Box Score

When asked if he thought that the way the game evolved was appropriate, Brownell said "I'd like to review the tape to be honest with you, but I certainly thought that there were times when it was difficult for our team."

The Raiders were whistled for 22 personal fouls, while the Bulldogs were called for just 13. Butler outscored the Green and Gold from the charity stripe 24-5, hitting 24-of-31 attempts, while Wright State went to the line just 8 times.

After the game, it was pointed out to Wright State head coach Brad Brownell that his team outscored Butler by 14 points from the field, but his team got outscored by 19 points from the foul line. When asked if he thought that the way the game evolved was appropriate, Brownell said "I'd like to review the tape to be honest with you, but I certainly thought that there were times when it was difficult for our team."

Wright State opened the game with a Todd Brown 2-point jumper on the game's first possession. It was obvious from the beginning -- Butler's strategy was to attack the inside by feeding the ball to Matt Howard and to pound the offensive boards. Howard scored six of Butler's first seven points -- four of them from the free throw line, as the Bulldogs bolted to an early 12-3 lead.

The Raider battled back. Troy Tabler tied the score at 16-16 with a 3-pointer. He followed that with another basket from beyond the arc to put the Green and Gold in front by a 19-16 count at the 7:43 mark.

Wright State maintained a 21-20 lead with 6:17 before the half. Unfortunately for them, several of their key players were forced to the bench with foul trouble. Butler took advantage and built a 7 point lead. The Raiders that remained on the court managed to keep the score close. WSU went into the locker room trailing 32-28. Butler sophomore Matt Howard led all scorers with 13 first half points, going 7-of-7 from the free throw line.

Wright State came out of the locker room on fire. They scored 11 points in the first 3 minutes to narrow the score to 39-38 with 17:00 to play. That's when Butler went on a 14-4 run over the next nine minute to claim their largest lead of the game 53-42.

The Raiders didn't quit. Trailing 58-51 with less than 2 minutes to play, Cory Cooperwood hit a jumper, and N'Gai Evans buried a trey to pull Wright State to within 58-56 with 1:14 remaining.

It looked like the Green and Gold were about to come up with a critical defensive stop on the ensuing possession, but Cooperwood was whistled for his fifth foul with just 2 seconds remaining on the shot clock. Gordon Haywood hit 1-of-2 tosses to push Butler's lead to three with 41 seconds to play.

The teams traded free throws over the next 35 seconds. Todd Brown had a chance to send the game into overtime with a 3-point attempt in the closing seconds, but missed. Butler closed the game with a couple more free throws and held on to defeat Wright State 62-57.

Wright State was led by Cory Cooperwood's 11 points and 5 rebounds, despite playing just 17 minutes as a result of foul trouble. Will Graham contributed with 10 points and Troy Tabler chipped in with 9 by hitting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Todd Brown was held to 8 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

Butler out-rebounded the Raiders 31-28. Wright State had 13 assists and just 8 turnovers. The Raiders hit 41% from the field (22-of-53), and 38% from 3-point land (8-of-21). They went to the charity stripe just 8 times, connecting on 5 of them. Meanwhile, Butler hit 17-of 41 from the field and 24-of-31 from the foul line. The contest saw 5 lead changes and 3 tied scores.

Matt Howard led Butler in scoring with 24 points in 34 minutes of action. He recorded 14 of those points from the line in 15 attempts.

The contest was the third meeting of the season between Wright State (20-13) and Butler (26-4). The Bulldogs won the previous two meetings by scores of 64-48 and 69-51. Tonight, the Raiders outplayed the Bulldogs. Brad Brownell said "The big difference in the first two games and now is -- we're better. Our team has improved more than any team in this league. We've shown that through the course of starting 0-6 to our play in the last week of the regular season. We felt like we were going to win the game. We didn't come here to play and see how it went. We were playing to win, and our kids believed that we were going to win. We got to the last minute with a chance. We just didn't get it done."

Brownell added "We might not have liked all of the free throws that Matt Howard got, but to Matt Howard's credit, he made them all. That's why Butler is Butler. They find ways to win."

NCAA Tournament Success for the Horizon League:

Horizon League teams have won at least one game in the NCAA tournament four straight seasons and seven times in the last decade, including three Sweet Sixteen appearances in the past six years (Butler 2003 and 2007: Milwaukee 2005).

The Horizon League claims 8 NCAA tournament wins in that six-year span, which is more than such conferences as the Colonial (6), Mountain West (6), West Coast (6), WAC (5), and just one shy of the 9 by the Missouri Valley Conference despite receiving nearly half as many bids in that time (8 NCAA bids to the Valley's 14).