Hopefully you’ve caught your breath from Notre Dame’s first round win versus Northeastern because it’s about time to start holding it all over again. The frenetic activity that is March Madness tastes so good, though, doesn’t it? I’d forgotten the joy of passionately, personally caring about the Men’s tourney through the first weekend, but since Notre Dame’s #notdoneyet, neither are my emotions.
The second round opponent is Notre Dame’s neighbor to the south, the Butler Bulldogs. Some interesting tidbits from UND.com and Butler Athletics:
- Notre Dame and Butler have met 103 times in the history of the two schools.
- Butler has won the last 6 meetings. The last time Notre Dame defeated Butler was December 30, 1989 by a score of 76-69.
- The last time the two schools faced at all was 2006. A 71-69 Bulldog victory.
That Butler win in 2006 came at the very beginning of Butler’s rise to national prominence. The Bulldogs made the NCAA Tournament every year between 2007 and 2011 including back to back National Championship Game appearances in 2010 and 2011. Thankfully, this is not the Butler of 2010-11…nor the Notre Dame of that same era.
Just as Notre Dame exited the Big East, Butler joined the conference in 2013. During the 2014 season, Butler finished second in the conference to Villanova but suffered a first round exit in the Big East Tournament losing to another tournament team, Xavier. However, in contrast to Northeastern who had just 3 wins versus the RPI Top 100 (and zero wins versus the top 50), Butler is a team with a strong resumé. Butler boasts six victories versus the RPI top 50 including an early season victory over ACC opponent North Carolina.
Obviously this is a stiffer test, but Butler’s not on the same type of hot streak that Notre Dame is. Since Valentine’s Day, the Irish have suffered just one loss, a 65-60 defeat to Cheat-a-cuse on February 24. Over that same time period, Butler is just 5-4.
Last Game:
Butler started off the tournament defeating an underperforming 11th seeded Texas Longhorns team 56-48. On a Thursday that included a lot of excitement, this game was a bit painful to watch. The Bulldogs led just 26-24 at halftime and shot just 33% on the day (to Texas’ 34%). It was a plodding game that was won primarily at the free throw line where Butler held a scoring advantage of 20-8. While ND fans may not be happy they had to squeak out a win versus Northeastern, Butler wasn’t lighting the world on fire in a way that should unnerve the unflappable men of Dunks du Lac.
Starting Line-Ups:
| Notre Dame | Butler |
| Zach Auguste (6’10”) | Kameron Woods (6’9”) |
| Pat Connaughton (6’5”) | Andrew Chrabascz (6’7”) |
| Steve Vasturia (6’5”) | Roosevelt Jones (6’4”) |
| Jerian Grant (6’5”) | Kellen Dunham (6’6”) |
| Demetrius Jackson (6’1”) | Alex Barlow (5’11”) |
Butler goes as their duo Kellen Dunham and Roosevelt Jones go. In many ways, Butler is a poor man’s version of Notre Dame. Dunham’s the team’s leading scorer averaging 16.7 points per game. His counterpart, Jerian Grant averages just a tenth of a point more per game but does so while shooting a higher percentage from the field. More importantly, Grant is far more active getting his teammates involved. Butler as a team ranks 259th in the nation in assists per game averaging just 11.5 assists. Jerian Grant averages 6.6 assists per game all by himself.
Jones is the compliment to Dunham and the leading assist man at 3.7 per game, but this is deceiving. Jones is truly an undersized forward who finds his home in the interior. The fact is, Butler does not move the ball much contrasting with Notre Dame’s frenetic ball movement. Butler ranks just 112th nationally in points per game and gets there primarily on volume with meh rebounding.
Similar to Notre Dame, Butler will utilize a small bench rotation relying heavily upon their starters. Their starters distribute points fairly evenly with three starters averaging 10+ points per game, but they do it in a less interesting way than ND.
Bottom Line:
The truth is, this game is Notre Dame’s to lose. Butler’s a bigger name brand than Northeastern but make no mistake, this is not a team with the Cinderella magic of previous squads. If Notre plays just a normally efficient game on the offensive and defensive end they will come away victorious. Butler simply doesn’t have the offensive fire power or quality to match Notre Dame over 40 minutes unless the team plays sloppy. So remember to breathe tomorrow, and when in doubt, follow Tex’s advice and drink some whiskey.
Game Time: estimated 9:40 PM ET tip off.
TV: TBS
Announcers: Brian Anderson, Steve Smith, Dana Jacobson
Survivor of the Davie, O'Leary, Willingham football eras. Southern. Charming and more often than not the wittiest person at his dinner table (he eats alone quite a bit).
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