The Butler Bulldogs try to pull off the improbable with a victory over Duke University to win the College Basketball National Championship. Butler would be the first mid-major school (that I can think of) to win the tournament, certainly since they expanded to 64 teams. (If I'm wrong about that, please point it out in the comments). Butler is in Indianapolis, the site of this year's Final Four and are playing in front of their home crowd. Butler is a small school, around 4,000 and this win would be a pretty damn big feather in their cap. You have to love what the young Brad Stevens is doing with his squad, and have to figure some of the big programs with openings are going to throw lots of casholla his way.
For the Blue Devils it is just another trip to the championshp game under Coach K.
This vaunted program gets to put up yet another banner, maybe even another championship banner, in that hell-hole known as Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Both of these teams get the majority of their scoring from their starters, and not much offensive production from the bench guys. Duke holds the advantage in just about every important statistic. And this Duke team is a little different from the great Duke teams we've seen in the past. Zoubek has transformed their interior identity to that of a team with a pretty legit post presence, especially on the glass. Duke has dominated the rebounds in this tournament, and if that continues they will have a decided edge against the much smaller Butler team.
Matt Howard, former Horizon League player of the year, has been cleared to shoot around but not yet cleared to play. He suffered a concussion in the victory over Michigan State. My guess is he plays, but who knows? Everyone is freaking out about these concussions. If I were him I wouldn't miss this. They'd have to lock me up! Although, he hasn't been terriffic in this tournament. It's pretty much been the Gordon Hayward show.
I figure Scheyer and Singler will get theirs, and if they get contributions from Smith and Thomas it will be all but over for Butler. The key for them is really going to be limiting the 2nd chance opportunities for Duke. If they can produce one and done possessions they may just have a chance.
That being said, I really like this whole Butler story. It just kinda feels right. They've beaten Syracuse, Kansas State and Michigan State. Why not throw Duke in their for good measure and call it a year?! I don't know if Cinderella is really ready to leave this ball yet. Soemthing tells me Butler just might pull this out.
Prediction: Butler 70 - Duke 66
I've been wrong about everything else, so what the hell? Why not?!
Breakdown
Butler Bulldogs
Gordon Hayward G-F 15.4 PPG
Ronald Nored G 5.9 PPG
Willie Veasley G-F 10.3 PPG
Shelvin Mack G 13.9 PPG
Matt Howard F 12.3 PPG
Duke Blue Devils
Jon Scheyer G 18.6 PPG
Kyle Singler F 17.6 PPG
Nolan Smith G 17.3 PPG
Brian Zoubek C 5.3 PPG
Lance Thomas F 4.7 PPG
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