Butler @ Valpo (3/3) Game Thread

agibson · March 03, 2012, 09:34:38 PM

We want Shelton!

What's the valpo 1 game rebound record?

Or highest X for X points X rebounds?

agibson · March 03, 2012, 09:35:32 PM

Crowds _very_ pro Valpo!

vuweathernerd · March 03, 2012, 09:55:16 PM

we completely shut them down on the glass and in the paint, which was how they pwned milwaukee. gave them a taste of their own medicine. and kudos to buggs and harris for both hitting a pair of 3s. aside from a bit of a slow start, valpo really dominated that game.

grad66 · March 03, 2012, 09:58:28 PM

The King is dead. Long live the King! It had to happen sooner or later. Good luck BU next season...

govalpogo · March 03, 2012, 10:24:43 PM

A splendid birthday gift from the Crusaders to me! All smiles on the Valpo front right now! =)

drewsaders11 · March 03, 2012, 10:40:34 PM

"We're gonna run the picket fence at 'em!". How about the double screen play to free Harris up? All around well played game, sans for the first two minutes. Proud to be a Valpo alum.

valpotx · March 03, 2012, 10:52:41 PM

Yes, an extremely pro-VU crowd. Only empty seats were the Butler student section as mentioned. Butler only had a few things to cheer about at the beginning, otherwise their fans were able to sit comfortably on their hands most of the game

.

Andrew Smith is absolutely terrible btw. Anytime he was in, he got beat by someone on just about every play, and couldn't do anything within 5 feet of the basket. They tried the hack-a-buggs with 8-9 minutes left, but it didn't help because they fouled so much. I am sure they are going to complain about the fouls, but everything was justified on both sides. Butler was just playing a better team this year, and looked like a JV versus us all game. I have not enjoyed a game like that in some time, so definitely worth the trip up from Texas! I really look forward to the VU/Butler battles next year, but we are by far the best HL team this season. Detroit didn't look that impressive in the first game, so I see us taking the game on Tuesday. What a great experience, and love our student section actually talking back to the Butler section all game. Need to keep that up!!

oklahomamick · March 03, 2012, 10:57:09 PM

Quote from: valpotx on March 03, 2012, 10:52:41 PMWhat a great experience, and love our student section actually talking back to the Butler section all game.

What was our student section saying towards the Butler section? Please fill us in. Some aren't as fortunate and didn't get to experience this beat down and environment.

valpotx · March 03, 2012, 11:07:51 PM

Butler's students kept copying all of our students ("you can't do that," etc), so as we pulled away our students got more bold in their comments. From hearing them saying certain players suck in unison throughout the game, to the end where they were saying 'why so quiet' to Butler's fans, as well as 'same as last week.' Absolutely loved it, as I would have done the same while I was in school

. Butler's fans were giving it to the refs at the end, but the refs had nothing to do with the result. Butler just stunk up the joint, and we looked above them in all aspects.

agibson · March 03, 2012, 11:27:08 PM

Quote from: valpotx on March 03, 2012, 10:52:41 PMOnly empty seats were the Butler student section as mentioned.

It really seemed like a full house (opposing student section aside), but the box score lists attendance at merely 4716. Odd.

Fantastic game! Great to give Butler a thumping! Four in a row!

The "hack a Buggs" game really sort of bothered me. That Smeathers character (0?) really went at him rather viciously, in the back court, to start it off.

It was really something to watch Smith on the bench most of the game. And then to watch Stevens bench his starters, to put in the likes of Smeathers. He really seemed to be trying just anything to get his team going. And then, with something like four minutes remaining, to watch Stevens call off the dogs, and let Buggs dribble out a whole shot clock.

Walk-ons! Great to get Shelton and Stegelmann in.

It felt like Broekhoff hardly sat at all, until maybe 7 to go when Rowdy and KVW both went to the bench, and we _still_ stretched the lead. But, in fact, Ryan only played 33 minutes.

Too bad I'll have to watch the championship on TV.

agibson · March 03, 2012, 11:44:46 PM

Quote from: agibson on March 03, 2012, 09:34:38 PMWhat's the valpo 1 game rebound record?

Or highest X for X points X rebounds?

