The weather on Saturday, December 7 might have been cold outside, but The Mill was pretty warm and welcomed the visiting McCutcheon Maverick girls to face the Noblesville Millers in a matinee matchup in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference.
It didn't take long at all, but the Millers took complete control of this conference battle from the get-go. Three-point buckets by senior Jessica Kiser and junior Kayleigh Herron jumped Noblesville out to an early 6-2 lead. Kerstyn Lowery and Katee Kurtz added a pair of free throws each, but the Mavs had already dug themselves a hole that would be hard to get out of. McCutcheon wasn't able to knock down its first field goal until 1:53 left in the first, when Gabby Gary nailed a three.
The Millers forced 7 Maverick turnovers in the first quarter. With about 3 minutes left, NHS clung to an 11-4 lead, but that didn't last long. Two consecutive forced turnovers turned quickly into two Katelyn O'Reilly layups to put Noblesville up 15-4, causing McCutcheon head coach Jeff Knoy to call his first timeout.
Audrey DeFoe capped off the dominant first frame with an easy 3-pointer with 1:24 on the clock to put Noblesville well out in front, 21-7.
DeFoe scorched the nets with a another couple treys and got the help of her teammates spreading out the Miller scoring to distance themselves even more from the visiting Mavericks to lead 39-14 at the break.
It may have been too late, but it seemed like McCutcheon's offense woke up a little in the third, but were still outscored by the Millers 13-12. O'Reilly added two more buckets and DeFoe her fourth three to propel Noblesville to a doubling of the Mavericks after 24 minutes, 52-26.
The 4th quarter became a time for Noblesville head coach Donna Keck to utilize her bench and run the clock out on this HCC win. That's exactly what she and her staff did as they got their first Saturday in December off to an outstanding start, beating McCutcheon, 64-35.
McCutcheon (2-5, 1-2 HCC) had only one in double-digit scoring, as Kerstyn Lowery led the way, tying for a game-high 15. Gabby Gary also had 6 for the Mavericks.
Noblesville (7-1, 1-1 HCC) was really able to spread out their scoring. Junior Audrey DeFoe led the Millers with a game-high 15 points off the bench, mostly on four 3-pointers. Katelyn O'Reilly also had a stellar game off Keck's bench with 13 on six field goals. Erin Wood chipped in with 9 points and Alexis Shannon finished with 8. As a team, the Millers were able to dish out 21 assists on their 25 made field goals. Cori Cain (4), Brooke Herron (4), Kayleigh Herron (3) and Rachel Shipman (3) were four selfless passers in making sure the ball got to the right teammate to put points on the scoreboard.
Tonight, the Millers face a HCC and Hamilton county rival that they haven't had a victory against in 12 years. Hamilton Southeastern (4-4, 3-1 HCC) has beaten Noblesville in 16 consecutive meetings. The last time Noblesville was able to pull out a victory over the Royals was December 7, 2001, when the Millers were coached by Leah Wooldridge and won at Hamilton Southeastern, 75-56.
The time has come and it has been WAY too long and this particular group of Millers is definitely primed and ready to get over that hump that has been the Hamilton Southeastern Royals. Noblesville has the opportunity that they have been waiting for. It will be a packed house at Hamilton Southeastern tonight and also an epic atmosphere.
We would love to see you in attendance at Hamilton Southeastern to support the girls at 6 p.m. and the boys around 8 p.m. in a doubleheader of varsity action.
If you can't make it, get on your computers or smartphones and you get watch/listen online LIVE on highschoolcube.com or download the free HSC Live app from your Android, iPhone or iPad markets. Once you get to the site or onto the app, in the search blank, type in Noblesville at Hamilton Southeastern and you'll be LIVE! Bring your earbuds to the game and you can listen to us live also!
Craig Adkins (myself) will call the play-by-play and Dusty Mills (former Miller) provides the color commentary.
GO MILLERS!
Friday, December 13, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Butler dispatches of North Dakota and Manchester, ready for Boilers
After leaving the 2013 Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Florida with a 4th place (1-2) finish, the Butler Bulldogs headed back to work with the goal of keeping things going, but obviously approving on it.
Before the Old Spice Classic had even begun, the Oklahoma State Cowboys were already inked in champions of the 8-team tournament. That really didn't settle well with the Butler Bulldogs. Heading to Disney's Wide World of Sports with a 4-0 record, Butler looked to continue that trend as long as they possibly could.
They were able to scrap and eventually slip by Washington State in their first of three games, 76-69 on Thanksgiving Day. That win pitted them against #5 Oklahoma State and highly touted sophomore Marcus Smart. The Dawgs shocked a lot of people by sticking with, and almost knocking off, the high-energy Cowboys from the Big XII and only lost by two, 69-67.
The loss to Oklahoma State dropped Butler into the 3rd place game with LSU, which is projected to be a top 5 team in the SEC this season. The Bulldogs held their own once again, but fell 70-68 in overtime to the Tigers.
Butler got back in the comforts of Indianapolis and got back to work in a couple tune-up games that will hopefully get them ready for Saturday's battle with the Purdue Boilermakers at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.
The University of North Dakota made a long trip to Indianapolis on Saturday, December 7 to face the Bulldogs. With Butler shooting 52% (29-56) and outrebounding UND 44-28, North Dakota put up a fight, but playing on their home court helped Butler secure a 79-65 win.
Sophomore Kellen Dunham put together another stellar shooting performance by leading all scorers with a game-high 29. The 6'6 guard from Pendleton, Indiana was 9-of-15 from the floor, including 5-for-8 on his three-point attempts and all six of his free throw attempts. Khyle Marshall did his part by totaling 21 points and 7 rebounds.
Last night, Monday, December 3rd, Butler welcomed another non-conference foe to Hinkle Fieldhouse. Division III Manchester College, which resides just southwest of Fort Wayne, Indiana, made their first appearance at Butler in almost 70 years.
Butler managed to reach the century mark on the scoreboard, with a 100-41 shellacking of the visiting Spartans. The Bulldogs haven't had that much of a winning margin since the 1921-22 season when they pummeled Indiana Law School, 82-14.
With a comfortable 48-24 doubling-up halftime lead, the second half became 20 minutes where head coach Brandon Miller and staff were able to figure out which players fit into different situations. His troops outscored Manchester 52-17 in the second half to cruise past the Spartans by 59 points, 100-41.
Once again, Dunham led four Bulldogs in double-figures with 15 points in just 19 minutes. Marshall had another great game with 14 points on 6-of-9 from the floor. Kameron Woods chipped in with 11 points and 5 boards, while Erik Fromm had 7 and 7 with 3 blocks.
The Bulldogs had a couple of freshmen that were real sparkplugs off the bench that could prove to be vital parts of their offense and depth now and throughout the Big East season. Rene Castro added a career-high 12 points on 5 field goals (2-3 on 3's) in 16 minutes and Elijah Brown had 9 points (3-4 on 3's) with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
In four days, Butler (7-2) will meet up with the Purdue Boilermakers (8-2) on a neutral court. They'll tip at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network in the second game of the doubleheader at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis as part of the 3rd annual Crossroads Classic. Radio coverage can be heard locally in Indianapolis on 1070 The Fan and 107.5 FM with the pre-game 30 minutes prior to tip.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2) and the Indiana Hoosiers (8-2) renew their rivalry in the first game of the afternoon with a 3:15 start on ESPN.
Before the Old Spice Classic had even begun, the Oklahoma State Cowboys were already inked in champions of the 8-team tournament. That really didn't settle well with the Butler Bulldogs. Heading to Disney's Wide World of Sports with a 4-0 record, Butler looked to continue that trend as long as they possibly could.
They were able to scrap and eventually slip by Washington State in their first of three games, 76-69 on Thanksgiving Day. That win pitted them against #5 Oklahoma State and highly touted sophomore Marcus Smart. The Dawgs shocked a lot of people by sticking with, and almost knocking off, the high-energy Cowboys from the Big XII and only lost by two, 69-67.
The loss to Oklahoma State dropped Butler into the 3rd place game with LSU, which is projected to be a top 5 team in the SEC this season. The Bulldogs held their own once again, but fell 70-68 in overtime to the Tigers.
Butler got back in the comforts of Indianapolis and got back to work in a couple tune-up games that will hopefully get them ready for Saturday's battle with the Purdue Boilermakers at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.
The University of North Dakota made a long trip to Indianapolis on Saturday, December 7 to face the Bulldogs. With Butler shooting 52% (29-56) and outrebounding UND 44-28, North Dakota put up a fight, but playing on their home court helped Butler secure a 79-65 win.
Sophomore Kellen Dunham put together another stellar shooting performance by leading all scorers with a game-high 29. The 6'6 guard from Pendleton, Indiana was 9-of-15 from the floor, including 5-for-8 on his three-point attempts and all six of his free throw attempts. Khyle Marshall did his part by totaling 21 points and 7 rebounds.
Last night, Monday, December 3rd, Butler welcomed another non-conference foe to Hinkle Fieldhouse. Division III Manchester College, which resides just southwest of Fort Wayne, Indiana, made their first appearance at Butler in almost 70 years.
Butler managed to reach the century mark on the scoreboard, with a 100-41 shellacking of the visiting Spartans. The Bulldogs haven't had that much of a winning margin since the 1921-22 season when they pummeled Indiana Law School, 82-14.
With a comfortable 48-24 doubling-up halftime lead, the second half became 20 minutes where head coach Brandon Miller and staff were able to figure out which players fit into different situations. His troops outscored Manchester 52-17 in the second half to cruise past the Spartans by 59 points, 100-41.
Once again, Dunham led four Bulldogs in double-figures with 15 points in just 19 minutes. Marshall had another great game with 14 points on 6-of-9 from the floor. Kameron Woods chipped in with 11 points and 5 boards, while Erik Fromm had 7 and 7 with 3 blocks.
The Bulldogs had a couple of freshmen that were real sparkplugs off the bench that could prove to be vital parts of their offense and depth now and throughout the Big East season. Rene Castro added a career-high 12 points on 5 field goals (2-3 on 3's) in 16 minutes and Elijah Brown had 9 points (3-4 on 3's) with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
In four days, Butler (7-2) will meet up with the Purdue Boilermakers (8-2) on a neutral court. They'll tip at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network in the second game of the doubleheader at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis as part of the 3rd annual Crossroads Classic. Radio coverage can be heard locally in Indianapolis on 1070 The Fan and 107.5 FM with the pre-game 30 minutes prior to tip.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-2) and the Indiana Hoosiers (8-2) renew their rivalry in the first game of the afternoon with a 3:15 start on ESPN.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Miller girls on a roll, with just one blemish
Playing together. Spreading out the scoring. Hitting the boards hard for rebounds. Defending opponents. Those are just four factors that have played a tremendous role in how head coach Donna Keck's Noblesville Millers are currently 6-1, one-third of the way through the regular season.
Noblesville 75, 3A #4 Hamilton Heights 59 (Fri. 11/15)
Millers 22 20 16 17 -- 75
Huskies 9 18 8 24 -- 59
After opening up the 2013-14 season with a very convincing home court win over Indianapolis Arsenal Tech, the Noblesville Miller girls took to the road and headed just north to face Hamilton Heights. The Huskies were the Class 3A State Runners-Up last season. That didn't phase the Miller in the least as they left northern Hamilton county with a 75-59 victory over the hosts.
The Millers scored 20-plus in each of the first two quarters to go up 22-9 after one and have a solid 42-27 lead at the halftime break.
Noblesville pulled away with an even more comfortable lead thru three frames with a 58-35 cushion. The Huskies woke up in the fourth and took the final eight minutes 24-17, but wasn't able to overcome the significant deficit that they got themselves into in the first half and Noblesville won going away, with a 16-point road win.
Balancing out their scoring, the Millers were led by sophomore forward Alexis Shannon with 18. Erin Wood had 16 on six field goals and Cori Cain dropped in 12 to go with 4 steals on the defensive end.
4A #6 Westfield 58, Noblesville 41 (Tues. 11/19)
Shamrocks 19 12 17 10 -- 58
Millers 13 11 9 8 -- 41
Just when Noblesville thought they were past a few different pieces in the Westfield offense, a new offensive option decided that she would make it impossible for the Millers to succeed on either end of the court.
Just two Shamrocks were able to get into double-figures on the Millers' home court at Noblesville, but those two almost equaled the total offensive output for Keck's crew. Kayla Brown (25) and Jalyn Foland (14) did their best to get Westfield the win and almost outscored their opponent (41) on the road as a duo. It didn't help the Millers that Brown and Foland were able to combine for 12-of-17 shooting, most importantly, 6-for-7 from 3-point range.
The Millers were only down seven at halftime (31-24), so it would have been a very doable task to find ways offensively and create turnovers on defense. In the end, it was Westfield's tenacious defense that didn't allow Noblesville to get its own way at home.
Westfield's lead grew to 15 with a 48-33 advantage through three and would increase to a 58-41 final score after holding Noblesville to just 17 second half points.
Audrey DeFoe led the Millers with a team-high 13 points on four field goals, including three made from outside-the-arc. Erin Wood had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists to her credit, while Alexis Shannon managed to scrap her way to 10.
Noblesville 66, 3A #6 Lebanon 46 (Fri. 11/22)
Millers 18 13 21 14 -- 66
Tigers 10 15 9 12 -- 46
It became Noblesville biggest road test thus far and the Millers responded just like coach Keck had hoped. By the time that Noblesville had sprung out to a 19-point lead after three, it was too late for Lebanon to make any sort of comeback. It was a pretty similar situation that the Millers had put Hamilton Heights in just seven days prior.
Once again, the main objective for Noblesville was to spread out the scoring and to not worry about who led the team in scoring. That's exactly what happened in a huge road game for the Millers.
Once again, Alexis Shannon led the Millers in scoring with 17, knocking down 8-of-15 from the field. She was joined by Erin Wood in double-digits with 12. The trio of Jessica Kiser, Cori Cain and Katelyn O'Reilly each poured in 8 points each. Those five were able to outscore the host Tigers 53-46 by themselves.
Noblesville 64, Carmel 56 (Tues. 11/26)
Greyhounds 16 11 17 12 -- 56
Millers 22 16 6 20 -- 64
The Millers did something that they haven't done as a program since November 25, 2003, pretty much 10 years to the day. That was the last time that Noblesville beat Carmel in girls basketball. Prior to Noblesville's eight-point victory over the visiting Greyhounds, Carmel owned the Hamilton county rivalry, taking 13 of the last 14 of the series. Leah Woolridge was in her final season as Noblesville head coach before Kurt Gassensmith took over from 2004-2008.
Noblesville rolled to a 22-16, two possession lead after one quarter, which was aided by 8 from sophomore leading scorer Alexis Shannon.
Despite taking the second quarter 16-11 and leading 38-27 at halftime, it wasn't easy to fend off the feisty Carmel Greyhounds. Noblesville seemed to have the first half wrapped up with a bow on it, until around the last 1:33 of the second period.
Carmel was able to force four of Noblesville's 19 turnovers in that final span of 1:33 in the 2nd. Those four turnovers led to five points by the visiting Hounds and the Millers found themselves only up 11 at half, instead of the comfortable 16-point margin they had just 93 ticks earlier.
