No, Kansas State fans, you are not dreaming. Kansas State advanced to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament to face-off against the Butler Bulldogs Saturday at about 3:30 PM. The double-overtime battle between Xavier and K-State was the main topic off conversation on TV and sports talk radio all day Friday. Both teams fought tremendously hard and never had the slightest thought of giving up.
With the victory, the Wildcats will play in their first Elite 8 since 1988. Butler will be making their first appearance in the Elite 8 in school history. Both teams are having arguably the best season in their respective school’s storied history. Neither Kansas State nor Butler has any plans of making this game their last, so the Elite 8 match-up should be a battle to the very end.
A Look at the Horizon League
Butler dominated their conference this year, finishing with a record of 18-0 in conference play. The Horizon League is not an easy conference to play basketball in, either. The Horizon League may not have any big name schools other than Butler this year, but they have plenty of pests more than capable of springing upsets on teams across the country. Wright State, Wisconsin Green Bay, Wisconsin Milwaukee, and Detroit all had respectable twenty-win seasons in 2010. Cleveland State (a team Kansas State has faced the past two seasons—including a scare in Cleveland last year) and Valparaiso also posted winning seasons in their conference but finished sub-.500 due to difficult non-conference schedules. The Bulldogs held an average of victory of 14.6 points a game in their 18 wins against Horizon League opponents.
A Look at the Butler Bulldogs
Butler played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country. They defeated tournament teams Sienna (70-53), Ohio State (74-66), and Xavier (69-68). In the tournament, Butler beat UTEP (77-59), Murray State (54-52), and the No. 1 seeded Syracuse Orange (63-59). Their four losses this season have come at the hands of quality opponents, all of which played in post-season tournaments: Minnesota (NCAA Tournament), Clemson (NCAA Tournament), Georgetown (NCAA Tournament), and UAB (NIT). The Bulldogs also have quality wins over solid programs such as Davidson, Northwestern, and UCLA.
The Bulldogs, who hail from Indianapolis, IN, are going to be a team much different from what Kansas State has seen thus far in the tournament. Xavier was just as aggressive as Kansas State, but K-State had much more depth at the forward position. Butler is built around their forwards, not their guards. This is a stark contrast to North Texas, BYU, and Xavier, all of which focus heavily on guard play. Butler’s goal will be to slow down the pace of the game and make sure that Kansas State doesn’t get easy baskets in transition. Butler is one of the best defensive teams in the country, only allowing 59.7 points per game.
Butler is led by Horizon League coach of the year Brad Stevens. Stevens was a longtime assistant coach at Butler and took over as the head coach in 2007. Since taking over at Butler, the Stevens-lead Bulldogs have won the Horizon League conference tournament and advanced to three NCAA Tournaments. Stevens has a career record of 87-14, including an astonishing 49-5 record in conference play. Stevens replaced head coach Todd Lickliter who led the Bulldogs to two Sweet 16 appearances and four 20-win seasons.
Players to Watch
Gordon Hayward
Haywood (6’9 sophomore guard-forward from Browsburg Indiana) is the star player for the Bulldogs. Haywood is just as effective from the outside as he is on the inside. He averages just over 15 points per game, grabs an average of 8.2 rebounds per game and has scored in double figures in 29 games with 12 double-doubles. His season high for scoring was 24 against Ohio State and Georgetown. Haywood was named first-team All Horizon League and was named the Horizon League player of the year.
Matt Howard
Howard (6’8 junior forward from Connersville, Indiana) is another strong inside threat for the Bulldogs. He was also named to the first-team All Horizon League. He averages 11.9 points per game and collects 5.9 rebounds per game. He has scored in double figures in 23 games including 2 double-doubles.
Willie Veasley
Veasley (6’3 senior forward out of Freeport, Illinois) had one of the best games of his career Thursday night against Syracuse, scoring 13 points including an important three-point shot late in the game. Statistically it wasn’t an incredible game but defensively the kid played his heart out as he helped shut down former Iowa State star Wesley Johnson. On the year, Veasley has scored an average of 10.3 points per game and is not afraid to launch the 3-point shot as he is shooting 36 percent from behind the arc. Veasley was named to the Horizon all-defensive team.
Shelvin Mack
Mack (6’3 sophomore guard from Lexington, Kentucky) is the best guard on the lineup for the Bulldogs. He averages 14.1 points per game and leads the team in assists with 3.1 per game. He has scored in double figures a team-high 30 times this season. Mack was named first-team Horizon League. Mack is another solid defensive player for the Bulldogs, averaging around one and a half steals per game.
Conclusion
Butler is possibly the best defensive team Kansas State has faced this season. They are currently on a 23-game winning streak and are hot off a win over the Big East regular-season champion Syracuse Orange. They are not going to be as aggressive as Xavier was against the Cats but will play just as hard defensively and with just as much confidence. K-State will not intimidate the Bulldogs as they have faced some of the most intimidating teams in the country this season. All of the Bulldogs forwards are capable of hitting threes and none of them are afraid to take the shot. Last season, Haywood was a 40% three-point shooter. The Butler bench also has a very good defensive guard in Ronald Nored, who was named to the Horizon League all-defensive team.
Kansas State is coming off a draining double-overtime win and will need to constantly sub players if they wish to stay with the Bulldogs. Normally, a day’s rest would cure the fatigue factor for K-State but since this game is in a venue that has high altitude it is normally the second game that wears the players down. Luckily for the Wildcats, two of the key players fouled out relatively early and should be well rested.
Keys to Victory
Play Aggressive: Kansas State is going to be fatigued. There is nothing that can stop that. But that is not a reason for the Cats to not come out and play hard for forty minutes. K-State must work the ball down low and play solid ball defense.
Unselfish Basketball: At the end of the half against Xavier, head coach Frank Martin gave a very emotional speech to the players. Kansas State was taking shots off one or no passes. They allowed Xavier to claw back into the game after falling behind 17-4 early. K-State cannot allow this to happen again against Butler.
Guard the Rim: Kansas State is used to guarding the three-point line by now. Xavier stayed in the game by hitting key threes and BYU is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country. Butler, though they are very capable of knocking down threes, has big time threats down low. Kansas State will have to make adjustments to the way the Bulldogs play defense.
