The Unexpected come through as Butler defeats Indiana

The Butler Bulldogs defeated the Indiana Hoosiers in overtime at Bankers Life Fieldhouse by a score of 88-86 on a game winning floater by the defensive specialist Alex Barlow.  Butler will be ranked in the Top 25 following this result, and this is a huge win for a team that is still trying to prove they can win without Hayward/Howard/Mack.

Where did that com from? 
Alex Barlow and Chase Stigall came into this game scoring a combined 3.5 PPG.  However, the two scored 7 of Butler's last 10 points, hitting clutch shot after clutch shot.  First it was a driving layup by Barlow to tie the game at 80.  Then it was a three from the top of the key by Stigall to give Butler and 86-84 lead.  And finally, Barlow got an extremely benevolent bounce on a floater against Jordan Hulls to give Butler the lead for good.

Clarke prevails despite Oladipo's defense
Victor Oladipo was fantastic on defense keeping Rotnei Clarke in front of him, but Rotnei still managed to score 19 points, including a key three pointer in the overtime when Butler was down four.  He hit many clutch threes and contributed greatly to this victory as he has done all season.

Woods and Aldridge in the "Dawghouse"
These two players played a combined six minutes in the game today, mainly because of the improvement of Erik Fromm, who took minutes from Kameron Woods, and Alex Barlow, who took minutes from Aldridge. I wouldn't say that Woods and Aldridge will sit on the bench all season, but it does seem as though Brad Stevens has trimmed his rotation from 10 down to 8.

Smith holds his own against Zeller
While Zeller outscored Smith 18-12, Smith out rebounded Zeller 9-5.  While Smith was plagued with foul trouble, he was definitely able to hold Zeller in check while he was in there.  This should be a confidence booster for Andrew Smith that he was able to compete against the second best center in college basketball.  (I believe Mason Plumlee is #1)

Butler will be off until next Saturday when they host Colt Ryan and the Evansville Aces at Hinkle Fieldhouse.