ESPN Men's Basketball

Saturday’s slate of games featured some surprising finishes. Teams were exposed. Others were discovered.

It was a tutorial on the unpredictable ebb and flow of the college basketball scene this time of year. Here are a few things I learned:

No. 1 Syracuse 88, North Carolina State 72

What we learned: The Orange aren’t just deep -- they're really good

Syracuse has been praised as one of the deepest teams in the country. The Big East power possesses a talented backup at every position. Sometimes, however, the “depth” tag suggests a team lacks individual talent. That’s not the case with the Orange. North Carolina State started strong but Syracuse didn’t panic. It just turned to its stars. Dion Waiters (career-high 22 points), Scoop Jardine (16 points) and Kris Joseph (21 points) led an SU squad that hit 56.5 percent of its shots. North Carolina State was up early and then -- Bam! -- the Orange snatched the game back. Even with a target on their backs as America’s new No. 1 team and a highly publicized investigation of a former assistant coach, they continue to operate like a team without any distractions. Cuse has survived every Bernie Fine development and overcome the obstacles on the floor. Can’t get overly excited quite yet about a team that just played its first road game, but the Orange seem to have it all right now.

No. 13 Florida 84, No. 22 Texas A&M 64

What we learned: Florida’s backcourt is a matchup nightmare for opposing teams

Well, the Aggies don’t belong anywhere near the top 25, judging by Saturday’s lopsided loss to the Gators. They can’t score. The Big 12’s worst scoring offense and worst free throw-shooting team couldn’t find the buckets to compete with Florida. Give UF credit for attacking early (opened the game on an 18-2 run), putting its potent offense to work and getting to the free throw line (30 attempts). The Gators are going to have trouble against bigger teams given their size disparity, but as Saturday’s game proved, opposing teams continue to have problems matching up against a team with their backcourt depth (three guards scored 16 or more, led by Kenny Boynton’s 22 points and his six 3-pointers). One question remains, though. Patric Young took two shots. You have to wonder whether he’ll become a more consistent part of Florida’s offense in SEC play. One thing is clear: When this team gets going, it’s a hard one to stop. There are still defensive concerns, but the Gators are going to compete in the SEC if they continue to produce this level of offense.

No. 7 Baylor 86, BYU 83

What we learned: Perry Jones can lead Baylor to a national championship

Baylor’s NCAA title hopes will be directly linked to its identity outside of Waco. The Bears were 1-3 away from their home floor during the nonconference portion of last season’s schedule. Those road woes followed the Bears into the Big 12 season. In a gritty game Saturday against a BYU squad that’s always tough on its home floor, Perry Jones III scored a career-high 28 points and played with the heart that’s expected of a star. After suffering a late knee injury, Jones checked back into the game and scored on a putback with 20 seconds to play that capped the win. Pierre Jackson blocked Brandon Davies’ 3-point attempt at the buzzer. BYU held a 13-point lead in the first half, but Jones kept the Bears alive in a hostile environment. He’s NBA-lottery good. We knew that before Saturday’s game, but since his return from an NCAA-mandated suspension at the start of the season, he’s looked like an NCAA championship-caliber leader, too.

Gonzaga 71, Arizona 60

What we learned: Gonzaga is not discouraged by early struggles, but Arizona might be

This was a significant game for a pair of teams that had dropped from the rankings in recent weeks as they failed to meet preseason projections. Both needed this game in Seattle. Gonzaga played like it understood the stakes. Arizona did not. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 14-0 lead to start the game, and Zona spent the rest of the contest trying to close the gap. But that early onslaught from Gonzaga set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. The Zags held off Arizona’s late charge that cut the deficit to 62-56 with 2:03 to play. The Wildcats’ leading scorer, Solomon Hill, went 1-for-7 and finished with six points, his second single-digit effort in three games. The fall continues for Arizona, an Elite Eight team last season but one that has lost four of its past seven games. Give Gonzaga credit, though. The Zags seemed motivated and focused, despite suffering their recent ups and downs. Saturday’s version of Elias Harris (25 points) should help Gonzaga in what should be an excellent WCC race with BYU and Saint Mary's. Hopefully, the 2-for-11 player who showed up for last weekend’s loss to Michigan State never returns.

UNLV 64, No. 19 Illinois 48

What we learned: UNLV is legit

With about 41 seconds to play in this game, Illinois' D.J. Richardson drove right in and went up for a dunk that wouldn’t have affected the outcome. But Quintrell Thomas swatted the shot like it mattered. Thomas and Mike Moser gave UNLV a combined 30 points with leading scorer Chace Stanback (2 points) struggling, as UNLV strolled into Chicago and locked up an Illinois team that came in at 10-0. The Runnin’ Rebels now have dropped a pair of undefeated, nationally ranked squads (North Carolina, Illinois), and their only two losses came against quality opponents on the road (Wichita State, Wisconsin). This Mountain West standout is legit. The Rebels can clamp down defensively. Illinois went 16-of-63 from the field (7-of-25 from the 3-point line). Surprisingly, Illinois didn’t feed big man Meyers Leonard (3-of-8) enough in the second half. During some stretches, Leonard’s teammates just missed him and settled for bad shots. Other times, however, Leonard couldn’t breathe with UNLV defenders swarming him.

No. 4 Louisville 95, Memphis 87

What we learned: Josh Pastner is still trying to figure out this team

Let’s start with giving Louisville credit. The Cardinals held off Memphis’ relentless pursuit, after watching their 13-point second-half lead become a 58-55 deficit. Behind Russ Smith’s career highs of 24 points and seven steals, Louisville pulled off a solid home win. But it also was another game in which Memphis baffled observers with its inefficient use of its immense talent. Will Barton is special (28 points, 16 boards), and he’s surrounded by a variety of highly skilled athletes. But that hasn’t been enough for the Tigers. Their four losses have come against quality opponents, but at what point will this group get over the hump? When will it stop playing in spurts and begin improving shot selection in tight stretches? Those are all key questions for Pastner going forward. He has some talented players on his roster. But getting all that talent to work together is still a challenge.

More observations from Saturday:

* No. 2 Ohio State stayed strong when Jared Sullinger left Saturday’s 74-66 victory over South Carolina with a foot injury, but you have to wonder whether the sophomore’s ailments will hamper him and the program the rest of the way.