The third quarter was all Greyhounds, as they climbed right back into the ballgame, outscoring the Millers 17-6, knotting things up at 44-44.
That third quarter domination by Carmel woke up Noblesville on both ends of the floor. The Millers were able to get the crowd involved and take the road savvy Greyhounds right out of the game at just the right time.
Noblesville got big help in the 4th, just like in the 1st, by Alexis Shannon scoring 7 of her points. The biggest key for Keck's team in the fourth was that they made 9-of-12 at the charity stripe. Those nine at the line alone, kept Carmel at enough of a distance to put the ballgame away.
Junior Abby Abel of Carmel led all scorers with a game-high 21. She was helped out by teammates Amanda Shaw (9) and Kennedy Kantner (8).
Alexis Shannon was Noblesville's leader with 19 points and 8 rebounds, but the Millers got a nice surprise off the bench. Freshman Brooke Herron poured in 14, seven of which came in the 4th. Balanced across the rest of the Miller stat sheet for sure. Jessica Kiser added 7, while Kayleigh Herron, Rachel Shipman and Katelyn O'Reilly each had 6.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT (Sat. 11/30)
Noblesville 88, Munster 30
Millers 28 13 26 21 -- 88
Mustangs 8 6 7 9 -- 30
Heading up to Tippecanoe Valley for their annual Thanksgiving Holiday Tournament, Noblesville had one goal. Keep the momentum rolling. Prior to the Thanksgiving Day holiday, the Millers were coming off their biggest victory in 10 years by taking down the Carmel Greyhounds at The Mill.
Noblesville stepped foot on the court at Tippecanoe Valley on a strict mission to bring two wins back home before starting Hoosier Crossroads Conference play.
By the time Munster woke up from their morning bus trip from Northwest Indiana, the Millers had bolted out to a 28-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The trend wasn't as heavy in the 2nd, but Noblesville still doubled up the Mustangs 13-6 for a dominating 41-14 score at the half.
The Millers almost tripled up Munster in the final two periods, 47-16 to once again, find themselves playing for the championship.
Freshman guard Brooke Herron got scored in double-figures for the second straight game, leading all scorers with 18, hitting 5-of-6 treys. Her junior sister Kayleigh Herron was the second leading scorer with 13, swishing 3 of her 6 three-point attempts. Erin Flynn sparked the Miller frontcourt with 12 points on 5 field goals. Katelyn O'Reilly (11) and Cori Cain (10) rounded out five in double-digits for Noblesville.
Forcing 31 Munster turnovers and draining 10-of-24 (42%) of their 3-point attempts, Noblesville found itself in the championship game with a 58-point drubbing of the Mustangs, 88-30.
Championship game: Noblesville 70, Tippecanoe Valley 63
Vikings 16 17 14 16 -- 63
Millers 18 16 18 18 -- 70
Coming into the championship game on a high note, the Millers knew it would be quite a challenge to knock off the host Tippecanoe Valley Vikings in their own holiday tournament.
They accepted the challenge and rose up to the occasion. With previous wins over Bremen and Warsaw to open the season, earlier in the day, Portage became the Vikings' latest victim and TV headed into their own tournament undefeated (3-0).
In a tight first half, Noblesville led by two (18-16) after the first and with Tippecanoe Valley outdueling the Millers 17-16 in the second, coach Keck and staff clung to just a 34-33 halftime edge.
Slowly, but surely, the speed and tenacity of Noblesville's youthful squad was able to pull themselves away slightly in the final eight minutes. Pressure mounted on the Millers but they didn't fold and held on for the 70-63 victory. Noblesville won the Tippecanoe Valley Holiday Tournament for the 2nd year in a row and 3rd in their 5th appearance during Donna Keck's 6th season at the helm.
Alexis Shannon had a team-high 17, converting 7-of-9 field goal attempts and all three of her free throws. Erin Wood had another solid game with 16, half of which came from sinking 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. Jessica Kiser and Brooke Herron each chipped in with 11, while Cori Cain (6) and Kayleigh Herron (4) added to the championship effort.
The Millers figured some pretty vital things as a team during their two wins at Tippecanoe Valley. Shooting 48% overall (55-115) and 37% (14-37) from three-point range, confidence was on the rise, which were big reasons Noblesville took the tourney title for the 3rd time in five season. Improvement at the free throw line, knocking down 79% (34-43) in two games, might have helped turn the corner that's needed to continue the greatness that's been started.
Noblesville (6-1) continues its season this Saturday, December 7 for a matinee affair with McCutcheon (2-3) to open up league play in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. JV tips at Noon and varsity will hit the floor around 1:30 p.m.
Come back for more on the Millers throughout the season!
GO MILLERS!!!!!!!
Voice of the Millers,
Craig Adkins
Noblesville 75, 3A #4 Hamilton Heights 59 (Fri. 11/15)
Millers 22 20 16 17 -- 75
Huskies 9 18 8 24 -- 59
After opening up the 2013-14 season with a very convincing home court win over Indianapolis Arsenal Tech, the Noblesville Miller girls took to the road and headed just north to face Hamilton Heights. The Huskies were the Class 3A State Runners-Up last season. That didn't phase the Miller in the least as they left northern Hamilton county with a 75-59 victory over the hosts.
The Millers scored 20-plus in each of the first two quarters to go up 22-9 after one and have a solid 42-27 lead at the halftime break.
Noblesville pulled away with an even more comfortable lead thru three frames with a 58-35 cushion. The Huskies woke up in the fourth and took the final eight minutes 24-17, but wasn't able to overcome the significant deficit that they got themselves into in the first half and Noblesville won going away, with a 16-point road win.
Balancing out their scoring, the Millers were led by sophomore forward Alexis Shannon with 18. Erin Wood had 16 on six field goals and Cori Cain dropped in 12 to go with 4 steals on the defensive end.
4A #6 Westfield 58, Noblesville 41 (Tues. 11/19)
Shamrocks 19 12 17 10 -- 58
Millers 13 11 9 8 -- 41
Just when Noblesville thought they were past a few different pieces in the Westfield offense, a new offensive option decided that she would make it impossible for the Millers to succeed on either end of the court.
Just two Shamrocks were able to get into double-figures on the Millers' home court at Noblesville, but those two almost equaled the total offensive output for Keck's crew. Kayla Brown (25) and Jalyn Foland (14) did their best to get Westfield the win and almost outscored their opponent (41) on the road as a duo. It didn't help the Millers that Brown and Foland were able to combine for 12-of-17 shooting, most importantly, 6-for-7 from 3-point range.
The Millers were only down seven at halftime (31-24), so it would have been a very doable task to find ways offensively and create turnovers on defense. In the end, it was Westfield's tenacious defense that didn't allow Noblesville to get its own way at home.
Westfield's lead grew to 15 with a 48-33 advantage through three and would increase to a 58-41 final score after holding Noblesville to just 17 second half points.
Audrey DeFoe led the Millers with a team-high 13 points on four field goals, including three made from outside-the-arc. Erin Wood had 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists to her credit, while Alexis Shannon managed to scrap her way to 10.
Noblesville 66, 3A #6 Lebanon 46 (Fri. 11/22)
Millers 18 13 21 14 -- 66
Tigers 10 15 9 12 -- 46
It became Noblesville biggest road test thus far and the Millers responded just like coach Keck had hoped. By the time that Noblesville had sprung out to a 19-point lead after three, it was too late for Lebanon to make any sort of comeback. It was a pretty similar situation that the Millers had put Hamilton Heights in just seven days prior.
Once again, the main objective for Noblesville was to spread out the scoring and to not worry about who led the team in scoring. That's exactly what happened in a huge road game for the Millers.
Once again, Alexis Shannon led the Millers in scoring with 17, knocking down 8-of-15 from the field. She was joined by Erin Wood in double-digits with 12. The trio of Jessica Kiser, Cori Cain and Katelyn O'Reilly each poured in 8 points each. Those five were able to outscore the host Tigers 53-46 by themselves.
Noblesville 64, Carmel 56 (Tues. 11/26)
Greyhounds 16 11 17 12 -- 56
Millers 22 16 6 20 -- 64
The Millers did something that they haven't done as a program since November 25, 2003, pretty much 10 years to the day. That was the last time that Noblesville beat Carmel in girls basketball. Prior to Noblesville's eight-point victory over the visiting Greyhounds, Carmel owned the Hamilton county rivalry, taking 13 of the last 14 of the series. Leah Woolridge was in her final season as Noblesville head coach before Kurt Gassensmith took over from 2004-2008.
Noblesville rolled to a 22-16, two possession lead after one quarter, which was aided by 8 from sophomore leading scorer Alexis Shannon.
Despite taking the second quarter 16-11 and leading 38-27 at halftime, it wasn't easy to fend off the feisty Carmel Greyhounds. Noblesville seemed to have the first half wrapped up with a bow on it, until around the last 1:33 of the second period.
Carmel was able to force four of Noblesville's 19 turnovers in that final span of 1:33 in the 2nd. Those four turnovers led to five points by the visiting Hounds and the Millers found themselves only up 11 at half, instead of the comfortable 16-point margin they had just 93 ticks earlier.
The third quarter was all Greyhounds, as they climbed right back into the ballgame, outscoring the Millers 17-6, knotting things up at 44-44.
That third quarter domination by Carmel woke up Noblesville on both ends of the floor. The Millers were able to get the crowd involved and take the road savvy Greyhounds right out of the game at just the right time.
Noblesville got big help in the 4th, just like in the 1st, by Alexis Shannon scoring 7 of her points. The biggest key for Keck's team in the fourth was that they made 9-of-12 at the charity stripe. Those nine at the line alone, kept Carmel at enough of a distance to put the ballgame away.
Junior Abby Abel of Carmel led all scorers with a game-high 21. She was helped out by teammates Amanda Shaw (9) and Kennedy Kantner (8).
Alexis Shannon was Noblesville's leader with 19 points and 8 rebounds, but the Millers got a nice surprise off the bench. Freshman Brooke Herron poured in 14, seven of which came in the 4th. Balanced across the rest of the Miller stat sheet for sure. Jessica Kiser added 7, while Kayleigh Herron, Rachel Shipman and Katelyn O'Reilly each had 6.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT (Sat. 11/30)
Noblesville 88, Munster 30
Millers 28 13 26 21 -- 88
Mustangs 8 6 7 9 -- 30
Heading up to Tippecanoe Valley for their annual Thanksgiving Holiday Tournament, Noblesville had one goal. Keep the momentum rolling. Prior to the Thanksgiving Day holiday, the Millers were coming off their biggest victory in 10 years by taking down the Carmel Greyhounds at The Mill.
Noblesville stepped foot on the court at Tippecanoe Valley on a strict mission to bring two wins back home before starting Hoosier Crossroads Conference play.
By the time Munster woke up from their morning bus trip from Northwest Indiana, the Millers had bolted out to a 28-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The trend wasn't as heavy in the 2nd, but Noblesville still doubled up the Mustangs 13-6 for a dominating 41-14 score at the half.
The Millers almost tripled up Munster in the final two periods, 47-16 to once again, find themselves playing for the championship.
Freshman guard Brooke Herron got scored in double-figures for the second straight game, leading all scorers with 18, hitting 5-of-6 treys. Her junior sister Kayleigh Herron was the second leading scorer with 13, swishing 3 of her 6 three-point attempts. Erin Flynn sparked the Miller frontcourt with 12 points on 5 field goals. Katelyn O'Reilly (11) and Cori Cain (10) rounded out five in double-digits for Noblesville.
Forcing 31 Munster turnovers and draining 10-of-24 (42%) of their 3-point attempts, Noblesville found itself in the championship game with a 58-point drubbing of the Mustangs, 88-30.
Championship game: Noblesville 70, Tippecanoe Valley 63
Vikings 16 17 14 16 -- 63
Millers 18 16 18 18 -- 70
Coming into the championship game on a high note, the Millers knew it would be quite a challenge to knock off the host Tippecanoe Valley Vikings in their own holiday tournament.
They accepted the challenge and rose up to the occasion. With previous wins over Bremen and Warsaw to open the season, earlier in the day, Portage became the Vikings' latest victim and TV headed into their own tournament undefeated (3-0).
In a tight first half, Noblesville led by two (18-16) after the first and with Tippecanoe Valley outdueling the Millers 17-16 in the second, coach Keck and staff clung to just a 34-33 halftime edge.
Slowly, but surely, the speed and tenacity of Noblesville's youthful squad was able to pull themselves away slightly in the final eight minutes. Pressure mounted on the Millers but they didn't fold and held on for the 70-63 victory. Noblesville won the Tippecanoe Valley Holiday Tournament for the 2nd year in a row and 3rd in their 5th appearance during Donna Keck's 6th season at the helm.
Alexis Shannon had a team-high 17, converting 7-of-9 field goal attempts and all three of her free throws. Erin Wood had another solid game with 16, half of which came from sinking 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. Jessica Kiser and Brooke Herron each chipped in with 11, while Cori Cain (6) and Kayleigh Herron (4) added to the championship effort.
The Millers figured some pretty vital things as a team during their two wins at Tippecanoe Valley. Shooting 48% overall (55-115) and 37% (14-37) from three-point range, confidence was on the rise, which were big reasons Noblesville took the tourney title for the 3rd time in five season. Improvement at the free throw line, knocking down 79% (34-43) in two games, might have helped turn the corner that's needed to continue the greatness that's been started.
Noblesville (6-1) continues its season this Saturday, December 7 for a matinee affair with McCutcheon (2-3) to open up league play in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference. JV tips at Noon and varsity will hit the floor around 1:30 p.m.
Come back for more on the Millers throughout the season!
GO MILLERS!!!!!!!
Voice of the Millers,
Craig Adkins
Monday, November 25, 2013
Butler surprising everyone but themselves through 4 games
They knew it once they were able to assemble as a whole this summer, but the Butler Bulldogs had a feeling that they could probably turn first-year head coach Brandon Miller's head coaching debut into something special.
Butler finds itself undefeated through 4 games and have faced some pretty good competition in doing so.
One big thing that was a big plus was that the Bulldogs were very fortunate to be able to open the 2013-14 campaign with three consecutive home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse. With a lot of inexperienced players and many newcomers, there couldn't be a better way to open the season, than on their home court.
It wasn't until the fourth game that they were forced to hit the road, but it was a short road trip, as the Bulldogs traveled up I-69 to Ball State in Muncie, Indiana to face the Cardinals at Worthen Arena.
Butler 89, Lamar 58 (November 9)
The Lamar Cardinals were kind of a quirky opponent to open the season against. Coached by Pat Knight, son of legendary former Indiana University head coach Bob Knight, you could just assume that he would recruit players that are athletes who want to be winners.
Nimrod Hilliard (23 points), Donovan Ross (18) and Amos Wilson (9) struck quite a resemblance to that of an opponent Butler saw three times during Atlantic 10 play last year. Their style and scrappiness of play had streaks of the Saint Louis Billikens. The only problem was that Lamar just couldn't finish plays off in the second half, which allowed the Bulldogs to roll over the Cardinals 51-26 in the final 20 minutes for an 89-58 runaway season-opening victory.
