No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 9 Butler, 7:10 p.m. TBS
Hampton made it interesting for a few minutes in the first half Thursday, but UVa eventually prevailed after closing on a 20-3 run headed into the locker room. Virginia led, 40-21 at the break, and from there, cruised to an 81-45 victory.
The only drama came when coach Tony Bennett fainted/collapsed at the end of the first half. He was attended to for a few minutes, then taken to the locker room. He gave an interview at the beginning of the second half, though, and ended up being OK. He said he was dehydrated. I think it also shows how much of themselves these coaches put into preparing for the tourney. Bennett is not one to look ahead, but could you blame him if he snuck in an hour or two of prep before the Hampton game on Butler and Texas Tech, the two possible second-round opponents? Or maybe he was just pleasantly surprised and fainted at the fact that his team was crushing a 16 seed. The past two seasons, UVa had tough times getting by 16 seed Coastal Carolina and 15 seed Belmont, respectively.
Virginia's defense was in fine form against the overmatched Pirates and the offense featured balanced scoring, a great thing to see with the big dance starting. Anthony Gill had 19 points and seven rebounds to lead the way, and everyone else fell in behind him. London Perrantes had 12 on 4-for-4 shooting from 3. Malcolm Brogdon had 11 and Marial Shayok had 10. Shayok made 4 of 6 shots and 2 of 3 from 3. Even better to see was Evan Nolte making 2 of his 4 3s for six points and Darius Thompson sinking 2 of 2 from beyond the arc for six points. The Cavaliers had maybe their best 3-point shooting game of the season, making 12 of 25. Near the end of the game, I was like "Save some of these for later!" If UVa can get solid shooting out of not only the regulars, but the guys who are a little lower on the totem pole, watch out.
Now, UVa turns its attention to Butler, which defeated No. 8 seed Texas Tech, 71-61, on Thursday right before the Wahoos whipped the Pirates. Butler, you may recall, became famous in 2010 and 2011, making back-to-back national championship appearances under former coach Brad Stevens, who is now the coach of the Boston Celtics. In 2010, the Bulldogs lost to Duke, 61-59, when Gordon Hayward's near-halfcourt shot banked off the backboard and hit the rim but did not go in. The following season, the Bulldogs fell to Connecticut, 53-41, in what is known as one of the poorest-played title games in history. Still, Butler had announced its arrival on the national stage. With that recent history, Virginia should know not to overlook the small school from Indianapolis. These guys are serious about their basketball. Here's some more on the Bulldogs this season:
Record: 22-10, 10-8 Big East; lost in Big East tournament quarterfinals
Scorers in double figures: Senior guard Kellen Dunham (16.5), sophomore forward Kelan Martin (16), senior forward Roosevelt Jones (13.7), junior forward Andrew Chrabascz (10.2)
Leading rebounders: Martin (6.8), Jones (6.7), sophomore forward Tyler Wideman (5.8), Chrabascz
(4.2)
Assist leaders: Jones (4.8), junior guard Tyler Lewis (2.9), Chrabascz (2)
Notable: Wideman averages 7.9 points and Lewis, a transfer from N.C. State, is at 6 ppg. Butler has eight players who average double-figure minutes.
Best win: On Dec. 19, Butler beat Purdue in Indianapolis at the Pacers' arena, 74-68. And on Feb. 10, Butler won at Seton Hall, 81-75.
Worst win: DePaul failed to win 10 games, but Butler only beat the Blue Demons by five, 77-72, on the road.
Other wins: The Citadel, Missouri State, Temple, Southern Illinois, Cincinnati, Indiana State, VMI, Tennessee, Southern Utah, IUPUI, DePaul at home, St. John's (twice), Georgetown (twice), Seton Hall (at home), Marquette, Creighton
Best loss: Villanova at home, 60-55, on Jan. 10.
Worst loss: Butler fell flat against Providence in the Big East quarterfinals, losing 74-60 in New York.
Other losses: Miami, Providence (two other times), Villanova on the road, Xavier (twice), Creighton, Marquette
What Butler does well: Butler can score (80.3 ppg) and shoots pretty well, making 46.6 percent overall, 39.1 percent from 3, and 73.2 percent from the line. It gets to the line a lot, shooting 23.7 times per game from the stripe. In comparison, Virginia takes just 16.9 free throws per game. The Bulldogs also own a +3.5 rebounding margin. They also move the ball pretty well, getting 14 assists per game, and take care of it, only turning it over 10.3 times per game.