* With Cody Zeller, who scored 21 points in Saturday’s 69-58 win over Notre Dame in Indianapolis, the No. 20 Hoosiers can compete for the Big Ten title.

* Both Mississippi State and Detroit proved they’re legitimate conference contenders during the Bulldogs’ 80-75 victory over the Titans. MSU is 11-1 now, while the return of center Eli Holman (12 points, 9 rebounds) increases Detroit’s potential of winning a Horizon League title.

* The Missouri Valley race will be the most competitive in the country. Indiana State’s 61-55 win at No. 25 Vanderbilt was just a reminder of the conference’s parity and talent. The Sycamores will compete with Creighton, Northern Iowa, Wichita State and Missouri State in what should be a heck of a two months in the Valley.

* J'Covan Brown continues to keep 9-2 Texas afloat in the Big 12’s fringe contender conversations. He scored 23 points in a nice 77-65 victory over Temple.

* A game-winning tip-in with a second to play by Butler’s Andrew Smith helped the Bulldogs snap a three-game losing skid with a 67-65 win over Purdue. The Big Ten is really big this season, and Purdue lacks a consistent interior presence. That will create a variety of issues for the Boilermakers in conference play.

1. Butler coach Brad Stevens was as calm about losing to Northern State in an exhibition as he was falling to Connecticut. Stevens isn’t fretting anything yet. Chrishawn Hopkins was out with a concussion and Stevens said Hopkins will be critical to the Bulldogs’ backcourt this season. Hopkins’ concussion actually prompted Stevens and his staff to pause and review whether they were doing something wrong in practice or games since Matt Howard and Ronald Nored also suffered concussions over the past few years. But Stevens said they determined the injuries were just freak coincidences. The one consistent player for the Bulldogs was big man Andrew Smith, who scored 19. Smith should be and likely will be the Bulldogs’ go-to player.

2. Frustration is mounting at Arizona State where the Sun Devils still don’t know the status of highly touted freshman guard Jahii Carson. Carson didn’t participate in the Sun Devils’ scrimmage with Saint Mary’s last weekend as his academic eligibility is being examined by the NCAA. Carson is one of many players whose status is being held up. The 5-foot-10 Carson was supposed to be the difference for the Sun Devils in their attempt to climb out of the bottom of the league. Carson was the only high school player on this past summer’s Team USA Under 19 World Championship team in Latvia. Quite simply, if Carson doesn’t start practicing for the Sun Devils soon and ultimately play, this team won’t show progress in 2012.

3. The angst isn’t as palatable at Connecticut as the Huskies await the eligibility status of freshman point Ryan Boatright. But there is no question about his importance to this team. The Huskies desperately need Boatright’s change of speed to spell Shabazz Napier, as well as his scoring ability off the bench and his voice. Boatright may be the most vocal player on the squad. The NCAA is looking into whether Boatright received an extra benefit related to his AAU team. One source said one of the issues being looked at by UConn and the NCAA was who purchased a plane ticket for Boatright during his AAU career.

The bus ride from Butler back to Aberdeen, S.D., takes about 16 hours, and it’s about twice as long as any of the road trips Northern State usually endures. But even after having trouble sleeping after playing three games in as many days, Alex Thomas wasn’t complaining about the never-ending trek toward home -- not after hitting a buzzer-beater to beat Butler.

The Wolves were supposed to be sacrificial lambs in this exhibition game, but Thomas' 3-pointer at the top of the key lifted Northern State to a 53-50 win on Wednesday, stunning the two-time national runner-up at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The game didn’t count in the standings, but the Division II team’s emotional celebration made it difficult to tell.

“Right when it left my hands, it was a great feeling,” Thomas said. “We were going crazy. We stormed the court, jumping and hugging. In the locker room, the coaches were going crazy.

“One of the highlights of my life.”

Northern State is the place where in the last decade, Don Meyer became the all-time leader in coaching wins in NCAA men’s basketball history. Meyer accumulated 923 wins in 38 years before retiring in 2010, two years after a near-fatal car accident left him without a leg and led to a discovery of cancer.

Paul Sather, who coached under Meyer and succeeded him, now has a win that won’t show up on the coaching record, but will be an unforgettable one. The Wolves were 12-14 in his first season and picked 10th in the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll. Last night, they went into Hinkle and lived out their “Hoosiers” fantasies.

“It was kind of surreal,” Sather said. “It was like, ‘This isn’t really happening.’

“Butler’s the kind of program we try to be like. They’re a program we would love to be like.”

Northern State is accustomed to playing on back-to-back nights, yet realized scheduling consecutive exhibitions against Northern Iowa, Purdue and Butler was going to be a difficult test for its preseason. Northern Iowa beat the Wolves by 18 points, and Purdue routed them by 32.

But a relatively inexperienced Butler team in transition following its national championship game loss to Connecticut played sloppily in its first contest and was primed for an upset. Northern State went into halftime tied and trailed by nine points with five minutes to play, but came back. Collin Pryor, who led the Wolves with 18 points, tied the game with back-to-back baskets with 52 seconds left. When Butler’s Andrew Smith missed the front end of a one-and-one, it gave Northern State the final possession of regulation.

The 6-foot-5 Thomas elevated over two defenders, got a clean look and made Butler pay. The fifth-year senior had redshirted during Meyer’s 29-win season in 2008 and went through a coaching change. The mere sight of Butler coach Brad Stevens was “a great experience” to Thomas. Now he was celebrating a shot that beat the Bulldogs, with the Wolves having improbably scored the game’s final 12 points.

“To make this shot in that environment on that stage, you couldn’t script it any better for him,” Sather said.

“Alex was the guy that was coming off bench most of his career. He fought and fought and continued to fight.”

Sather received a call following the game from Meyer, who recognizes a big win when he sees one.

“He called me disguised as an ESPN beat writer,” Sather said. “That’s him being funny.

“With that environment and the history and tradition there at Hinkle Fieldhouse, to get that kind of win, it hasn’t really set in yet.”

