Horizon League Championship Recap
by Bill Kintner
DAYTON, Ohio – It was 90 minutes before game time and the upper lot outside the Ervin J. Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State University was already filled. There were TV satellite trucks parked all round the outside and people hawking tickets.
This is the championship game for the Horizon League and there was certainly a buzz in the air. The student section was already 1,500 strong an hour before game time, and by the time the game started there was over 2,500 students raising heck for their beloved Raiders.
This is mid-major basketball at its best and tonight there was a crowd of 10,686, the third-largest crowd in the history of the Nutter Center.
Tonight’s game matches the No. 1 seed Raiders against the No. 2 seed Butler Bulldogs. In the Horizon League pre-season poll, Wright State was picked No. 5 and Butler No. 6. I guess that goes to show you that the game is played on the court and that polls really don’t mean that much.
Of course, Butler had been out-performing the polls for years. For instance, earlier this year, when Butler ran through the Pre-Season NIT they were unranked until they knocked off their third big boy. Those wins in order were Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga.
Tonight’s game was a thriller to the end as the teams battled back and forth before the Raiders were able to get a couple more stops than Butler. The game was tied nine times and the lead changed skintnern times.
But Wright State’s DeShaun Wood scored 27 points, including six three-pointers, to lead the Raiders to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 14 years.
In the first half, Butler (27-6) jumped out to a 10-0 lead as three different players scored on four straight shots. It wasn’t until the 16:24 mark that the Raiders got on the board when Wood hit a three-pointer.
Wright State’s Coach Brad Brownell did not call a time out since his players were getting good looks and they just were not falling.
“What I am going to do? Pull them over and tell them to start making shots? That just puts more pressure on them,” explained Brownell. “Now if they weren’t getting the kind of shot I like then I bring them over and tell them we need better discipline in our offense.”
After that 10-0 deficit, Wright State (23-9) went on a 19-5 run to take a 19-15 lead. From that point on, Wright State maintained a modest lead of between two and six points for the rest of the half.
“It seemed like they were able to counter a lot. I was really impressed. They (Wright State) stayed poised. There is a reason why they have only lost only one game in here this year,” explained Butler Coach Todd Lickliter. “My hat goes off to Wright State, they are a terrific team in this league and I wouldn’t want to play them in the first round.”
It looked like the Raiders would take a four-point lead into halftime until Butler’s A.J. Graves hit a three-pointer with a second remaining to cut Wright State’s lead to two at 31-29.
In the second half the Raiders slowly started increasing the lead, with a falling-away three-pointer by Drew Burleson giving them their biggest lead of the game at 43-35.
The Bulldogs were a little down but nowhere near out. A three-pointer from Brandon Crone got the Bulldogs rolling, as they fought until they tied the score at 45.
This baby was going down to the wire.
With just a little less than 90 seconds left in the game, Graves drove to the basket only to get the ball blocked by Wood, who came up behind him. When they got down to the other end Wood, came off a pick to hit a three-pointer to make it 55-52.
With just 33 seconds left, Crone, who led the Bulldogs with 18 points took a pass in the lane and scored.
Just a few seconds later Wright State’s Vaughn Duggins was fouled and hit one foul shot to make it 56-54.
Crone was fouled by Burleson with 11 seconds left and made one foul shot to narrow the gap.
Will Graham was fouled and made both foul shots to give the Raiders a 58-56 lead.
Then at the other end, Graves wiggled through skintnerral defenders and heaved up a three-pointer that missed. Graham was fouled again and he sunk both shots with 1.3 seconds left and that is where it ended.
As the buzzer sounded, thousands of fans descended on the court for a celebration that was long overdue. As the on-court celebration got going, the Butler players hustled off the court toward their locker room knowing they, too, will be going to the NCAA Tournament.
Burleson scored 15 points and Scottie Wilson scored 10 points for the Raiders. Graves also scored 12 points for the Bulldogs.
When asked if his team has fallen off since their impressive run early in the season, Lickliter said they were playing well and didn’t think his team would have any problems when they play in the postseason. He cited some of the factors in Butler’s recent losses as a tough schedule with very little rest between games and then having to come into a hostile arena to play a very good team for the championship.
“We are playing some of our best ball right now,” he said, defending his team after the game.
We will see in a little more than a week.
On the Horizon (League)
- There was a young coed wearing a UNCW shirt and holding a sign that read “UNCW Tennis is getting Rowdy.” She was referring to the Wright State mascot, Rowdy Raider. During this tournament there has been a small contingent of Seahawk fans at the Nutter Center for each game supporting Brad Brownell and his new team.
- There were two fans dressed up like the Wright Brothers with a sign that said “Win one for Wilber and Orville.”
- University of Northern Iowa Athletic Director Rick Hartzell was one of the officials tonight. For the record I thought he did a good job.
- This is the third time this year that Butler and Wright State have played and the 30th time they have faced off. Butler leads the all-time series 16-14.
- Butler is 19-0 when holding opponents under 60 points this year. They remained perfect when that happens once the Raiders hit 60 points with 1.3 seconds remaining in the game.
- As the clock wore down and the Raiders were ahead by three, the game officials had the media get up form the media tables in front of the student section so they could take down the tables so the students didn’t trample over members of the media.
- As the game wore on and the score went back and forth there were probably 10 bubble teams watching at home praying for Butler to win.
- Butler has lost six of their last skintnern times at the Nutter Center.
- Former Raider Coach Jim Brown was in attendance tonight. He was the top assistant coach on Ralph Underhill’s staff and he was the interim coach for the 1996-97 season after Underhill was fired. He said that DaShaun Wood was the difference in this game and he also pointed to Butler’s lack of an inside threat as a factor in the Raiders win.
- Tonight’s game was covered by Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News, Pat Forde of ESPN.com, Mike Lopresti of Gannett/USA Today, Fox Sports Radio, ESPN Radio and a ton of regional media. In fact, the Horizon League issued over 140 media credentials for this year’s tournament compared to just 80 last year. Mike DeCourcy credited that increase to Southwest Ohio being a great basketball area.
- The all-tournament team was:
DeShaun Wood, Wright State (MVP)
Brandon Crone, Butler
Scottie Wilson, Wright State
Blake Schilb, Loyola
Scottie Wilson, Wright State
