Butler's back.
The scrappy school from Indianapolis that came within two points of a national title last season and weathered a rocky ride this season will return to the NCAA tournament owning another big winning streak.
Matt Howard scored 18 points and Shelvin Mack added 14 to lead the Bulldogs to a 59-44 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Tuesday night for its third Horizon League tournament title in the past four years. Butler has won nine straight games overall.
"It doesn't get old. It's not easy to win this game, it really isn't," said Howard, the tournament MVP. "We knew it was going to be rocking in here. The key is to jump on them, and we had to jump on them. We talked about that."
Fast Facts
Butler (23-9) will get a chance to be the talk of the nation again and duplicate its wild run last year to the NCAA championship game that ended with a loss to Duke.
In the process, the Bulldogs avenged losing to Milwaukee (19-13) for the third time this season.
"I thought we made some tough shots, I think we did some tough things," Butler coach Brad Stevens said. "It doesn't hurt when somebody beats you twice. You're pretty on edge and also, you've got to change, you've got to do something different. And we did."
The Panthers got 10 points apiece from Tone Boyle, Tony Meier and Anthony Hill, but couldn't overcome a terrible shooting night, finishing 30 percent from the field. Milwaukee made its move when Ryan Allen's layup cut it to 42-39, but Butler answered with a 16-1 run and held the Panthers without a field goal for more than 7½ minutes.
"We didn't shoot the ball well, and we had some good looks," Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter said. "You're not going to win many games shooting the percentages that we shot. It's unfortunate it happened in this game."
"You can't be satisfied with where you are, just because you won a championship. There's more out there if you do the right things," Howard said. "We know what it takes, you can't relax now, I think that's key."
"It's been a trademark of our program I think to withstand the storm and just be resilient," Stevens said. "Last year in the tournament, that fairy tale would've never been written if we didn't have that trait."
Butler opened up a big lead using a 14-0 first-half run after a stifling defensive effort and outworked Milwaukee, never more apparent than when the Bulldogs got two offensive rebounds on one possession before Smith's layup put Butler ahead 33-20 at the half.
The Panthers, wearing bright, bumblebee-striped yellow shoes, were looking for their fourth NCAA tournament appearance and had handed the Bulldogs their worst loss in nearly six years in early January, a glimpse of promise in an up-and-down beginning to conference play.
The Bulldogs will once again be representing the Horizon League despite having as many black and blue moments as their uniforms this season.
Injuries on top of the departures of conference player of the year Gordon Hayward, Avery Jukes and Willie Veasley appeared to bring Butler down after a 14-9 start. Three players have missed time with concussions and Mack failed to finish several games early in the year with cramps.