1. Drexel was picked to win the Colonial Athletic Association, a surprise to head coach Bruiser Flint and probably most everyone who follows the league. George Mason, even with a coaching change, was a fringe Top 25 team and yet the Patriots were selected second. Could Drexel come from America East and become the first team not from the state of Virginia or UNC Wilmington to win the CAA? Yes. Flint said the Dragons are more competitive in practice then he’s seen recently. But the Dragons will start the season without leading scorer, guard Chris Fouch, recovering from offseason knee surgery. Flint said he’s hopeful Fouch will be back by December. That puts pressure on the Dragons to avoid stumbling in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas so as not to hurt a possible at-large berth.

2. Butler was the pick to win the Horizon League again, barely over Detroit. But the telling info from the Horizon Leauge poll was that the Bulldogs had no one on the preseason all-league first team and only one (Andrew Smith) on the second. Meanwhile, Detroit had the player of the year (Ray McCallum Jr.) and two others on the first team (Eli Holman and Chase Simon). One problem for the Titans is Holman started the fall by taking a leave of absence due to personal issues. Still, if there was ever a year for Detroit to unseat Butler this is the season. Failing this season could be a significant psychological blow.

3. Nevada was picked by the WAC coaches to win the league, edging out New Mexico State. Utah State was third. Utah State has been the dominant team in the WAC, and it is finally going through a rebuilding phase. Utah State has been in the mix an at-large berth for years and fellow bubble teams have sweated out the WAC final. No need to worry this season. Nevada probably won’t have the résumé to warrant an at-large berth in its final season in the WAC before going to the MWC. This is a one-bid league.

HOUSTON -- Shawn Vanzant hung his head exiting the locker room, still unable to believe what a mess of a shooting night it was for Butler in the national championship game.

“Twelve-for-64,” the senior kept muttering as his teammates tried to console him.

One kissed Vanzant on the head, another told him it wasn’t his fault even as he claimed it was, and the senior walked out of Reliant Stadium after a 53-41 loss to Connecticut with a teammate's arm draped over his shoulder.

The Butler Bulldogs made back-to-back runs to the Final Four together, and together America’s underdogs licked their wounds after falling short for a second straight year.

“All the people that played feel like they let us down, and that’s ridiculous,” coach Brad Stevens said. “If someone has to go 12-for-64, these guys have the character to handle it.”

It won’t be easy for Butler to leave Houston without regrets and to make peace with the absolute worst shooting performance in the history of national title games. Butler shot 18.8 percent from the field for the lowest mark in a championship game and the lowest in any NCAA tournament game since 1946. The Bulldogs managed only three -- yes, three -- 2-point field goals.

Shelvin Mack scored 13 points on 4-for-15 shooting, admittedly missing open shots. Shaggy-haired forward Matt Howard finished his storybook career with a 1-for-13 performance and a blood-stained right knee. Andrew Smith, the team’s 6-foot-11 center, scored the team’s first points in the paint on a putback with 6:13 left.

Vanzant, who went 2-for-10, was despondent over the 52 missed field goals. Many of them were easy shots, but Butler also credited a UConn defense that blocked 10 shots.

In the other locker room, freshman Jeremy Lamb leaned back in his chair and extended a long arm to demonstrate how his length might have bothered Mack. “If I’m off you, people think I can’t contest, but I can.”

The Huskies’ frontline was especially good, with 6-foot-9 Alex Oriakhi and 6-foot-8 Roscoe Smith blocking four shots apiece.

“UConn is the best shot-contest team we’ve played, and it’s not even close,” Stevens said. “They’re long. They’re athletic. They’re active. He [Huskies coach Jim Calhoun] had freshmen playing like seniors out there defensively.”

Stevens indicated that UConn disrupted them by using the Butler Way on defense: “Guard so hard so when they get looks, it’s not as comfortable.” The Bulldogs proceeded to go out with a clank.

After Chase Stigall hit a 3-pointer coming out of the halftime break to give the Bulldogs a 25-19 lead, they missed their next 13 shots over the next 6:46 while the Huskies went on a 14-1 run.

“Coach kept us calm until we realized it was going to be tough,” Andrew Smith said. “It felt like we weren’t supposed to win that game.”

Said Lamb: “I saw one time we scored, one of them put his head down. I said, ‘We got ‘em.’”

Butler (28-10) loses five seniors and possibly Mack to the NBA draft after once again capturing the nation’s imagination with an unlikely NCAA tournament run. The Bulldogs had reeled off 14 consecutive wins, including upsets of Pittsburgh, Wisconsin and Florida, to get to the Final Four as a No 8 seed.

Not every fairy tale -- or even its sequel -- can have a happy ending. Stevens still found a way to give solace to his players, telling them his only regret was being unable to coach on Senior Day due to blurred vision.

“The title, the net, the net, the trophy would be nice, but you still have the relationships,” said Stevens, the 34-year-old bespectacled baby face.

“It’s really hard, but as I told ‘em, I don’t care if they make shots. I don’t love ‘em any less because we lost.”

Said Howard: “Right now, it’s frustrating. It’s tough, but I know you’ll look back at some point and be pretty proud. The team believed down the very end."

The Butler Bulldogs just simply missed.

HOUSTON -- Two years. Two storybook runs to the national title game. Two brutal, demoralizing finishes.

Butler's first run at glory ended with a just-this-close heave from Gordon Hayward. Instead, Duke took the title. This year, Butler's second chance at history was ruined by a score of misses -- 52 of them, to be exact -- as the Bulldogs shot themselves out of the mid-major record books and into the wrong kind of historical company in debilitating fashion.

The Connecticut Huskies are your 2011 national champions, winning 53-41 on Monday.

The Bulldogs' epic flameout will be the story of this game, of course. Butler's tale of back-to-back Final Fours -- both of which brutally ended without a title -- is too good to fade to the background. You can't shoot the worst field goal percentage in NCAA championship game history (18.8 percent) -- the third-worst in NCAA tournament history -- and expect to avoid the spotlight.

But it'd be a disservice to Connecticut to ignore the Huskies' story, to treat them as some sort of boring champion-by-default. UConn might not have the underdog angle, but its is a tale of defiant redemption and the power of brilliant individual talent -- a tale of Jim Calhoun and Kemba Walker -- and what can be achieved when a coach and his players meld the two.

Connecticut wasn't its usually brilliant self on the offensive end. Rather, the Huskies won this title with defense. They locked down the Bulldogs in the half court -- Butler shot 12-of-64 from the field, 9-of-33 from the 3-point line and 3-of-31 on 2-point attempts -- and even when UConn didn't challenge Butler's shots (and it usually did), the Huskies' supreme athleticism irrevocably broke Butler's offensive rhythm.