Senior forward Khyle Marshall would take charge to lead Butler with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 13 rebounds. His offensive outburst was aided by 13 from Kellen Dunham, 11 by Kameron Woods and Erik Fromm pitching in 10.
Butler 70, Princeton 67
The Bulldogs knew that facing an opponent like Princeton would pose some problems on both ends of the court. Princeton has been known for years for setting up their offense to run the famous play called, "The Back Door." Trailing the Princeton Tigers of the Ivy League for the first 13 minutes of the first half, Butler figured out exactly what it needed to do to take the Tigers right out of their scheme and win the ball game.
Keeping at it on defense for a solid 40 minutes of hard-nosed basketball is exactly how Butler got it done to take down Princeton. Tenacious defense and knocking down 38% (9-24) from outside the arc were just two facets of the game where Butler was able to be that much better than the Tigers to pull out the three-point victory.
Sophomore guard Kellen Dunham scored a career-high 26 points on 50% overall shooting, while drilling 4-for-8 from three-point land. Three others joined KD in double-figures. After just 5 points in his debut vs. Lamar in the opener, Elijah Brown netted 13 points off the bench. Kameron Woods notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards for the junior. Senior Erik Fromm had 10 for the second consecutive game.
Butler 85, Vanderbilt 77 (OT)
Last season, Butler was able to pull off the upset over the Commodores in Nashville. This time, Vanderbilt wanted to bring Southeastern Conference (SEC) basketball to Indianapolis and give the Butler faithful a taste of what their southern flavor of hoops is all about. Vanderbilt has had some pretty decent seasons of late and made it to the NCAA Tournament six times since 2004. Their best success was Sweet 16 appearances in 2004 and 2007.
Butler was able to control the tempo of the game in the first half and took a 38-30 lead into the locker room. Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings circled the wagons and must have given his Commodores a wake up call during halftime, as they were able to take charge for a majority of the second half to outscore the Bulldogs 40-32, forcing overtime.
The Bulldog offense was anchored by their leader, Khyle Marshall. He was simply a mad man on the hardwood and did not want to lose this game, no matter what it took. Marshall led the Dawgs with a team-high 26 points on 11-for-15 field goals. It wasn't the fact that Khyle scored 26, is was the fashion he was able to do it.
With just 5 points at the half, it seemed like a switch flipped on inside of Marshall and the second half and overtime belonged to the 6'6 senior from Davie, Florida. Toward the end of regulation, Khyle scored 16 of Butler's final 22, but most importantly, he was able to outscore Vanderbilt 9-7 in the extra period. Obviously with Marshall's career night, Butler was able to pull away from Vandy 15-7 in overtime for an 85-77 win.
Dunham and Kam Woods were a great supporting cast, once again. KD finished with 16, while Woods put together a pretty good stat line of 10 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocked shots. Junior Jackson Aldridge and freshman Andrew Chrabascz each pitched in with 7 each.
Butler 59, Ball State 58
Different situations and matchups force different personnel to step up and make their presence known. In most cases, I think it's someone that doesn't normally show up in a scouting report or does something significant when watching them on film in preparation.
Butler knew that their first road test would literally be a test. Neither team shot the ball well, which makes you wonder which of these two would come out on the better end of this game and wind up with the win.
Defensively, Butler exceled by forcing Ball State to turn the ball over 17 times. The host Cardinals weren't rattled, for the most part, being on their home floor at Worthen Arena in front of 6,015 in attendance.
Ball State took a seven-point advantage into halftime, up 30-23. BSU expanded their lead to 11 with a 12-8 run to start the second half for a 42-31 lead. From that point on, Butler would make the second half theirs 36-28, to eventually steal a 59-58 road victory.
The Bulldogs were tested beyond what they imagined, but knew exactly what would be needed to happen. Alex Barlow and Elijah Brown stepped up and sparked a 16-2 run for BU that would put Butler up by three.
With that three-point lead, Butler was outscored 14-12 in the final 8 minutes, but that still gave them a one-point win. Kameron Woods sparked the Butler offense scoring 6 of his 12 in the final eight minutes, but Ball State guard Jesse Berry kept the Cardinals in a one possession game with all 7 of his points in the final five minutes of play.
Majok Majok led all scorers with a game-high 15 points, while Chris Bond added 14 for the Cardinals.
Marshall led Butler with a team-high 14, while Elijah Brown tied his career-high with 13 off the bench. Woods had another double-double with 12 points and 10 boards and point guard Alex Barlow added 10.
Where the Bulldogs (4-0) go from here...
It may not have been the stiffest competition in their first four games early on in the season, but they can honestly say they've been tested by their opponents.
Lamar gave Butler a game, but only for the first half, before the Bulldogs ran away with a 31-point win. Princeton took Butler down to the wire, but Butler was able to prevail and slip away by three. Vanderbilt gave the Bulldogs the most they could take, forcing overtime, before Butler won by 8 in the extra period. Ball State gave Butler their biggest scare as an undefeated team, but found a way to escape Muncie with a 59-58 win.
As expected, Khyle Marshall and Kellen Dunham lead Butler in scoring. Each are averaging 15.8 per contest. Kameron Woods is just about putting up double digits in both scoring (11.0) and rebounding (9.0). Freshman Elijah Brown has slowly, but surely gotten himself into a comfort zone of late, averaging 8.8 per game and give head coach Brandon Miller quality minutes off the bench. Alex Barlow is dishing out 3.2 assists a game, while also compiling a 4.3/1 assist to turnover ratio. As a team, Butler is committing 8 turnovers and causing 15. They're hitting the boards to outrebound opponents by an average of 36-34.
The Butler bench has also been able to rotate four other key role players into the lineup to contribute. Junior Jackson Aldridge, sophomore Devontae Morgan, along with freshmen Rene Castro and Andrew Chrabascz have all pitched in to play their part in getting the Bulldogs off to this 4-0 start.
This week will be Butler's toughest of the season. The Bulldogs (4-0) compete in the Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, featuring some pretty hefty competition. They open up play on Thanksgiving Day at 2 p.m. against Washington State (2-2). On Friday, November 29, they'll face either the winner of Purdue (5-0) vs. Oklahoma State (4-0) or the loser of that Boilermakers/Cowboys matchup. Depending on the outcome of those games, Butler could face Saint Joseph's (2-1), Siena (2-4), Memphis (2-1) or LSU (3-1) on Sunday, December 1.
Butler finds itself undefeated through 4 games and have faced some pretty good competition in doing so.
One big thing that was a big plus was that the Bulldogs were very fortunate to be able to open the 2013-14 campaign with three consecutive home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse. With a lot of inexperienced players and many newcomers, there couldn't be a better way to open the season, than on their home court.
It wasn't until the fourth game that they were forced to hit the road, but it was a short road trip, as the Bulldogs traveled up I-69 to Ball State in Muncie, Indiana to face the Cardinals at Worthen Arena.
Butler 89, Lamar 58 (November 9)
The Lamar Cardinals were kind of a quirky opponent to open the season against. Coached by Pat Knight, son of legendary former Indiana University head coach Bob Knight, you could just assume that he would recruit players that are athletes who want to be winners.
Nimrod Hilliard (23 points), Donovan Ross (18) and Amos Wilson (9) struck quite a resemblance to that of an opponent Butler saw three times during Atlantic 10 play last year. Their style and scrappiness of play had streaks of the Saint Louis Billikens. The only problem was that Lamar just couldn't finish plays off in the second half, which allowed the Bulldogs to roll over the Cardinals 51-26 in the final 20 minutes for an 89-58 runaway season-opening victory.Senior forward Khyle Marshall would take charge to lead Butler with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 13 rebounds. His offensive outburst was aided by 13 from Kellen Dunham, 11 by Kameron Woods and Erik Fromm pitching in 10.
Butler 70, Princeton 67
The Bulldogs knew that facing an opponent like Princeton would pose some problems on both ends of the court. Princeton has been known for years for setting up their offense to run the famous play called, "The Back Door." Trailing the Princeton Tigers of the Ivy League for the first 13 minutes of the first half, Butler figured out exactly what it needed to do to take the Tigers right out of their scheme and win the ball game.
Keeping at it on defense for a solid 40 minutes of hard-nosed basketball is exactly how Butler got it done to take down Princeton. Tenacious defense and knocking down 38% (9-24) from outside the arc were just two facets of the game where Butler was able to be that much better than the Tigers to pull out the three-point victory.
Sophomore guard Kellen Dunham scored a career-high 26 points on 50% overall shooting, while drilling 4-for-8 from three-point land. Three others joined KD in double-figures. After just 5 points in his debut vs. Lamar in the opener, Elijah Brown netted 13 points off the bench. Kameron Woods notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards for the junior. Senior Erik Fromm had 10 for the second consecutive game.
Butler 85, Vanderbilt 77 (OT)
Last season, Butler was able to pull off the upset over the Commodores in Nashville. This time, Vanderbilt wanted to bring Southeastern Conference (SEC) basketball to Indianapolis and give the Butler faithful a taste of what their southern flavor of hoops is all about. Vanderbilt has had some pretty decent seasons of late and made it to the NCAA Tournament six times since 2004. Their best success was Sweet 16 appearances in 2004 and 2007.
Butler was able to control the tempo of the game in the first half and took a 38-30 lead into the locker room. Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings circled the wagons and must have given his Commodores a wake up call during halftime, as they were able to take charge for a majority of the second half to outscore the Bulldogs 40-32, forcing overtime.
The Bulldog offense was anchored by their leader, Khyle Marshall. He was simply a mad man on the hardwood and did not want to lose this game, no matter what it took. Marshall led the Dawgs with a team-high 26 points on 11-for-15 field goals. It wasn't the fact that Khyle scored 26, is was the fashion he was able to do it.
With just 5 points at the half, it seemed like a switch flipped on inside of Marshall and the second half and overtime belonged to the 6'6 senior from Davie, Florida. Toward the end of regulation, Khyle scored 16 of Butler's final 22, but most importantly, he was able to outscore Vanderbilt 9-7 in the extra period. Obviously with Marshall's career night, Butler was able to pull away from Vandy 15-7 in overtime for an 85-77 win.
Dunham and Kam Woods were a great supporting cast, once again. KD finished with 16, while Woods put together a pretty good stat line of 10 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocked shots. Junior Jackson Aldridge and freshman Andrew Chrabascz each pitched in with 7 each.Butler 59, Ball State 58
Different situations and matchups force different personnel to step up and make their presence known. In most cases, I think it's someone that doesn't normally show up in a scouting report or does something significant when watching them on film in preparation.
Butler knew that their first road test would literally be a test. Neither team shot the ball well, which makes you wonder which of these two would come out on the better end of this game and wind up with the win.
Defensively, Butler exceled by forcing Ball State to turn the ball over 17 times. The host Cardinals weren't rattled, for the most part, being on their home floor at Worthen Arena in front of 6,015 in attendance.
Ball State took a seven-point advantage into halftime, up 30-23. BSU expanded their lead to 11 with a 12-8 run to start the second half for a 42-31 lead. From that point on, Butler would make the second half theirs 36-28, to eventually steal a 59-58 road victory.
The Bulldogs were tested beyond what they imagined, but knew exactly what would be needed to happen. Alex Barlow and Elijah Brown stepped up and sparked a 16-2 run for BU that would put Butler up by three.
With that three-point lead, Butler was outscored 14-12 in the final 8 minutes, but that still gave them a one-point win. Kameron Woods sparked the Butler offense scoring 6 of his 12 in the final eight minutes, but Ball State guard Jesse Berry kept the Cardinals in a one possession game with all 7 of his points in the final five minutes of play.
Majok Majok led all scorers with a game-high 15 points, while Chris Bond added 14 for the Cardinals.
Marshall led Butler with a team-high 14, while Elijah Brown tied his career-high with 13 off the bench. Woods had another double-double with 12 points and 10 boards and point guard Alex Barlow added 10.
Where the Bulldogs (4-0) go from here...
It may not have been the stiffest competition in their first four games early on in the season, but they can honestly say they've been tested by their opponents.
Lamar gave Butler a game, but only for the first half, before the Bulldogs ran away with a 31-point win. Princeton took Butler down to the wire, but Butler was able to prevail and slip away by three. Vanderbilt gave the Bulldogs the most they could take, forcing overtime, before Butler won by 8 in the extra period. Ball State gave Butler their biggest scare as an undefeated team, but found a way to escape Muncie with a 59-58 win.
As expected, Khyle Marshall and Kellen Dunham lead Butler in scoring. Each are averaging 15.8 per contest. Kameron Woods is just about putting up double digits in both scoring (11.0) and rebounding (9.0). Freshman Elijah Brown has slowly, but surely gotten himself into a comfort zone of late, averaging 8.8 per game and give head coach Brandon Miller quality minutes off the bench. Alex Barlow is dishing out 3.2 assists a game, while also compiling a 4.3/1 assist to turnover ratio. As a team, Butler is committing 8 turnovers and causing 15. They're hitting the boards to outrebound opponents by an average of 36-34.
The Butler bench has also been able to rotate four other key role players into the lineup to contribute. Junior Jackson Aldridge, sophomore Devontae Morgan, along with freshmen Rene Castro and Andrew Chrabascz have all pitched in to play their part in getting the Bulldogs off to this 4-0 start.
This week will be Butler's toughest of the season. The Bulldogs (4-0) compete in the Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, featuring some pretty hefty competition. They open up play on Thanksgiving Day at 2 p.m. against Washington State (2-2). On Friday, November 29, they'll face either the winner of Purdue (5-0) vs. Oklahoma State (4-0) or the loser of that Boilermakers/Cowboys matchup. Depending on the outcome of those games, Butler could face Saint Joseph's (2-1), Siena (2-4), Memphis (2-1) or LSU (3-1) on Sunday, December 1.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
4A #25 Noblesville Miller girls dominate Arsenal Tech in season opener, 62-29
The Noblesville Millers got their season off to a great start with a very convincing 62-29 victory over the visiting Indianapolis Arsenal Tech Titans at The Mill in Noblesville on Tuesday night.
Coming into the 2013-14 season, it was a wonder who would fill the void in the Miller backcourt with junior star Becca Bergman out for the season with a torn ACL. Kayleigh Herron and Audrey DeFoe started in the backcourt, along with Noblesville's lone senior Jessica Kiser.
The Miller backcourt did just fine in the absence of Bergman running the point. There were some shaky times before they got into a groove. Add the aforementioned trio, plus junior Cori Cain, sophomore Rachel Shipman and freshman Brooke Herron off the bench together and those worries of Bergman's point production subside.
That combination of six put together an offensive effort that (27 points) that just about equaled Arsenal Tech's offensive total of 29 points as a team.
Noblesville led 16-5 after one quarter and snagged 12 rebounds in those first eight minutes.
It was a sloppy second quarter, but Noblesville obviously still kept the Arsenal Tech Titans at enough of a distance that they were able to find room for things to improve on in the second half. The Millers took a 31-12 advantage into halftime.
