By Tony Lamont
Saturday night the Butler Bulldogs did something that hasn’t been done since UNLV did it in 1990-91 . They made it to two consecutive Final Fours, only the second team to do so outside the six power conferences. The Bulldogs have all the pundits scratching their heads. How can a small team from the Horizon League win 13 straight games, and end up in the Final Four again?
I guess they don’t understand the Butler Way. I mean think about this, coach Brad Stevens is the youngest head coach to get to two consecutive Final Fours at 34 years of age. He’s transferred that youthful maturity to his players. That desire that seems to beat all odds. A never say die, leave it all on the court, next man up attitude. The Bulldogs have won 9 of their last 10 tournament games. A total of 30 points decided the last nine games, with no winning margin larger than seven points. With six of those by three points or less, the Butler way continues to be the story.
In a game that went to overtime Shelvin Mack lead the Bulldogs in scoring with 27 points, five of those came in overtime in Butlers win over Florida 74-71. Butlers Matt Howard scored 14 points, and Khyle Marshall added 10 for the Bulldogs. Butler will be taking on VCU next at 6pm this Saturday. The Bulldogs are just two games away from the national championship. Go Dawgs!!!!
