Irene Stevens, dean of student life, said she never thought she would have ended up working in student affairs on a college campus.

Now, after 15 years of work at Butler University, Stevens is reflecting on her time before she retires at the end of the academic year.

Stevens originally went to Boise State University to teach and coach basketball, softball, and volleyball for junior high and high school students.

“I just fell into student affairs,” Stevens said. “I love it.  It’s a great career.  I had no idea that people did this for a living.  It never occurred to me.”

Stevens taught and coached for two years in a small district in Star, Idaho, her hometown of about 700 people.

She decided she didn’t like the pressure of coaching and went to get her master’s in counseling with the intent of being a high school guidance counselor.

Stevens worked as a hall director while getting her master’s degree in Idaho.

Afterward, she went to Ohio University, and then finished her doctoral degree while working at the University of Florida for 10 years.

When Stevens heard of a job opening at Butler University, she became interested in the small school located so close to downtown Indianapolis.

Coming from Florida, which had 35,000 students, Stevens said she was ready for a smaller environment.

“There’s something special about Butler,” Stevens said. “I’ve been lucky enough to work on four different campuses.  I’ve enjoyed every campus I’ve worked on, but Butler is just a wonderful environment.”

Throughout her time here, Stevens supervised the residence life department,  PuLSE Office, Greek life and spirit programs.

She also acted as the primary hearing officer for conduct-related issues.

“I hate suspending students,” Stevens said.  “I have to do it sometimes.  It’s a difficult decision for me, but sometimes it’s what they need to get themselves back on track.  I do have their best interest in mind.”

Stevens said she will miss her co-workers in student affairs.

“My colleagues are fabulous,” Stevens said.  “They are people who have lots of fun, care about what they do and care about the students.  They’re wonderful people who live life to the fullest.”

Becky Druetzler, director of Greek life, has directly reported to Stevens the entire time she has worked here.

Druetzler said Stevens helped facilitate the environment for fraternities Delta Tau Delta, Sigma Nu and Phi Delta Theta to reorganize and reestablish Butler chapters during her time here.

She did the same for sorority Delta Delta Delta.

“She is extremely student-focused and really an advocate for the students,” Druetzler said. “She’s truly been a friend to students, particularly for those who maybe were underrepresented on campus.”

Stevens has a passion for diversity and community service.

“It’s important to try to help others,” Stevens said. “For those of us who are blessed to be able to help others, I think we have some responsibility to do that.”

She helped to start a sophomore committee that helps sophomores with their developmental needs, as well as well as a first-generation college students committee, which offers support to students who are the first in their family to come to college.

Stevens said this is relevant to Butler, as 9 to 10 percent of students are first-generation students.

Along with these organizations, Stevens also worked closely with the Butler Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender organization.

When she first got to Butler, the association was off campus. She worked with students to get the group a space on campus and to strengthen it.

“I hoped that I could bring to the campus a sense of openness to diversity and a sense of respect to help people see the importance of respecting community,” Stevens said.   “That way I could help people develop into the best person that they could be.”

Sally Click, dean of student services, worked with Stevens for five years and said Stevens’ absence will be felt for a long time.

“It creates a hole,” Click said. “We’ll be able to fill the hole, but she really has a lot of threads to the fabric of this place.”

Click said Stevens was invaluable to her and her transition to working at Butler.

“She’s been my rock,” Click said. “When I have a question or need some perspective about something, she’s there. She listens and gives great advice.”

Stevens said she is looking forward to what the future holds for her.

“It will be hard to leave,” she said. “I’m anxious and excited for this next phase, but it’s going to be difficult.”

Click said student affairs will be looking to fill the position for next year.

Depending on how busy the rest of the semester becomes, Click said the search may start before the semester ends or in the summer.

After Stevens retires, she plans on traveling and living life to the fullest, although she is anxious about leaving the Butler community.

“I’m a big believer in change,” Stevens said.  “I think change is important.  If you get into a rut with your life, you’re not really living life.  It’s important that we all make the most of our life and live every day to not regret what we didn’t do in life.”

Stevens will start her traveling with a motorcycle ride to a different state, which she does every year.

She also wants to travel to Africa and Asia.

“My goal is to visit all seven continents,” Stevens said. “I believe that there is a time for everything, and, for me, you do things while you still want to do them.”

With Butler University’s intention to join the new Big East official, people both inside and outside the Butler community have begun speculating how it will affect the men’s basketball team.