The Millers burst out in the 3rd quarter and took full advantage of an Arsenal Tech team that was absolutely gassed through the first 16 minutes. There were a couple different Titans that were subbed off the floor because they had thrown up from what could only be assumed to be lack of conditioning.
Noblesville led 52-21 after three, but their quarter scoring (21) matched Tech's point total for the game of 21. Sophomore Alexis Shannon scored 6 of her 12 in the 3rd, as Erin Wood dropped in 8 of her game-high 19 in the third frame.
During the 4th, head coach Donna Keck and staff got full use of every bit of their bench. All who dressed, saw at least 3-4 minutes of playing time, including 5'1 freshman guard Sam Salmon.
Outscoring Arsenal Tech 10-8 in the fourth, the Millers won going away in blowout fashion over the Titans, 62-29.
Noblesville's next two games keep them in Hamilton County. They'll get their first true road test of the season as they'll head north on SR 19 on Friday, November 15 to face the 3A #6 (1-0) Hamilton Heights Huskies. Last night, Heights edged Tri-Central 55-54 in Sharpsville.
The Millers will come back home to The Mill next Tuesday, November 19 and open up Hoosier Crossroads Conference play with 4A #6 Westfield (1-0). The Shamrocks opened up their season Tuesday night also and came away with a one-sided 72-21 win over visiting Frankton.
Arsenal Tech (29) - Ra'Shay Turentine 10, Brittany Reedy 7, Emoni Smith 6, Na'Jai Howard 2, Kali Wilburn 2, Kennedi Jackson 2, Jalise Beck 0, Stachia Austin 0, Chalis Gardner 0, Tessa Toney 0.
Noblesville (62) - Erin Wood 19, Jessica Kiser 12, Alexis Shannon 12, Kayleigh Herron 6, Cori Cain 4, Audrey DeFoe 4, Katelyn O'Reilly 4, Brooke Herron 1, Erin Flynn 0, Rachel Shipman 0, Haley Conway 0, Sam Salmon 0.
Additional Noblesville Stats:
Rebounds 46 (19 offensive): Kiser 8, Shannon 7, Wood 5, O'Reilly 5, K. Herron 4, Shipman 4, B. Herron 4, Cain 3, Flynn 3, Conway.
Assists (15) - Shannon 5, Cain 4, K. Herron 3, DeFoe 2, B. Herron
Steals (17) - K. Herron 6, Shannon 3, Cain 2, Kiser 2, DeFoe 2, O'Reilly, Wood.
Coming into the 2013-14 season, it was a wonder who would fill the void in the Miller backcourt with junior star Becca Bergman out for the season with a torn ACL. Kayleigh Herron and Audrey DeFoe started in the backcourt, along with Noblesville's lone senior Jessica Kiser.
The Miller backcourt did just fine in the absence of Bergman running the point. There were some shaky times before they got into a groove. Add the aforementioned trio, plus junior Cori Cain, sophomore Rachel Shipman and freshman Brooke Herron off the bench together and those worries of Bergman's point production subside.
That combination of six put together an offensive effort that (27 points) that just about equaled Arsenal Tech's offensive total of 29 points as a team.
Noblesville led 16-5 after one quarter and snagged 12 rebounds in those first eight minutes.
It was a sloppy second quarter, but Noblesville obviously still kept the Arsenal Tech Titans at enough of a distance that they were able to find room for things to improve on in the second half. The Millers took a 31-12 advantage into halftime.
The Millers burst out in the 3rd quarter and took full advantage of an Arsenal Tech team that was absolutely gassed through the first 16 minutes. There were a couple different Titans that were subbed off the floor because they had thrown up from what could only be assumed to be lack of conditioning.
Noblesville led 52-21 after three, but their quarter scoring (21) matched Tech's point total for the game of 21. Sophomore Alexis Shannon scored 6 of her 12 in the 3rd, as Erin Wood dropped in 8 of her game-high 19 in the third frame.
During the 4th, head coach Donna Keck and staff got full use of every bit of their bench. All who dressed, saw at least 3-4 minutes of playing time, including 5'1 freshman guard Sam Salmon.
Outscoring Arsenal Tech 10-8 in the fourth, the Millers won going away in blowout fashion over the Titans, 62-29.
Noblesville's next two games keep them in Hamilton County. They'll get their first true road test of the season as they'll head north on SR 19 on Friday, November 15 to face the 3A #6 (1-0) Hamilton Heights Huskies. Last night, Heights edged Tri-Central 55-54 in Sharpsville.
The Millers will come back home to The Mill next Tuesday, November 19 and open up Hoosier Crossroads Conference play with 4A #6 Westfield (1-0). The Shamrocks opened up their season Tuesday night also and came away with a one-sided 72-21 win over visiting Frankton.
Arsenal Tech (29) - Ra'Shay Turentine 10, Brittany Reedy 7, Emoni Smith 6, Na'Jai Howard 2, Kali Wilburn 2, Kennedi Jackson 2, Jalise Beck 0, Stachia Austin 0, Chalis Gardner 0, Tessa Toney 0.
Noblesville (62) - Erin Wood 19, Jessica Kiser 12, Alexis Shannon 12, Kayleigh Herron 6, Cori Cain 4, Audrey DeFoe 4, Katelyn O'Reilly 4, Brooke Herron 1, Erin Flynn 0, Rachel Shipman 0, Haley Conway 0, Sam Salmon 0.
Additional Noblesville Stats:
Rebounds 46 (19 offensive): Kiser 8, Shannon 7, Wood 5, O'Reilly 5, K. Herron 4, Shipman 4, B. Herron 4, Cain 3, Flynn 3, Conway.
Assists (15) - Shannon 5, Cain 4, K. Herron 3, DeFoe 2, B. Herron
Steals (17) - K. Herron 6, Shannon 3, Cain 2, Kiser 2, DeFoe 2, O'Reilly, Wood.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Butler cruises past Lamar in season opener
The atmosphere at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse was uncanny for all as the Butler Bulldogs opener their season in grand fashion, cruising past Lamar in the second half, thanks in great part to an electric home crowd. The Bulldogs won going away with a dominating 89-58 win over the Cardinals.
There were times in the first half when it was a wonder when Butler would get comfortable of being in front of a packed (9,617) home environment and used to being on national television (Fox Sports 2).
The Lamar Cardinals were a scrappy version of the Saint Louis Billikens that Butler faced twice last season in Atlantic 10 play. Guards that were all over the court on both ends and an midsized frontcourt that still caused trouble.
In the first 16:30 of the first half, there were seven lead changes and one tie on the scoreboard, before Butler brought things back down to size. Lamar's Donovan Ross nailed a jumper for the Cardinals' final lead of the game at 30-29. The next play down the court, junior guard Jackson Aldridge got the Bulldogs the lead, which they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the night. Aldridge's three came from the right corner and got that home court bounce off the front of the rim, hit the backboard and down through the net. That three put Butler up 32-30 with 3:34 that they would add six more onto and lead 38-32 at the half.
It became a tale of two halves for both squads, but it was Lamar that took a step backwards in second the half.
The Bulldogs took full advantage of Lamar being gassed by halftime and bolted off on a 23-8 run that gave Butler a commanding 61-40 lead with 11:30 left in the contest.
Butler kept building on this 20-plus point lead, bringing a majority of the bench in for playing time in the final five minutes of the game.
Lamar's Nimrod Hilliard brought it back to a 20-point deficit, but that wouldn't last long at all. During the final 3:31 of the game, it was all freshmen doing the scoring for Butler. The frosh Dawgs went on an 13-2 run during that span and put away the Cardinals for good. Rene Castro scored all of his six points, while Nolan Berry, Elijah Brown and Michael Volovic combined for seven in those final few minutes to put Lamar away, 89-58.
On opening night in the 2013-14 season, it wasn't about who was going to replace the prolific three-point shooting of Rotnei Clarke. It also wasn't focused on where frontcourt scoring would come from with Andrew Smith graduating with Clarke back in the spring and Roosevelt Jones out for the season with a left wrist injury.
Head coach Brandon Miller got the answer he probably knew people would be asking about. His three frontcourt starters did a superb job of producing when the knew they had to on Saturday night against a feisty defense of Lamar. Khyle Marshall, Kameron Woods and Erik Fromm combined for 40 points and 22 rebounds between the three of them to stifle the Cardinals' defense and throw them completely out of whack in the second half.
Nimrod Hilliard led all scorers with a game-high 23 points, while Donovan Ross snagged 18 points, 14 of which came in the first half.
Marshall led Butler with 19 points and 13 boards and he was followed in scoring by Kellen Dunham with 13 (11 in 2nd half), Woods with 11 (7 rebounds) and Fromm with 10. Jackson Aldridge had a nice night off the bench with nine points, while also grabbing two boards and dishing out a pair of assists in 13 minutes.
Following the press conference after the game, I had the chance to take a minute with Khyle Marshall. I noticed that he had more energy in this season opener of his senior season that I noticed of any other Bulldog. Khyle was the only Butler player that had already peeled his warm-up shirt off prior to the National Anthem. This guy was read to play and showed it with his leadership on the court.
"It's a new year and we've got a whole different mindset. When that warm-up clock hits 0:00, it's time to start playing, time to get going and start rolling. It's just something that's me as a player and I feel like I've matured. As a senior, it's your last go around, so it's now or never," said a confident Marshall following last night's win over Lamar.
Size and bench depth when it came to determining the final outcome of this ballgame. Butler was able to manhandle Lamar 62-22 in the paint. They scored 20 points off the Cardinals 13 turnovers, while only committing 5 turnovers themselves. The Bulldogs were also able to manage 24 second chance points (14 offensive rebounds) and outscored Lamar's bench 34-4.
Lamar (0-1) gets to head home to Beaumont, Texas and hosts George Mason on Tuesday, November 12 for their next game.
The Butler Bulldogs (1-0) will continue their three-game home stint next Saturday, November 16th, as the Princeton Tigers (0-0) come to Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for an 8 p.m. tipoff on Fox Sports 2. Princeton opens its season on Sunday, November 10, hosting the Florida A&M Rattlers (0-1).
There were times in the first half when it was a wonder when Butler would get comfortable of being in front of a packed (9,617) home environment and used to being on national television (Fox Sports 2).
The Lamar Cardinals were a scrappy version of the Saint Louis Billikens that Butler faced twice last season in Atlantic 10 play. Guards that were all over the court on both ends and an midsized frontcourt that still caused trouble.
In the first 16:30 of the first half, there were seven lead changes and one tie on the scoreboard, before Butler brought things back down to size. Lamar's Donovan Ross nailed a jumper for the Cardinals' final lead of the game at 30-29. The next play down the court, junior guard Jackson Aldridge got the Bulldogs the lead, which they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the night. Aldridge's three came from the right corner and got that home court bounce off the front of the rim, hit the backboard and down through the net. That three put Butler up 32-30 with 3:34 that they would add six more onto and lead 38-32 at the half.It became a tale of two halves for both squads, but it was Lamar that took a step backwards in second the half.
The Bulldogs took full advantage of Lamar being gassed by halftime and bolted off on a 23-8 run that gave Butler a commanding 61-40 lead with 11:30 left in the contest.
Butler kept building on this 20-plus point lead, bringing a majority of the bench in for playing time in the final five minutes of the game.
Lamar's Nimrod Hilliard brought it back to a 20-point deficit, but that wouldn't last long at all. During the final 3:31 of the game, it was all freshmen doing the scoring for Butler. The frosh Dawgs went on an 13-2 run during that span and put away the Cardinals for good. Rene Castro scored all of his six points, while Nolan Berry, Elijah Brown and Michael Volovic combined for seven in those final few minutes to put Lamar away, 89-58.
On opening night in the 2013-14 season, it wasn't about who was going to replace the prolific three-point shooting of Rotnei Clarke. It also wasn't focused on where frontcourt scoring would come from with Andrew Smith graduating with Clarke back in the spring and Roosevelt Jones out for the season with a left wrist injury.
Head coach Brandon Miller got the answer he probably knew people would be asking about. His three frontcourt starters did a superb job of producing when the knew they had to on Saturday night against a feisty defense of Lamar. Khyle Marshall, Kameron Woods and Erik Fromm combined for 40 points and 22 rebounds between the three of them to stifle the Cardinals' defense and throw them completely out of whack in the second half.
Nimrod Hilliard led all scorers with a game-high 23 points, while Donovan Ross snagged 18 points, 14 of which came in the first half.
Marshall led Butler with 19 points and 13 boards and he was followed in scoring by Kellen Dunham with 13 (11 in 2nd half), Woods with 11 (7 rebounds) and Fromm with 10. Jackson Aldridge had a nice night off the bench with nine points, while also grabbing two boards and dishing out a pair of assists in 13 minutes.
Following the press conference after the game, I had the chance to take a minute with Khyle Marshall. I noticed that he had more energy in this season opener of his senior season that I noticed of any other Bulldog. Khyle was the only Butler player that had already peeled his warm-up shirt off prior to the National Anthem. This guy was read to play and showed it with his leadership on the court."It's a new year and we've got a whole different mindset. When that warm-up clock hits 0:00, it's time to start playing, time to get going and start rolling. It's just something that's me as a player and I feel like I've matured. As a senior, it's your last go around, so it's now or never," said a confident Marshall following last night's win over Lamar.
Size and bench depth when it came to determining the final outcome of this ballgame. Butler was able to manhandle Lamar 62-22 in the paint. They scored 20 points off the Cardinals 13 turnovers, while only committing 5 turnovers themselves. The Bulldogs were also able to manage 24 second chance points (14 offensive rebounds) and outscored Lamar's bench 34-4.
Lamar (0-1) gets to head home to Beaumont, Texas and hosts George Mason on Tuesday, November 12 for their next game.
The Butler Bulldogs (1-0) will continue their three-game home stint next Saturday, November 16th, as the Princeton Tigers (0-0) come to Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for an 8 p.m. tipoff on Fox Sports 2. Princeton opens its season on Sunday, November 10, hosting the Florida A&M Rattlers (0-1).
Monday, November 4, 2013
Andrew Smeathers to leave Butler basketball program
It is probably one of his toughest decisions yet in life, but it had to be done. 6'6 junior forward Andrew Smeathers, a product of Bargersville, IN and Center Grove High School, has decided to leave the Butler Bulldog basketball program in pursuit of a setting where he'll see more playing time.
Smeathers will finish out the 2013 fall semester in Indianapolis at Butler University, but will transfer to another school in time to start the spring semester in January of 2014.
At this time, it's undisclosed as to where Smeathers will continue the final two seasons of his college basketball eligibility.
He was a 2011 Indiana All-Star at Center Grove High School, the first time in the school's history that they've had someone named to the All-Star squad.
As a Bulldog freshman in 2011-12, Andrew saw action in 23 games, including a 17-point outburst against Oakland City, knocking down five three-pointers.
His sophomore campaign in 2012-13, Smeathers made it off the bench in just 20 of Butler's 36 contests.
He scored a eight points in a total of nine minutes in Butler's first two exhibition games to start this 2013-14 season.
