SLIDESHOW: Four Sweet 16 Teams Practice in SLC
SALT LAKE CITY -- After two games in the unfamiliar role of a higher seed, Butler is back where the Bulldogs are much more accustomed to being.
Welcome back to the underdog Bulldogs, who face top-seeded Syracuse tonight in the West Regional semifinals at EnergySolutions Arena.
The Bulldogs may eventually shed this image, but they don't seem to be in much of a hurry to do so. Actually, they really don't seem to care either way.
"You don't ever look at the seed or the number next to the team's name, otherwise, you'll let that become a factor in your mind," Butler coach Brad Stevens said.
Butler is unbeaten in the NCAA tournament as the higher seed. But that has only happened four times and the Bulldogs (30-4) are quite comfortable playing as one of the tournament's lesser-known teams.
The No. 5 seed is the highest for the school in its 10 NCAA tournament appearances, matching the Bulldogs' position in 2007, when they also reached the regional semifinals before losing to eventual champion Florida.
Back then Butler was a real unknown.
Now that the Bulldogs are in the tournament for the fourth straight year and in the regional semifinals for the third time in the last eight seasons, the Horizon League champions' reputation has grown enough that they earned the No. 11 ranking in the last AP poll and the eighth in the coaches' poll.
Yes, they're still the team that plays in the fieldhouse that served as the set for the state championship game in the movie "Hoosiers." Yes, the Bulldogs get little of the attention that Indiana and Purdue receive in the country's biggest basketball state.
Eventually, the high-profile respect and reputation will follow if the Bulldogs keep winning.
"What would you say we need to do to become a legit team? Do you have to get to the Elite Eight?" Howard asked. "I guess it's up for debate. Obviously somebody -- especially the coaches -- think we're a pretty good team."
As does Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who is trying to get the Orange (30-4) past this round for the first time since they won the national title in 2003.
The Orange know a little about being unheralded, too. They started the season unranked and ended it as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Boeheim doesn't want his players to forget how far they had to climb this season when they prepare for the Bulldogs, who have won 22 in a row.
"I don't look at conference when you get into the NCAA tournament. The only thing that matters in the NCAA tournament is the teams you're playing against," Boeheim said. "They're as good a team as I've seen all year."
The Orange will be without center Arinze Onuaku, who has an injured right quadriceps and missed Syracuse's blowout wins over Vermont and Gonzaga in the first two rounds.
Onuaku averaged 10.5 points and 5.1 rebounds this season. The longer the Orange stay alive in the tournament, the more likely they are to get their top big man back in the lineup.
* XAVIER, K-STATE RENEW A RIVALRY IN WEST REGIONAL: Time is supposed to ease the pain of past embarrassments.
The way Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen sees it, though, there are some things you simply can't forget.
Locked in Pullen's memory is the way he felt on New Year's Eve 2007 -- the night his team got blown out by Xavier, the same team the second-seeded Wildcats face tonight in the West Regional semifinals.
"They laughed on the court, played around," Pullen said. "You don't forget things like that. So when you get the opportunity to play against a team like that, you always remember that, no matter if it's one person from that team or 10 people from that same team."
K-State got payback for the 26-point loss -- the worst of coach Frank Martin's short career -- with a physical, grinding 15-point win this season in Manhattan.
Now, one of America's hidden little rivalries resumes, this time with the stakes ratcheted up a few notches. Kansas State (28-7) is two wins from its first Final Four since 1964. Xavier (26-8) has never been.
"It rings a bell because they're Xavier," Martin said. "I know their program, firsthand. I understand the winning culture they have, the expectations they have. Then, we've played them. We got absolutely annihilated by them on national TV on Dec. 31."
Martin's familiarity with sixth-seeded Xavier comes thanks to his history as an assistant for Bob Huggins -- first at Xavier's crosstown rival, Cincinnati, then at Kansas State. When Huggins left for West Virginia, Martin took over Huggins' program, along with his schedule.
