Bulldogs have their way against Texas-Pan Am
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Doing it "The Butler Way" once again meant doing it the victorious way.
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Relying on its trademark stingy defense and team-first philosophy, Butler remained undefeated after a 67-48 victory over Texas-Pan American last night in the first round of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic.
Butler's Joel Cornette wards off Texas-Pan American's Allen Holcomb to grab a rebound.
A crowd of 1,383 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched a first-round doubleheader. In the late game, Western Kentucky defeated Chicago State, 63-56.
Butler (9-0) and Western Kentucky (6-4) will play in tonight's first semifinal game at 5. UTPA (4-9) will play Chicago State (2-7) in a consolation game at 1 p.m.
"I think, in some ways, people overlook us," said Butler junior forward Mike Monserez. "But we're not really about earning other people's respect. We figure if we continue to win and play 'The Butler Way,' we will get that respect."
The Bulldogs — from Indianapolis — are one of eight remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division I, yet remain unranked in the Top 25 polls.
The Broncs would certainly give them a vote now.
"That's a very good team we lost to," UTPA head coach Bob Hoffman said. "They would give any team in the country problems."
But it's apparently not part of "The Butler Way" to beg for attention.
"We don't even talk about (the rankings) or do anything with it," Butler head coach Todd Lickliter said. "These guys would be playing basketball at the YMCA if they weren't here. They just like playing basketball. I think all the rankings and labels are for the viewers and the people involved in that."
Instead, the Bulldogs keep playing "The Butler Way," which according to Lickliter, is "just a collective agreement to do the right thing the right way."
Last night, that meant relying on a collective effort to run away from the Broncs.
In typical Butler fashion, four players scored in double figures: Darnell Archey (16), Monserez (12), Brandon Miller (12) and Duane Lightfoot Jr. (12). Archey also made four of Butler's 10 3-pointers. For the season, no Butler player averages more than 12 points per game.
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"(UTPA) was hard to play against," Lickliter said. "They were very active and played multiple defenses. We just had to adjust and attack accordingly and I thought our guys read it pretty well."
Chicago State's Craig Franklin, left, battles Western Kentucky's Filip Videnov for a loose ball during the first half.
Butler shot 56 percent from the field (14-of-25) during a decisive first half that set the tone for the rest of the game. The Bulldogs jumped to an 8-0 lead and never relinquished their advantage.
But the key aspect was the same as it has been all season for Butler: defense.
The Bulldogs entered last night's game as the NCAA Division I leader in scoring defense, allowing an average of 50.3 points. UTPA became the sixth opponent this season to be held below 50 points.
"That's obviously a goal of ours," Monserez said. "We just try to play collectively together. If we can play five guys together as one defensively, we gain an advantage."
Indeed, the Broncs were limited to a .309 field-goal percentage (17-of-55), including just .222 (4-of-18) from 3-point range. In that critical first half, UTPA shot just 28 percent (8-of-29).
"They are so wise about how they play that it makes it very difficult to attack them," Hoffman said.
The fast start proved to be crucial, as the Bulldogs hit their first six 3-point attempts to establish a 26-8 lead 12 minutes into the game. During that stretch, Archey made his first three 3-pointers and outscored the Broncs by himself, 11-8.
Archey, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, scored 14 points as the Bulldogs took a 37-22 advantage into halftime.
The Broncs opened the second half with a 7-0 run to cut the Butler lead to 37-29, but that was as close as it would get.
The Broncs played the final 16 minutes without starting forward Allen Holcomb, who left the game with a sprained left knee.
"He's our go-to guy in the post, so it was a big loss," Hoffman said.
Kevin Mitchell led the Broncs with 16 points, while Tomas Sitnikovas grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
BUTLER —Miller 4-9 2-2 12, Archey 5-11 2-2 16, Monserez 4-9 1-2 12, Cornette 2-4 3-6 7, Curry 2-4 1-2 6, Lightfoot 4-4 4-4 12, Horan 0-1 0-0 0, Sheets 1-5 0-0 2, Walls 0-0 0-0 0, Gardner 0-0 0-1 0, James 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-47 13-19 67.
TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN —Mitchell 5-15 2-2 16, Montalvo 0-5 1-2 1, Davis 3-6 2-2 8, Holcomb 2-7 2-4 6, Sitnikovas 3-9 0-0 6, East 1-2 1-2 3, Hall 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 2-7 0-0 4, Diaz 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 17-55 10-14 48.
Halftime—Butler 37, Texas-Pan American 22. 3-Point goals—Butler 10-26 (Miller 2-5, Archey 4-9, Monserez 3-7, Curry 1-3, Horan 0-1, Sheets 0-1), Texas-Pan American 4-18 (Mitchell 4-9, Montalvo 0-2, Sitnikovas 0-4, East 0-1, Diaz 0-2). Rebounds—Butler 31 (Monserez 7), Texas-Pan American 31 (Sitnikovas 8). Assists—Butler 13 (Miller 5), Texas-Pan American 7 (Montalvo 3). Total fouls—Butler 14, Texas-Pan American 13. Technicals—Texas-Pan American bench.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 63 CHICAGO STATE 56
Western Kentucky had just enough Sparks at the end of the game to hold off Chicago State in last night's second game.
Patrick Sparks scored a career-high 24 points, including 11 in the final five minutes, to lead the Hilltoppers' rally.
"I didn't want to play in the afternoon game," Sparks said of the consolation bracket. "It's too hot here during the day and there's too much to do. It'll be much nicer to play at night."
Until Sparks' late heroics, the game almost turned into a nightmare for Western Kentucky.
Chicago State, which has now lost 26 of its last 28 games, trailed for most of the game, but went on an 11-0 run to take a 49-46 lead with 5:41 remaining in the game.
"It's been a struggle for us all year long," WKU head coach Dennis Felton said. "So I can't say that I'm overly surprised. There's a fine line between winning and losing and we've been on that line all year. I'm just happy we walked on that winning side tonight."
Sparks, a 6-foot-1 sophomore point guard, shot 9-of-16 from the field and also contributed six assists and five rebounds.
"We were trying to get everybody involved," he said. "I just picked my spots and let the game come to me."
By coincidence or not, his "spots" all came during crucial moments of the game.
In the final three minutes of the first half, he scored four points — including a driving bank shot at the halftime buzzer — during a 9-2 WKU surge that turned a 23-23 tie into a 32-25 lead for the Hilltoppers at intermission.
Western Kentucky built the lead to as much as 11 early in the second half before the Cougars clawed back. Kelvin Smallwood scored six during the 11-0 surge that put Chicago State ahead, 49-46 with 5:22 remaining.
WKU answered with an 8-0 run to regain the lead. Sparks scored six during the surge, including two go-ahead free throws with 3:39 remaining. His 3-pointer with 53.6 seconds remaining sealed the game at 57-52.
"He really stepped up and was obviously the biggest reason why we pulled it off at the end," Felton said.
Mike Wells had 12 points, and was the only other Hilltopper to reach double-figures.
Craig Franklin led Chicago State with 16 points and six rebounds, while Smallwood added 15 points.
W. KENTUCKY —Videnov 1-7 1-2 4, Wells 5-9 0-0 12, Sparks 9-16 4-4 24, Williams 2-4 2-4 6, Boyden 4-9 0-0 8, Halcomb 0-0 0-0 0, Winchester 1-2 4-4 7, Rumph 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 1-4 0-2 2, Massiah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-51 11-16 63.
CHICAGO ST. —Franklin 4-13 8-8 16, Wimmer 1-2 2-3 5, Turner 2-6 0-0 4, Perry 2-6 0-1 4, Bone 4-6 1-2 9, Richard 1-6 0-0 2, Hansbro 0-1 1-2 1, Smallwood 6-10 3-3 15, Carter 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-51 15-19 56.
Halftime—W. Kentucky 32, Chicago St. 25. 3-Point goals—W. Kentucky 6-18 (Videnov 1-4, Wells 2-6, Sparks 2-5, Boyden 0-1, Winchester 1-2), Chicago St. 1-4 (Franklin 0-3, Wimmer 1-1). Fouled out—Turner, Bone. Rebounds—W. Kentucky 28 (Sparks, Boyden, Brown 5), Chicago St. 28 (Franklin 6). Assists—W. Kentucky 9 (Sparks 6), Chicago St. 9 (Franklin 4). Total fouls—W. Kentucky 19, Chicago St. 20.
