SB Nation - Butler Bulldogs

It's Not Plagiarism If You Link To It Spent The Night In A Very Uncomfortable Bed

Oops Pow Surprise — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:00:54 -0000

Jesus Fucking Christ.--Well, we might as well get this out of the way, right? Anthony Tucker, he of the freshman 15 (except instead of getting fat, he missed 15 games for one of any number of problems), is suspended indefinitely from the team. Guess what he's in trouble for. Go on, guess. You'll never guess.

University of Iowa basketball player Anthony Tucker was arrested for public intoxication early this morning.

Officers arrested Tucker, 20, at 2:05 a.m. at The Lodge apartment complex near highway 6, according to police reports. He was taken to the Johnson County Jail and was released between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. this morning after posting a $325 bond. He has pleaded not guilty.

The police activity log shows officers were called there after receiving a 911 call that "sounded like a problem with a cab and a fare," but the call was disconnected and officers were unable to call back the number.

In the same report, it shows someone tried to assault the cabdriver, but doesn’t say who.

Good lord. As you'll recall, this is not Tucker's first public intox arrest--13 months ago (again, during the season), Tucker got hammered downtown and passed out behind the Union Bar. On a very, very cold night. Once we found out he was going to be okay and that there were no ill effects from Winter Wonderland Naptime, we had an opening on a movie reference we'd never thought we could fit into Hawkeye sports:

We'd Beyond Photoshop Tucker's head onto this, but that would ruin the sheer majesty of Jack Nicholson pretending to be frozen solid in an otherwise awesome movie.

This arrest, though, is substantially more troubling. While his first was just plain overserving to the point of passing out in public--highly inadvisable, but we can chalk that up to an isolated incident of "kid being kid"--this has the potential to be a very serious disciplinary issue for Tucker. Getting a cab back from downtown to the west side of town isn't easy or cheap, and Iowa City cabbies are pretty hit-and-miss when it comes to manners (just ask Adrian Clayborn). Still, it got so heated that someone called 911, and that's definitely not a situation you want your players associated with. Yes yes, we know, innocent until proven guilty, and he pled not guilty. It's still Todd Lickliter's team, not the judge's. Most people get second chances. Not many get thirds.

Speaking of which, the real wild card in all of this isn't how much time Tucker's going to spend planted on the bench (obvious answer: LOTS), but which blood vessel exploded in Todd Lickliter's body when he found out. Seriously, he may as well issue a "God obviously hates me." He's having to deal with this drama, and his old school is beating teams by making time disappear from the clock.

Ken O'Keefe runs away with Headline Of The Year honors with this late stunner--We get what KOK was getting at here, with the defense's motto and all. We get it. But man, can't we get him a dedicated PR agent for Christmas? Or something?

(via HawkeyeSports.com)

How can anybody want this man to be fired? You want him on that sideline. You need him on that sideline.

"Yeah hi, Commissioner Delaney. This is Missouri calling back, just wanting to, y'know, touch base... we were in the shower and thought maybe we heard the phone ring... you have our phone number, cell number, email address, and license plate numbers just in case we're driving and you have to get back to us by having a cop pull us over... just... call us. K, lates."--Even though the Big Ten released only the coyest, noncommittal of statements on the subject last week, it's pretty obvious that the University of Missouri isn't going to miss out on the chance to expand on account of shyness. Missouri's AD, Mike Alden, batted a few eyelashes with TigerExtra.com (terrorist fist jab: Rock M Nation, of course):

I think the challenges we face as a league — and they do impact Missouri — are our television contract and our ability to have equal revenue distribution. I don’t think there’s any question that if we don’t get to that level at some point, we’re going to continue to find ourselves further and further behind the Big Ten, the SEC and probably the ACC, as well as behind Texas and Oklahoma, in particular, and maybe Nebraska in our league. Our hope would be that the league would continue to push harder in those areas, for a new television contract for more exposure and for equal revenue distribution.

This, of course, is all about as helpful as flirting with a stranger in front of your spouse to strengthen your marriage. That said, this isn't exactly a great marriage, since the Big XII treats Missouri about as well as Don Draper treats Betty, and what a handsome, charming, intelligent fellow this Big Ten is. And he's eligible!

