Michigan prevails Over Butler in overtime

[johnjaymilwaukee]

Monday, December 1, 2003

U-M 61, Butler 60

Michigan prevails in overtime

By Jim Spadafore / The Detroit News


INDIANAPOLIS -- It's one thing to have a good basketball team, but Michigan is also fortunate to be unbeaten.

The Wolverines won't complain, though. They haven't opened with three victories since 1999.

After Daniel Horton hit two free throws with 6.9 seconds left in overtime to give Michigan a 61-60 lead, Butler raced downcourt. Freshman Brandon Crone was wide open for a 17-foot jump shot, but it rimmed out, and the Wolverines escaped with a 61-60 victory at Conseco Fieldhouse on Sunday night.

Butler also missed a potential winning shot at the end of regulation. After Horton hit two one-and-one free throws to tie the score at 52, Butler worked for the last shot. Michigan tightened its defense, and Duane Lightfoot missed a fadeaway three-point shot with the clock winding down.

"It wasn't a pretty game," U-M Coach Tommy Amaker said, "and we can really feel sorry for the guys in the other locker room. But I'm real proud the way our kids were tough and we overcame some adversity.

"Things change when you go on the road, and our kids have to learn how to win on the road. But our kids expect to win, and that says a lot."

Crone got free for a layup with 10.5 seconds left to give Butler (2-1) a lead. But Horton, who hit a three-point shot to break a 54-54 tie, made his two winning free throws sandwiched around a Butler time-out.

Michigan controlled most of the first half and led 32-23 going into the second half. Butler didn't take its first lead, 46-45, until 4:01 remained in regulation.

Horton led Michigan with 16 points but had six of its 21 turnovers. Bernard Robinson Jr. had 11 points and Chris Hunter 10.

Senior Mike Monserez had 23 points for Butler, which was pressured into 9-of-33 three-point shooting.

Butler has won 20 or more games for seven consecutive seasons.

Associated Press

Daniel Horton, who led Michigan with 16 points, blows past Butler's Jamie Smalligan (35) on the way to the basket in the first half.

[johnjaymilwaukee]

Michigan 61, Butler 60

Butler falls 1 shot short against Michigan in OT

By David Woods
[e-mail]
December 1, 2003

Butler's buzzer-beating Bulldogs finally buckled.

Dating to last season, three of their of their past six victories had come on late shots. When Brandon Crone let fly a 3-pointer with time running out Sunday night, it appeared they had done it again.

"It was off the hand good. Looked good," Crone said. "Went off the rim. I thought maybe I'd get the bounce."

Instead, the ball bounced out, and Michigan beat the Bulldogs 61-60 in overtime before 6,148 fans at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Daniel Horton scored 10 of Michigan's final 14 points, including the deciding free throws with 6.9 seconds left in overtime. Last season's Big Ten Freshman of the Year finished with 16 points.

"He didn't have a great evening, but he certainly saved his best for last," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said.

The Bulldogs were at their best after halftime. In the first half, they shot 29 percent, committed 12 turnovers and twice fell behind by 10 points.

Thereafter, they had four turnovers and were seconds away from one of their familiar upsets. In the past four seasons, Butler is 8-6 against seven major conferences (six major football leagues and Conference USA).

Butler, confronting Michigan's taller and longer defenders, shot 9-of-33 from the 3-point arc after going 4-of-19 in the first half.

"I thought the pressure in the first half was something you can't simulate in practice and don't see all the time," Butler coach Todd Lickliter said. "So it took some adjustment."

Mike Monserez led Butler (2-1) with 23 points, one off his career high. He was 5-of-13 on 3-pointers, including one that put the Bulldogs ahead 51-50 with 2:02 left in regulation.

Bruce Horan added 11 points. His 3-pointer gave Butler a 58-57 lead with 35 seconds left in OT. Crone's layup off a pass by Duane Lightfoot allowed Butler to reclaim a 60-59 lead with 10 seconds on the clock.

Those plays prefaced the winning free throws by Horton, who was fouled by Avery Sheets.

