Beat Bulldogs bounced in Brooklyn
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
Keeping your headĀ is the phrase Brad Stevens likes to use for games like this, but another body part went missing Saturday.
Playing their third do-or-die game in three days, Stevens tried everything both before and during the game to push his troops through a brutal matchup into a berth in the Atlantic 10 championship game – limiting Rotnei Clarke to 33 minutes, using a 30-second timeout midway through the second half to diagram a shot for Clarke when the point guard was struggling, being more vocal and animated on the sideline, and taking the unusual tack of implementing a new defensive strategy with just 23 hours between tip-offs.
And while Butler’s tired legs were getting it done in the first half, the Bulldogs’ fatigue eventually became apparent in a 67-56 loss to Saint Louis that knocked them out of the conference tournament.
An unpressured Andrew Smith threw an entry pass right into the arms of Cody Ellis on a critical late possession, Khyle Marshall lacked his usual bounce after the first 10 minutes, and nobody had an answer for Dwayne Evans, who destroyed the Bulldogs for 24 points and 11 rebounds on 7-for-10 shooting en route to his seventh straight 15-point game (and the third straight where he’s made more than half his shots).
Certainly, Butler had its moments. The No. 5 seed held Saint Louis to 36 percent shooting (8 of 22) in the first half, made two excellent blocks that prevented layups and built a seven-point lead with 5:43 left before the break.
But ultimately the Bulldogs broke down, missing eight consecutive shots – all jumpers – as the Billikens went on a 9-2 run at a critical juncture of the second half. Scattershot offense was made worse by sluggishness on the other end, where Butler suddenly couldn’t execute a task as simple as finding a body and boxing out. The Bulldogs allowed four offensive rebounds all day; three came in the decisive first 12 minutes of the second half. Cory Remekun was able to pick up two offensive boards on the same possession, which should never happen.
Weariness manifested itself in other ways, too. Smith scored three points in the second half, and none after the first two minutes, while committing too many touch fouls and seeming always a step out of position. When some calls didn’t go their way, and the usual traits of a Saint Louis game started appearing – an Ellis flop, physical contact around the rim, etc. – Butler began to grimace and eye the officials. Mental fatigue betrayed itself when Kellen Dunham, 20 seconds after fouling Remekun and with his team on the ropes, took a bad, off-balance jumper from the corner with plenty of time left on the shot clock.
Clarke had a 16-point afternoon, but posted only one assist, and none of his teammates scored more than eight. Against a Saint Louis defense that at times has flattened Butler like a snail in the street, the Bulldogs committed 20 turnovers – most were the result of inaccurate passes, fumbled catches, deflections and lost dribbles. Clarke twice had the ball poked from his hands, and once tried an ill-advised pass over the outstretched arms of Remekun, who is 8 inches taller.
Meanwhile, Smith struggled against a center his own size. He had just two rebounds to go with his eight points, and in a sign of the larger grind of the season, shot under 39 percent from the field for the eighth time in his last 13 games.
The Bulldogs, of course, will enter the NCAA tournament with a 26-8 record, and their 13-7 mark against A-10 teams is nothing to lose sleep over.
Stevens’ move to a 2-3 zone – which limited Saint Louis’ three fast guards to 20 points after they had combined for 69 in the first two meetings – signified that his tactical genius is as strong an asset as ever. Saint Louis was rattled by the switch, suffering a rare spate of turnovers – four in the first five minutes, six in the first 14 and seven in the initial 20.
To achieve their oft-verbalized goal of winning deep into the NCAA tournament, Butler won’t have to summon the energy to beat a well-oiled machine on the end of a back-to-back-to-back. But it will need to hold off the fatigue of two physically and emotionally taxing games in one weekend.
For now, the Bulldogs can head into Selection Sunday looking on the bright side. Their kryptonite, Saint Louis, will not be a potential opponent until a regional final at the earliest, should the NCAA’s seeding committee follow its general principles. They had won four straight and made a nice run in the A-10 tourney. And despite Saturday’s setback, they still have a chance to do the same in the next one.