Still, it should be noted that Alden doesn't take the bait when it comes to explicitly denouncing the Big XII or explicitly endorsing the Big 10. ADs don't get that high up without being smarter than that. He--like all decently responsible administrators--knows the status quo, while in need of improvement, is still Priority One until he's got an offer in hand from the BXI. That's obviously still a year away if it happens at all, which is hardly a guarantee.

But that's all CYA. The message is loud and clear from Alden: "revenue sharing maintenant," and since the Big XII are still 3-4 years away from being able to renegotiate a laughable $80 million/year deal (over $100 million less than the BXI or SEC), there probably isn't a whole lot the conference can do to satisfy the Missouri brass between now and the 12-18 months the Big Ten gave itself. So really, this plausibly ends one of three ways for the Tigers.

Go to the Big Ten if invited and swim in newfound money
Get bribed by the Big XII to stay until it's TV contract time
Do absolutely nothing and get so angry the Dancing Van Damme Fairy comes out (mind the variable SFW-ness of that otherwise wonderful website, by the way):

Aside from witnessing the wonderful power of magic and concentration, #3 is a vastly inferior option.

Briefly...

In Caring Is Creepy news, future Hawkeye Ben Brust is making basketball go boom out in the affluent suburbs of Illinois. We'd make fun of the level of competition among all those short little white boys, but then we saw what state we lived in and decided to just shut up instead.
Norm Parker will be coaching from the press box in a wheelchair for the Orange Bowl, for reasons closely related to the fact that his shoe was filled with blood after the Michigan State game. No such thing as TMI with that man, it seems.
Daryll Clark will not sit by idly and let you diminish his legacy at Penn State. Unless that "you" refers to the Hawkeyes. Or Buckeyes.
Patent denied. Well then we want copyright protection or habeus corpus or something.

RPI WATCH: 12/20/09

BracketCat — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:00:18 -0000

Well, the Cats did what they needed to do, and survived to fight another day as Upset Saturday claimed numerous other victims.

In a fair world, the AP Top 15 that comes out tomorrow would look something like this:

Texas (10-0)
Kansas (10-0)
Kentucky (11-0)
Purdue (10-0)
Syracuse (11-0)
West Virginia (8-0)
Duke (9-1)
Villanova (10-1)
Michigan State (9-2)
Connecticut (7-2)
Kansas State (10-1)
Georgetown (8-1)
Ohio State (9-2)
New Mexico (12-0)
Ole Miss (10-1)

It will be interesting to see what the pollsters, in all their wisdom, come up with.

P.S. Did I call that Wichita State upset or what? Booyah!

Current Kansas State AP Ranking = 17

Current Kansas State Record = 10-1

Current Kansas State RPI = 1

Current Kansas State SOS = 3

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton, IUPUI, Xavier, UNLV

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = Washington State, Alabama

Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none

Loyola (7-2, 1-1) | RPI = 45
Western Illinois (4-6, 0-2) | RPI = 320
Boston (4-6) | RPI = 146
No. 20 Ole Miss (10-1) | RPI = 24: Win over Centenary (108-64)
Dayton (8-2) | RPI = 31: Win over Presbyterian (71-52)
IUPUI (9-3, 2-0) | RPI = 50: Win over Duquesne (73-64)
No. 14* FHSU (8-1)
Washington State (9-2) | RPI = 83: Win over Portland State (93-69)
Xavier (6-4) | RPI = 47: Loss at No. 21 Butler (69-68)
UNLV (10-1) | RPI = 34: Win over SCUU (88-58)
Alabama (7-4) | RPI = 92: Loss to No. 17 Kansas State (87-74)
UAPB (0-9) | RPI = 260: Loss at Missouri (88-70)
Cleveland State (4-8, 0-2) | RPI = 247: Loss to No. 6 West Virginia (80-78)
South Dakota (6-4) | RPI = 139
Missouri (7-3) | RPI = 179: Win over UAPB (88-70)
No. 23 Texas A&M (9-2) | RPI = 15: Win over The Citadel (71-50)
Colorado (6-4) | RPI = 229
No. 2 Texas (10-0) | RPI = 6: Win over No. 10 North Carolina (103-90)
Oklahoma State (9-1) | RPI = 42
Baylor (8-1) | RPI = 72
No. 1 Kansas (10-0) | RPI = 20: Win over Michigan (75-64)
Nebraska (8-2) | RPI = 163: Win over Jackson State (57-41)
Iowa State (7-3) | RPI = 155
Oklahoma (8-3) | RPI = 117: Win over Northern Colorado (80-79)
No. 16 Texas Tech (9-1) | RPI = 33: Loss at Wichita State (85-83)

*Division II Top 25

Xavier victim of new way to lose a basketball game

SFBE.NF — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:51:08 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

Browse more photos »

Was there time, or was there no time? That is what everyone in Hinkle Fieldhouse was pondering after witnessing one of the wackier finishes in college basketball, this side of my lifetime.

After an accidental start/stop button push with 14.7 seconds on the clock, Gordon Haywood hit a lay-up to give Butler the lead. 1.2 seconds remained and Hinkle erupted, but questions abounded. As the officials deliberated and shot perplexed looks at each other for nearly 15 minutes, roars grew as to just what exactly was going on. Would there have been enough time for Haywood's lay-in to count had the clock never stopped? Should Xavier be given any of the 1.2 remaining on the clock to play for the win? And hold on here, was Haywood's "jump ball" call really legit? This game was full of surprises.

As expected, Xavier fans are ticked and Butler fans are elated. The problem here is that there is still speculation. We never were told exactly how many ticks the refs determined would have run off if the clock wasn't inadvertently stopped. It looks like it was no more than 1.2 seconds meaning that Haywood's shot, which was released at about the 1.8 second mark, would have counted. But leaving few privy to the exact amount is infuriating.

There's no clear article in the NCAA rulebook set aside for a situation like this. The refs seemed to have made the right call, but at this time we don't know for sure.

Presbylandware State: Questions. Questions that need answering.

Sam @ WWAHT — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:00:24 -0000

by Michael Conroy - AP

10 days ago: Ohio State's William Buford, left, and Butler's Willie Veasley battle for a loose ball during the first half of a NCAA college basketball game in Indianapolis, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

View full size photo »

With an upcoming stretch of Presbyterian (2-8), Delaware State (4-4) and Cleveland State (4-6), the Ohio State basketball team faces a crossroads not unlike the one the football team faced following the USC loss. This team needs to find a number of things: an ability to score consistently enough from different parts of the hardwood, a vocal leader outside of Evan Turner, and an ability to consistently defend something aside from an opponents' intermediate-range game.

While Ohio State will not solve its problems by squaring off against the Poor Sisters of Mercy programs 1, 2 and 3, it can at least hone some skills that are definitely going to be needed to have a good Big Ten stretch run. Here are the key areas that I feel need work if we want to beat most Big Ten teams, let alone the Badgers:

Not to hammer the obvious too much here, but it's going to take more than Will Buford to make up for Turner's absence, and that's especially true for Ohio State's limited inside game. No one currently can offer the penetration threat that Turner did, but someone will have to at least attempt a reasonable approximation off of it to take a little bit of pressure off of Jon Diebler. Presently, Ohio State's offense is this: move the ball around as much as possible on the perimeter, feed the ball to Lauderdale only if there is no one within twenty miles of him, and hope Diebler eventually gets something resembling an uncontested shot. True, this isn't all that different from the "wait until Turner does something spectacular" approach of the first eight or so games, but it's even more of a high-risk, low-reward scenario because Diebler isn't nearly as consistent of a scorer as Turner. Relying solely on this guy is a recipe for disaster. If the guy's shot is even remotely contested, it's not going to fall. That's just a sad fact of life. Lighty and Buford both have the ability to be the Turner-esque inside foil to Diebler's outside game, and I hope we see this develop over the course of the next few games.
A little bit more concerning the offensive gameplan. I'm not under the illusion that a powerful, consistent inside game off of penetration is ever going to develop, so there needs to be a Plan B. And that Plan B is getting Jon Diebler to grow a set. Dude just can't chuck up treys, contested or uncontested, and expect just that to be his contribution to his offense. I know the kid's a sharpshooter at heart, but the threat at least has to be there. Hanging out on the perimeter all game will get him erased by opposing defensive gameplans early and often, just as we saw against the Bulldogs.
Defensively, I realize there aren't a lot of changes that can be made personnel-wise, but schematically, I'd favor some more looks at that 1-2-2 press. It showed up way, way too late at Butler and clearly throttled the Bulldog offense. If Ohio State finds itself struggling against these jabronis we have coming in, or even if it's experiencing the expected amount of success, it wouldn't hurt to give this look some more practice.
I'd like to see Dallas Lauderdale get some more help. I know we're not very deep on the inside, and I'd rather have him out there than Kyle Madsen and Zisis Sarikopolous, but the guy has limitations that no amount of experience will overcome. I shudder to think of him alone against any Big Ten Power Forward/Center combo you can name, and I'd like to see a few new non-1-2-2-affiliated wrinkles to our post defense that allow some others to help shoulder the burden.

