Kansas St and Butler Fight for Spot in Final Four

March 27, 2010

The Kansas St Wildcats escaped with a victory in a hard fought contest against a very good Xavier team Thursday night. The road doesn’t get any easier as they face the Butler Bulldogs for a chance to reach the Final Four. Butler has been the hottest team in the country as they are riding a ridiculous 23 game winning streak into this contest. The Bulldogs have just 4 losses on the season. All of them were against tough opponents. UAB, Minnesota, Georgetown and Clemson were the only teams to get a win against this gritty squad.

Butler plays ferocious defense, and has the ability to shoot from the outside on offense. Kansas St played well Thursday, but they did relinquish a lead late in the second half, and again in the first overtime. They have not been known for finishing games this season. Defensively they are average, allowing 70 points per game this year. However, their offensive presence has made up for their poor play on the other side of the court. Offensively they are led by Jacob Pullen. Pullen was the determining factor in the Wildcats win over Xavier. He had 28 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists against the Musketeers, and almost all of them came at crucial times in the game. Behind Pullen, the Wildcats have a phenomenal starting group that includes Denis Clemente, Curtis Kelly, Jamar Samuels and Dominique Sutton. One glaring problem with the K-St offense is the lack of bench production. After Sutton, there isn’t one bench player that averages over 4 points per game. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem against Butler as the Bulldogs like to slow the pace of play anyway.

With Gordon Hayward leading the way on offense with 15.3 points per game, the Bulldogs have just enough fire-power to stay with any team in the country. Of course, defensively is where they thrive. Allowing just 59.7 points per game is an amazing feat regardless of the fact that they play in a so called mid-major conference. They have an attacking style of “D” that pressures their opponents into bad shots. Obviously they do not have the athletes that a big school like Kansas St has, but they make up for it by playing a “team” defense that allows them to keep up with the big boys.

Shelvin Mack is another NBA caliber player for Butler that has a shut-down type mentality defensively. Mack is putting up over 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game all while wreaking havoc on the opposition defensively. Forwards Matt Howard and Willie Veasley hold their own in the paint, and combine for 22 points on offense. They will need to be at their absolute best if Butler has any chance of knocking off K-St in the Sweet-16.

The pace of play will be essential in this game. KSU wants to get up and down the floor, and allow their scorers to have open space. Butler would like to slow things down into a half court style of play that will allow them to set up defensively. This may turn out to be a closer game than expected if the Bulldogs can instill their will on the defensive end of the floor. Tune in Saturday as Kansas St and Butler battle for a spot in the Final Four.

Written by Glenn Andrew · Filed Under NCAA Basketball

Comments

Got something to say?