What Butler doesn't do well: The defense can be spotty. The Bulldogs give up 70.8 ppg and let opponents shoot 39.3 percent from beyond the arc (but, interestingly, only 43.8 percent overall).
Chris Holtmann is Butler's coach. He was an assistant under Brad Miller, who took over for one year after Stevens left. Miller went on medical leave and then Holtmann became the coach. Before that, he was Gardner-Webb's coach for three seasons, compiling a 44-54 record. Last year at Butler, he went 23-11 and the Bulldogs beat Texas in their first NCAA tournament game before losing to Notre Dame in overtime in the round of 32.
Dunham is a very good 3-point shooter, making 43.4 percent on the season. Martin (38.3 percent) is capable, too. Austin Etherington and Jordan Gathers are up around 40 percent as well, but have only taken 49 and 75 attempts, respectively, on the year.
Virginia has a size advantage just like it did against Hampton, so I think heavy doses of Gill and Mike Tobey will be in order, and the Cavaliers said as much when preparing for the game. They hope to work from the inside out in the offense like they did against the Pirates. Wideman, at 6-foot-8, is Butler's tallest player getting regular minutes. Most of the taller players for Butler are around 6-6 or 6-7. One slight concern is Dunham at 6-6. He's the Bulldogs' best long-distance shooter, and obviously his length can help him get some shots off
over some defenders.
Virginia's defense will need to be in tip-top shape against an offense that is efficient, just like its own, making sure hands are in front of shooters' faces. Butler's athletics director, Barry Collier, was the hoops coach in the 1990s and molded some of his program's principles after those of Dick Bennett's Wisconsin team. He even visited Bennett in 1995 to learn from him. Bennett is, of course, Tony's father. With Collier still involved at the school, it is easy to spot certain similarities in the two programs. As always once you get to this point in the season, tonight will come down to which team can play its way the best? Well, in this case, it'll almost be like each team is playing itself. Which can play the efficient, selfless type of basketball best?
If UVa plays at or its best, it should win. The Cavaliers' "A" game is one of the best in the country, and even if the Bulldogs play their best, they would fall a little bit short against a prime-form UVa effort. As the past two days and especially Friday showed, though, anything can happen in the Big Dance. That's why it is called March Madness. Everyone is a threat now. So it's just going to come down to who plays the best game tonight. It's cliche but the truth. I think UVa has more of the tools that will allow it to do that, now it just needs to take advantage.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 5-10 points.
Hampton made it interesting for a few minutes in the first half Thursday, but UVa eventually prevailed after closing on a 20-3 run headed into the locker room. Virginia led, 40-21 at the break, and from there, cruised to an 81-45 victory.
The only drama came when coach Tony Bennett fainted/collapsed at the end of the first half. He was attended to for a few minutes, then taken to the locker room. He gave an interview at the beginning of the second half, though, and ended up being OK. He said he was dehydrated. I think it also shows how much of themselves these coaches put into preparing for the tourney. Bennett is not one to look ahead, but could you blame him if he snuck in an hour or two of prep before the Hampton game on Butler and Texas Tech, the two possible second-round opponents? Or maybe he was just pleasantly surprised and fainted at the fact that his team was crushing a 16 seed. The past two seasons, UVa had tough times getting by 16 seed Coastal Carolina and 15 seed Belmont, respectively.
Virginia's defense was in fine form against the overmatched Pirates and the offense featured balanced scoring, a great thing to see with the big dance starting. Anthony Gill had 19 points and seven rebounds to lead the way, and everyone else fell in behind him. London Perrantes had 12 on 4-for-4 shooting from 3. Malcolm Brogdon had 11 and Marial Shayok had 10. Shayok made 4 of 6 shots and 2 of 3 from 3. Even better to see was Evan Nolte making 2 of his 4 3s for six points and Darius Thompson sinking 2 of 2 from beyond the arc for six points. The Cavaliers had maybe their best 3-point shooting game of the season, making 12 of 25. Near the end of the game, I was like "Save some of these for later!" If UVa can get solid shooting out of not only the regulars, but the guys who are a little lower on the totem pole, watch out.