"It was a fair call," Sheets said. "It could have gone either way."

Lightfoot, the Butler scoring leader, was limited to seven points but had a career-high nine assists. In the closing 2:40 of regulation, he missed a layup off an inbounds pass, the second of two free throws and a desperation 3-pointer.

The Bulldogs received contributions from two freshmen: Crone, who had six points in 17 minutes, and Jamie Smalligan, a 7-footer who endured physical inside play before fouling out.

"We honestly felt like we got better," Lightfoot said. "And playing the way we played today lets us know just how good this team could actually be this year."

Monserez concurred.

"Moral victories are not what we're into here. But at the same time, if we can come out with the maturity to understand how good we can be . . . because I do think we showed that a little bit tonight," Monserez said.

This was the third overtime game at the fieldhouse in two days, all won by a Big Ten team. In Saturday's Wooden Tradition, Iowa beat Louisville 70-69 and Indiana defeated Xavier 80-77.

Bernard Robinson scored 11 points for Michigan (3-0). Chris Hunter, who led Gary West Side to a Class 4A state title here 20 months ago, added 10.

Amaker said he wanted the Wolverines to "impose our will" on Butler but acknowledged that he had to revert to a smaller lineup. He sought a game at the fieldhouse so that Michigan could play here before the Big Ten tournament March 11-14.

"I'm not sure we'd schedule Butler again in that scenario, but we certainly wanted to be here to play a game," Amaker said.

The Bulldogs gave them one.

Butler's Mike Monserez shoots over Michigan's Dion Harris. He had 23 points Sunday. -- AJ Mast / Associated Press

[admin]

Sounds like we missed a great game. I am surprised the game was held on a neutral court...if you can count downtown Indianapolis neutral.

Hinklepower, how was the turnout for the game? Lots of Michigan blue and gold?

The CSU game also sounded like a great game. A near sold out crowd of 11,000, and a loss by only a few points to North Carolina must have made the guy who created firerollie.com pretty happy!

Later,
Freak

[pnthr30]

I saw that the crowd was only about 6,400 or something like that I wonder why, that is a great bball game........

[HinklePower]

here is a post I made on Detroit's board covering that question!

------------------------------------------------------
Yes, the only reason that we were able to schedule the game, was because the Big Ten tournament is held at Conseco again this year, and Michigan wanted a regular season game to be held there to let their players have experience on the court to prepare them for the tournament.

Next year, we will be completeing the home and "home" contract in Ann Arbor.

Our AD stated that the game cost Butler 35,000 dollars to play at Conseco. The then estimated crowd of 6-7,000 was said to be enough to break even on the game.

One reason I think that the crowd was low, was because tickets were $20. They were expecting a larger walk-up crowd considering the Colt's home game was over approximately 2 hours before game time.. I think the Colt's frustrating loss could have kept some from attending as well...

Also, our season ticket packages to indy area residents, still have not arrived because of some sort of mail problem. The packages included pre-ordered tickets for the game at Conseco, as well as the included seat for seat tickets that were a part of our ticket package. I would guess that this could have also hurt our attendance.

It was a great environment for only having 6,000, I must say! And actually, because they had the 3rd level (above Club level) partitioned off, the place really didnt appear to be that empty..

[HinklePower]

Regarding the Michigan fans in attendance... There were hardly any.. I saw the two or three rows of players parents behind the bench, but other than that, there were very few Michigan fans.

I expected the place to be at least a third filled with Michigan fans giving the size of the school, and history associated with the program!

It was much louder with our 6,000 than at a sold out Pacers game! You also have to love the band.. I can't say enough for how much a good band adds to the college basketball experience!!

Oh, and Larry Bird came out of his office to watch the game close to the court in the stands.. I kept looking over to watch his expressions, and it was pretty clear that he was into the game, and rooting for Butler!

[johnjaymilwaukee]

Here's a quick click to some very nice images from the Butler vs Michigan game:

www.dphoto.us/modules/gallery/Butler-vs-Michigan