For the third straight season, the Butler Bulldogs are the regular season champions of the Horizon League. For fans and second-year head coach Brad Stevens, though, this title has to be a little more sweet than last year's -- due to lowered expectations because of the significant losses from last year's stout squad. The clinching win Saturday, however, was anything but easy. Cleveland State used 14-2 spurt in the second half to take a small, brief lead. The game see-sawed back and forth the rest of the way.
After a Matt Howard airball, the Vikings got a George Tandy bucket to break a tie with 2:04 left in the game. The tenacious Bulldogs, however, were not to be denied -- as is often the case in the Horizon League and in the friendly confines of Hinkle Fieldhouse. Facing a one-point deficit with 1:10 left, a steal cleared the way for a Ronald Nored put-back layup -- which would give the Bulldogs back the lead for good.
Cleveland State actually had a chance to win the game with a last second three, but Norris Cole's shot was contested by Howard. At first glance, it appeared Howard may have fouled Cole, but replays seemed to show that he only got a slight piece of the ball, affecting Cole's shot successfully. In the ensuing fight for the ball, a jump ball was called -- and the possession arrow favored Butler with only 1.2 seconds remaining in the game.
Two missed free throws and a desperation Vikings 70-footer later, the Butler Bulldogs secured their seemingly annual regular season championship.
The Bulldogs used balanced scoring, as usual, as five players scored between eight and 13 points. Cleveland State was led by Norris Cole with 17.
With the regular season championship, Butler will host the Horizon League conference tournament. It's hard to see anyone rolling into Hinkle and taking down the Bulldogs, though they are securely in the NCAA Tournament even if they somehow falter.
For Cleveland State, they can come away from this game with confidence they can play with Butler. That should carry over into what is shaping up as quite an appetizing rematch between these two teams in the conference tourney. Remember, in early December Butler won in Cleveland State by just two. That's two games, two Butler wins, but a deficit of only four total points. You can bet the Vikings will be hungry to get another shot -- assuming they don't slip up before their chance.
