Mass Sports: K-State loses to Butler!
BUTLER PULLS ANOTHER SHOCKING UPSET TO REACH 1st FINAL FOUR, by Wayne Hodges
SALT LAKE CITY – No. It can’t be. Not another premature exit from the NCAA basketball tournament at the hands of a mid-major. Are we talking about Kansas? Not quite. This time we’re talking about the #2 seed in the West Regional, the favored Kansas State Wildcats. With a Final Four birth on the line, the Wildcats (29-8) came up a tad bit short in a spirit-crushing 63-56 loss to the 5th seeded Butler Bulldogs. “This is probably the coolest thing that’s ever happened in my life,” said Butler guard Ronald Nored, who played solid in-your-face defense on both Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. In all seriousness, Butler was ranked in the top ten of every major college basketball poll. So this is not your typical mid-major.
Looking back, this game was sort of a carbon copy of Northern Iowa’s shocking win over top overall seed Kansas. The Bulldogs jumped out to a nice lead, controlled the tempo throughout, then made several clutch plays late to seal the victory. There’s no question the double overtime victory over Xavier took a lot out of K-State. The Wildcats appeared to have heavy legs early and were visibly gassed down the stretch. “We looked tired. We were sluggish but I don’t think it was as much about our wrongdoing as it was Butler’s right-doing,” said Kansas State coach Frank Martin. The players agreed with their coach’s postgame assessment. Some lamented the loss harder than others. But everybody cherished the ride. “It was a great experience, but it hurts that it had to end today,” said a downtrodden Pullen.
The statistics suggest Martin was right. K-State shot 38% from the field and a mediocre 50% from the free throw line. Conversely, Butler shot a respectable 46% from the floor to go along with a solid 70% from the charity stripe. K-State players acknowledged Butler’s tough defense as the primary culprit responsible for their poor shooting effort. “Defensively, they just try to hound everybody, try to stay in the lane, pack it in so there’s nowhere to drive,” Pullen said. “Then they just send five to the glass every time. Did a good job rebounding.” Pullen scored 14 points and collected a game high 6 steals. Clemente, playing in his last game as a Wildcat, bounced back from a slow start (and injuries) to lead KSU with 18 points.
Power forward Curtis Kelly showcased an array of impressive low post moves in scoring 14 critical points for K-State. Butler forward Gordon Hayward was even better. He contributed a game high 22 points and 9 rebounds. Shelvin Mack tallied 16 points for Butler. As a team, K-State forced 20 turnovers but it wasn’t enough. Speaking of Kelly, the talented 6′8″ transfer from Connecticut carried K-State in the first half by scoring 12 of the team’s 20 points. But, for whatever reason, K-State’s guards had trouble getting him the ball in the second half. To be candid, Butler had absolutely no answer defensively for Kelly. Instead of feeding the post to start their offense, Clemente and Pullen settled for perimeter jump shots with minimal success.
Nevertheless, Butler’s advancement to the Final Four in Indianapolis is a great underdog story. Media coverage promises to be insane along the way. Next Saturday’s celebrated event will be staged inside the spacious Lucas Oil Stadium (capacity 70,000). Butler University, which is located in Indiana, will be treated to a raucous home game atmosphere. The coup is definitely well-deserved as the Bulldogs enjoyed thrilling upset victories over top seed Syracuse and #2 K-State. “Certainly this is going to be a highlight for all of us,” said Bulldogs coach Brad Stevens. “But you’re always moving to the next thing.” That thing, ladies and gentlemen, is called the Final Four. Nobody deserves it more than Butler.
Wayne Hodges, an MBA from St. Mary University, is the Editor-in-Chief of “Mass Appeal News.” He is also an adjunct professor, MPA at Kansas University, and intern with the Kansas Senate. Wayne welcomes your comments at whodges@massappealnews.com
March 28th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
K-STATE is just like KU…full of s*** and OVER-RATED
March 28th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
frank martin should have stared harder at the officials
his STARE makes people wet their pants
March 29th, 2010 at 8:48 am
As a Jayhawk fan I must say K-State played very well in the NCAAs. Coach Martin has done an outstanding job with that program. It is so nice to see such great basketball being played in the state of Kansas. Can’t wait til next year.
March 29th, 2010 at 11:36 am
Oh well, disappointing loss; and I don’t even like college basketball like this, but what a wild ride while it lasted. Great trip K-State. I’ll be watching to see what happens next year with these teams.
March 29th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Kansas State 2011 NCAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS!
Kansas University 2011 NIT CHAMPIONS!
U heard it here first. mark it down!!!