Now, UVa turns its attention to Butler, which defeated No. 8 seed Texas Tech, 71-61, on Thursday right before the Wahoos whipped the Pirates. Butler, you may recall, became famous in 2010 and 2011, making back-to-back national championship appearances under former coach Brad Stevens, who is now the coach of the Boston Celtics. In 2010, the Bulldogs lost to Duke, 61-59, when Gordon Hayward's near-halfcourt shot banked off the backboard and hit the rim but did not go in. The following season, the Bulldogs fell to Connecticut, 53-41, in what is known as one of the poorest-played title games in history. Still, Butler had announced its arrival on the national stage. With that recent history, Virginia should know not to overlook the small school from Indianapolis. These guys are serious about their basketball. Here's some more on the Bulldogs this season:
Record: 22-10, 10-8 Big East; lost in Big East tournament quarterfinals
Scorers in double figures: Senior guard Kellen Dunham (16.5), sophomore forward Kelan Martin (16), senior forward Roosevelt Jones (13.7), junior forward Andrew Chrabascz (10.2)
Leading rebounders: Martin (6.8), Jones (6.7), sophomore forward Tyler Wideman (5.8), Chrabascz
Assist leaders: Jones (4.8), junior guard Tyler Lewis (2.9), Chrabascz (2)
Notable: Wideman averages 7.9 points and Lewis, a transfer from N.C. State, is at 6 ppg. Butler has eight players who average double-figure minutes.
Best win: On Dec. 19, Butler beat Purdue in Indianapolis at the Pacers' arena, 74-68. And on Feb. 10, Butler won at Seton Hall, 81-75.
Worst win: DePaul failed to win 10 games, but Butler only beat the Blue Demons by five, 77-72, on the road.
Other wins: The Citadel, Missouri State, Temple, Southern Illinois, Cincinnati, Indiana State, VMI, Tennessee, Southern Utah, IUPUI, DePaul at home, St. John's (twice), Georgetown (twice), Seton Hall (at home), Marquette, Creighton
Best loss: Villanova at home, 60-55, on Jan. 10.
Worst loss: Butler fell flat against Providence in the Big East quarterfinals, losing 74-60 in New York.
Other losses: Miami, Providence (two other times), Villanova on the road, Xavier (twice), Creighton, Marquette
What Butler does well: Butler can score (80.3 ppg) and shoots pretty well, making 46.6 percent overall, 39.1 percent from 3, and 73.2 percent from the line. It gets to the line a lot, shooting 23.7 times per game from the stripe. In comparison, Virginia takes just 16.9 free throws per game. The Bulldogs also own a +3.5 rebounding margin. They also move the ball pretty well, getting 14 assists per game, and take care of it, only turning it over 10.3 times per game.
What Butler doesn't do well: The defense can be spotty. The Bulldogs give up 70.8 ppg and let opponents shoot 39.3 percent from beyond the arc (but, interestingly, only 43.8 percent overall).
Chris Holtmann is Butler's coach. He was an assistant under Brad Miller, who took over for one year after Stevens left. Miller went on medical leave and then Holtmann became the coach. Before that, he was Gardner-Webb's coach for three seasons, compiling a 44-54 record. Last year at Butler, he went 23-11 and the Bulldogs beat Texas in their first NCAA tournament game before losing to Notre Dame in overtime in the round of 32.
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| Sorry, buddy, you're cute, but go Wahoos. |
Virginia has a size advantage just like it did against Hampton, so I think heavy doses of Gill and Mike Tobey will be in order, and the Cavaliers said as much when preparing for the game. They hope to work from the inside out in the offense like they did against the Pirates. Wideman, at 6-foot-8, is Butler's tallest player getting regular minutes. Most of the taller players for Butler are around 6-6 or 6-7. One slight concern is Dunham at 6-6. He's the Bulldogs' best long-distance shooter, and obviously his length can help him get some shots off
over some defenders.
Virginia's defense will need to be in tip-top shape against an offense that is efficient, just like its own, making sure hands are in front of shooters' faces. Butler's athletics director, Barry Collier, was the hoops coach in the 1990s and molded some of his program's principles after those of Dick Bennett's Wisconsin team. He even visited Bennett in 1995 to learn from him. Bennett is, of course, Tony's father. With Collier still involved at the school, it is easy to spot certain similarities in the two programs. As always once you get to this point in the season, tonight will come down to which team can play its way the best? Well, in this case, it'll almost be like each team is playing itself. Which can play the efficient, selfless type of basketball best?
If UVa plays at or its best, it should win. The Cavaliers' "A" game is one of the best in the country, and even if the Bulldogs play their best, they would fall a little bit short against a prime-form UVa effort. As the past two days and especially Friday showed, though, anything can happen in the Big Dance. That's why it is called March Madness. Everyone is a threat now. So it's just going to come down to who plays the best game tonight. It's cliche but the truth. I think UVa has more of the tools that will allow it to do that, now it just needs to take advantage.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 5-10 points.
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