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Game 7-023: Butler at Xavier
December 10, 2010 2:30 pm ET by Kyle Whelliston

Butler Bulldogs at Xavier Musketeers

December 9, 2010 9:00 pm
Cintas Center
BBState Stats/Recap

A story: once upon a time, there were two brothers. As sometimes happens with brothers, they could not have been any more different from each other. The older was the mild-mannered and cerebral one, shrewd and calculating and mostly silent. The younger was brave and brash, full of powerful pride, always bragging about extensive accomplishments. They had so little in common, and once spent a long decade without speaking a word to each other. But they were bound together by blood, fate, and the inevitability of family.

In the spring, after a winterlong journey of many months, the two brothers trudged homeward to where they lived separately but close by. Neither talked to the other along the way, and kept an angry distance. As they made their way through the high country, across a set of imposing mountains, a giant approached. A great big purple giant!
As it turned out, the younger brother was the first to encounter the fearsome Goliath. He was, at first, set back on his heels, but recovered in time to give the giant everything it could handle. The battle was hot and pitched and bloody, and lasted for the the span of a night. In the end, the purple giant was victorious. But when the younger brother fell, he fell like a true warrior.

When the older brother came upon the monster, he found it in a severely weakened state. With substantial but not overwhelming difficulty, he slew it, and was able to pass over the mountains and return safely home. The younger sibling was not fighting for anyone but himself, and he did not intend for his end to represent any sort of sacrifice -- but in the big picture, the larger narrative, that's exactly what it was. Neither of the two had the full capability to kill the beast, but they worked together to spell its end. Sometimes, that's the way family works.

Hate cannot exist in a vacuum. Tucked and hidden deep inside that emotion is its true core: a terrible, terrible, terrible love that is tar-black and twisted, with wild roots that spread all the wrong ways. It's easier not to care at all, but the heart just won't allow that.




On Thursday, another chapter in the ongoing domestic dispute between Butler and Xavier. At this moment, nearly a day removed, it's just a white blur to me. There was screaming and copious alcohol and fingernail scratches on arms and dripping sweat and failure and more screaming. The result was the opposite of what it was last time, and there was no property damage, and there is still this ghost of a battle that did not happen, one that could have changed everything.

I do remember this: gathering my belongings after the end, putting on my overcoat, my head full of dark thoughts about endings, barreling past faceless people as I exited the building. I remember walking through a parking lot full of honking horns, surrounded by swinging and splashing bottles, beelining my way back to my black car. I remember promising myself in clipped sentences that I would say as little as possible about any of this, because I'd relinquished any semblance of journalistic detachment. I'd chosen a side.

This was family, and I was in too deep.

