Indianapolis, IN (My Sportsbook) - The 11th-ranked Butler Bulldogs set their sights on another Horizon League Championship and NCAA Tournament bid, as they open the 2009-10
basketball season this afternoon in Indianapolis, against the Davidson Wildcats.
Head coach Brad Stevens enters his third season at Butler and has posted an impressive 56-10 record in his first two campaigns, including a 26-6 mark a year ago, good enough to earn a third consecutive trip to the Big Dance.
Bob McKillop has been a staple at Davidson for over two decades, as he enters his 21st season with the Wildcats. The last few years have been extremely special with All-American Stephen Curry leading the way. Last year, Curry led Davidson to a 27-8 record, as the team made its fifth straight postseason appearance.
These two teams met for the first time last year as part of the BracketBusters weekend, with Butler claiming a 75-63 victory.
Replacing the best player to ever put on a Davidson uniform simply isn't going to happen, so how exactly will the Wildcats adjust to Curry's absence on the floor? The answer is that it will be a collective rather than a superstar that fuels the team this season. This year's squad will rely on the play of the frontcourt, which showcases sophomore Ben Allison and senior Steve Rossiter. Rossiter is experienced of the three and is coming off a solid campaign in which he started all 35 games, averaging 6.1 ppg and 5.9 rpg. Finding a scorer in the backcourt will be a much tougher task, but the team will need senior Bryant Barr to take on a bigger role in terms of leadership. The veteran guard averaged 7.1 ppg this past season. Brendan McKillop, the youngest son of the coach, played a reserve role this past season, but will likely also find his way into a starting spot.
The Bulldogs were supposed to take a step back in 2008-09 but a bevy of newcomers burst on the scene and propelled the Bulldogs into the national spotlight. The backcourt tandem of Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack represents one of the best guard duos in the HL. Hayward was named Horizon Newcomer of the Year after averaging 13.1 ppg and 6.5 rpg, as a freshman. He also amassed 30 blocks and a team-high 48 steals. Mack, another freshman, was a tremendous floor general, dishing out a team-high 111 assists, while also contributing 11.9 ppg. Ronald Nored and Zach Hahn are key reserves off the bench for coach Stevens, especially Hahn, who is excellent from behind the arc, netting 41.0 percent of his attempts a year ago. The frontcourt is headlined by Horizon League Player of the Year Matt Howard, who returns for his junior season with even higher expectations. Howard paced Butler last year with 14.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg and 48 blocks and should be ready to once again increase those stats in 2009-010.
