's production on the boards. If Zoubek gets a lot of offensive rebounds, it could be a long night for Butler.

Defend the perimeter

Duke's shooters will not miss often if they are left open for three-pointers. The Butler defenders need to stay close with their men on the perimeters.

Stick to the game plan

Butler has made it this far because of defense. Just because Duke might have the offensive strength to overpower Butler's defense does not mean the Bulldogs should change things up. Defense has taken them this far, and they will need it to win a national championship.

Prediction: Butler 62, Duke 61