It included two more in a three-game series against Xavier, and after the first of those -- the Dec. 31, 2007, matchup -- Martin might have been wondering what he got himself into.
His prized recruit and star player, Michael Beasley, forgot his shoes and didn't make a basket until the final minute.
"Bill (Walker) lost his phone, I think. Clent (Stewart) didn't have his shoes, either," Pullen remembered. "It wasn't the greatest trip we had made all season. But we still went out there and played. And we got beat."
The Musketeers let them know about it, dissing the Wildcats by cracking jokes at the free throw line to turn a bad loss into something even worse.
Which might explain why this season's game, still on some players' minds nearly two years after the previous meeting, was such a physical affair. There were 57 fouls and 73 free throws, lots of hard screens and rough play in the post. K-State fans braved a heavy snowstorm to attend the game, and when the Wildcats finished up the 71-56 victory, they snaked behind the media table to celebrate with the students -- the kind of celebration normally saved for March, not December.
Xavier forward Jamel McLean doesn't think anyone should get this confused with Carolina-Duke. But he has a memory, too.
"I don't think it's a real rivalry," he said. "I mean, we played the past couple years. It's a team we have a series with. We've got them, they got us. We're about to go out there again and rally up and knock each other's heads off."
Kansas State will be playing 22 years to the date of its last trip to the regionals, back when Lon Kruger and Mitch Richmond led the Wildcats on a run that ended one loss short of the Final Four. K-State was beaten by Danny Manning and Kansas that year in the regional final, a story line that's been oft-repeated over the years -- certainly too often in the minds of those in the Little Apple.
* UNI INKS JACOBSON TO LONG-TERM DEAL: Northern Iowa and coach Ben Jacobson have agreed to a new 10-year deal that includes a substantial pay raise.
Panthers athletic director Troy Dannen announced the details Wednesday. It will increase Jacobson's annual salary to $450,000 starting next season, with annual raises of $25,000 throughout the length of the contract that runs through 2020.
Northern Iowa (30-4) will face Michigan State (26-8) in the Midwest Region semifinals in St. Louis on Friday night.
* AUBURN HIRES UTEP'S BARBEE AS COACH: Auburn has hired Tony Barbee as basketball coach after he led UTEP to the regular-season Conference USA title and the NCAA tournament.
Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs announced Wednesday evening that Barbee will replace Jeff Lebo, who was fired the day after a first-round SEC tournament loss.
Lebo failed to make the NCAA field during his six seasons.
Barbee led UTEP to three consecutive winning records in four seasons. The Miners were 26-7 this past season but lost 77-59 to Butler in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Barbee spent six seasons as an assistant coach at Memphis. The 38-year-old will be introduced at a news conference Thursday.
The Tigers move into $92 million Auburn Arena next season.
* ARNOLD HIRED AS HAWAII'S NEW COACH: Former Southern California assistant Gib Arnold was introduced Saturday as Hawaii's new men's basketball coach.
"It's not every day a dream can come true ... I am thrilled, excited, humbled and grateful for the opportunity," said Arnold, wearing a green Hawaiian shirt and leis.
Hawaii athletic director Jim Donovan announced the selection of Arnold. He succeeds Bob Nash, who was fired after going 34-56 in three seasons with the Rainbow Warriors, including 10-20 in 2009-10.
Donovan said seven finalists were interviewed among 50 applicants.
"I'm well aware of what this team and university means to Hawaii," said Arnold, who served as an assistant at USC for the past five seasons before being fired this month by coach Kevin O'Neill.
Arnold helped recruit such former USC standouts DeMar DeRozan and Taj Gibson, both first-round selections in the NBA draft. He also was head coach at Southern Idaho from 2003-05 and held assistant positions at Pepperdine, Vanderbilt, Loyola Marymount and Utah Valley State.
The 40-year-old Arnold played prep ball in Honolulu and is the son of former Hawaii coach Frank Arnold.
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