Simply put, no matter how good your defense is, you can't shoot as badly as Butler did and expect to win a national championship. Not when Walker and these Huskies are on the other side. Not ever. The Bulldogs never shot the ball well, but their second half was a special exercise in offensive frustration. With 12:29 left in the second half, Butler still had made only one 2-point attempt, a first-half hook shot by forward Andrew Smith. That's when guard Shawn Vanzant found enough room on a baseline inbounds play to knock down a 15-foot jumper. But Vanzant's next attempt was swatted by UConn forward Roscoe Smith, and the Bulldogs were right back to square one -- unable to find any easy shots against a longer, stronger and more athletic UConn team. The Bulldogs finished with three (three!) 2-pointers -- no one else in title-game history has had fewer than nine -- and a grand total of two points in the paint (UConn had 26), and that's your game right there.
Understatement alert: Butler did not shoot the ball well. And, yes, much of that offensive impotence was self-inflicted. But the Bulldogs have been a very good offensive team for much of the season and all of the tournament, and very good offensive teams don't just stop scoring points for no reason. In other words, Connecticut's defense deserves much of the credit for making everything so difficult for the Bulldogs.

Walker was quiet for much of the second half, but with 10 minutes left, he did what Kemba Walker does. Cutting to the rim, he received a bounce pass from Jeremy Lamb and finished with a beautiful floating layup that softly nestled through the nylon and gave Connecticut an 11-point lead. This performance wasn't vintage Walker -- he finished with 16 points on 5-of-19 shooting from the field -- but this season was all his, and this national title cements his legacy as one of Calhoun's greatest players.

No Butler player will have to apologize to his teammates. Or all of them will. Either way, the poor shooting was evenly dispersed across every starter (Matt Howard was 1-of-13, Shelvin Mack was 4-of-15, Vanzant was 2-of-10, Chase Stigall was 3-of-11 and Andrew Smith was 2-of-9) and reserve (Zach Hahn, Ronald Nored and Chrishawn Hopkins combined to go 0-for-6). It was just ... bad.

Strangely enough, this felt like Butler's one big moment, the time when the real-life Hoosiers comparisons came true, the culminating moment of a tournament -- and possibly an era -- defined by the unlikely mid-majors that barnstormed the Final Four. Instead, one of hoops' modern powers used its superior athleticism and talent.

Instead, the Bulldogs shot their way out of history. Instead, even as Butler slowly becomes a national brand -- and its coach, Brad Stevens, becomes a household name -- on the floor, where the only thing that counts is the final score, the sport's entrenched powers still reign.

HOUSTON -- The court is a glistening pane. The stadium is a pristine artifice. The cheerleaders are smiling; the uniforms are cleanly designed. Everything in Reliant Arena is pretty.

Everything, that is, except the offense.

Instead, these two defenses were the story of the first half of the 2011 national championship game, as Butler and Connecticut played a slogging slugfest caused less by bad offense -- although there was plenty of that -- than flawless defensive rotations, great on-ball pressure, deflections and blocks.

Butler leads 22-19 at the half, and were it not for a last-second Shelvin Mack 3, the first 20 minutes would have ended with the score tied at 19.

The pertinent statistic -- 15-of-58 -- is not hard to locate. That's these two teams' combined first-half field goal mark. Why so bad? It's not just missed shots. The reasons:

• Butler is everywhere on defense. The Bulldogs are challenging every inbounds play all the way out to half court, they're jumping on post possessions as quickly as possible and they're rotating to prevent Kemba Walker from gaining any advantage on ball screens.
• The same goes for Connecticut. Butler's high-screen offense -- in which the Bulldogs run high ball screen after high ball screen at the top of the key and on the wing -- hasn't yielded anything, because Connecticut is doubling every screen. After that, the Huskies are rotating fast enough and using their superior length well enough to challenge Butler's outside shooters. Things haven't been any easier in the post. Butler forwards Matt Howard and Andrew Smith are yet to get a truly clean look at the basket. Connecticut's size has been too much thus far.
• Perhaps the most interesting matchups to watch the rest of the game will be who guards Walker and Jeremy Lamb. Most expected Butler stopper Ronald Nored to spend most of his time on Walker, but for much of the half, Nored shaded the taller, lankier Lamb, and he effectively shut Lamb out of the game. Walker drew combined defensive attention -- Shawn Vanzant, Mack and Nored all took turns guarding him, and as above, Butler was quick to run second defenders at him on high screens. That Brad Stevens went with these assignments is both surprising and, well, not. The man always has something up his sleeve.

Keep an eye on the defensive adjustments on both sides going forward. These two teams have shot the ball poorly, but it's not necessarily about nerves or tight rims or simultaneous off nights. We're watching a thoroughly ugly game in a thoroughly pretty setting. But if you like comprehensive defense, there's nothing ugly about it at all.

NEW ORLEANS -- Breaking down the Southeast Regional final:

No. 8 seed Butler (26-9) vs. No. 2 seed Florida (29-7), 4:30 p.m. ET (CBS)

What’s at stake: Butler is attempting to go back to the Final Four for the second consecutive season. The last time a team from a mid-major conference went to back-to-back Final Fours was in 1990 and ’91 when UNLV pulled it off.

Florida is looking for its fifth Final Four appearance. The Gators are 4-0 in regional finals, winning in 1994 (when Lon Kruger was the head coach), 2000, 2006 and 2007, the final two times resulting in national titles.

Rich history: Florida and Butler have met twice before in the Big Dance, and the Gators won both. In 2000, 5th-seeded Florida beat 12th-seeded Butler on a Mike Miller overtime buzzer-beater in the first round, en route to finishing as national runner-up to Michigan State. In 2007, the top-seeded Gators beat 5-seed Butler by eight in the Sweet 16. That matched UF's smallest margin of victory in the tournament, as the Gators won their second straight national title.

Hot streak: After a humbling loss to Youngstown State on Feb. 3, Butler hasn't lost since, winning 12 straight. The Gators have won 13 of their last 15.

