Butler ready for UTEP

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A cheerful group of Bulldogs gathered at Butler head coach Brad Stevens’ house for the most anticipated Sunday of the college basketball season. Unlike the last couple of years, the Dogs did not go home disappointed.

“I think it’s neat that we would be considered for a five-seed,” said Stevens.

The five-seed matches Butler’s best post-season placement in program history. They’ll face No. 12 UTEP on Thursday, March 18 in San Jose, Calif.

“Back to Cali,” sophomore guard Ronald Nored said smiling. “We get to play in southern Cali, not a bad place. We get to escape the cold and see the sun, so that’s exciting.”

One of the other exciting parts about playing in the NCAA tournament is getting to know your opponent. UTEP (26-6) was the regular-season Conference USA champion.

“They’re a pretty big team,” said Bulldogs’ forward Matt Howard. “So I’m going to have my hands full, they also have a really good scorer, but other than that I can’t tell you much about them.

Sophomore star Gordon Hayward’s early scouting report was equally limited. “I just know they’re a good team, good enough to play in the NCAA tournament,” Hayward said. “Whatever they said on TV, that’s about all I know. So we’ll just get ready and start preparing for them.”

An early morning practice for the players means a long night ahead for their coach.

“From a coaching standpoint I’ll go straight to the office after I’m done with these interviews,” Stevens said. “I’ll be up as late as it takes, I’ll prepare a 6:30am practice and we’ll be on the court tomorrow morning.”

Butler’s first-round opponent does have a local connection. UTEP head coach Tony Barbee went to high school at North Central, less than a mile away from where Stevens now lives.