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Written by Dan
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Butler vs Duke 4/5/10
The Blue Devils and Bulldogs collide in the championship game
Butler Bulldogs (33-4) vs Duke Blue Devils (34-5)
NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Indianapolis, IN
Monday April 5, 2010 09:15 PM EST (CBS)
The Line: Duke -7
Tonight we see America’s favorite underdog in the Butler Bulldogs go up against the team people love to hate in the Duke Blue Devils as they battle in the 2010 NCAA Championship game.
Although Duke have had a relatively easier road too tonight’s championship game, they have been dominate in all of their games leading up too tonight’s showdown starting with their opening round drubbing over the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Eagles. The Blue Devils then proceeded to take care of California and Purdue with relative ease in the next two rounds of the tournament. It was then onto the elite eight were the Blue Devils would face their toughest test against an athletic Baylor Bears squad. Despite Kyle Singler being held without a field goal for the entire game, Duke rallied back from a three point half time deficit to record a 71-78 victory to earn a place in the final four and a match up against the West Virginia Mountaineers. In that game, Duke led from the opening tip and controlled momentum throughout the game, as the Mountaineers simply couldn’t keep up with the Blue Devils hot shooting as they connected on 13-25 from downtown, 12 of which game from their big three in Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer. The Mountaineers did connect on 5 of their 12 three point field goal attempts, however they were held to 19-46 from the floor, as they eventually went down 78-57.
Apart from their 18 point win over UTEP in the opening round of the tournament, the Cinderella story Butler Bulldogs have been involved in some thrilling contests and such was the case in their second round game against Murray State, a game in which they trailed at the half but managed to pull out a 54-52 victory. Despite being underdogs in their next two matchup’s against the more athletic Syracuse Orange and Kansas State Wildcats, the Bulldogs controlled the tempo throughout both games due to their stingy defense and as a result found themselves with a place in final four, were they would be matched up against Michigan State. Despite being kept without a field goal in over 10 minutes in the second half against the Spartans, the Bulldogs once again relied on their tough nose defense to stick in the game when their shots weren’t dropping, eventually running out 52-50 winners behind 19 points and 9 rebounds from forward Gordon Hayward.
- Bulldogs are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 NCAA Tournament games.
- Bulldogs are 20-6 ATS in their last 26 games as an underdog.
- Bulldogs are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog of 7.0-12.5.
- Blue Devils are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 NCAA Tournament games.
- Blue Devils are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite.
- Blue Devils are 7-3-1 ATS in their last 11 games following a SU win of more than 20 points.
Tonight's match promises to be a clash between two contrasting styles as the Butler Bulldogs want to turn this game into a scrappy defensive tussle that finishes up in the 50's, while the Duke Blue Devils want to make this into more of an offensive, three point shoot out type of game. While I give full credit to what Butler has done in this tournament, I think they have met their match in the Blue Devils tonight. There's no doubt the Bulldogs can match it with Duke defensively, however their offense has really struggled for long periods of time in this tournament and if they were to go on a drought against the Blue Devils tonight, it could spell trouble for this Bulldogs team. Bottom line, I think Duke has the size, rebounding and outside shooting to carry them to a national championship tonight.....
Dan's Pick: Duke -7
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