Of course, I'm not "expecting" all, or even half of these things to actually happen. Matta's a man with a plan, and I may just be talking out of my ass as an amateur observer. Nevertheless, I'd like to see this team make some readily-apparent strides, even if I know they're coming against the college basketball equivalent of jobbers. Improving on at least a few of these things will help tremendously by the time conference season kicks in.

ed. note: Don't forget to help Toby with his blog survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WSQGPZ2

Illini did not make top 25 this week, in AP or Coaches.

Joe Kutsunis — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:53:57 -0000

Well, my bad. The Illini are left out in the cold for one more week, and given that we only play a fairly lowly Georgia team before the next rankings come out, I don't see them getting traction enough to make it in next week either. I thought this week offered the best opportunity for the Illini to get back in, given their recent games against ranked opponents, but the otherwise pretty watery schedule is not helping, nor are the two losses in Vegas, (to Bradley. little brother of all little brothers.) Ah well, we can always root for lots of losses in the 20-25 area, as we are I believe now the non technical 28th or so in voting.

Rank	Team	Points
1	Kansas Jayhawks	1620
2	Texas Longhorns	1512
3	Kentucky Wildcats	1486
4	Purdue Boilermakers	1426
5	Syracuse Orange	1388
6	West Virginia Mountaineers	1315
7	Duke Blue Devils	1137
8	Villanova Wildcats	1107
9	Tennessee Volunteers	1104
10	North Carolina Tar Heels	1039
11	Georgetown Hoyas	1008
12	Michigan St. Spartans	922
13	Florida Gators	864
14	Connecticut Huskies	762
15	Gonzaga Bulldogs	505
16	Texas Tech Red Raiders	492
17	Kansas St. Wildcats	391
18	Ohio St. Buckeyes	383
19	New Mexico Lobos	364
20	Mississippi Rebels	334
21	Butler Bulldogs	257
22	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	253
23	Texas A&M Aggies	221
24	Washington Huskies	179
25	Cincinnati Bearcats	174

Rank	Team	Points
1	Kansas Jayhawks	774
2	Texas Longhorns	735
3	Kentucky Wildcats	701
4	Purdue Boilermakers	675
5	Syracuse Orange	658
6	West Virginia Mountaineers	631
7	Duke Blue Devils	547
8	Tennessee Volunteers	528
9	Villanova Wildcats	524
10	North Carolina Tar Heels	497
11	Georgetown Hoyas	494
12	Michigan St. Spartans	423
13	Florida Gators	367
14	Connecticut Huskies	358
15	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	229
16	Gonzaga Bulldogs	229
17	Butler Bulldogs	184
18	Ohio St. Buckeyes	176
19	New Mexico Lobos	164
20	Texas Tech Red Raiders	150
21	Washington Huskies	146
22	Kansas St. Wildcats	136
23		112
24	Clemson Tigers	110
25	Mississippi Rebels	77

12/12 Game Links

SFBE.NF — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:23:51 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

Browse more photos »

Purdue rallies to beat 'Bama, remains undefeated

Hoosier revival? Not yet as UK downs IU. But Mo Creek is pretty good

Loyola Marymount shocks Notre Dame in South Bend

Butler holds court, gets first notable win of season

No Bouldin no problem, Gonzaga hangs 103 on Davidson in win

Pitino is pissed; Louisville loses (at home!!!) to Western Carolina

It's an ACC/BIg 10 Challenge redux; Va Tech takes down Penn State

OU survives Utah in OT

Kansas State is pretty good, knock down 14 three-pointers to give UNLV first loss

Scenes from the Jimmy V Classic

SFBE.NF — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:41:51 -0000

There are few things that never seem to get old or date themselves in life, one of them is Jim Valvano's memorable speech standing at the podium during the 1993 ESPYs ("I got tumors all over my body, I am worried about some guy in the back going '30 seconds right now?")