Path to the Elite Eight: Butler beat Old Dominion (60-58) and Pitt (71-70) on last possessions before opening up a 20-point lead on Wisconsin and the holding on for the 61-54 win. Florida coasted past UC Santa Barbara (79-51), outlasted UCLA (73-65) and then beat BYU in overtime (83-74).

Experience: Florida returned all five starters from last season’s NCAA tournament team, which lost in the first round to BYU. Butler has four players who played significant minutes on the national runner-up team last season.

Remarkable stat: Florida hasn’t had a player foul out this season -- the only Division I team that can make that claim in 2010-11.

Tough matchups: Butler junior guard Ronald Nored will have to take on Florida’s Erving Walker after guarding Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor.

“Erving Walker is definitely a lot smaller than Jordan Taylor, but he’s so quick,’’ Nored said. “He can get by you and finish over you at his size. He can shoot the ball really well. In some ways, they’re similar but their sizes are a little different, so you can guard Erving with a hand in the face and make him shoot quicker.’’

Chandler Parsons will be part of a committee with Vernon Macklin and Alex Tyus that will have to defend Butler’s Matt Howard.

“He’s very difficult to guard,’’ Parsons said. “He’s one of the most physical players in the country and he plays smart and just relentless and he doesn’t stop and he’s got a really good motor. So a guy like him, he just battles for 40 minutes and you’re not going to get anything easy with him just because his effort is off the charts.’’

Injury update: Butler center Andrew Smith writhed in pain, clutching his left knee late in the Bulldogs' win over Wisconsin. He said after the game that his left knee was swollen, but he would play Saturday. But on Friday, the Bulldogs said it was his ankle, not his knee. Regardless, he was held out of Friday’s practices and Butler will assess his status for Saturday’s game prior to the tip. But he’s planning on playing in some form.

X-factor: Of course, Butler’s Shelvin Mack and Howard have to score and board, Nored must defend on the perimeter and Smith will need to do the little things up front. But the difference could end up being Khyle Marshall, the freshman forward off the bench. He scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds, blocked a shot and came up with a steal in 18 minutes against the Badgers. Marshall’s length and athleticism will be needed against the Gators’ frontline. UF has scored 100 points in the paint in three tournament games, while Butler has yielded just 52 points inside.

The Gators will get the requisite production out of their starting five. But keep an eye on the production from two reserve forwards. Newcomers Patric Young and Will Yeguete will be significant factors in this game if they can get key offensive putbacks and defend Howard inside. They offer up a combined 10 fouls to offset Macklin and Tyus, and Young is probably the strongest of the group that can handle the scrappy Howard.

Reality check: For everyone constantly wanting to put the Bulldogs in this tidy little box and say how cute and cuddly it is that they are about to reach the Final Four again, just think about the experience in this moment for both teams.

“Butler has been here before and this is our first time here overall,’’ Florida guard Kenny Boynton said. “They are a physical team and I think it’s going to come down to the wire. We have to play hard for the full 40 minutes.’’

Added Walker, “This is a dream, but you can’t get caught in it. You have to be awake. Butler is a great team we have to come out and play our game. We don’t expect it to be easy and it should be a tough challenge.’’

And from the Butler side:

“This is business,’’ Mack said. “You want to get back to that stage and try to enjoy it.’’

“Last year was more of a whirlwind because we hadn’t done it before,’’ Howard said. “Having been there before, at least to this point, you learn how to manage it and deal with it.’’

NEW ORLEANS -- A quick glance at the Butler-Wisconsin game:

No. 8 seed Butler (25-9) vs. No. 4 seed Wisconsin (25-8), 9:57 p.m. ET (TBS)

Storyline: Butler is coming off two of the more dramatic wins of the NCAA tournament thus far, beating Old Dominion and Pitt on final possessions. The Bulldogs are attempting to make a run to their second straight Final Four.

Headline name: You can’t pick just one between these two teams. Wisconsin has two stars in Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer, while Butler also has a pair in Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack. Both are guard-forward tandems that can shoot and score in a variety of ways. The bigs are stocky and gritty, while the guards are like pistons who aren’t easily knocked over.

Who will blink first: Neither of the teams are turnover-prone. Wisconsin did have a rare double-digit turnover number (13) against Belmont, but had just five in the win over Kansas State. Butler had an unusual 15 against ODU, but then a more normal six in the win over Pittsburgh.

The toughest player on Butler to stop: Matt Howard.

Why?

“He’s a great player,’’ Leuer said. “He’s obviously a skilled big man that can stretch the floor and shoot it, but he’s also effective in the post. He’s physical and he moves his feet well. He does everything right, everything that you want a big to do. We’re definitely going to have our hands full.’’

The toughest player on Wisconsin to stop: Jordan Taylor.

Why?

“He’s a tough guy to guard,’’ Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “Jordan Taylor’s ability to get in the paint, to draw two guys, he’s got a 4-to-1 assist to turnover ratio. If you don’t respect him off a ball screen, you’re dead. He shoots 44 percent from 3, and he probably shoots 60 percent off the dribble from 3. You add all that together and he’s as good a point guard as we’ve played against this year.’’

Coaching value: If there is a calmer coach in the country than Brad Stevens, please give me a name. He never is rattled, regardless of the situation. As for Bo Ryan, he just continues to win, win, win, win.

Superstition: Stevens had a scare with his eyes a few weeks ago when he had a corneal edema from contact lenses that weren’t wearing well. He’s now 4-0 with his glasses on and doesn’t plan on taking them off anytime soon.

Glue guys: Wisconsin’s Mike Bruesewitz will be a key player in this game in some form. He goes to the boards, hits a 3-pointer and gets on the floor. The Bulldogs’ big Andrew Smith is unheralded, but hit the key bucket to beat Pitt before the end-of-game chaos. Smith is a grinder inside.

Who should win: Wisconsin has been much more consistent throughout the season and is arguably a better defensive team.

But...: The Badgers can go through serious scoring droughts, even with Taylor’s proficiency and the ability of Josh Gasser and Keaton Nankivil to make shots. Butler was one shot away from losing to Old Dominion in its first tourney game and one free throw away from losing to Pitt. But the Bulldogs find ways to win games.

What should you be looking for: If Shelvin Mack has another big night, like he did against Pitt when he scored 30 points, then the Bulldogs have a great shot to win. He’s a big-shot maker.