Injuries have been a slight issue with Smeathers, but a player like Andrew Smeathers needs to be able to display his talents and spread his wings. Butler may not have been the perfect place for Smeathers to show the college basketball world what he's got, but he'll catch on somewhere and excel to the best of his abilities.
Best of luck in your future, Andrew Smeathers.
Smeathers will finish out the 2013 fall semester in Indianapolis at Butler University, but will transfer to another school in time to start the spring semester in January of 2014.
At this time, it's undisclosed as to where Smeathers will continue the final two seasons of his college basketball eligibility.
He was a 2011 Indiana All-Star at Center Grove High School, the first time in the school's history that they've had someone named to the All-Star squad. As a Bulldog freshman in 2011-12, Andrew saw action in 23 games, including a 17-point outburst against Oakland City, knocking down five three-pointers.
His sophomore campaign in 2012-13, Smeathers made it off the bench in just 20 of Butler's 36 contests.
He scored a eight points in a total of nine minutes in Butler's first two exhibition games to start this 2013-14 season.
Injuries have been a slight issue with Smeathers, but a player like Andrew Smeathers needs to be able to display his talents and spread his wings. Butler may not have been the perfect place for Smeathers to show the college basketball world what he's got, but he'll catch on somewhere and excel to the best of his abilities.
Best of luck in your future, Andrew Smeathers.
Bulldogs' shooting overpowers DePauw in final exhibition tuneup
On Saturday, the Butler Bulldogs entertained their second and final exhibition opponent. They did so in a fashion that delighted the 6,000-plus in attendance for the matinee affair at Hinkle Fieldhouse, as the Bulldogs cruised to a 93-68 win.
The visiting Tigers gave Butler all it could handle in the first half. Keeping things honest, DePauw trailed by no more than nine, which eventually became their halftime deficit of 42-33.
Adams Botts led the way for DePauw in the first half, as he scored 14 of his team-high 17 points before the break. Tommy Fernitz pitched in 10 by the halftime break.
Kellen Dunham paced Butler in the first 20 minutes with 11, while Erik Fromm kept the Tigers honest down low with 10.
DePauw had no idea how much of a second half time Butler could be. The Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 51-35.
Freshman guard Elijah Brown was quite impressive, as he scored 8 by the half and 10 after to finish with 18 points. Brown shot 6-of-11 from the floor and connected on all five of his free throw attempts in just 22 minutes of action.
Dunham led all scorers with 23 points and shot pretty well, knocking down 7-for-11 of his field goals and also sank all six from the charity stripe.
The second half was all about getting the Bulldogs' bench involved to see who will wind up being key contributors as the regular season starts this week.
DePauw got three into double-figure scoring. They were led by Adams Botts and Pat Haggin both scoring a team-high 17, with Tommy Fernitz adding 10.
With Dunham leading all with 23, Elijah Brown was instrumental off the bench with 18, while Erik Fromm was the third Bulldog to reach double-digits with 11 and six rebounds. Alex Barlow had 9 and three steals, with fellow starters Kameron Woods (6 points, 6 boards) and Khyle Marshall (8 points, 3 rebounds) did their part, before giving way to the Bulldog bench.
Two other freshmen got some quality minutes, as Nolan Berry and Andrew Chrabascz each pitched in 5 points.
The Bulldogs shot well overall by making 53% of his shots and 47 % (7-15) from outside the three-point arc. Butler got back to its old ways of drilling 30-of-39 from the free throw line.
Butler begins regular season play this Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse with the Lamar Cardinals coming to Indianapolis for an 8 p.m. tipoff and can be seen on Fox Sports 2.
The visiting Tigers gave Butler all it could handle in the first half. Keeping things honest, DePauw trailed by no more than nine, which eventually became their halftime deficit of 42-33.
Adams Botts led the way for DePauw in the first half, as he scored 14 of his team-high 17 points before the break. Tommy Fernitz pitched in 10 by the halftime break.
Kellen Dunham paced Butler in the first 20 minutes with 11, while Erik Fromm kept the Tigers honest down low with 10.
DePauw had no idea how much of a second half time Butler could be. The Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 51-35.
Freshman guard Elijah Brown was quite impressive, as he scored 8 by the half and 10 after to finish with 18 points. Brown shot 6-of-11 from the floor and connected on all five of his free throw attempts in just 22 minutes of action.
Dunham led all scorers with 23 points and shot pretty well, knocking down 7-for-11 of his field goals and also sank all six from the charity stripe.
The second half was all about getting the Bulldogs' bench involved to see who will wind up being key contributors as the regular season starts this week.
DePauw got three into double-figure scoring. They were led by Adams Botts and Pat Haggin both scoring a team-high 17, with Tommy Fernitz adding 10.
With Dunham leading all with 23, Elijah Brown was instrumental off the bench with 18, while Erik Fromm was the third Bulldog to reach double-digits with 11 and six rebounds. Alex Barlow had 9 and three steals, with fellow starters Kameron Woods (6 points, 6 boards) and Khyle Marshall (8 points, 3 rebounds) did their part, before giving way to the Bulldog bench.
Two other freshmen got some quality minutes, as Nolan Berry and Andrew Chrabascz each pitched in 5 points.
The Bulldogs shot well overall by making 53% of his shots and 47 % (7-15) from outside the three-point arc. Butler got back to its old ways of drilling 30-of-39 from the free throw line.
Butler begins regular season play this Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse with the Lamar Cardinals coming to Indianapolis for an 8 p.m. tipoff and can be seen on Fox Sports 2.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Butler Bulldogs dominate Nova Southeastern in exhibition
It didn't take long at all before the Butler found themselves running away from their visitors in Tuesday night's exhibition contest at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The youthful home standing Bulldogs took advantage of every miscue of visiting Nova Southeastern, blowing away the Sharks, 101-64.
Alex Barlow and Kellen Dunham started in the backcourt, with Erik Fromm in the middle, while Kameron Woods and Khyle Marshall rounded out the starting lineup at the forward slots. Those five bring back a lot of experience from last year's 27-9 squad, which will be without the services of returning scorer and rebounder Roosevelt Jones this season.
Dunham (left) (Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights) dropped down all of his team-high 16 points, while freshman Elijah Brown (Los Angeles, CA/Mater Dei) knocked down eight of his 11 by halftime.
Butler cruised its way to doubling up the Sharks through the first 20 minutes, 55-27. The Bulldogs shot pretty well in the first half, making 18-of-28 from the floor over all and sinking 7-for-13 from outside the three-point arc. Three of those seven treys came from Dunham's 3-5 shooting (5-8 overall) and junior guard Jackson Aldridge (Sydney, Australia/Australian Institute of Sport) swished his only two attempts from downtown to finish with eight.
The second half was all about spreading out the playing time and keeping the Sharks at a distance, which is exactly what the Bulldogs were able to do. Butler was able to do what it wanted, pretty much whenever they wanted to against the visitors from the Sunshine State, outscoring Nova Southeastern 46-37 in the final half.
Khyle Marshall (left) (Davie, FL/Flanagan), who grew up just down the road from Nova Southeastern, finished with 13 points (6-8 field goals) and four boards. Freshman Nolan Berry (St. Louis, MO/De Smet) quickly became a crowd favorite as he scrapped his way to scoring six of his 11 points in the first half, while also grabbing six rebounds.
Senior center Erik Fromm (Bloomington, IN/South) added eight points in his starting role, making 5-of-6 free throws and Kameron Woods (Louisville, KY/Eastern) snagged nine rebounds to his credit.
Junior Andrew Smeathers (Bargersville, IN/Center Grove) scored five on a three and a couple from the charity stripe and flighty sophomore guard Devontae Morgan (Tampa, FL/Tampa Prep) put four on the scoreboard, with four rebounds and two assists.
Freshmen Steven Bennett (New Castle, IN/Chrysler) was one of a few that awoke the Hinkle Fieldhouse crowd on hand in the second half, scoring six in just eight minutes. Three additional freshmen gave it their all when they got their opportunity. Andrew Chrabascz (Portsmouth, RI/Cushing Academy) netted four points and four rebounds, Rene Castro (Milton, MA/Worcester Academy) had four and dished out a pair of assists and local product Michael Volovic (Carmel, IN/Carmel) managed five points in eight minutes on the floor.
Nova Southeastern was only able to get two into double-figures. Chris Page led all scorers with a game-high 18 points on six field goals and 4-4 from the foul line. Casey Carroll had 13 and Brian Cahill added nine for the visiting Sharks.
In the post-game press conference, I got the chance to ask Butler head coach Brandon Miller about the depth he'll have in his frontcourt.
"I think that's exactly what they give us. They give us depth and looking at our team, we're able to play a number of different combinations. Those guys fit to what we're doing and they each have their strengths and I think they'll both give something to this team. We're counting on those guys to play and that's why they're not going to redshirt. They'll give us valuable minutes throughout the season," said a confident Miller.
It seems pretty obvious that their four-game trip to Australia in August has helped this group of Butler Bulldogs and their chemistry immensely and will even more as the season progresses.
Butler will be playing its second of two exhibition games against Division III DePauw University from Greencastle, Indiana on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs will open regular season play on Saturday, November 9 when they host the Lamar Cardinals of the Southland Conference for an 8 p.m. tipoff on Fox Sports 2.
Alex Barlow and Kellen Dunham started in the backcourt, with Erik Fromm in the middle, while Kameron Woods and Khyle Marshall rounded out the starting lineup at the forward slots. Those five bring back a lot of experience from last year's 27-9 squad, which will be without the services of returning scorer and rebounder Roosevelt Jones this season.
Dunham (left) (Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights) dropped down all of his team-high 16 points, while freshman Elijah Brown (Los Angeles, CA/Mater Dei) knocked down eight of his 11 by halftime.Butler cruised its way to doubling up the Sharks through the first 20 minutes, 55-27. The Bulldogs shot pretty well in the first half, making 18-of-28 from the floor over all and sinking 7-for-13 from outside the three-point arc. Three of those seven treys came from Dunham's 3-5 shooting (5-8 overall) and junior guard Jackson Aldridge (Sydney, Australia/Australian Institute of Sport) swished his only two attempts from downtown to finish with eight.
The second half was all about spreading out the playing time and keeping the Sharks at a distance, which is exactly what the Bulldogs were able to do. Butler was able to do what it wanted, pretty much whenever they wanted to against the visitors from the Sunshine State, outscoring Nova Southeastern 46-37 in the final half.
Khyle Marshall (left) (Davie, FL/Flanagan), who grew up just down the road from Nova Southeastern, finished with 13 points (6-8 field goals) and four boards. Freshman Nolan Berry (St. Louis, MO/De Smet) quickly became a crowd favorite as he scrapped his way to scoring six of his 11 points in the first half, while also grabbing six rebounds. Senior center Erik Fromm (Bloomington, IN/South) added eight points in his starting role, making 5-of-6 free throws and Kameron Woods (Louisville, KY/Eastern) snagged nine rebounds to his credit.
Junior Andrew Smeathers (Bargersville, IN/Center Grove) scored five on a three and a couple from the charity stripe and flighty sophomore guard Devontae Morgan (Tampa, FL/Tampa Prep) put four on the scoreboard, with four rebounds and two assists.
Freshmen Steven Bennett (New Castle, IN/Chrysler) was one of a few that awoke the Hinkle Fieldhouse crowd on hand in the second half, scoring six in just eight minutes. Three additional freshmen gave it their all when they got their opportunity. Andrew Chrabascz (Portsmouth, RI/Cushing Academy) netted four points and four rebounds, Rene Castro (Milton, MA/Worcester Academy) had four and dished out a pair of assists and local product Michael Volovic (Carmel, IN/Carmel) managed five points in eight minutes on the floor.
Nova Southeastern was only able to get two into double-figures. Chris Page led all scorers with a game-high 18 points on six field goals and 4-4 from the foul line. Casey Carroll had 13 and Brian Cahill added nine for the visiting Sharks.
In the post-game press conference, I got the chance to ask Butler head coach Brandon Miller about the depth he'll have in his frontcourt.
"I think that's exactly what they give us. They give us depth and looking at our team, we're able to play a number of different combinations. Those guys fit to what we're doing and they each have their strengths and I think they'll both give something to this team. We're counting on those guys to play and that's why they're not going to redshirt. They'll give us valuable minutes throughout the season," said a confident Miller.
It seems pretty obvious that their four-game trip to Australia in August has helped this group of Butler Bulldogs and their chemistry immensely and will even more as the season progresses.
Butler will be playing its second of two exhibition games against Division III DePauw University from Greencastle, Indiana on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs will open regular season play on Saturday, November 9 when they host the Lamar Cardinals of the Southland Conference for an 8 p.m. tipoff on Fox Sports 2.
Butler's 2013-14 schedule: Bulldog Big East tv exposure
The Butler Bulldogs begin their first of two exhibition games to jump start the Brandon Miller head coaching era in the 2013-14 season tonight when they welcome in Nova Southeastern to Hinkle Fieldhouse for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
Four days later on Saturday, November 2, the Bulldogs will host Division III's DePauw University from Greencastle, Indiana for their second and final exhibition contest before the games start counting for real.
Butler will be completely exposed to a national audience all season long in its first year as a member of the Big East conference. The regular season starts off with two straight games on Fox Sports 2, with the regular season/home opener with Lamar on Saturday, November 9 at 8 p.m. and Princeton one week later on November 16 at 8 p.m. The Bulldogs continue their three-game opening spree at Hinkle Fieldhouse with the SEC's Vanderbilt Commodores on Tuesday, November 19 at 6 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
Before heading to Lake Buena Vista, Florida for the Old Spice Classic at ESPN's Wide World of Sports, Butler heads up I-69 to Muncie, Indiana to face the improved Ball State Cardinals at Worthen Arena at 2 p.m. on Nov. 23.
The ESPN networks will showcase the Old Spice Classic from November 28-December 1. The Bulldogs open up with a Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Washington State Cougars on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. Their second Old Spice game will be against either #12 Oklahoma State or Purdue. Others that Butler could meet up with are LSU, Siena, Saint Joseph's and #13 Memphis.
The week following, Butler returns home where they'll play three games in Indianapolis before ending their semester and starting their first season in the Big East conference. Home dates with North Dakota (Dec. 7) and Manchester (Dec. 9) on Fox Sports 1 will be offensive tune-ups.
On December 14, Butler faces Purdue in what could be their second meeting in just over two weeks. The two are the second game in the Close the Gap: Crossroads Classic at Banker's Life Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers. The Bulldogs and Boilermakers will be a 6 p.m. tip on the Big Ten Network.
The only game, aside from their game at Ball State, that isn't currently slated to be televised, is December 21st at Evansville.
The Bulldogs get back into things on Fox Sports 2 to host NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology) on December 28 at 1 p.m. They'll follow that up with a New Year's Eve game in the Big East opener at Hinkle Fieldhouse vs. the Villanova Wildcats at 7:30 p.m.
January and February are the meat and potatoes of Butler's schedule and will truly be a test of how they will survive in their first season in the Big East conference.
Ringing in the new year in conference play, they'll hit the road to Cincinnati, Ohio to face the Xavier Musketeers on Fox Sports National on January 4 at 2 p.m. Butler will have three more road tests in January, with all three in unfamiliar territory. Road games at Creighton (Jan. 14), Providence (Jan. 21) and Seton Hall (Jan. 29) will at be televised on Fox Sports 1.