In the 15th installment of the Jimmy V Classic, we were introduced to a depleted Pitt team, an overrated Butler team, an underrated Georgetown team, and a young Hoosier bunch who may have earned Tom Crean's biggest win in his in short tenure as coach.

Game one showed us that Greg Monroe is the best sophomore in the country (apologizes to Willie Warren and Ed Davis). The versatile forward (who has his critics) dropped the hammer on the Bulldogs shaky frontcourt and may have put the Horizon League favorites up against the wall and out of automatic-bid status. Hoyas win 72-65.

Admittedly, IU-Pitt looked like a snoozer, and it was. Nonethless, they might have done some light partying in Bloomington, with the nationally televised win. After the game, Christian Watford said he was ready to "put Indiana back in the spotlight." They can make even greater strides towards that goal with a win against Kentucky on Saturday.

And for Pitt, well, the Oakland Zoo may soon be getting wrestless.

The Shotgun/Throwdown: Wednesday (12/9/09) Edition

WVUIE97 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:00:42 -0000

Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's best place for sports links, information and some fun distractions. Today we're being brought to you by Pilsner Urquell, in honor of today's Miss Throwdown.

There's plenty to get caught up with. The Gator Bowl is a sell out already and Huggs leads the men back into action tonight against the Dukes from Duquesne. Keep your eyes open for tips and suggestions. See you after the jump...

What You May Have Missed:

Gold and Blue Report for Wednesday - WVMETRONEWS.COM

09-10 NCAA Bowl Game Helmet Schedule - SimonOnSports
Retro Helmet style bmp's and a downloadable spreadsheet.

Your Full 2009-2010 College Football Bowl Announcing Schedule - Awful Announcing

2009 Bowl gifts to participants - Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal

ESPN.com's All-Big East team - ESPN

Ranking the bowls from best to worst - ESPN

BCS matchups the highlight of ho-hum college bowl season - SI.com
Mandel ranks 'em too.

Though not as good as a playoff, BCS gets matchups right - SI.com
Staples' Power Rankings

Mountaineers in the NFL - WVIllustrated.com

News of Note (FB):

Sold Out - WVMETRONEWS.COM

Florida State fans snatching up Gator Bowl tickets, but local travel packages remain - Charleston Gazette

Some options available for tickets to Gator Bowl - Charleston Daily Mail

Steele honors WVU, Marshall players - Charleston Daily Mail

Football Notebook - MSNsportsNET.Com

Hall of Fame humbling to Major, Warner - Times West Virginian
Hertzel Column

LB Williams named a scholar-athlete finalist - Register-Herald

Seeing both sides of Gator - Parkersburg News and Sentinel

DL Joe Rhein - WVIllustrated
"When the rest of West Virginia’s football team was celebrating their victory over Rutgers late Saturday night, one of their brothers was being rushed to Ruby Memorial Hospital after being involved in a serious car accident in Morgantown. "

MU's search, Big East rankings and celebrating good times - Charleston Gazette

News of Note (BB):

Duquesne Preview - MSNsportsNET.Com

Preview: Duquesne - BlueGoldNews.com

Bob Huggins: Back On The Court - WVMETRONEWS.COM
Video link

Mountaineers set for Duquesne challenge - Charleston Daily Mail

WVU hosts Everhart, Duquesne tonight - Times West Virginian

Duquesne's Everhart has history with West Virginia's Huggins - PPG

Huggins, Everhart share West Virginia roots - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

WVU looks for better defense vs. Dukes - Charleston Gazette

Junior guard getting his opportunity to contribute early in 2009-10 season - WVIllustrated

WVU women cruise past EKU [ed.] - Charleston Daily Mail

West Virginia Too Much for Colonels - MSNsportsNET.Com

WVU women cruise by Eastern Kentucky - Times West Virginian

Women's Basketball Notebook - MSNsportsNET.Com

What's On Tap:

Duquesne Dukes vs. West Virginia Mountaineers - ESPN
Tonight from the Coliseum at 7 p.m. If you can't be there it's on ESPN 360 and MASN. WVU is giving 16.5.

Villanova Wildcats vs. Saint Joseph's Hawks - ESPN
On the Duece tonight at 9. Villanova is giving 13.5.

Kentucky Wildcats vs. Connecticut Huskies - ESPN
This appears to be the big one for tonight, from MSG, 9:30 on ESPN. Connecticut is getting 1.

Around the League (and Beyond):

Report: Kelly met with Irish last week - ESPN

Source: Likelihood of Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly bolting to Notre Dame 'heating up' - ESPN

Brian Kelly and Notre Dame close on deal -- chicagotribune.com

Source: Louisville board to be asked to approve Charlie Strong as coach - ESPN

Bulls still a work in progress - Tampa Tribune

Monroe's Double-Double Leads No. 15 Georgetown Past No. 20 Butler, 72-65 - GUHoyas

Wannstedt: Pitt has advanced since his arrival - PPG

Pitt falls to Indiana, 74-64 - PPG

Billy Donovan has had few setbacks en route to his throne, but SU has been one of them - Syracuse.com

Notre Dame head coach is the weirdest job in sports, so why would University of Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly want it? - ESPN

N.C.A.A. Is Said to Inquire Widely of Tennessee’s Recruiting - NYTimes.com
"Interviews with multiple football recruits revealed that the N.C.A.A. has strong interest in the University of Tennessee’s use of recruiting hostesses."

Politi: BCS system is a mess, but complaints go unheeded - Star Ledger

Item of Interest:

I'm behind on this, I know, but....there was a guy who set out to visit 15 campuses for 15 football games throughout the season and document his experiences. He's not a journalist or a professional photographer. The picture leads to a gallery he took while he visited us for the Backyard Brawl and I've included the link to his blog entry too. Pretty cool stuff. He was at Heinz last week, as well, and will finish up the season watching the Army/Navy game this weekend.

Backyard Nailbiter: WVU Beats Pitt On Final Play - One Great Season

[photo courtesy of John P. Wise @ onegreatseason.com]

Video of (Dis)Interest:

Evidently this is becoming an epidemic. I'm almost ashamed to admit...but, it's happened to me too. (Warning: Video contains strong language)

'Tis The Season Gallery of the Week:

Here are 25 sexy celebrities in Santa outfits.

via www.manofest.com

Miss Throwdown:

Today's Miss Throwdown is another Eastern European beauty. Hailing from the Czech Republic, I proudly present...Shannon Czyz.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Pilsner Urquell image via www.123mycodes.com

The Morning After: Post Game Articles, Quotes & Pictures

Hire Esherick — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:51:27 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

14 days ago: Georgetown's Greg Monroe, center, drives the ball against Butler's Matt Howard (54) and Gordon Hayward in the second half of a NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009, at Madison Square Garden in New York. Georgetown won 72-65. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Browse more photos »

Media coverage of last night's affair against Butler. Welcome back to the national spotlight, Greg.

Notable performance from Tuesday: Greg Monroe took 20 shots, made nine and finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds in 15th-ranked Georgetown's 72-65 win over No. 22 Butler. Both the 24 points and 15 rebounds were career highs for Monroe. This was his third double-double of the season.

What You Need To Know - CBSSports.com

The 6-10 center played 76 percent of his team’s available minutes last season, but only accounted for 20.8 percent of its shots. DaJuan Summers and Chris Wright both hoisted the ball more often, which helps explain why the Hoyas finished 16-15 last season. (To say nothing of Austin Freeman and his efficient scoring style last season and on Tuesday, but that’s another post.)

Assertive Monroe = happy Hoyas - Beyond the Arc - msnbc.com

"I'm just focusing on what I need to do for my team to win on a daily game basis," said Monroe, who flashed a tremendous inside game with baseline moves and reverse layups while attacking the basket. "Of course you have to rebound because that comes with my position, but everything I try to do is for the betterment of the team."

Greg Monroe, Georgetown Hoyas hold off Butler, 72-65, in Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden

Georgetown can match its best start under coach John Thompson III with a victory against No. 17 Washington in the John Wooden Classic on Saturday in Anaheim, Calif.

