Elite Eight Showdown: Gators Set to Face a Physical Butler Team with History on Their Side
Saturday, March 26, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Scott Carter
NEW ORLEANS – Where were you that day 11 years ago?
Television personality Erin Andrews, a former UF dazzler, tweeted Friday that she was on the court with the dance team. Gators senior Chandler Parsons said he was too young to remember where he was, but he knows all about it now. Butler coach Brad Stevens recalls being somewhere on the side of a road in Northeast Ohio while driving to Buffalo, N.Y., to watch a friend play in the NCAA Tournament. Stevens and his friends were too excited to drive so they pulled over to listen to the radio.
Gators coach Billy Donovan knows exactly where he was. So does former Gator Mike Miller, whose memorable buzzer-beater to beat Butler in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2000 remains one of the greatest moments in Florida basketball history.
Miller's running shot at the buzzer lifted the Gators to a 69-68 win over the Bulldogs at the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C. The shot also sparked Florida's first trip to the Final Four under Donovan, where they lost to Michigan State in the national championship game.
“When I got to high school and Florida started recruiting me, I obviously saw that and just – it was a really amazing shot,'' Parsons said Friday.
The shot has a different meaning for Stevens, who was in his early 20s at the time and a few months later would leave his job as a marketing associate at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis to become a volunteer assistant in Butler's basketball office under then-head coach Thad Matta.
“I know we heard the end and we were all devastated by it,'' Stevens said.
For Donovan, in his fourth season at UF at the time, Miller's shot saved the Gators' season and launched a new era in Florida basketball history. The Gators were a program on the rise and one suddenly of national relevance consistently with Donovan leading the way.
Six years later, the Gators won their first national title and in 2007 they became the first team in 15 years to repeat as national champions, knocking off Butler in the Sweet 16 along the way.
Donovan has reflected on Miller's shot over the years and once again tried to put it in perspective Friday with another NCAA Tournament game against Butler looming today in New Orleans. The winner advances to the Final Four in the third meeting all-time between the schools, all coming during March Madness.
“Your program is based a lot of times on perception of what happens in the NCAA Tournament,'' Donovan said. “You know, it's the further you advance, the more quote-unquote it helps your program.''
“That group before that [2000 team] experienced a very, very devastating loss to Gonzaga at the buzzer to go to the Elite Eight. You've got to get there often enough to make a run at it, and certainly Mike's shot and play gave us the opportunity to play another game. When you get a chance to advance and move on in this tournament, it's always very, very exciting for your program and for your players.''
Of course, Miller's shot has no impact on today's game other than from a historical perspective and drama enhancer. It only adds to the build up for a clash that will end with one team moving on to Houston and the other going home.
“We haven't really talked about it,'' Florida guard Erving Walker said. “Coach doesn't talk about it and he tries to keep that away from us. It is two different teams and two different eras.''
What Donovan has emphasized to the Gators (29-7) about this Butler team is colored in black and blue – as in bruising.
“They are the most physical team in the country,'' Donovan said.
The Bulldogs have plenty of bite, led by rugged forward Matt Howard and guard Shelvin Mack. Butler is the only Final Four team from a year ago – the Bulldogs lost a close game to Duke in the national championship – still alive in this year's tournament.
They advanced with a 61-54 win over Wisconsin on Thursday in the Sweet 16, with Howard doing much of the dirty work with 20 points and 12 rebounds, his ninth double-double. Mack added 13 points as Butler (26-9) showed once again that it has long moved past the Cinderella label.
Stevens and the players still get asked often about wearing the slipper, but Donovan has another view altogether of Butler's program.
“They've got a tough, hard-nosed group of physical guys, and they take on physical confrontation, and they do a great job of initiating physical confrontation,'' he said. “That's the way they play. You don't get to a national championship game or the amount of Sweet 16s they've gotten to by just being a Cinderella story.''
Wisconsin learned that the hard way, falling behind by as many as 20 points in the second half of Thursday's loss. Badgers guard Jordan Taylor looked as if he had just gone 12 rounds after the game.
“They're scrappy, relentless,'' Taylor said. “They're just tough kids. They never quit. That's what makes them winners.”
The Gators have taken notice and are ready for perhaps their most physically challenging game of the season, which says something considering they play in the SEC. Florida is trying to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2007 and knows it can't take a trip down the floor off against the Bulldogs.
The Gators have a size and quickness advantage inside, but limiting Howard's impact will be a key.
“He is really physical,'' said forward Alex Tyus, whose 19-point, 17-rebound performance against BYU was pivotal in the win. “He plays really hard. You try to hit him with your body every time a shot goes up.''
Like Florida, Butler returned a veteran team despite the loss of Gordon Hayward a year early to the NBA. Florida senior Chandler Parsons hopes Florida's experience plays a key role today.
The Gators returned five starters and have peaked at the right time, losing only twice – both times to Kentucky – over the last 13 games.
“People understand their roles perfectly,'' Parsons said. “We are very excited to be in this situation. To win [Thursday] and to get a chance to go to the Final Four was very exciting.''
Florida guard Kenny Boynton spoke softly Friday afternoon while seated at a table inside a meeting room at the New Orleans Arena. About 16 hours earlier, he had walked off the court tired from chasing BYU scoring sensation Jimmer Fredette around.
Fredette scored 32 points, but the Gators made him take 29 shots to get there. Boynton said the Bulldogs don't have a Fredette, but that Mack, Howard and Co. present a formidable-if-different challenge.
“They are a physical team and I think it is going to be a game that comes down to the wire,'' Boynton said.
As we all know, we've seen that before between these two teams – but never with so much on the line.
GATOR GAMEBOX
Florida vs. Butler
Tip-off: 4:30 p.m. (New Orleans Arena)
Records: Florida 29-7; Butler 26-9
TV: CBS (Gus Johnson, Len Elmore, Reggie Miller and Marty Snider)
Radio: Gator Radio Network (click here for affiliates) Sirius 126/XM 243
Game notes: Click here
Need to know: Third meeting in school history between Gators and Butler, all three coming in NCAA Tournament; Florida won previous two meetings … Teams faced two common opponents: Xavier and Florida State. Gators beat both, and Xavier beat FSU and lost to Xavier … Gators F Chandler Parsons is on verge of joining some elite company. Through three NCAA Tournament games, Parsons is averaging 13.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game. Only Ohio State's Evan Turner (22.3, 8.8, 6.8), Memphis' Derek Rose (20.8, 6.5, 6.0) and Marquette's Dwyane Wade (21.2, 6.7, 6.0) have averaged 10 points, six rebounds and six assists in tournament since 1996-97 (minimum four games) … Florida has 29 wins for just fifth time in school history; all four previous times UF went to Final Four … Gators are 25-8 under Donovan in NCAA Tournament and Donovan is 3-0 in Elite Eight games … Florida remains only team in nation not to have a player foul out … Florida improved to 3-0 all-time at New Orleans Arena with Thursday's win over BYU; Gators won two games here in 2007 tournament … Butler is 8-1 in its last nine NCAA Tournament games and is the only Final Four team from a year ago to remain alive in this year's tournament … Florida and BYU combined to set an NCAA Tournament record with 71 three-point attempts on Thursday; previous record was 70 set by Drake and Western Kentucky in 2008.