So, it was Ryan's top rebounding game (previous high 14).

But, of course, not close to the overall Valpo rebounding record, Chris Ensminger, 24, in 1996.

I do wonder about the "X points X rebounds" record at Valpo - not sure if that's easy to track down. Cougill at Green Bay has done better this season: managing 19 and 19 against Idaho. And Khyle Marshall put up 21 and 16 against Ball State.

staxawax · March 03, 2012, 11:58:36 PM

Congrats Crusaders on playing a great game at both ends of the floor. Collapsing the middle each time Butler penetrated is basically textbook defense against the Bulldogs........ making Rob Jeter look like a middle school coach. Despite the fact I hate your high school gym (nothing you can do about that unless your community gets behind the program) AND those ugly school colors, you had better take care of business Tuesday as you are indeed the best the Horizon League has to offer.

What s*cks for you is you are probably doomed to a 15-seed if you are in the dance...... meaning a 1st game matchup with a top ten team. Huge mountain to hurdle. I'll be rooting for you.

StlVUFan · March 04, 2012, 01:00:14 AM

Thanks, stax, and I can actually vouch for your comments about the venue a little bit. The sight line from my J/F/1 seat was kind of bad, not to mention it is hard for those going to and from concessions to keep from blocking your view. This is a problem all over the ARC, I think.

Yep, IUPUI, IPFW, and other and losses really kill our seed chances (personally, I don't buy Oakland as a bad loss). The best we can do is stack up one more emphatic win on Tuesday and hope scores us a point or two on selection sunday. Iffy at best, probably, but at this point, that's the only chance we have to improve our seeding.

valpotx · March 04, 2012, 01:13:17 AM

You were pretty close to my gf and I. We were in J/L/7 & 8 (last ones by railing).

I agree that our venue could be better, but that atmosphere is hard to beat due to how the sounds just carry to the court. The team really feeds off of that energy.

Marchmadness · March 04, 2012, 08:53:19 AM

nice win, tues on ESPN will be fun o watch

VUfan · March 04, 2012, 12:07:05 PM

What's left now, a Solid game against a good Detroit team to wrap up a Horizon League title and show all that we are the best in the Horizon League. Then have some fun in the NCAA's

sectionee · March 04, 2012, 12:23:08 PM

http://sectionee.blogspot.com/2012/03/game-wrap-up-any-more-doubters-out.html

That was fun last night. A lot of fun!

vu72 · March 04, 2012, 12:44:35 PM

Ya know, after reading some posts on the Butler board, I wonder if chemistry is an issue with the bulldogs. I mean, come on, they returned three starters from a National runnerup, a USA team member, and some very highly rated recruits. Did they have a disaster year? Not even close. A very solid 20 wins including wins over Purdue and Stanford. If we had the same result, based on our expectations at the beginning of the year, I think any of us would take it and move on to the CBI or CIT.

My question had more to do with the lack of performance at key moments for guys like Marshall, Smith and Stigall to name three. Sometimes, when things start to unravel, you have to consider team chemistry as they just seemed to give it up. The talent level of the Butler team was higher than their final result. Shooting woes can also get into one's head and that certainly seemed to be what happened to the Bulldogs. I feel particularly bad for Nored, who is a bright, respectful kid who plays all out all the time. They will certainly miss his drive and leadership. If they actually think Aldridge is the answer, I think they might consider other options. Our friends from Australia told me he wasn't that highly regarded from the start.

Clearly, the Bulldogs will be a tough out next year, but if they don't play as a team the results may be similar. Just sayin...

MattCarter · March 04, 2012, 02:28:25 PM

Quote from: oklahomamick on March 03, 2012, 10:57:09 PM
Quote from: valpotx on March 03, 2012, 10:52:41 PMWhat a great experience, and love our student section actually talking back to the Butler section all game.
What was our student section saying towards the Butler section? Please fill us in. Some aren't as fortunate and didn't get to experience this beat down and environment.

My favorite chant was "Same as last week, clap clap clap clap clap, same as last week...."

StlVUFan · March 04, 2012, 03:11:13 PM

Quote from: valpotx on March 04, 2012, 01:13:17 AM
You were pretty close to my gf and I. We were in J/L/7 & 8 (last ones by railing).