Less immediate attention has been placed on how the change could affect Butler’s 17 other athletic teams.

Based on recent history, those teams could experience varying levels of success in their first Big East seasons.

Butler’s athletic programs stepped up to the plate, and many had or are still having successful seasons in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Butler men’s soccer coach Paul Snape had his team in the hunt for an A-10 tournament berth on the final day of the season.

Snape said Butler’s time in the A-10 helped his team prepare for “elite” competition in the new Big East.

“The boys have to make sure they’re ready to go,” Snape said. “Nothing less than 100 percent is going to win us a game.

“If you lack focus or make a mistake, (Big East teams) punish you because they’re just quicker, stronger and faster than what you’ve played against before.”

Snape’s squad will have to face the national runner-up team from Georgetown and national semifinalist Creighton on a regular basis next season. St. John’s men’s soccer team was the national runner-up in 2003 as well.

“Long term, I think (the move) is fantastic,” Snape said. “But in the short term, we’ve got a few challenges we’ve got to deal with, and (we have to) make sure we’re fully prepared for playing in one of the elite conferences in the country.”

In women’s soccer, the new Big East will harbor the top two seeds from the most recent Big East conference tournament.

Butler’s men’s and women’s cross country teams have been national players in recent years. The women’s team made the NCAA final meet in 2012 by placing fourth in its regional meet.

Matt Roe, coach for both of Butler’s cross country teams, said his teams always aim to be competitive on a national level, but winning a conference championship will be harder for his teams than ever before.

“If you know anything about the Big East on the track and in cross country, you know it’s arguably the toughest conference in the country,” Roe said. “Obviously, the bar is even higher than it had been in the Atlantic 10 and the Horizon League.”

Women’s cross country in the new Big East will be especially competitive.

Villanova University took home the women’s national title in 2009, and Georgetown’s squad took the title the following two seasons. Providence College fielded the national runner-up in 2012.

“Ultimately, our goal is to compete against these teams, as it has been for a long time,” Roe said.

The Butler volleyball team reeled off five consecutive wins to close its only A-10 season and earn the No. 6 seed in the A-10 tournament.

But coach Sharon Clark said the team’s inclusion in the Big East is a big competitive step from both the Horizon League and the A-10.

“We’ve got several programs throughout that are all going to be in the same conference that are top 100 programs (in the nation),” Clark said. “I think the Big East presents an opportunity for us to showcase our university and athletic program on a much higher level.”

Clark’s team will compete against a Marquette squad that went 27-7 last season and a Creighton team that went 26-3 and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Both of Butler’s track and field teams will experience tough competition from Villanova, Georgetown and Providence.

Butler will compete against five other teams in women’s swimming. Creighton, Marquette, St. John’s and DePaul do not have women’s swim programs.

Creighton, St. John’s and Villanova sent their women’s basketball teams to the ongoing NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament.

As for spring sports, DePaul offers relatively strong men’s and women’s tennis teams. St. John’s had the highest-seeded men’s team of the Catholic 7 in the 2012 conference tournament schools, while DePaul had the strongest-seeded women’s squad of the new Big East group.

Butler’s men’s golf team will have good competition in the form of teams from Villanova, St. John’s and Georgetown.

There are only six women’s golf teams in the new Big East, including Butler’s team. Seton Hall’s team was the best of those from all the new Big East schools in the 2012 conference tournament.

Butler’s baseball and softball teams started their A-10 seasons a combined 5-0. The softball team will face decent competition in the Big East while the baseball team will have to deal with last season’s Big East conference champ St. John’s and an NCAA tournament team in Creighton.

In the A-10, Butler’s teams travelled to new locations for in-conference games. Snape said getting his team familiar with more new environments offered by the Big East will be a key to success.

“What will change is making sure the boys understand the strengths and weaknesses of each conference and making sure they understand the environments,” Snape said.

“Our focus in these next four, five months is to gain as much information about the cities, about the colleges, about the facilities so we can educate our players on what to expect.”

Snape said his team’s schedule and when the Bulldogs will be on the road is another concern.

“We’re going to play up in the Northeast in October and early November, (which is) certainly different than if you played there at the end of September because of the weather,” Snape said.

From a recruiting perspective, Snape, Roe and Clark all said the Big East move should benefit their teams.

Clark said she is glad Butler is playing in Chicago and Milwaukee again, as many of her team’s players have come from the Chicagoland area.

Roe said the move can be beneficial to Butler’s cross country and track and field teams outside the U.S.

“Georgetown, Providence and Villanova are national brands in our sport,” Roe said, “and to be aligned with them is going to help us on a national and international recruiting page.”

Snape said he hopes Butler’s move to the Big East can help it’s men’s soccer team recruit players who might otherwise consider more well-known conferences.

“We can actually go further (while recruiting) and maybe hit the East Coast,” Snape said. “If we can (also) have a prominent image in (Chicago), maybe we can compete for players with the Big Ten. Maybe they’ll look and say, ‘Hey, I can go get a soccer experience playing at Butler in that Big East.’”

Clark said many people may not realize how difficult it is for fall sports to turn around and prepare for a new conference in such a short period of time.

“It’s almost April right now, so in four or five months we’re going to be doing a completely different thing than we just did for eight months, which for me is different than the last 13 years,” Clark said.

Clark said she is also concerned about the level of funding her team has in comparison to some of the other teams the Bulldogs will be facing.

However, she said her student-athletes are “resilient” and will “rise to the occasion” when preparing for another new conference.

“Any coach, any player that’s truly a competitor wants to compete against the best all the time,” Clark said. “I’m very excited for where we’re headed.”

Traveling with the team to every Butler men’s basketball game are two men who do not play for the team but are just as important to the team and Butler’s fans.

Calling the Butler men’s basketball games for the last three seasons are Brandon Gaudin, Butler’s play-by-play voice, and Nick Gardner, Butler’s color analyst, on Indianapolis’s ESPN 1070 The Fan.

Gaudin is an alumnus of Butler. While Gaudin attended Butler he doubled majored in political science and communications. He also doubled minored sports broadcasting and business.

Before attending Butler Gaudin knew what he wanted to do since he was young.

“I realized that I probably would not be good enough to play baseball professionally,” Gaudin said. “So I started to listen to the announcers and realized that maybe announcing would be an opportunity to always be around the game of baseball.”

In high school Gaudin began his broadcasting career. “I talked one of my teachers in to allowing me to be on a small radio station in Evansville doing the play-by-play for high school baseball,” Gaudin said.

“It catapulted my love for play-by-play and kept me in the field of broadcasting from then until now.”

During his time at Butler Gaudin balanced his time with classes, broadcasting experience and internships. Gaudin interned for the Texas Rangers’ radio network. He also interned for ESPN in New York City.

“My motto was to get good grades,” Gaudin said. “But beyond grades I would see what I could put on my resume besides my GPA and that was by getting experience not only on campus but through internships and networking.”

As a student he was named “Most Outstanding Communications Student” and he was one of the top ten male students in his 2006 graduating class.

Gardner is also an alum of Butler. He graduated in 2004 with a degree in integrated communications specializing in public relations and advertising.

Gardner also played basketball at Butler. He played during high school and was looking to continue through college. Gardner was an all-conference and all-county athlete at North Central High School in Indianapolis.

“I was not highly recruited coming out of high school,” Gardner said.

Gardner said he had some opportunities to play at the NCAA division three level but wanted to continue playing basketball at the highest level possible.

“It was it either I’m not going to play or I was going to try to play for a scholarship,” Gardner said.

Gardner came to Butler as a walk-on the men’s basketball team as a forward during the 2000-2001 basketball season. In his senior year he earned a full scholarship.

Gardner’s and Gaudin’s paths to broadcasting live on the radio for Butler were different.

Gardner did not go straight into the broadcasting industry. After graduation Gardner went to work for his family’s bakery supply company.

Two years later, Gardner was offered to work on the radio broadcast team for Butler basketball.

Butler was looking for a new radio team for basketball after Chris Denari, former play-by-play voice for 17 years, took the job as the play-by-play voice for the Indiana Pacers on Fox Sports Indiana.

Butler hired Joe Gentry, director of corporate sponsorships and manager of radio and television, to do the play-by-play and Gardner as the color analyst.

“It just fell onto my lap,” Gardner said. “I think it was former Butler head coach Todd Lickliter who recommended me to the radio broadcast. I think he might have thought I would be good at it because I never really had any broadcasting experience and they called to offer me the job.”

“We were looking for somebody with basketball knowledge and someone who knew our system,” Gentry said. “To have a former player like Nick was the best of all possible scenarios.”

Gardner is in his seventh season as color analyst for Butler basketball.

Unlike Gardner, Gaudin immediately began in the broadcast industry after graduation.

Gaudin took a job doing play-by-play for the Salt Lake City Bees, the minor league affiliate for the Los Angeles Angels. While doing play-by-play Gaudin was also a talent producer for ESPN.

After working on radio broadcast for the Salt Lake City Bees and at ESPN, Gaudin teamed up with Erik Sorenson, former president of MSNBC, and Robert Grossman, former senior producer for Larry King Live, in 2007 to form MediaOne Management Group in New York City.

Two years later Gaudin returned to radio broadcast at the University of Evansville. Gaudin took over as the main play-by-play voice for University of Evansville athletics.

“My role at Evansville was much different than my role at Butler,” Gaudin said. “At Evansville I had to wear all hats. I taught students broadcasting and called baseball, basketball and soccer.”

During Butler’s first run to the national championship in 2010 Gaudin said he heard there was going to be a job opportunity for Butler’s play-by-play voice.

“When I heard the job was open I jumped all over it, Gaudin said. “I called right away and started interviewing. A couple months later the job, fortunately, became mine.”

“Gaudin was the best candidate we had in the field,” Gentry said. “He had the whole package we were looking for and he was our first choice.”

Gaudin is now in his third season as the play-by-play voice for Butler basketball.

For the three seasons Gaudin and Gardner have been broadcasting together, Butler fans have been able to enjoy a thorough broadcast of Butler basketball games.

“We have had, historically, good announcers in the field,” Gentry said.

“Gaudin does such a great job with the broadcast,” said Mark Minner, studio host for 1070 The Fan during Butler basketball games.

“He carries himself very professionally. He manages the game exactly the way you would want to as a play-by-play man. You really couldn’t find a better model in terms of college basketball play-by-play.”

Gaudin and Gardner arrive at each game prepared to broadcast live. Both said they spend hours studying footage of Butler and the opponent.

Before the Butler game against Marquette University Gaudin said he watched Marquette’s previous game to get to know the opponent’s players.

“One of the biggest parts of play-by-play is memorizing the other team’s player and what they look like,” Gaudin said. “I’ll make a spreadsheet with everyone’s name and statistics.”

It is also not all about studying film. Gaudin and Gardner attend some of Butler’s practices during the week and Butler’s shoot around before each game to get a better understanding of the team’s play.

“I really like to have a good idea what Butler is going to do to attack their opponent,” Gardner said. “It is my job as the analyst to try and help everybody understand what is going on the floor.”

During the broadcast Gaudin and Gardner have great chemistry with each other.

“It is important for me to be quick with what I have to say,” Gardner said, “so Brandon can get back on the microphone and explain to people what is going on.”

“Most analysts a lot of times add fluff,” Gaudin said. “Nick brings true color to the broadcast.”

Gaudin and Gardner said their chemistry makes the broadcast easy to do.

“Nick is very easy to work with,” Gaudin said. “I think Nick ranks right up there with one of the best analysts on radio that I have heard. He sure takes a lot of pressure off my shoulders.”

“He makes it real easy on me,” Gardner said. “He’s a fantastic play-by-play guy. I think he does a great job of describing not only the action but the atmosphere with which the game is surrounded.”

Each game called by Gaudin and Gardner is lively and exciting to listen because both are fans of the sport and Butler basketball.

“They have a passion for the game,” Minner said. “If you listen to a game called by Nick and Brandon it is hard not to get excited.”

“There are different kinds of broadcasters,” Gaudin said. “You either are a neutral broadcaster and you can be excited for both teams. When you are the voice for a specific team, it’s okay to be a little bit more excited for that team.

“My excitement certainly comes through. When Butler makes big runs you can tell through my voice. In close moments it’s key to maintain your composure to still be able to relay to the listeners what the heck is going on.”

“Gardner bleeds Butler blue,” Minner said.

“I’m still a fan first and foremost,” Gardner said. “To get to know the team on a personal level makes calling the game much more exiting. Just trying to give fans a small window into the team is the most fulfilling part of broadcasting.”

Though Gaudin and Gardner are fans of Butler basketball they still conduct a non-bias broadcast.

“Obviously they are working for Butler,” Minner said. “At the same point and time they are able to do it in a very neutral way. They call the game as it should be.”

