Wisconsin heads to New Orleans Thursday night to make their 5th Sweet Sixteen appearance in the last 11 seasons, facing the 8th seeded Butler Bulldogs.
The 4th seeded Badgers are coming off two big wins to start the tournament. Last Thursday the Badgers were a favorite to be upset by the Belmont Bruins. Belmont stuck around for a short time, but the Badgers were too much and pulled away, eventually winning 72-48.
The story was much different last Saturday against Kansas State. The 5th seeded Wildcats came in with one of the best scorers in the league, point guard Jacob Pullen. Wisconsin struggled to guard him the entire game, but thanks to little production from the rest of the Wildcats and a few defensive stops at the end of the game, Wisconsin scraped out a 70-65 game and held Pullen to "only" 38 points.
Butler, who made it to the finals last year against eventual tournament-winner Duke, started out this year's tournament by beating 9th seed Old Dominion on a buzzer-beating layup and narrowly upsetting the #1 seed Pitt Panthers.
The Sweet Sixteen will be a matchup of two similar teams. Both Wisconsin and Butler like to play a slow game, take care of the ball, and shoot tons of 3's.
Some key matchups to watch:
Shelvin Mack vs. Jordan Taylor
Both Mack and Taylor have the ability to produce on the offensive end. We saw Taylor explode for 39 against Indiana, and Mack put 30 up against #1 Pitt. Taylor has the edge as a distributor, and has double Mack's assist-to-turnover ratio on the season.
Matt Howard vs. Jon Leuer
The inside game will be vital for both teams. Leuer was able to score at will against Belmont in the second half, and put up 18 against Kansas State. Howard was the hero against Old Dominion, getting a rebound to score a buzzer-beating layup, and was able to score 16 against Pitt. Leuer will have to exploit his height advantage when he is matched up against Howard.
Keaton Nankivil vs. Butler's help defense
Butler's center, Andrew Smith, is not nearly as mobile as Nankivil. The Badgers will look to pop Nankivil outside the arc for an easy three. If Nankivil is able to hit a few shots it will open up the court and put Butler in a tough defensive situation.
Butler's bench vs. Wisconsin's bench
The Badgers' backups came up big in the win over Kansas State. Mike Bruesewitz scored 11 points, including a key three near the end of the game, and picked up 6 rebounds. Ryan Evans provided a much-needed spark midway through the second half. Butler regularly plays 4 backups. Should any of the big hitters get into foul trouble, both teams' benches will need to step up.
Bo Ryan vs. Brad Stevens
Ryan has never missed the NCAA Tournament while coaching Wisconsin, and has seen moderate tournament success in his tenure. Butler coach Brad Stevens might look like a teenager, but has made the NCAA Tournament in all four years at Butler, making it to the final round last year.
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