I agree that our venue could be better, but that atmosphere is hard to beat due to how the sounds just carry to the court. The team really feeds off of that energy.

Dang, need some better way to know how to hook up with each other, especially when we haven't met in person.

Atmosphere was certainly fantastic, and in my opinion the Dawg Pound has nothing to be ashamed of. They held their own pretty well.

zvillehaze · March 04, 2012, 03:40:30 PM

Congrats, guys. Very dominating performance by the Crusaders last night. Whether you end up in the NCAAT or NIT, good luck and represent the Horizon well.

a3uge · March 04, 2012, 11:48:18 PM

What was with the reversal of student sections? Butler was where the Valpo students always are. They had room to spread out, and only half of the section was filled, while Valpo students were jammed in the make-shift bleachers, with a considerable amount of overflow. It wasn't like that when we played Detroit last year, so I'm really curious as to who made that decision. I was actually surprised there were that many students there, considering it was spring break. It would have been awesome to see the place during school time (on the correct side), but with spring break already started on a cold campus, I'll take what we had. Tuesday will be interesting. I imagine over 95% of the students don't live within an hour radius of Valparaiso. Hopefully enough will come back to cheer for a HL championship. The whole place was rocking. During the rare Butler successes, it didn't seem like Butler had that large of a crowd. The AD tweeted earlier in the day that Butler gave back tickets and Valpo was looking for extra ticket-buyers. It doesn't surprise me that the ARC was over 80% Valpo fans, because while Butler was busy focusing on the tanking University of Wisconsin Hyphen Milwaukee, Valpo was busy selling tickets for the game.

As far as the actual game goes... what a slaughter. Valpo absolutely embarrassed them. Stevens was throwing the kitchen sink at Valpo, even trying to play the foul game with 6 minutes left. Butler would go on a short 5 point run and Valpo would push the lead back to 20. Valpo swarmed the ball like hawks. Butler, who isn't a good shooting team to begin with, had contested shots each time down. Ryan Broekhoff looked like an absolute beast. 16 boards? Are you kidding me? He was getting rebounds Spiderman could only dream of getting. It looked like he had a trampoline under his feet, and Gorilla Glue on his hands. He weaved in and out of defenders like Barry Sanders and scrapped it out with defenders like he was Bob Probert. Brilliant game.

I think it's official. Butler has a Valpo problem. That's four straight wins against the Bulldogs. 428 days and counting. Valpo beat Butler three times in one season, each win by a bigger margin than the last. Bryce clearly knows how to beat this team, and exploited them greater and greater each time.

valporun · March 05, 2012, 12:45:07 AM

The reversal of student sections is a conference rule for the "neutral floor" of the conference tournament. While it was "technically" a home game for us, the athletic department has to treat it as a neutral site game, so our student section and band had to be on the same side as the team. I don't know how well Detroit will travel for this game, but yes, there might have to be some tickets sold inexpensively to students from the surrounding high schools, so it looks like there might be a rowdy student section on the Detroit side of the court.

valpotx · March 05, 2012, 02:31:58 AM

In a similar circumstance about getting more seats filled, I always found it hilarious when Chicago State would pay local schools in Kansas City to come out and root for them at Kemper (including their HS band). They had some interesting fans come out lol.

vuweathernerd · March 05, 2012, 08:25:06 AM

Quote from: a3uge on March 04, 2012, 11:48:18 PM
I was actually surprised there were that many students there, considering it was spring break. It would have been awesome to see the place during school time (on the correct side), but with spring break already started on a cold campus, I'll take what we had.

the athletics department successfully talked reslife into keeping the dorms open an extra day due to the saturday night game, so the dorms didn't actually close until sunday at noon instead of saturday noon like they normally would. and students were also allowed to apply for break housing to stay until wednesday in order to be around for the game tuesday night. i don't know how many took advantage of this opportunity, but i hope it was a lot. i guess we'll see for sure when they start giving away the 200 student tickets at the union starting at 11am. they ran out of tickets for saturday's game in only 45 minutes. i'm sure it'll take longer today, but who knows.