Home games with DePaul (Jan. 9) and Georgetown (Jan. 11) will both be on Fox Sports 1. The home game with Marquette (Jan. 18) will be on CBS Sports Network and St. John's (Jan. 25) first trip to Indianapolis will be on Fox Sports National.
February starts off with huge games on the road at Marquette on Feb. 4 (Fox Sports 1) and Georgetown on Feb. 8 (CBS). Two straight home games will give Butler a little break after four of five on the road. Xavier on Feb. 11 (Fox Sports 1) and Creighton on Feb. 13 (CBS Sports Network) come to Hinkle for two games in three nights for the Bulldogs.
Butler will spend three of their final five games on the road and all five will be on Fox Sports 1. They'll make their first trips to St. John's (Feb. 18), Villanova (Feb. 26) and DePaul (Mar. 6), but will also play Providence (Feb. 23) and then Seton Hall (Mar. 8) to wrap up regular season play at home.
It's going to be a big step for the Big East, as they will be the focal content throughout the winter with the conference's new television home being Fox Sports 1 and 2.
Four days later on Saturday, November 2, the Bulldogs will host Division III's DePauw University from Greencastle, Indiana for their second and final exhibition contest before the games start counting for real.
Butler will be completely exposed to a national audience all season long in its first year as a member of the Big East conference. The regular season starts off with two straight games on Fox Sports 2, with the regular season/home opener with Lamar on Saturday, November 9 at 8 p.m. and Princeton one week later on November 16 at 8 p.m. The Bulldogs continue their three-game opening spree at Hinkle Fieldhouse with the SEC's Vanderbilt Commodores on Tuesday, November 19 at 6 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
Before heading to Lake Buena Vista, Florida for the Old Spice Classic at ESPN's Wide World of Sports, Butler heads up I-69 to Muncie, Indiana to face the improved Ball State Cardinals at Worthen Arena at 2 p.m. on Nov. 23.The ESPN networks will showcase the Old Spice Classic from November 28-December 1. The Bulldogs open up with a Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Washington State Cougars on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. Their second Old Spice game will be against either #12 Oklahoma State or Purdue. Others that Butler could meet up with are LSU, Siena, Saint Joseph's and #13 Memphis.
The week following, Butler returns home where they'll play three games in Indianapolis before ending their semester and starting their first season in the Big East conference. Home dates with North Dakota (Dec. 7) and Manchester (Dec. 9) on Fox Sports 1 will be offensive tune-ups.
On December 14, Butler faces Purdue in what could be their second meeting in just over two weeks. The two are the second game in the Close the Gap: Crossroads Classic at Banker's Life Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers. The Bulldogs and Boilermakers will be a 6 p.m. tip on the Big Ten Network.
The only game, aside from their game at Ball State, that isn't currently slated to be televised, is December 21st at Evansville.
The Bulldogs get back into things on Fox Sports 2 to host NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology) on December 28 at 1 p.m. They'll follow that up with a New Year's Eve game in the Big East opener at Hinkle Fieldhouse vs. the Villanova Wildcats at 7:30 p.m.
January and February are the meat and potatoes of Butler's schedule and will truly be a test of how they will survive in their first season in the Big East conference.
Ringing in the new year in conference play, they'll hit the road to Cincinnati, Ohio to face the Xavier Musketeers on Fox Sports National on January 4 at 2 p.m. Butler will have three more road tests in January, with all three in unfamiliar territory. Road games at Creighton (Jan. 14), Providence (Jan. 21) and Seton Hall (Jan. 29) will at be televised on Fox Sports 1.Home games with DePaul (Jan. 9) and Georgetown (Jan. 11) will both be on Fox Sports 1. The home game with Marquette (Jan. 18) will be on CBS Sports Network and St. John's (Jan. 25) first trip to Indianapolis will be on Fox Sports National.
February starts off with huge games on the road at Marquette on Feb. 4 (Fox Sports 1) and Georgetown on Feb. 8 (CBS). Two straight home games will give Butler a little break after four of five on the road. Xavier on Feb. 11 (Fox Sports 1) and Creighton on Feb. 13 (CBS Sports Network) come to Hinkle for two games in three nights for the Bulldogs.
Butler will spend three of their final five games on the road and all five will be on Fox Sports 1. They'll make their first trips to St. John's (Feb. 18), Villanova (Feb. 26) and DePaul (Mar. 6), but will also play Providence (Feb. 23) and then Seton Hall (Mar. 8) to wrap up regular season play at home.
It's going to be a big step for the Big East, as they will be the focal content throughout the winter with the conference's new television home being Fox Sports 1 and 2.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Big East's basketball Media Day leaves Butler with work to do
Today in New York City, it was Big East basketball Media Day for both men's and women's basketball. Three schools played the role of new kid on the block. Butler, Xavier and Creighton are all starting their first athletic seasons in the Big East conference.
This trio of newcomers to the league have been selected by the coaches to finish 3rd (Creighton), 7th (Xavier) and 9th (Butler) out of 10. Below is the full pre-season coaches poll that was revealed today before national media members in The Big Apple at Chelsea Piers.
1. Marquette
2. Georgetown
3. Creighton
4. Villanova
5. St. John's
6. Providence
7. Xavier
8. Seton Hall
9. BUTLER
10. DePaul
Other pre-season predictions:
Player of the Year: Doug McDermott, 6'8 senior forward, Creighton (Ames, IA)
Rookie of the Year: Rysheed Jordan 6'4 freshmen guard, St. John's (Philadelphia, PA)
All-Big East 1st team:
All-Big East 2nd team:
Honorable mention:
2013-14 will be quite the learning experience for this rendition of Butler Bulldog basketball. New conference, first-year head coach and every game viewable by a national audience.
It's been said by some that the 2013-14 season will be a down year for Butler basketball for numerous reasons. They lost sharp-shooting three[point threat Rotnei Clarke and the tough inside presence of Andrew Smith to graduation. Returning starter Roosevelt Jones was lost for the season when he injured his left wrist during Butler's four-game Australian exhibition tour in early August, leaving a bit of a hole in the Bulldogs' offense.
Butler will have its hands full for the whole season, to say the least. The Catholic 7 (Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall and DePaul) have welcomed the Bulldogs, Xavier and Creighton with open arms to help create a new identity for the new Big East. Those seven have a great NCAA Tournament history already and bring in upswing Creighton, Xavier who's had some Sweet 16 and Elite Eight appearances and cap it off with Butler's back-to-back national runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2011.
We're in for quite a winter in this first season of the new Big East and it will be exciting to see how many teams make the NCAA Tournament. It all starts to unfold in early November!
This trio of newcomers to the league have been selected by the coaches to finish 3rd (Creighton), 7th (Xavier) and 9th (Butler) out of 10. Below is the full pre-season coaches poll that was revealed today before national media members in The Big Apple at Chelsea Piers.
1. Marquette
2. Georgetown
3. Creighton
4. Villanova
5. St. John's
6. Providence
7. Xavier
8. Seton Hall
9. BUTLER
10. DePaul
Other pre-season predictions:
Player of the Year: Doug McDermott, 6'8 senior forward, Creighton (Ames, IA)
Rookie of the Year: Rysheed Jordan 6'4 freshmen guard, St. John's (Philadelphia, PA)
All-Big East 1st team:
- D'Angelo Harrison, 6'4 junior guard, St. John's (Missouri City, TX)
- Semaj Christon, 6'3 sophomore guard, Xavier (Cincinnati, OH)
- Markel Starks, 6'1 senior guard, Georgetown (Accokeek, MD)
- Davante Gardner, 6'8 senior forward, Marquette (Suffolk, VA)
- Bryce Cotton, 6'1 senior guard, Providence (Tucson, AZ)
All-Big East 2nd team:
- Jamil Wilson, 6'7 senior forward, Marquette (Racine, WI)
- JaKarr Sampson, 6'9 sophomore forward, St. John's (Akron, OH)
- Fuquan Edwin, 6'6 senior forward, Seton Hall (Paterson, NJ)
- Ryan Arcidiacono, 6'3 sophomore guard, Villanova (Langhorne, PA)
- JayVaughn Pinkston, 6'7 junior forward, Villanova (Brooklyn, NY)
- Cleveland Melvin, 6'8 senior forward, DePaul (Baltimore, MD)
Honorable mention:
- Kadeem Batts, 6'10 senior forward, Providence (Boston, MA)
- Chris Obekpa, 6'9 sophomore center, St. John's (Makurdi, Nigeria)
2013-14 will be quite the learning experience for this rendition of Butler Bulldog basketball. New conference, first-year head coach and every game viewable by a national audience.
It's been said by some that the 2013-14 season will be a down year for Butler basketball for numerous reasons. They lost sharp-shooting three[point threat Rotnei Clarke and the tough inside presence of Andrew Smith to graduation. Returning starter Roosevelt Jones was lost for the season when he injured his left wrist during Butler's four-game Australian exhibition tour in early August, leaving a bit of a hole in the Bulldogs' offense. Butler will have its hands full for the whole season, to say the least. The Catholic 7 (Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall and DePaul) have welcomed the Bulldogs, Xavier and Creighton with open arms to help create a new identity for the new Big East. Those seven have a great NCAA Tournament history already and bring in upswing Creighton, Xavier who's had some Sweet 16 and Elite Eight appearances and cap it off with Butler's back-to-back national runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2011.
We're in for quite a winter in this first season of the new Big East and it will be exciting to see how many teams make the NCAA Tournament. It all starts to unfold in early November!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Butler Bulldogs anxious for 2013-14 Big East debut
It may have become official on July 1st, but the 2013-14 version of the Butler Bulldogs couldn't be more ready to start their first season of play in the new Big East conference.
There are quite a bit of schools that have gone elsewhere until all of the dust really settles. Former Big East icons Louisville, UConn, Cincinnati and Rutgers have all moved to new American Athletic Conference. After 2013-14, Louisville heads to the ACC to help make it the new super conference in college basketball. Rutgers, along with Maryland, will both become a part of the Big Ten, to give it 14 members.
Butler, Xavier, and Creighton have all joined up with 7 of the original Big East members in Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall and DePaul to form the 10-team new Big East.
Playing in its third conference in three seasons, Butler feels like it has finally found a place where it can showcase itself on a national level. From the Horizon League two years ago and to its one-year stint with the Atlantic 10, the Bulldog traditions welcome joining the Big East conference and what it will do for Butler University as a whole.
Under 1st year head coach Brandon Miller, there will be quite a few changes from the 2012-13 team. The Miller Era has started and Brad Stevens is now the head coach of the Boston Celtics. It was tough to see Stevens make a quick exit for the NBA, but Butler has welcomed back former backcourt star Brandon Miller to take over the reigns and continue The Butler Way, just as Stevens built it up so well.
The Bulldogs officially began practice for the season on September 26 and despite being without one its top returning starters, Roosevelt Jones, depth will be an asset for Butler in the 2013-14 season.
Jones suffered a season-ending injury to his left wrist during the first of Butler's four-game Australian trip in early August. He will receive a medical redshirt and be able to continue as a Bulldog during the 2014-15 season.
Butler will have four weeks of regularly routines and practices before starting their two-game exhibition play. Nova Southeastern comes to Hinkle Fieldhouse on October 29 at 7 p.m. and DePauw visits the Bulldogs on Saturday, November 2 at 2 p.m. Without Jones in the starting lineup, numerous others will be counted on to contribute.
Two starters return from last season's 27-9 squad. Senior forward Khyle Marshall (top photo) (Davie, FL/Flanagan) and junior point guard Alex Barlow (Springboro, OH/Archbishop Moeller) come back with plenty of experience. Sophomore Kellen Dunham (photo at left)
(Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights), senior Erik Fromm (Bloomington, IN/South) and junior Kameron Woods (Louisville, KY/Eastern) should more than likely round out the starting lineup.
Juniors Andrew Smeathers (Bargersville, IN/Center Grove) and Jackson Aldridge (Sydney, Australia/Australia Institute of Sport) should be see a good amount of time off the bench in the rotation. 6'3 sophomore Devontae Morgan (Tampa, FL/Tampa Prep) should also be a spark off the Bulldog bench.
Butler has quite the freshman class for Coach Miller's first set of recruits. Yes, they were all originally contacted and recruited by Brad Stevens, but they stuck with their commitment to Miller and the Butler program, even after Stevens jaunted to the Celtics.
Elijah Brown (Los Angeles, CA/Mater Dei), Michael Volovic (Carmel, IN/Carmel), Rene Castro (Milton, MA/Worcester Academy) and Steven Bennett (New Castle, IN/New Castle Chrysler) will all four be battling to see action on the court this winter. 6'10 Nolan Berry (St. Louis, MO/De Smet) and 6'7 Andrew Chrabascz (Portsmouth, RI/Cushing Academy) are both very likely to see time in Butler's frontcourt carousel.
It's going to be quite a transition during Brandon Miller's first year at the helm of the Butler Bulldogs, but there's extreme potential to make a lot of noise and shock the college basketball world when they least expect it. Most publications have thrown Butler into finishing between 6th through 10th in their first season in the Big East. Two weeks remain until the Bulldogs start exhibition play.
There are quite a bit of schools that have gone elsewhere until all of the dust really settles. Former Big East icons Louisville, UConn, Cincinnati and Rutgers have all moved to new American Athletic Conference. After 2013-14, Louisville heads to the ACC to help make it the new super conference in college basketball. Rutgers, along with Maryland, will both become a part of the Big Ten, to give it 14 members.
Butler, Xavier, and Creighton have all joined up with 7 of the original Big East members in Marquette, Georgetown, Villanova, St. John's, Providence, Seton Hall and DePaul to form the 10-team new Big East.
Playing in its third conference in three seasons, Butler feels like it has finally found a place where it can showcase itself on a national level. From the Horizon League two years ago and to its one-year stint with the Atlantic 10, the Bulldog traditions welcome joining the Big East conference and what it will do for Butler University as a whole. Under 1st year head coach Brandon Miller, there will be quite a few changes from the 2012-13 team. The Miller Era has started and Brad Stevens is now the head coach of the Boston Celtics. It was tough to see Stevens make a quick exit for the NBA, but Butler has welcomed back former backcourt star Brandon Miller to take over the reigns and continue The Butler Way, just as Stevens built it up so well.
The Bulldogs officially began practice for the season on September 26 and despite being without one its top returning starters, Roosevelt Jones, depth will be an asset for Butler in the 2013-14 season.
Jones suffered a season-ending injury to his left wrist during the first of Butler's four-game Australian trip in early August. He will receive a medical redshirt and be able to continue as a Bulldog during the 2014-15 season.Butler will have four weeks of regularly routines and practices before starting their two-game exhibition play. Nova Southeastern comes to Hinkle Fieldhouse on October 29 at 7 p.m. and DePauw visits the Bulldogs on Saturday, November 2 at 2 p.m. Without Jones in the starting lineup, numerous others will be counted on to contribute.
