The No. 1 seed and nationally ranked (No. 19 AP) Butler Bulldogs (27-5, 13-3 conf) and No. 2 seed Wright State Raiders (22-9, 13-3 conf.) square off in the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST from the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio before a national ESPN audience. The winner of the game will get the automatic bid to represent the Horizon League in the NCAA Tournament while the loser will have to hope for an at-large bid to the big dance.
Butler is favored in the championship game by a – 1 ½ point chalk at most offshore sportsbooks with a total of 119. The Bulldogs and Raiders split their two regular-season meetings with each team winning on its home floor, straight up (SU) and against the spread (ATS). In totals betting a PUSH resulted in the game at Butler while the OVER (118) cashed in the game at Wright State.
In the first game between the schools, Butler made 12 three-pointers on the way to a 73-42 victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Jan. 6. The Bulldogs raced to a 36-20 halftime advantage and rode the 19-point performance of A.J. Graves. The junior had four of those treys, as did Pete Campbell, who finished with 12 points. DaShaun Wood was the lone Raider in double figures with a dozen points, but his teammates were just 11-of-32 from the floor on the afternoon.
Wright State exacted revenge at the Nutter Center on Feb. 10, posting a 77-65 triumph. Butler had entered the week as the League's first-ever entry into the national top-ten polls, but could not match WSU's intensity.
Wood scored a game-high 30 points and added seven rebounds and six assists, leading the Raiders' efficient offense which shot 55 percent (24-of-44) from the floor. Drew Burleson logged a double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds, bolstering a Raider charge on the boards which produced a 33-22 advantage in that department.
Butler made only five of 26 three-point attempts in the contest, shooting just 36.1 percent (22-of-61) overall from the floor. Brandon Crone led the Bulldogs with 17 points while Green and Campbell added 13 apiece. Graves was the fourth Butler player in double figures with ten points but made only three of 16 shots from the field before fouling out in the closing moments of the game.
The teams shared the regular-season crown with matching 13-3 League records. Wright State is in the championship game for the first time since 1995.