Georgetown's Monroe blasts Butler - Washington Times

"I wanted this group to be tested," Thompson said. "This is a league [Big East] where once conference play starts, you are going to play a good team on Tuesday or Wednesday, and then you're going to play a good team on Saturday. I want our guys to be used to that emotional ride. If you lose today, you can't think you're the worst person in the world. You have to regroup and get ready for Saturday."

Georgetown beats Butler in men's basketball - washingtonpost.com

"They just do a great job with Monroe and [Julian] Vaughn and Sims of taking away any shots you get inside," Jones said. "I think [Georgetown] has the ability to be very good. Certainly from what I saw where I sat today and what I saw on film, I think they have a chance to be one of the best teams in the nation by the season's end."

In win, Georgetown preps for tough stretch - Washington Times

Monroe, last season's Big East rookie of the year, recorded his third double-double of the season as the Hoyas (7-0) used their size advantage to control the paint at both ends.

Monroe leads No. 15 Georgetown over No. 22 Butler - KansasCity.com

"That really was a total team effort there," the sixth-year head coach said. "It’s easy to talk about what Greg did, what Austin did, but look at the minutes [freshman guard] Vee [Sanford] gave in the first half were huge. The minutes [freshman forward] Jerrelle [Benimon] played were huge."

Georgetown Beats Butler in Battle of the Bulldogs | The Hoya

In the postgame press conference, Monroe was asked if 20 shots was the most he's ever taken (he said yes), and if coach John Thompson III had told him to be more offensively assertive. "You should ask coach that," Thompson stepped in and said, referring to himself in the third person. He then provided a classic Georgetown-system answer: "If it's there. I think Greg is an unselfish player. We have an unselfish team. We have a lot of people in that locker room that can score. The number of shots one takes isn't important to this group. It's how we play, and if they're the right shots, and if we get victories that's important."

Georgetown-Butler observations - Luke Winn - SI.com

The much bigger Hoyas, coming off a successful three-game homestand, dominated Butler on both ends of the court. Georgetown posted a 42-30 advantage in the rebounds department and outplayed the Bulldogs inside the paint, 30-16.

Georgetown Dominates Butler In Jimmy V Classic, Improves To 7-0 | AHN

Georgetown finished with a 43-30 rebound advantage, outscored the Bulldogs (6-3) by 30-16 inside, and held Butler forward Matt Howard to nine points on 1-of-9 shooting.

College Basketball: Georgetown handles Butler | Philadelphia Inquirer | 12/09/2009

Georgetown didn’t play in a holiday event but can join that elite group this week with victories over two Top 25 teams.

ZAGSBLOG " Hoyas Make Statement, Pitt Falls at Jimmy V

The obvious: You want to see Greg Monroe play the way he did last night in every game of importance for the Hoyas this season. Never before had he scored 24 points or taken in 15 rebounds in a game. It was the big man’s third double-double of the season as well.

Around the Top 25: Indiana’s program gets a big W on the big stage | College Hoops Journal

I'll just post what I can tonight, and hope Mex Carey or someone else in Athletics can get better stats posted.

Hoya Prospectus: Recap: Georgetown 72, Butler 65

You're the Man Now, Dog - Monroe Leads Georgetown Past Butler, 72-65

Hire Esherick — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:45:29 -0000

Greg Monroe - Sean Connery has something to say to you:

In their first contest against a ranked team this season, Georgetown nearly blew a lead of Davidson-proportions but managed to hang on for a victory against Butler in Madison Square Garden. Greg Monroe contributed 24 points and 15 rebounds, both career highs, and Austin Freeman added 18 points, shooting 4-5 from beyond the arc. The seemingly endless turnovers and fouls are cause for some concern but the Hoyas got the victory in the end as the Bulldogs shot a woeful 30% from the field. The Hoyas are now 7-0 and fly out to California to face Washington on Saturday.

Post-game links, quotes and photos as well as the Casual Awards to follow tomorrow.

Breathe easy Hoya fans, the sky isn't falling, yet.

Bulldogs vs Hoyas coverage

In-Game Thread

Bulldogs vs Hoyas boxscore

Good talk.