Two starters return from last season's 27-9 squad. Senior forward Khyle Marshall (top photo) (Davie, FL/Flanagan) and junior point guard Alex Barlow (Springboro, OH/Archbishop Moeller) come back with plenty of experience. Sophomore Kellen Dunham (photo at left)
(Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights), senior Erik Fromm (Bloomington, IN/South) and junior Kameron Woods (Louisville, KY/Eastern) should more than likely round out the starting lineup.
Juniors Andrew Smeathers (Bargersville, IN/Center Grove) and Jackson Aldridge (Sydney, Australia/Australia Institute of Sport) should be see a good amount of time off the bench in the rotation. 6'3 sophomore Devontae Morgan (Tampa, FL/Tampa Prep) should also be a spark off the Bulldog bench.
Butler has quite the freshman class for Coach Miller's first set of recruits. Yes, they were all originally contacted and recruited by Brad Stevens, but they stuck with their commitment to Miller and the Butler program, even after Stevens jaunted to the Celtics.
Elijah Brown (Los Angeles, CA/Mater Dei), Michael Volovic (Carmel, IN/Carmel), Rene Castro (Milton, MA/Worcester Academy) and Steven Bennett (New Castle, IN/New Castle Chrysler) will all four be battling to see action on the court this winter. 6'10 Nolan Berry (St. Louis, MO/De Smet) and 6'7 Andrew Chrabascz (Portsmouth, RI/Cushing Academy) are both very likely to see time in Butler's frontcourt carousel.
It's going to be quite a transition during Brandon Miller's first year at the helm of the Butler Bulldogs, but there's extreme potential to make a lot of noise and shock the college basketball world when they least expect it. Most publications have thrown Butler into finishing between 6th through 10th in their first season in the Big East. Two weeks remain until the Bulldogs start exhibition play.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Butler's Blue II passes away, leaves legacy
He lived
a very fulfilled life as Butler University's athletics mascot fo
r his whole life, dating back to 2004 and ending with the final athletic events of the 2012-13 calendar. On May 20, 2013, Blue II officially retired from his active duties as mascot of the Butler Bulldogs, but gave the reigns to Blue III, who will be known as "Trip" on Friday, March 9 at the final regular season home game against Xavier.
Trip made appearances throughout the remainder of Butler's spring sports calendar.
Blue II became an instant celebrity when Butler's men's basketball team wore Cinderella's slippers to their fullest during their 2010 and 2011 NCAA Tournament runs all the way to the National Championship game each year. Blue suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy, which affects both the right and left sides of the heart, which decided Blue II's ultimate fate on August 31.
Upon his retirement as Butler's live mascot, Blue II had the privilege of walking across the stage at the May 2013 Butler commencement ceremonies, putting his stamp of approval on the spring semester's Butler University graduates.
He was owned by Butler University's Director of Web Marketing, Michael Kaltenmark, who is a 2002 Butler grad.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Butler releases 2013-14 schedule; face challenges in new Big East
Joining the Big East is going to be an amazing thing for Butler University as a whole, especially the things it will do for men's basketball now and in the coming years. Two years removed from playing in the Horizon League and now just months have passed since the Bulldogs' final play in their lone season in the Atlantic 10 conference, Butler has quite a challenge ahead in the 2013-14 men's basketball season under first-season head coach Brandon Miller.
Butler has two exhibition games on the slate for the pre-season. Nova Southeastern visits the Bulldogs on Tuesday, October 29 and DePauw will make the short drive from Greencastle, Indiana on Saturday, November 2.
The Bulldogs have a somewhat unique non-conference slate, as they'll start off the regular season hosting Lamar (Nov. 9), Princeton (Nov. 16) and Vanderbilt (Nov. 19). They'll cap off their first two weeks of the season with a Saturday afternoon affair in a trip just an hour north of Butler's Indianapolis campus at Ball State in Muncie, Indiana on November 23 at 2 p.m.
Thanksgiving weekend, Butler will participate in the eight-team 2013 Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Florida at Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports Complex. The Bulldogs meet up with Washington State in their first game of the Old Spice Classic on Thursday, November 28. Their second round opponent will either be Purdue or Oklahoma State. Depending on how the matchups shape up, BU has a chance to play Memphis, Siena, LSU or St. Joseph's, all four of which are on the other half of the bracket.
Following the Thanksgiving break, home dates with North Dakota (Dec. 7) and Manchester (Dec. 9) help the Dawgs open the month of December. Saturday, December 14, Butler will play Purdue, in what could be their second meeting of the season, at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The neutral site contest with the Purdue Boilermakers is set for a 6 p.m. tipoff as the second of two games in the Close the Gap: Crossroads Classic. Notre Dame and Indiana face off in the first game at 3:15 p.m. that day.
Just before the Bulldogs take time for Christmas break, they take a trip to Evansville to play the Purple Aces at 3:05 p.m. on Saturday, December 21. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) makes a trip from the Garden State to Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday, December 28 at 1 p.m.
Big East conference season starts out the way Butler hoped it would, with a long-time conference power in the Villanova Wildcats on New Years Eve at 7:30 p.m.
Hitting the road in the 10-team Big East might be the biggest challenge, other than replacing the play of injured forward Roosevelt Jones.
Road trips to Xavier (Jan. 4), Creighton (Jan. 14), Providence (Jan. 21), Seton Hall (Jan. 29), Marquette (Feb. 4), Georgetown (Feb. 8), St. John's (Feb. 18), Villanova (Feb. 26) and DePaul (Mar. 6) will provide more than enough test for the 2013-14 version of Butler Bulldog basketball.
Along with the aforementioned home games with Lamar, Princeton, Vanderbilt, Manchester, North Dakota and NJIT, Butler also hosts a pretty hefty group of Big East foes. Villanova (Dec. 31) becomes the first to grace Hinkle Fieldhouse with its Big East tradition. DePaul (Jan. 9), Georgetown (Jan. 11), Marquette (Jan. 18), St. John's (Jan. 25), Creighton (Feb. 13), Providence (Feb. 23) and Seton Hall (Mar. 8) will all be making their first trips to Indianapolis as Big East opponents of Butler.
As per usual tradition in college basketball, the Big East conference tournament will once again be held at the world's oldest basketball arena, Madison Square Garden, from March 12-15.
Xavier (Feb. 11) will make its second trip in as many years and fourth time playing Butler, as the two were also Atlantic 10 conference opponents in the 2012-13 season. Prior to last season, Butler and Xavier would play every other year on each school's home court.
Overall, Butler faces a very challenging schedule, but there have been many times in the past that the Bulldogs have overcome obstacles and beaten teams that the critics and so-called experts had not even given them a chance. Hinkle Fieldhouse will host a total of 17 games, including nine Big East tilts. Brandon Miller and his squad also will play 4 four neutral site games, three in Orlando, and the other against Purdue just miles away at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.
Nine road games in the league, plus trips to Ball State and Evansville will only make this particular Butler team that much better. As of today (Sept. 18), there are just 42 days until the Bulldogs welcome Nova Southeastern on October 29!
For anything and everything Butler basketball, come back to the Butler Bulldogs college basketball page at examiner.com!
Butler has two exhibition games on the slate for the pre-season. Nova Southeastern visits the Bulldogs on Tuesday, October 29 and DePauw will make the short drive from Greencastle, Indiana on Saturday, November 2.
The Bulldogs have a somewhat unique non-conference slate, as they'll start off the regular season hosting Lamar (Nov. 9), Princeton (Nov. 16) and Vanderbilt (Nov. 19). They'll cap off their first two weeks of the season with a Saturday afternoon affair in a trip just an hour north of Butler's Indianapolis campus at Ball State in Muncie, Indiana on November 23 at 2 p.m.
Thanksgiving weekend, Butler will participate in the eight-team 2013 Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Florida at Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports Complex. The Bulldogs meet up with Washington State in their first game of the Old Spice Classic on Thursday, November 28. Their second round opponent will either be Purdue or Oklahoma State. Depending on how the matchups shape up, BU has a chance to play Memphis, Siena, LSU or St. Joseph's, all four of which are on the other half of the bracket.Following the Thanksgiving break, home dates with North Dakota (Dec. 7) and Manchester (Dec. 9) help the Dawgs open the month of December. Saturday, December 14, Butler will play Purdue, in what could be their second meeting of the season, at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The neutral site contest with the Purdue Boilermakers is set for a 6 p.m. tipoff as the second of two games in the Close the Gap: Crossroads Classic. Notre Dame and Indiana face off in the first game at 3:15 p.m. that day.
Just before the Bulldogs take time for Christmas break, they take a trip to Evansville to play the Purple Aces at 3:05 p.m. on Saturday, December 21. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) makes a trip from the Garden State to Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday, December 28 at 1 p.m.
Big East conference season starts out the way Butler hoped it would, with a long-time conference power in the Villanova Wildcats on New Years Eve at 7:30 p.m.
Hitting the road in the 10-team Big East might be the biggest challenge, other than replacing the play of injured forward Roosevelt Jones.
Road trips to Xavier (Jan. 4), Creighton (Jan. 14), Providence (Jan. 21), Seton Hall (Jan. 29), Marquette (Feb. 4), Georgetown (Feb. 8), St. John's (Feb. 18), Villanova (Feb. 26) and DePaul (Mar. 6) will provide more than enough test for the 2013-14 version of Butler Bulldog basketball. Along with the aforementioned home games with Lamar, Princeton, Vanderbilt, Manchester, North Dakota and NJIT, Butler also hosts a pretty hefty group of Big East foes. Villanova (Dec. 31) becomes the first to grace Hinkle Fieldhouse with its Big East tradition. DePaul (Jan. 9), Georgetown (Jan. 11), Marquette (Jan. 18), St. John's (Jan. 25), Creighton (Feb. 13), Providence (Feb. 23) and Seton Hall (Mar. 8) will all be making their first trips to Indianapolis as Big East opponents of Butler.
As per usual tradition in college basketball, the Big East conference tournament will once again be held at the world's oldest basketball arena, Madison Square Garden, from March 12-15.
Xavier (Feb. 11) will make its second trip in as many years and fourth time playing Butler, as the two were also Atlantic 10 conference opponents in the 2012-13 season. Prior to last season, Butler and Xavier would play every other year on each school's home court.
Overall, Butler faces a very challenging schedule, but there have been many times in the past that the Bulldogs have overcome obstacles and beaten teams that the critics and so-called experts had not even given them a chance. Hinkle Fieldhouse will host a total of 17 games, including nine Big East tilts. Brandon Miller and his squad also will play 4 four neutral site games, three in Orlando, and the other against Purdue just miles away at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.
Nine road games in the league, plus trips to Ball State and Evansville will only make this particular Butler team that much better. As of today (Sept. 18), there are just 42 days until the Bulldogs welcome Nova Southeastern on October 29!
For anything and everything Butler basketball, come back to the Butler Bulldogs college basketball page at examiner.com!
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Roosevelt Jones recovering well following off-season surgery
Butler junior small forward Roosevelt Jones unfortunately didn't have a choice in the matter, but will be missing the entire 2013-14 Butler Bulldog men's basketball season. His surgery took place on Thursday, August 22 in Indianapolis.
The 6'4 junior is Butler's top returner statistically in points (10.1), rebounds (5.6) and assists (3.5). It will be quite a hit on both ends of the court for first-year head coach Brandon Miller, as he'll attempt to take off right where Brad Stevens left things when Stevens jaunted off to the NBA to coach the Boston Celtics.
Jones incidentally fell on his left wrist during Butler's first exhibition contest in Australia against the Norths Bears in early August and was held out of the remaining three games in the Bulldogs' trip. Upon Butler's return to Indianapolis, Jones was examined further and doctors determined that surgery was in fact necessary.
The 6'4 junior is Butler's top returner statistically in points (10.1), rebounds (5.6) and assists (3.5). It will be quite a hit on both ends of the court for first-year head coach Brandon Miller, as he'll attempt to take off right where Brad Stevens left things when Stevens jaunted off to the NBA to coach the Boston Celtics.
Roosevelt started all 36 games for Butler in 2012-13 and 31 as a freshman during 2011-12. That streak will come to an end with Jones' absence from the BU lineup this winter.
Brandon Miller will look further down his roster to veteran guys like Khyle Marshall (6'6), Kameron Woods (6'9) and Erik Fromm (6'8), who are all projected starters now, to pick up Jones' on-court production. Also in the mix to help make up for Jones on the court will be freshmen Nolan Berry (6'10) and Andrew Chrabascz (6'7).
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Butler forward Roosevelt Jones to miss season with injury
Butler's recent trip to Australia brought and many positives and also some negatives for the upcoming Bulldog season. Unfortunately, the biggest negative wasn't that Butler lost the final two of their four game exhibition tour by 39 and 24 points, respectively.
The biggest negative to come out of the Australian tour was a season-ending wrist injury in the first game to junior small forward Roosevelt Jones (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon).
Jones has torn ligaments in his left wrist and it has already been determined that he'll miss the entire 2013-14 season.
The Bulldogs will certainly miss his 10.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest, but as per usual, someone will be called upon off the Butler bench and will do whatever it takes to replace Jones' production.
Head coach Brandon Miller will definitely have some other tricks up his sleeve than he originally was prepared for with the absence of Jones in the starting lineup.
With 6'8 senior Erik Fromm (Bloomington, IN/South), 6'6 senior Khyle Marshal (Davie, FL/Flanagan) and 6'9 junior Kameron Woods (Louisville, KY/Eastern) penciled in as the starting frontcourt for the Bulldogs, we should be seeing more youth come up off the bench, adding just that much more depth for the 2013-14 version of Butler Bulldog basketball.
Two freshman will be where Miller turns to rotate into the lineup to give the three aforementioned forwards. Nolan Berry (St. Louis/De Smet) stands at 6'10 and Andrew Chrabascz helps beef up the Bulldog frontcourt at 6'7.
Time will tell what kind of scheme Brandon Miller and his coaching staff will come up with to replace the offensive leadership and defensive prowess of Jones.
The biggest negative to come out of the Australian tour was a season-ending wrist injury in the first game to junior small forward Roosevelt Jones (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon).
Jones has torn ligaments in his left wrist and it has already been determined that he'll miss the entire 2013-14 season.The Bulldogs will certainly miss his 10.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest, but as per usual, someone will be called upon off the Butler bench and will do whatever it takes to replace Jones' production.
Head coach Brandon Miller will definitely have some other tricks up his sleeve than he originally was prepared for with the absence of Jones in the starting lineup.
With 6'8 senior Erik Fromm (Bloomington, IN/South), 6'6 senior Khyle Marshal (Davie, FL/Flanagan) and 6'9 junior Kameron Woods (Louisville, KY/Eastern) penciled in as the starting frontcourt for the Bulldogs, we should be seeing more youth come up off the bench, adding just that much more depth for the 2013-14 version of Butler Bulldog basketball.
Two freshman will be where Miller turns to rotate into the lineup to give the three aforementioned forwards. Nolan Berry (St. Louis/De Smet) stands at 6'10 and Andrew Chrabascz helps beef up the Bulldog frontcourt at 6'7.
