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Chicago’s last hope is done RAMBLERS FALL TO BUTLER; WSU WINS (3/4/07)
Despite a yeoman effort by Ramblers senior guard Blake Schilb, No. 18 Butler ended Loyola’s aspirations for a conference tournament championship with a 67-66 overtime victory at Wright State’s Nutter Center on Saturday night. Schilb poured 29 points less than 24 hours after scoring 31 in helping to eliminate UIC, but it wasn’t quite enough. “It was a great basketball game,” Loyola coach Jim Whitesell said. “It’s tough to be up here as the losing coach. I’m proud of my guys. It was anyone’s game until the last play.” Junior forward Pete Campbell led Butler (27-5) with 18 points off the bench, including four three-pointers. Senior forward Brandon Crone contributed a strong game of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while junior A.J. Graves added 12 points – all on free throws. The Ramblers (21-11) had two chances to win the game at the end of the overtime period. Schilb missed a short runner with 5 seconds left and Andy Polka missed a tip-in attempt, but the ball went off Butler’s Mike Green with 1.4 seconds to play, so Loyola kept possession. On the inbounds play, Schilb tried to hit J.R. Blount under the basket, but Blount was tied up by Graves with about a half-second to play. The whistle blew to stop play and official Mike Roberts began to signal “held ball,” but the buzzer went off and the officials waved it off. Loyola had the possession arrow, so it would have had another shot. Both Whitesell and Schilb were animated at the call as television replays showed six-tenths of a second remaining when the officials’ whistle blew for the tie up. Schilb walked off the court with his thumbs extended in the air, signaling for a held ball. “I didn’t see J.R. until the last second,” Schilb said of his inbounds pass. “It was slightly too late. I still thought there was a tie up before the time ran out.” “I’d love to have one more possession,” Whitesell added. The contest was so close that it was a one-possession game for nearly the last 15 minutes of regulation and most of overtime. With 33 seconds left in regulation, Schilb hit a layup to tie the game at 54-54. Butler attempted to run down the remaining time and win the game, but Graves tossed up an airball with 2 seconds to play. Loyola got the ball back and Schilb barely missed a shot from just inside the halfcourt stripe that would have given the Ramblers the upset. In overtime, the game went back and forth. Polka put the Ramblers up 61-59 on a rebound basket with 1:32 left in the extra session, but the Bulldogs rallied from the free-throw line. Senior forward Brian Ligon hit two free throws with 1:11 to play to forge a 61-61 tie. Graves then nailed two freebies about 20 seconds later to give the Bulldogs a two-point advantage. Graves then came up with a steal and made two more free throws with 28 seconds to play for a 65-61 lead. The four-point edge was brief as Schilb hit a three-pointer almost immediately to cut the deficit to one point. Graves canned two more from the line for a 67-64 Butler lead. Schilb, looking to tie the game, missed a three, but Majak Kou put back the miss to cut the deficit back to one. On Butler’s next possession, Loyola trapped Graves near the sideline and forced him out of bounds for a turnover with 7.6 seconds left, setting up the frenetic finish.
“It says a lot about Loyola,” Butler coach Todd Lickliter said. “They defended him really well. He went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line. He found a way to score.” Graves did have some key assists, but it was Campbell and Crone that kept Butler close. Campbell hit three-pointers at critical junctures, including one with 7:20 left in regulation to break a 45-45 tie. Crone hit two layups near the end of regulation, including one with 1:04 left in the second half – both came on assists from Graves. Crone also hit a three-point to start off the overtime scoring. WRIGHT STATE 67, WISCONSIN-GREEN BAY 51
After Green Bay’s Mike Schachtner hit a three-pointer to cut a 33-27 halftime deficit to three, the Raiders (22-9) went on a quick 7-0 run on a putback by Drew Burleson and five points from Wood, giving WSU a 40-30 advantage. The Phoenix (18-15), one night after dispatching Youngstown State, scored six straight points of its own, capped by Terry Evans’ floater to make it 42-36 with 11:28 to play. Wood then led a 19-5 run to wear down Green Bay. He started the run with a three-pointer and closed it with consecutive assists on baskets by Scottie Wilson and Todd Brown. “That’s where he has matured as a player,” WSU coach Brad Brownell said of Wood. “He recognizes what his needs are during each game, by half. What we need to do to attack or get others involved. He has matured as a player as to when to be aggressive as a player. He has more confidence in his teammates.” WSU had great balance as Wilson added 10 points, Vaughn Duggins eight and Burleson seven.
The Phoenix’s senior leader, Ryan Evanochko, was held to two points and four assists in 34 minutes of play. “He’s a great player and I respect him a lot,” Duggins said of Evanochko. I tried to limit his assists and contain him. It worked out for us.” Green Bay took an early 5-2 lead and stayed close for a few minutes, but the Raiders built some breathing room with an 8-0 run midway through the first half, which included two baskets by Wood and a layup by Jordan Pleiman. “I really felt we had a great deal of energy at the beginning,” Green Bay coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “We took a few bad shots and played too with too much emotion of the game. It hurt us. The second half, we let it get away from us. DaShaun Wood played like the player of the year in the league.” NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS
With UIC’s elimination on Friday, this year will mark the first champion other than the Flames or Wisconsin-Milwaukee for the first time since 2001. … As the Loyola-Butler wore on, more Wright State fans entered the arena and started cheering for the underdog Ramblers. … Wright State is making its first championship game appearance since 1995 when the No. 8 seed Raiders won three games to get to the final at the Nutter Center before losing to No. 3 Wisconsin-Green Bay. … A false fire alarm at the Fairborn Holiday Inn on Saturday morning marred the weekend a bit. Most of the teams were staying at the hotel. In fact, Lickliter’s room was across from mine. … Not many UIC fans made the trip. The cheerleaders and pep band came on a chartered bus on Friday. Several other administrators, including athletic director Jim Schmidt, made the trip. Special thanks to Robert Hester, Will Roleson, Jon LeCrone, Bob Lovell, Bob Noss and special shout-outs to Chris Collins, Bill “Cigar Boy” Kintner and Toni Ginnetti.
TUESDAY, FEB. 27 FIRST ROUND #6 UIC 83, #7 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 77 #5 Youngstown State 82, #8 Detroit 80 #4 Wisconsin-Green Bay 78, #9 Cleveland State 59 FRIDAY, MARCH 2 SECOND ROUND (NUTTER CENTER) #3 Loyola 66, #6 UIC 62 #4 Wisconsin-Green Bay 72, #5 Youngstown State 55 SATURDAY, MARCH 3 SEMIFINALS (NUTTER CENTER) #2 Butler 67, #3 Loyola 66 (OT) #1 Wright State 67, #4 Wisconsin-Green Bay 51 TUESDAY, MARCH 6 CHAMPIONSHIP (NUTTER CENTER) #2 Butler (27-5) at #1 Wright State (22-9), 8 |
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2007 HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT