COACH: Brad Stevens, four years at Butler, four years in NCAA tournament.
HOW THEY GOT IN: Automatic bid (Horizon League tournament champion).
GO-TO GUYS: Senior forward Matt Howard, the Horizon League Player of the Year as a sophomore, owns the school records for starts (127) and games played (135) and ranks third in Bulldogs history in points (1,850) and rebounds (842). This season, Howard is also shooting 44.4 percent from 3-point range (44-for-99) and averaging 16.7 points and 7.8 boards. Junior guard Shelvin Mack, a preseason All-American and preseason league Player of the Year, is playing his best basketball of the season after a shaky start. He has reached double figures in 16 straight games. Junior guard Ronald Nored is a defensive pest and sophomore center Andrew Smith shoots 63.2 percent from the field.
X FACTOR: Speedy senior Shawn Vanzant scored all of his team-high 18 points in the final 13 minutes of Butler's Horizon League semifinal victory over Cleveland State. The 6-1 guard was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc vs. the Vikings is shooting 43.3 percent from 3-point range for the season. Vanzant has averaged 11.4 points per game during the Bulldogs' nine-game win streak and has become a reliable option when the shot clock is winding down. "We go to him," head coach Brad Stevens told the Indianapolis Star. "We've been a lot better in those situations the last month."
STRENGTHS: Experience. The Bulldogs have been there, done that, coming within a half-court heave by Gordon Hayward of defeating Duke in last season's NCAA championship game. They also enter the tournament with momentum, winning nine straight games, their longest streak of the season. Defense and perimeter shooting are also strengths. The Bulldogs have allowed just 58.0 points per game during its winning streak and have won 29 of their last 30 games when yielding fewer than 60 points. Entering the tournament, Butler was shooting 36.1 percent from 3-point range, averages 7.5 made 3-pointers per game, and is 48-3 under Stevens when making nine or more treys.
WEAKNESSES: Butler doesn't have much size beyond Howard (6-8) and Smith (6-11) and isn't particularly intimidating around the rack (51 blocks in 32 games). Howard has been prone to foul trouble in the past, with four disqualifications in 2010-11 after fouling out nine times in 2009-10. The Bulldogs have played better defense of late, but their season averages of 6.0 steals and 12.8 opponents' turnovers per game are both down from last year (7.1 and 13.9).