Time will tell what kind of scheme Brandon Miller and his coaching staff will come up with to replace the offensive leadership and defensive prowess of Jones.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Bulldogs fall to Cairns Taipans in Australian trip finale
For the second game in a row on their four-game Australia trip, Butler found itself in a hole that they couldn’t dig themselves out of. The Cairns Taipans took advantage of their lull by the Bulldogs and ran away with a 97-73 win in the Sunday exhibition contest with Butler.
Cairns was up 14-12 early and closed out the first period with a 14-6 run to push the lead to 28-18 after the first 10 minutes.
The Bulldogs took the second quarter 22-20, but were still down by a 48-40 count at halftime.
Butler's offense fell flat in the third frame, as they were dominated 25-12 and Cairns distanced themselves from the Bulldogs for a 73-52 deficit.
Cairns Taipans held Butler in-check for the final quarter, outscoring the Bulldogs 24-21 to win going away by a final margin of 24 points, 97-73.
Once again, Butler's leading scorer was sophomore Kellen Dunham (Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights) tying with a game-high 16, just as he did on Saturday versus the Australian National team. Seniors Erik Fromm (Bloomington, IN/South) and Khyle Marshall (Davie, FL/Flanagan) continued their steady contributions in starting roles, both putting up 13 points. Freshman Andrew Chrabascz (Portsmouth, RI/Cushing Academy) found himself in the frontcourt rotation against Cairns Taipans. The 6'7, 205 pound frosh chipped in eight points, while Kameron Woods (Louisville, KY/Eastern) grabbed seven boards for the second consective game, while also scoring four.
Alex Loughton tied Dunham with a game-high 16 points to lead the Taipans. They were also able to get Cameron Tragardh (15), Clint Steindl (13) and Mitch Young (11) into double-figures.
It was a tough two games in a 24-hour span. Losing 96-57 to the Australian National Team on Saturday, Butler turned around on Sunday and matched up with Cairns Taipans of the National Basketball League of Australia. On one hand, playing against international professional players will only help the Butler Bulldogs as they enter their first season as a member of the Big East conference. On the other hand,
Head coach Brandon Miller, along with his staff and players will spend a couple more days sight-seeing and will head home on Wednesday, August 14th to Indianapolis.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Australian Boomers blow out Butler
It may be exhibition basketball, but the Butler Bulldogs had no intention of losing at all on this Australian trip. The Australian Boomers, who are the Australian National Team, took advantage of its own good shooting and downed Butler in Canberra, 96-57.
The Boomers were in complete control from the opening tip. Jumping out to a 23-9 advantage, they extended the lead to 33-11. Butler made their best push to close out the first half, going on a 21-14 run to somewhat narrow the gap to 47-32 at halftime.
The Australian Boomers continued their dominance throughout the second half by outscoring Butler 49-25 on the way to a 39-point drubbing of the Bulldogs.
There are reasons that the Australian Boomers are in fact the national basketball team of Australia. They compete heavily in FIBA and World Championships year after year, as well as being right up there in contention for Olympic medals every four years.
Current San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills, along with Joe Ingles, led the Boomers with a game-high 17 points each. Luke Nevill added 14 and former Valparaiso player Ryan Broekhoff chipped in 12. Shooting 53% overall and 42% from beyond-the-arc, the Australian Boomers seemed to have no trouble in holding Butler in-check for 40 minutes.
Kellen Dunham was the leading scorer for the Bulldogs with a team-high 16 points, while Erik Fromm, Nolan Berry and Khyle Marshall each pitched in seven point apiece. Kameron Woods was able to grab seven rebounds.
Butler makes its fourth and final stop on their trip in Cairns to take to the hardwood with the Cairns Taipans on Sunday, August 11.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Butler rallies to defeat Sydney Kings
Butler
knew this exhibition trip to Australia wouldn't be an easy one, which is a big reason why they decided to take such an adventure. The Bulldogs improved to 2-0 in Australia and escaped with an 82-76 victory in comeback fashion, thanks to solid play from the starters and a few nice surprises off the bench.
Down 19-16 after the first period and 43-37 at half, head coach Brandon Miller made some adjustments and his Bulldogs outscored the Sydney Kings 45-33 in the final two quarters.
The Sydney Kings may have gotten three players to score 18-plus points, but it was Butler's consistent scoring from its starters and a few key members off the bench that fueled the second half takeover.
James Harvey of the Sydney Kings led all with a game-high 20 points, while Brad Hill had 19 and Tom Garlepp added 18 points, four boards and three blocks. Jarred Weeks (8) and Ben Allen (6) accounted for the rest of SK's points.
The Kings kept themselves afloat mainly by knocking down 28 of their 36 free throw attempts (78%). A dismal 4-of-17 from the three-point line (24%) played a big part in their second half collapse.
Butler had a pretty balanced scoring attack, mainly from 4/5 of its starting five. Erik Fromm produced another great game with a team-high 18 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Khyle Marshall put together a smooth display with 14 points and 7 rebounds, while nailing six of his eight attempts from the floor. Kameron Woods had a double-double, scoring 11 points and bringing down 15 rebounds to go along with three assists and a pair of blocks. Kellen Dunham didn't shoot well at all, but still was able to get himself into double-digit scoring with 10 points. Dunham surely has the green light to shoot at-will, but was 5-for-22 overall and a disappointing 0-of-11 from three-point range.
Even with the game being close throughout, Miller hesitated none is utilizing every bit of his bench. The Bulldogs were able to get 29 points off the bench, almost duplicating their bench play (31 points) in Tuesday's win over Norths Bears.
The coming home party for Jackson Aldridge got even better in Butler's second game of the tour. He scored 11 points in just 17 minutes of action off the bench.
Devontae Morgan pitched in with seven points, four rebounds and three steals. Freshman Elijah Brown (Los Angeles, CA/Mater Dei), son of Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown, had six points on a couple field goals. Andrew Smeathers (3) and Andrew Chrabascz (2) rounded out Butler's scoring. Rene Castro, Michael Volovic, Elliot Kampen, Nolan Berry and Steven Bennett all played, but did not score.
One thing that wasn't addressed following Tuesday's win over Norths Bears was the injury to junior Roosevelt Jones. He left their trip-opening win with an injury to his left wrist and was forced to sit out. Jones' status is uncertain for the remaining two games of the Australian tour.
Next on the exhibition slate for Butler is the Australian National Team called the Canberra Boomers. This is where things could get interesting on the trip. The Boomers have four players that could pose quite a test for the Bulldogs. One good thing is that they're pretty familiar with former Saint Louis forward Cody Ellis, as they faced him three different times in Atlantic 10 play this past season. Recent St. Mary's grad Matthew Dellavedova is also on the Canberra roster. They also have a little NBA flavor with a couple San Antonio Spurs in Patrick "Patty" Mills (Indigenous Australia/St. Mary's) and Aron Baynes (Gisborne, New Zealand/Washington State).
Butler and Canberra will take to the court in Canberra against the Australian National Team on Saturday, August 10.
knew this exhibition trip to Australia wouldn't be an easy one, which is a big reason why they decided to take such an adventure. The Bulldogs improved to 2-0 in Australia and escaped with an 82-76 victory in comeback fashion, thanks to solid play from the starters and a few nice surprises off the bench.
Down 19-16 after the first period and 43-37 at half, head coach Brandon Miller made some adjustments and his Bulldogs outscored the Sydney Kings 45-33 in the final two quarters.
The Sydney Kings may have gotten three players to score 18-plus points, but it was Butler's consistent scoring from its starters and a few key members off the bench that fueled the second half takeover.
James Harvey of the Sydney Kings led all with a game-high 20 points, while Brad Hill had 19 and Tom Garlepp added 18 points, four boards and three blocks. Jarred Weeks (8) and Ben Allen (6) accounted for the rest of SK's points.
The Kings kept themselves afloat mainly by knocking down 28 of their 36 free throw attempts (78%). A dismal 4-of-17 from the three-point line (24%) played a big part in their second half collapse.
Butler had a pretty balanced scoring attack, mainly from 4/5 of its starting five. Erik Fromm produced another great game with a team-high 18 points on 6-for-14 shooting. Khyle Marshall put together a smooth display with 14 points and 7 rebounds, while nailing six of his eight attempts from the floor. Kameron Woods had a double-double, scoring 11 points and bringing down 15 rebounds to go along with three assists and a pair of blocks. Kellen Dunham didn't shoot well at all, but still was able to get himself into double-digit scoring with 10 points. Dunham surely has the green light to shoot at-will, but was 5-for-22 overall and a disappointing 0-of-11 from three-point range.Even with the game being close throughout, Miller hesitated none is utilizing every bit of his bench. The Bulldogs were able to get 29 points off the bench, almost duplicating their bench play (31 points) in Tuesday's win over Norths Bears.
The coming home party for Jackson Aldridge got even better in Butler's second game of the tour. He scored 11 points in just 17 minutes of action off the bench.
Devontae Morgan pitched in with seven points, four rebounds and three steals. Freshman Elijah Brown (Los Angeles, CA/Mater Dei), son of Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown, had six points on a couple field goals. Andrew Smeathers (3) and Andrew Chrabascz (2) rounded out Butler's scoring. Rene Castro, Michael Volovic, Elliot Kampen, Nolan Berry and Steven Bennett all played, but did not score.
One thing that wasn't addressed following Tuesday's win over Norths Bears was the injury to junior Roosevelt Jones. He left their trip-opening win with an injury to his left wrist and was forced to sit out. Jones' status is uncertain for the remaining two games of the Australian tour.
Next on the exhibition slate for Butler is the Australian National Team called the Canberra Boomers. This is where things could get interesting on the trip. The Boomers have four players that could pose quite a test for the Bulldogs. One good thing is that they're pretty familiar with former Saint Louis forward Cody Ellis, as they faced him three different times in Atlantic 10 play this past season. Recent St. Mary's grad Matthew Dellavedova is also on the Canberra roster. They also have a little NBA flavor with a couple San Antonio Spurs in Patrick "Patty" Mills (Indigenous Australia/St. Mary's) and Aron Baynes (Gisborne, New Zealand/Washington State).
Butler and Canberra will take to the court in Canberra against the Australian National Team on Saturday, August 10.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Butler starts Aussie trip with win over Norths Bears
The Butler Bulldogs got things off on the right foot in the first game of their exhibition trip to Australia. Brandon Miller's first coaching experience with Butler produced a 77-65 victory over Norths Bears.
On a normal person's 18-hour flight where they cross many time zones and gain 12 hours in the process, it's going to cause a good amount of jet lag. That wasn't the case for Miller's Bulldogs. This game vs. Norths Bears came just one day after landing in the "land down under."
The Bulldogs were somewhat refreshed to be back on the court playing actual games, but it wasn't easy. They were playing four 10 minute periods, which obviously still equals out to a 40 minute college game. It took time, but Butler found a way and climbed out of the hole that Norths had them in from the start.
Norths led from the start 11-4, but BU brought it back to down just eight, trailing 25-17 after one.
The second quarter belonged to Butler. They put together a much improved frame by taking a 20-12 advantage to tie things up at 37-37 at halftime.
Butler took over in the second half and was able to get a lot of bench play into taking Norths Bears out of their home comfort zone. The Bulldogs took the second 40 minutes 40-28 to eventually cruise to a 77-65 victory.
Jackson Aldridge, a junior from Sydney, Australia, got the chance to not only play in his home land, but got the start at the point guard slot. Aldridge scored two points while dishing out three assists. Sophomore Kellen Dunham (left) (Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights) led all scorers with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 field goals, including converting five of his 11 three-point attempts.
Junior Roosevelt Jones (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon), senior Khyle Marshall (Davie, FL/Flanagan) and Erik Fromm (Bloomington, IN/South) also started with Aldridge and Dunham. Fromm was Butler's 2nd leading scorer with 14 point and six boards, shooting 6-of-11 from the floor. Marshall pitched in with 8 points and 7 rebounds, while Jones played just four minutes and didn't score.
Freshman Nolan Berry (St. Louis, MO/De Smet) knocked in nine points on four field goals, while junior Andrew Smeathers (Bargersville, IN/Center Grove) had eight off the Bulldog bench. Junior Alex Barlow (Springboro, OH/Moeller) added five points and five boards. Classmate Kameron Woods (Louisville, KY/Eastern) had four points and 10 rebounds, while freshman guard Rene Castro (Milton, MA/Worcester Academy) and sophomore Devontae Morgan (Tampa, FL/Tampa Prep) to help round out Butler's 31 bench points.
Nick Blair led Norths Bears with a team-high 21 points, with Michael Rowley scoring 13 and Daniel Young adding 10.
Butler's next exhibition game will be this Thursday, August 8 against the Sydney Kings at 7 p.m. ET. The radio broadcast can be heard on the Sydney Kings' team site, www.sydneykings.com.
On a normal person's 18-hour flight where they cross many time zones and gain 12 hours in the process, it's going to cause a good amount of jet lag. That wasn't the case for Miller's Bulldogs. This game vs. Norths Bears came just one day after landing in the "land down under."
The Bulldogs were somewhat refreshed to be back on the court playing actual games, but it wasn't easy. They were playing four 10 minute periods, which obviously still equals out to a 40 minute college game. It took time, but Butler found a way and climbed out of the hole that Norths had them in from the start.
Norths led from the start 11-4, but BU brought it back to down just eight, trailing 25-17 after one.
The second quarter belonged to Butler. They put together a much improved frame by taking a 20-12 advantage to tie things up at 37-37 at halftime.
Butler took over in the second half and was able to get a lot of bench play into taking Norths Bears out of their home comfort zone. The Bulldogs took the second 40 minutes 40-28 to eventually cruise to a 77-65 victory.
Jackson Aldridge, a junior from Sydney, Australia, got the chance to not only play in his home land, but got the start at the point guard slot. Aldridge scored two points while dishing out three assists. Sophomore Kellen Dunham (left) (Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights) led all scorers with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 field goals, including converting five of his 11 three-point attempts. Junior Roosevelt Jones (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon), senior Khyle Marshall (Davie, FL/Flanagan) and Erik Fromm (Bloomington, IN/South) also started with Aldridge and Dunham. Fromm was Butler's 2nd leading scorer with 14 point and six boards, shooting 6-of-11 from the floor. Marshall pitched in with 8 points and 7 rebounds, while Jones played just four minutes and didn't score.
Freshman Nolan Berry (St. Louis, MO/De Smet) knocked in nine points on four field goals, while junior Andrew Smeathers (Bargersville, IN/Center Grove) had eight off the Bulldog bench. Junior Alex Barlow (Springboro, OH/Moeller) added five points and five boards. Classmate Kameron Woods (Louisville, KY/Eastern) had four points and 10 rebounds, while freshman guard Rene Castro (Milton, MA/Worcester Academy) and sophomore Devontae Morgan (Tampa, FL/Tampa Prep) to help round out Butler's 31 bench points.
Nick Blair led Norths Bears with a team-high 21 points, with Michael Rowley scoring 13 and Daniel Young adding 10.
Butler's next exhibition game will be this Thursday, August 8 against the Sydney Kings at 7 p.m. ET. The radio broadcast can be heard on the Sydney Kings' team site, www.sydneykings.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)