Further Reading: SB Nation’s excellent Syracuse blog, Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician. If you want to join in on the fun this evening, visit the GameThread.
Sweet 16 Opens With No. 5 Butler Looking To Knock Off No. 1 Syracuse
The 2010 Sweet 16 opens play Thursday night in Salt Lake City, Utah, with fifth-seeded Butler set to take on the No. 1 seed Syracuse, who will be without the services of Arinze Onuaku. The winner will move on to the Elite Eight and play on Saturday, against either Xavier or Kansas State.
Here’s how our own Blogging The Bracket’s Chris Dobbertean sees Thursday night’s game:
The Orange had better be prepared to face a team that is a bit more defensively focused than either of their opening weekend opponents, which also happens to own a 22-game winning streak. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim mentioned Wednesday that Butler has played 10 straight games against teams operating a man defense, so the Orange's 2-3 zone may cause them some problems. Turnovers could be key, as the Bulldogs don't turn the ball over much and they know how to capitalize on their opponents' errors.
Arinze Onuaku's missing his third straight game thanks to an injured quad, on the surface, would appear to be an issue, given that Gordon Hayward and Matt Howard are both solid interior players for the Bulldogs. However, as Hayward has struggled offensively lately and foul-prone Howard has issues staying on the floor, that ends up being a push. (Seriously, I'm of the opinion that Howard's foul issues, particularly in Anaheim over Thanksgiving weekend ended up costing Butler a seed line or two.) If Rick Jackson can stay off the bench himself and DeShonte Riley can play the smart game he did against Gonzaga Sunday, the Orange should have enough to advance.
My pick: Syracuse
And from the official Sports Network preview:
Owners of a 22-game win streak, the Butler Bulldogs take their act to EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah tonight where they will clash with the Syracuse Orange in the round of 16 in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
The fifth-seeded Bulldogs are appearing in the "Sweet 16" for the fourth time in program history, and the third time in the last eight years. Butler, which hasn't lost a game since bowing to UAB (67-57) in non-conference action back on December 22nd, ran the table in the Horizon League with an 18-0 mark and won the league title going away. After capturing the conference tournament with a 70-45 thrashing of Wright State, the Bulldogs set their sights on a bigger prize and defeated UTEP in the first round of the 72nd annual NCAA Tournament by a score of 77-59. Last Saturday, the team slipped by a surprising Murray State squad with a narrow 54-52 final to advance in the West Regional.
Playing away from home hasn't been a problem for Butler this season as the team led all of Division I with a mark of 12-1 (.923) and was one of only two teams at that level to suffer just a single road setback, the other being Syracuse (8-1), which lost to Louisville in the regular-season finale at Freedom Hall (78-68).
Speaking of the top-seeded Orange, they advanced this far for the 19th time in school history and have a tremendous 52-32 record in the event overall. The program with the fifth-most wins (1,783) in Division I history, Syracuse now needs just one more win to match its all-time record for victories in a single season at 31. Since losing back-to-back games to Louisville and Georgetown to close out the regular season and bow out of the Big East Conference Tournament, respectively, the squad has defeated Vermont (79-56) in the first round of this tourney and also taken care of Gonzaga (87-65) rather easily in the season round last weekend.
With respect to the all-time series between these two teams, this is just the second meeting following a 66-65 overtime win for Syracuse in the Carrier Dome during the second round of the 2002 NIT [...]
Syracuse 71, Butler 64
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