But if this is a last-possession grinder, then the Badgers may have the edge with more rebounders on the bench.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The nation’s capital is John Marinatto’s happy place. The Big East commissioner can cozy into a seat here, confident that at least one of his Chosen 11 will advance to the Sweet 16. Three of the four spots here have been secured by the bid-hogging conference.

Those are some good Sweet 16 odds.

No. 8 seed Butler (24-9) vs. No. 1 seed Pittsburgh (28-5), 7:10 p.m. ET (TBS)

What to watch: The boards. Butler was able to defeat Old Dominion in part because the Bulldogs were able to beat the Monarchs at their own game: out-rebounding the nation’s fourth best rebounding team. Their reward is a matchup against Pittsburgh, a team that averages 50 rebounds a game -- second in the nation.

Who to watch: Andrew Smith for Butler will be a key against Pitt just as he was against ODU. The one-time passive sophomore, who had to be urged to take over by his teammates, had 11 points and six rebounds and the critical tip to set up Matt Howard for the winner. He’ll have to be every bit as active against a very physical Pittsburgh team.

For the same reason, Pitt’s Gary McGhee will be every bit as critical for the Panthers. The big man deserves far more credit than he ever receives but he could get his due here. McGhee’s ability to control the inside against Howard and Smith, plus work the boards, will be a huge key for the Panthers. He averages 7.7 rebounds and 6.9 points.

Why to watch: En route to their Final Four run a year ago, Butler knocked off a No. 1 seed from the Big East. It was a different round (Sweet 16) and a different team (Syracuse), but the parallels are nice.

More than the unrelated history, of course, is the fact these are two similar teams. Both like to defend. Both like to rebound and both refuse to cede an inch on the toughness meter.

This has been billed as a terrific game and should play that way.

What they’re saying: "They’re definitely similar to us. They’re a spitting image, almost. Both teams are very tough, play very good defense and rebound.’’ Ashton Gibbs on Butler.

“It’s great to still be going, but my mindset this morning when I woke up, I was thinking about breakfast. That was about it. I moved on.’’ Howard on whether he took time to enjoy his game-winning shot against Old Dominion.

Of note: Butler has had a first-round draft pick more recently than Pittsburgh. Gordon Hayward went ninth last year to the Utah Jazz. The last Panther? Vonteego Cummings in 1999. … McGhee and Howard played in the same conference on rival teams growing up in Indiana. Howard played for Connersville and McGhee at Highland Senior. … Gibbs and Shelvin Mack played together and for Jamie Dixon on the Under-19 USA Team at the FIBA Championships this summer.

No. 6 seed Cincinnati (26-8) vs. No. 3 seed Connecticut (27-9), 9:40 p.m. ET (TBS)

What to watch: Contrasting styles at work in this game. Connecticut relies on its backcourt -- wisely, I might add -- while Cincinnati’s strength lies on the inside. UConn is much happier getting out on the break and Cincy prefers to bang bodies and play more physically.

The Huskies have decent, if not dominant, players on the inside and the Bearcats have good, if not Kembaesque, guards.

Who to watch: Alex Oriakhi will have to stand his ground against the immovable force that can be Yancy Gates. The sophomore needs to control Gates when the Bearcats have the ball and somehow clear some space for Kemba Walker & Co. to work on the offensive end. When the two teams met during the regular season, Oriakhi was an ineffective 1-for-5 while Gates had 14 points. The Huskies won, however.

Cashmere Wright and Dion Dixon will have the unenviable task of containing Walker, but also will have to look out for Jeremy Lamb, who has been sensational in the past six games. The freshman is averaging 14.5 points per game. Wright and Dixon are quick enough to keep up with Walker and Lamb but need to be disciplined.

Why to watch: Familiarity is a rare commodity in the NCAA tournament. Most coaches spend the day between games frantically cramming about their upcoming, and usually unknown, opponent.

These two teams know each other quite well.

Typically the selection committee tries to avoid league matchups until the regional finals, but with 11 Big East teams in the bracket, the committee clearly threw its hands up in exasperation early. Hence, the Bearcats and the Huskies meet in the first weekend.

What they’re saying: "We know we’re in for a tough grind. They’re the type of team that’s bothered us this season because of their physicality." -- UConn coach Jim Calhoun on Cincinnati’s contrasting style.

"When I was with Coach Huggins, we had great teams but the question was always, Cincinnati is good but how good are they because they play in Conference USA. You don’t have to worry about that any more. They say a bullet tells the truth. The Big East Conference tells the truth." -- UC coach Mick Cronin

Of note: In the only meeting between the two teams this season, Connecticut won 67-59 on the road. … Calhoun apologized for insinuating that Mick Cronin was the Big East coach who did not vote Walker conference Player of the Year. “It’s all cleared up. We had a good conversation. … I said maybe they didn’t vote for him or something and I shouldn’t have said that and I did. So I called Mick to just let him know that."

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When Matt Howard glanced up at the Verizon Center scoreboard after the final buzzer, he saw a familiar friend.

The number 60.

Along the way to basketball infamy last season, Butler adopted a simple mantra: First team to 60 wins.

It took the Bulldogs within a fraction of an inch of a half-court shot to a national championship.

There is a lot of time and distance to cover between now and Houston, but the Bulldogs have taken the first step on the road: Butler 60, Old Dominion 58.

The one-time Cinderella turned mid-major power won the game on the most improbable of shots -- a would-be disaster that could have fallen apart three different ways but instead slipped quietly through the net just as the buzzer sounded.

Was it karma?

“Nah, I don’t know if it’s that,’’ Andrew Smith said. “This is sort of how we’ve been winning games all year.’’

It would be an insult to the basketball intelligence Butler showed to simply say the basketball gods chose to smile on the Bulldogs in the final seconds. They advance to meet either Pittsburgh or UNC-Asheville not because they were lucky, but because they were smart.

“That was high-level, high-level IQ,’’ Butler coach Brad Stevens said.

With the score tied and the shot clock dwindling down, Shawn Vanzant drove to the right of the hoop. Before he could get in a shooting position, he fell.

He wasn’t sure if he stepped on someone’s foot or if he slipped. Regardless, instead of simply falling and bringing the ball down with him, the senior threw it high up in the air in the direction of the hoop.

It soared near the head of the 6-11 Smith and the sophomore, as he did the entire game, swatted at it to keep the play alive.

“I was trying to tip it in, but that didn’t happen,’’ said Smith, who finished with six rebounds.

The ball fell into Howard's hands. The senior is blessed with oven mitt-sized hands. Throw something within 16 feet of him and he’s likely to grab it.

He grabbed the ball off Smith’s tip and laid it into the basket for the win.

“Drew really made that play,’’ Howard said. “I was just in the right place at the right time.’’

Which sounds a lot more simplistic than it is. Stevens’ players are always in the right place at the right time.

The Bulldogs have never been a team of overpowering physical ability. They have plenty of talent. Gordon Hayward wasn’t a first-round draft pick by accident and plenty of rosters would welcome Howard and Shelvin Mack with open arms.

But beyond their skill it is the Bulldogs’ basketball IQ that separates them. They play well and smart.

How certain was Stevens that his team knew what it was doing? He had three timeouts in his hip pocket in the final seconds and didn’t even think about calling one.

“They change their defenses all the time, so it would have been a waste anyway,’’ he said. “We just called a play. I let them go. I trust them.’’

No, the karma isn’t that Butler won on a crazy shot.

The karma is that the Bulldogs won on a rebounding play. Old Dominion came into the game ranked fourth in the nation in rebounding margin.

In order to beat the Monarchs, Butler knew it would have to hang with them on the boards.

So what did the Bulldogs do? They beat ODU in rebounding, 32-29.

And they did it just as they executed the last play, by keeping the ball alive, refusing to cede the rebound until someone wrapped it up.

“It’s not how we drew it up but I knew if I could just get the ball toward my big guys, they’d have a chance,’’ Vanzant said.

A chance to get the game to 60.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Here’s a quick look at Butler’s 60-58 win Old Dominion in the second round of the NCAA tournament from the Verizon Center.

Overview: Cue the music. We have our first ridiculous shining moment, a buzzer-beater extraordinaire that keeps last year’s Cinderella alive.

Turning point: Shawn Vanzant’s frenetic fiasco turned into pure art for Butler. The guard’s drive in the final seconds went haywire as he slipped but the ball bounced high enough that Andrew Smith was able to tip it and keep it alive. The ball fall softly into Matt Howard’s hands and the senior put the ball back as the buzzer sounded for the win.

Key player: Howard. He wasn’t the highest score on the floor but he was easily the most critical. The senior was everywhere, most critically in the right spot in the last seconds. He scored 15, grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists.

Key stat: In order to win this game, Butler had to keep up with Old Dominion on the boards. The Monarchs came into the game fourth in the nation in rebounding margin. Not only did the Bulldogs keep up, they beat ODU at its own game. Butler ended up with a 29-27 rebounding edge.

Miscellaneous: Smith is already a good player for Butler. He could be a great one by the time he’s done. Smith has a sweet jump hook and is tough to move around in the post. He took a nasty hit with five minutes left, leaving the court with a cut near his right eye. ... The Bulldogs got some big minutes from junior Garrett Butcher. The sub, who averages just 1.6 points per game, scored six and grabbed five critical rebounds.

What’s next: Butler will meet either top-seeded Pittsburgh or No. 16 UNC-Asheville on Saturday here at the Verizon Center.

1. Baylor's offense -- yes, the offense -- is holding the Bears back. What's been more surprising about Baylor's season to date? That the Bears have lost to Gonzaga (in Dallas, no less) Washington State and Florida State? Or that the Bears have done so thanks to a suddenly just-OK offense? Scott Drew's team, which had the No. 3-ranked offense in the country on a per possession basis last season, is just No. 41 in the nation to date this winter, according to Pomeroy. Last year, the Bears were out of this world on the offensive end; they posted an offensive efficiency of 120.4 despite a high turnover rate. Basically, when the defensively suspect Bears didn't turn the ball over, they scored.

This year, Baylor has flipped the script -- the Bears are playing great defense and so-so offense. Why the change? The loss of senior point guard Tweety Carter is a good place to start. Carter was an underrated offensive player, an assist machine with outside touch. Without him, Baylor's turnovers have ballooned -- replacement A.J. Walton is turning the ball over on 35 percent of his possessions, which is way, way too high. Additionally, Baylor's 3-point field goal percentage has deflated and the Bears have lost three of their last four games, all to arguably mediocre teams. Sure, the defensive improvement is great news. But Baylor has to find a way to stop turning the ball over pronto. Until they do, Drew's team -- one with as much pure talent in the lineup as almost any team in the country -- will continue to be exposed on the offensive end.

2. Don't sweat Butler yet. Remember when Butler's at-large hopes were dashed forever? When the Bulldogs were doomed to a must-win scenario in the Horizon League tournament? When last year's March (and April) darlings became this year's November (and December) duds? How quickly things change. Thanks to last week's Diamond Head Classic title run -- which included a tight win over Florida State and a blowout victory over impressive runner-up Washington State -- Butler has relaunched itself into the at-large picture in a major way.

There are a variety of reasons for Butler's resurgence. Matt Howard, who avoided his customary foul trouble during a deserving tournament MVP performance last week, is sporting an insane 137.8 offensive rating, the 11th best in all of college basketball. Shelvin Mack is shooting the ball well again. Freshman Andrew Smith is playing efficient minutes and taking a heap of pressure off Howard on the defensive end. All together, Brad Stevens and company are in fine shape -- Butler's current nonconference record (9-4) is a half-game better right now than it was 12 months ago. True, none of Butler's four nonconference losses last season were nearly as ugly as this season's Nov. 27's loss to Evansville at home. But Butler fans can officially shelve the freakout for now. If their beloved team continues to play like it did over the holiday, they'll be just fine during the real most wonderful time of the year.

3. Mississippi State is a mess. If we remember the Diamond Head Classic as The Week Butler Turned It Around, we should also remember it as The Week Mississippi State Went Completely, Irretrievably Off The Rails. The losses -- to Virginia Tech in the Bahamas and to Washington State and Hawaii in Hawaii -- are bad enough. The extracurricular maladies -- among them sophomore Renardo Sidney’s attitude issues, poor performance and suspension, which was followed by a this-can’t-be-happening fistfight between Sidney and junior Elgin Bailey on Thursday -- seal the deal. The Bulldogs are not an NCAA tournament team. At this point, they more closely resemble a particularly splintered faction of professional wrestlers. (“Sidney and Bailey are fighting in the stands! The fans are livid, JR! Is that a metal chair?! No! NOOO!!!”) There’s no telling where this thing goes next, but whatever happens, it isn’t going to be positive.