@midmajority Game Tweets


20:23 Cincinnati! City of queens and First Thirds and first pitches and chili. The only place I ever hear Wilson Phillips on the radio anymore.
20:56 Game 7-023: Butler at Xavier. Hawt sauce on your DAWG.
20:56 RT @billpotter_hl: Somehow, I'm seated next to @DavidWoods007 and @midmajority. Not sure I'm truly worthy of that.
20:57 White out. http://img.ly/2AKs
20:58 Butler. http://img.ly/2AKu
21:03 Butler starts Mack, Nored, Hahn, Smith, Howard. Lights go out, and the Xavier starters come out to a video montage and "All I Do Is Win."
21:04 That's impressive, body-painted Xavier bros. http://img.ly/2AKz
21:06 Tip. http://img.ly/2AKD
21:07 Howard opens the account for Butler, 2-0 Bulldogs early. And somebody replaced his arms with cyber Robot arms! #freaky!
21:09 Holloway a #superhoop, then Smith for Butler. Fast and fun early here in Cincy, 6-3 Bulldogs, who seem cool and composed in the whiteout.
21:11 And there's a Howard #superhoop, powered by his cyberlord Robo-arms. Is there anything the Monsterizer can't do? 12-5 Bulldogs, 15:58 1H.
21:13 Watching Butler on D from exact floor level is fascinating. Their heads are on swivels, always silently looking for each other. MTO1, 12-7.
21:14 #smac http://img.ly/2AKO
21:16 The one thing the programmer forgot to include in the code. #beepboop RT @ksvoboda: Stay out of foul trouble? @midmajority
21:18 X comes all the way back with 9 straight points, leads 16-12. All due respect to VALP-PUR, but this is the first time #S7 has felt serious.
21:18 G!O!T!N! RT @midmajority360: Army 71 New Hampshire 63 | http://tmm7.me/65v
21:22 There's a theory forwarded in #1BS that in the big picture, X gave selves up so that Butler could live.
21:23 Xavier up 18-14. We're getting our first look at Khyle Marshall (Fr.) and some serious Stigall time. Not much offense out there right now.
21:25 Before the series resumed in 2008, Butler and X didn't play each other for a decade. Back then, X won all the time. BUTL won in 08 and 09.
21:27 Smith takes his second foul on what could only be described as a "wild caress," and storms to the bench. And Garrett Butcher comes in.
21:30 One thing that Butler 2010 and Butler 2011 have in common: limited bench combo options. 2 baskets in the last eight minutes; 22-16 X 7:45 1H
21:33 OHHHH, Xavier pulled the James Posey card!! Notheydinnt! He's in attendance tonight, waves to the crowd.
21:35 Xavier intentional foul sends Mack to the line for 2 TFT's, and that keeps 'em close at 22-18. 10 minutes and counting without a BUTL FG.
21:35 #smac RT @nbaliva: @midmajority Did Posey sucker punch the fan next to him?
21:38 Gross. RT @bubbaprog: Is the proper verb "pantsed" or "depantsed"? http://30fram.es/i1 #stevelyons @midmajority
21:42 You know, for kids. http://img.ly/2ALr
21:42 If this looks ugly at home, it looks even worse up close. Bally almost threw up his boinger on Hahn's recreation of a "Platoon" death scene.
21:44 Sign watch! "rEvenge Starts haPpening Now", "We still want those 1.2 seconds back," "Thou Shalt Not Cheat."
21:47 Finally, a Butler basket by Mack, but it's quickly answered by a Frease #omgdunx. TO by Brad Stevens to slash tires on the momentum express.
21:49 Now Xavier is starting to get inside against a very short lineup with Fr. Erik Fromm as the big. 3 paint buckets, incl a +1, and it's 32-22.
21:49 RT @brendanloy: Neither can live while the other survives. #harry #voldemort RT @midmajority: ...in big picture, X gave selves up so that Butler could live.
21:51 I'm going to be coy and make you guess. RT @edthesportsfan: @midmajority you here at the game?
21:53 Mack 2 FT's, and it's 32-24 at the break. I guess there are worse ways that half could have gone for Butler. Someone could have lost a foot.
21:54 Something AWESOME is about to happen in re: halftime entertainment. I don't know what. There are multiple props.
21:56 MAGIC!!!!! http://img.ly/2ALL
21:58 There's a girl in there. Somewhere. http://img.ly/2ALN
22:00 The girl didn't die, but this JP Wilson guy keeps putting her in boxes and sticking knives and swords through them. #issues
22:04 Butler is shooting 31.8% (7-for-22), 2 bench pts, and went over 10 minutes without a FG. Warm memories of the Michigan State F4 game.
22:07 RT @PuckFigham: @midmajority Best halftime mascot basketball happens during Cintas wbball games. Ben Franklin lost badly to D'artagnan during my last visit.
22:10 The second half has begun here at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati. What basketball treats and wonders await us? Tralala, lala!
22:11 Butler gets 35'd on their first possession of 2H. Then Howard takes his 3rd foul. Paint yourself out of *this* shark tank, Stevens!
22:13 Howard stays in (as does Smith for some mid-major Olajuwon-Sampson action) and draws a +1 on the other end. Xavier leads 32-27 at 18:10 2H.
22:16 Howard (playing on 3-foul alert) is giving Butler much-needed paint presence, there's a putback for the 28th and 29th pts. But X marches on.
22:19 Howard successfully challenges Frease's shot, then Marshall gets called for an air-elbow. A 4th on Howard would really put Butler in a hole.
22:22 Butler 2-for-11 from the floor in the second half, 9/33 overall. And Crishawn Hopkins looks kinda like Stephen Curry, has that been noted?
22:23 The Cintas Center serves beer. #fact
22:25 X 37-31 12:28 2H. Blanket statement: anybody not in the regular starting lineup for Butler last year has been completely useless tonight.
22:26 "Hopkins looks like Stephen Curry if Stephen Curry had tattoos." - @billpotter_HL
22:26 Small standing ovation for Xavier women's team. They won tonight.
22:27 Confirmed sighting. RT @brendanloy: I just spotted @ballybasketball and @midmajority, I think. #orangepixels http://twitpic.com/3eibei
22:32 Think it's back in my rental car. Don't think I can run out & get it in time :( RT @ButlerBB @midmajority can you find our offense as well?
22:33 Elsewise: Temple up by four over Georgetown in the second half. That could end better than this.
22:34 Howard is turning himself inside out to keep Butler in this game. Drew a charge on Frease, throwing picks all over, took a slap in the eye.
22:37 Quick note: the Precision Time system is being used by the officials in this game. #1BS
22:39 Eight minutes left, 41-37 X. Last year at this point, X was up by five and Butler got back in it with free throws.
22:42 Howard gets a breather, Smith takes the middle. X's offense is struggling too, taking a LOT of badly chosen shots. 41-37 7:05 2H.
22:42 This is like one of those horrible UFC undercard matches where both fighters just jump up and down and menace each other menacingly.
22:43 RT @bubbaprog: Come out upon my seas/Cursed missed opportunities/Am I part of the cure/Or am I part of the disease? http://30fram.es/i3 @midmajority
22:44 Werd. Giant sky-rebound just now. 5:55, 41-39 X. RT @sarah_black: Gawd with a W, Crishawn Hopkins jumps SO high. @midmajority
22:46 Mack misses a #superhoop that would have given BUTL the lead, then X answers. Then Nored takes his 4th, Tu Holloway 2/2 FT. 45-39 5:12 2H.
22:51 Howard with 2 FT's, and his second #superhoop of the night soon thereafter! 45-44 Xavier at 3:20 2H.
22:53 Temple a couple minutes from an RLU vs. Georgetown, if you want to get your #pixelvision on.
22:55 Butler Formula Watch: FG - BUTL 29%; REB - X +13; TO - BUTL -1. Xavier leads 47-44 at 2:29 2H.
22:57 Andrew Smith a little #sofhoop, and Vanzant took a fall that he's still straightening himself out from. Two minutes left, and it's 47-46 X.
22:59 Holloway draws Smith's 4th, plus one, to the delight of the drunk fans behind us. And it's 49-46 at 1:30 2H.
23:00 And Nored -> Smith for a layup + 1, and we're TIED at 49, one minute left.
23:01 Smith with the high rebound, and here comes Butler with the chance for the lead! And Brad Stevens takes a timeout! Thrills!
23:01 [RLU ALERT] Temple 68, Georgetown 65 | http://tmm7.me/65y @RedLineUpsets
23:02 It's a one-game sample, friend. A little different. RT @bkervick: @midmajority Rebound margin?!?! Best hope Gasaway misses that.
23:03 Nored draws a foul on a missed layup. Drunk fans scream. Stevens works the refs. Bedlam in Cincinnati.
23:05 Nored misses both. Rebound tipped around, goes to Xavier. Holloway gets the ball across the timeline, calls TO. 49-49, :21 2H. Here we go.
23:07 On the inbound, Nored took his fifth. A few heads in hands, but now it's time to plan. :03.4 left. Lyons 2 FT. Make, make.
23:08 As we take time out, congratulations to Temple for the big RLU against Georgetown.
23:10 Mack misses the three, and it's a final. Xavier 51, Butler 49.
23:12 Chat tomorrow at 4. GNHN.
23:15 RT @midmajority360: Butler 49 Xavier 51 | http://tmm7.me/65z