4. Washington State deserves some love. Could Wazzu win the Pac-10? While the rest of the conference’s non-Washington teams play sporadic, hard-to-read hoops, the Cougars keep chugging along, playing quietly impressive basketball. After this week, Ken Bone’s team has lost only twice -- to Kansas State and Butler -- and has wins over Gonzaga and Baylor, the latter of which came on a neutral floor in Hawaii. Washington State also has something most teams don’t: a legitimate all-around star. That’s Klay Thompson, whose all-around excellence has anchored the Cougars on both ends of the floor. Take notice: The boys in purple and gold aren’t the only team in Washington worth watching.

5. Memphis isn’t there yet. Before the 2010 season began, we knew Memphis would be better. The question was: How much better? Was this Tigers team, a young squad led by a star-studded 2010 recruiting class, good enough to make a deep tournament run? Or was it an improved but nondescript team likely to win the C-USA and not much else? After a month and a half of nonconference play, the answer is closer to the former than the latter. Memphis’ last, best chance to a precocious statement -- a home date with Georgetown on Thursday -- ended with another high-profile Memphis loss. The Hoyas’ experienced guards handled a rowdy FedEx Forum atmosphere in the first half before pulling away in the second, and by the end of the day, we knew two things. One: Georgetown has been fantastic in the face of its brutal nonconference schedule; the Hoyas are fully worthy of your respect. Two: Memphis is still just too young. The Tigers are on the way back, but they’re not there yet.

For the next month or so, our friends at The Mag are previewing one high-profile school per day for their Summer Buzz series. For the sake of all that is synergistic, yours truly will be attempting the same, complementing each comprehensive Insider preview with some adjusted efficiency fun. Today's subjects? Butler and Syracuse. (Syracuse will be posted later this afternoon.) Up next? Georgetown.

In retrospect, we should have seen Butler coming.

Sure, hindsight is 20/20. And sure, the Bulldogs lost a few early-season nonconference games (to Minnesota, Clemson, Georgetown, and UAB) that made their torrid undefeated run through the hapless Horizon League difficult to evaluate. Still, teams with defenses as efficient as Butler's -- which ranked No. 5 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency by the end of the season, a mark that improved as the team worked through its brilliant bracket run -- don't come along all that often.

Butler's methodical march to the precipice of a remarkable national title was a great story off the court. On the floor, it was less surprising. Even when it struggled to find points, Butler's stifling team defense was just that good. We should have seen it coming.

Will we make the same mistake in 2010-11? Will Butler be good enough to give us a chance? Or, with the losses of Gordon Hayward and Willie Veasley, did Brad Stevens and company leave their best chance at a national title in Indianapolis?

Simply enough, those answers will depend on how well Butler can cope with the aforementioned losses, how Butler's remaining core -- a formidable one -- can collectively recreate Hayward's considerable offensive and defensive production.

And make no mistake: Hayward's contributions came all over the floor. While not a dominant player in any statistical category, the athletic 6-foot-8 forward was blatantly good at some things and subtly good at others. The blatantly good: Shooting (52.7 effective field goal percentage) and scoring (112.7 offensive rating), drawing fouls (5.5 fouls drawn per 40 minutes) and getting to the free throw line (57.9 percent free throw rate).

But Hayward, perhaps less blatantly, was also a major factor in Butler's defensive excellence. His block rate of 2.8 percent helped shore up Butler's interior defense, and he had by far the best defensive rebounding rate -- 23.3 percent, ranking him 67th in the country in the tally -- of anyone in Butler's often undersized lineup. The team's next-highest defensive rebounding percentage, 16.5, belonged to Matt Howard.

That last stat is notable for more than proving Hayward's versatility. In fact, Hayward's contributions on the defensive glass were the one thing holding Butler back from being a truly vulnerable defensive team. The Bulldogs' only real weakness in 2009-10 came on the defensive boards: Butler allowed its opponents to rebound 27.8 percent of its misses, the 18th-highest figure in the country. With Hayward gone, it's unclear who can help Butler shore up that already-exposed area of an otherwise stalwart defense.

Howard is the obvious candidate, but thanks to chronic foul trouble, Howard played few key minutes during Butler's tournament run. That will have to change; Howard will have to find a way to guard bigger, stronger opponents without taking himself out of the game for key stretches.

Another likely candidate is sophomore Andrew Smith. The 6-foot-11 forward has played limited minutes in his freshman season but was forced into action in the tournament by Howard's foul-prone habits. Smith is a big body, and playing him alongside Howard could alleviate the pressure on Butler's former Horizon League player of the year both in guarding and blocking out fellow big men.

Butler also has a pair of sneaky-good recruits that Stevens will hope can combine to approximate some form of the versatility lost with Hayward and Veasley's absences. Khyle Marshall, a 6-foot-6 small forward with a wealth of athleticism, was the No. 22-ranked small forward in the 2010 class. There's also 6-foot-9 Indiana native Eric Fromm, a power forward who's shown a penchant for defensive rebounding and an ability to start the break on the dribble. Some combination of those players -- mixed in with relative newcomer Smith -- could help Butler avoid the obvious pitfalls of losing Hayward's defensive contributions.

Butler will still be very good elsewhere. Shelvin Mack and Ronald Nored are two of the best perimeter defenders in the country. Mack is good enough to handle an increased offensive scoring load. Howard, provided he can figure out how to stay on the floor, will be as solid and productive as ever. Butler was never particularly lethal on offense in 2009-10 -- even Hayward had his noticeable offensive flaws -- but they didn't have to be.

Whether that equation changes will have everything to do with whether Butler's newcomers can make up for the less noticeable things Hayward did for his team on the defensive end. If the Bulldogs can find a way to keep their only subpar area -- defensive rebounding -- from becoming an even greater liability in Hayward's absence, the Bulldogs won't be a surprise to anybody. They'll just be good.

If so, we'll see them coming before our brackets are completely busted. That much we know for sure.