Boxscore


at XAVIER 51, BUTLER 49
12/09/2010

BUTLER 4-4 (1-0) -- R. Nored 2-4 2-4 6; S. Mack 3-13 8-8 15; M. Howard 5-10 5-5 17; S. Vanzant 0-2 0-0 0; K. Marshall 2-5 0-0 4; A. Smith 3-3 1-1 7; Z. Hahn 0-4 0-0 0; C. Hopkins 0-0 0-0 0; E. Fromm 0-3 0-0 0; C. Stigall 0-2 0-0 0; G. Butcher 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-48 16-18 49.
XAVIER 6-2 (0-0) -- T. Holloway 2-11 5-7 10; M. Lyons 1-10 7-9 9; D. Jackson 3-11 0-0 7; J. McLean 2-5 3-3 7; K. Frease 6-10 0-0 12; A. Taylor 1-3 0-0 2; J. Robinson 1-2 0-0 2; J. Canty 1-1 0-0 2; K. Feeney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-53 15-19 51.

Three-point goals: BUTL 3-18 (Z. Hahn 0-3; M. Howard 2-2; S. Vanzant 0-1; G. Butcher 0-1; S. Mack 1-6; C. Stigall 0-2; E. Fromm 0-3), XU 2-18 (D. Jackson 1-7; T. Holloway 1-6; M. Lyons 0-5); Rebounds: BUTL 29 (M. Howard 6), XU 39 (K. Frease 10); Assists: BUTL 9 (R. Nored 5), XU 9 (T. Holloway 5); Total Fouls -- BUTL 18, XU 15; Fouled Out: BUTL-R. Nored; XU-None.