Outside of radio broadcasting Gaudin and Gardner have other work.

This was the first season Gardner worked on television broadcasts for Butler basketball on WNDY-TV. Gardner was the color analyst alongside Anthony Calhoun, play-by-play voice and sports director at WISH-TV.

When the Butler basketball season is done, Gaudin works on sports broadcasting for the NCAA on Tuner Sports. Gaudin does the play-by-play for NCAA division one championships for baseball and golf.

Indy Connect hosted a public information session on March 18 regarding plans for mass transit in central Indiana.

This meeting highlighted the Red Line that will either include a bus or light-rail route running north from Greenwood through downtown Indianapolis and ending in Carmel.

This line is the closest route to Butler University and would allow students to access said locations without a car.

Ehren Bingaman, Indiana transit advocate, spoke at the meeting and said the Indy Connect team has conducted about 250 meetings and collected more than 10,000 comments regarding mass transit in central Indiana.

He also said the most recent transit plan was adopted in December 2010.

“I want to make sure we understand this is a work in progress,” Bingaman said. “It is obviously not in place yet.”

Bingaman also said in his presentation that the plan would take place over 10 years and cost about $1.3 billion, which would be funded by a 0.3 percent tax increase.

The cost would cover $950 million in construction and $350 million in new vehicles.

The new vehicles would be either hybrid buses or light rail, and they would be equipped with Wi-Fi, bike racks and benches.

This session was held to poll the public on two alternative Red Line routes, one running north from downtown on College Avenue, and the other taking College to 62nd Street before continuing north on Keystone Avenue.

Butler prefers the latter route because it is the closest route to campus for student use.

For this reason, the Student Government Association funded a bus to take up to 50 students to the event to support the line that would run closest to Butler.

SGA also offered the incentive of $5 Starbucks gift cards to anyone who attended.

Only two people went to the meeting with the SGA bus—an SGA representative and executive director of facilities, Rich Michal.

With Butler having low representative numbers, the audience with a 60 to 40 percent vote favored the north route that runs further from Butler.

“We were hoping for more students to come,” Michal said. “Hopefully next time.”

Freshman Zach Gorge said he grew up right outside Broad Ripple, so he has seen the need for mass transit. However, he said he wouldn’t use the system often since he owns a car.

“There has always been a need from Fishers to downtown Indianapolis, but the cost of the infrastructure would be a lot on taxes,” Gorge said. “I will be fine with my car.”

Freshman Stephanie Hanagan said without a car, she would use mass transit to reach Indianapolis.

“I would use (mass transit) to access downtown more than I would go north,” Hanagan said. “The city is hard to get to without a car.”

The Indy Connect team will use the poll results from the session to make plans moving forward.

Another meeting was hosted last night at Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis, focusing on the opinions of college students.

With these meetings and research, the team looks to evaluate three main aspects of the transit system: routes, vehicles and the stations.

No move will be made until the Indiana Senate votes whether to approve the legislation for the transit.

If the legislation passes, individual counties will have the opportunity to vote. Marion and Hamilton counties plan on voting in early 2014.

The Indy Connect team will review the data it has collected and have a new plan out by next fall.

Some Butler University students spent Spring Break in Haiti strengthening their relationship with its people.

Nine Butler students, part of Butler’s Help Heal Haiti chapter,  spent their week with orphans, at a disability center and in clinics and schools in Haiti.

The group spent time in Saint-Louis-du-Nord and the village of Beauchamp.

In Beauchamp, rain is scarce, and water is limited. Besides building a stronger relationship with the people, the group’s focus was on the water situation.

Junior Amanda Rasch said the group walked two hours to a well with some of Beauchamp’s children. One of the pumps was broken, making the walk four miles rather than two.

“It’s just amazing to see how blessed we are, and it really opens up our minds,” Rasch said.

The fundraising the group has done on campus has gone toward purchasing materials to repair the well.

“It was pretty cool because when we got there, the people were so happy,” Rasch said. “They thanked us, and they were singing and dancing and so happy.”

Rasch’s favorite part of the week was making strong relationships with kids and connecting with the people.

Sophomore Lauren Anderson said her favorite day was going into Beauchamp with a translator and hearing people’s life stories.

“They were just so open about their daily struggles and their life stories, which was just an amazing opportunity,” Anderson said.

Anderson said another favorite part of her week was the program “Meals on Heels,” which supplied buckets of food to people.

“It was so eye opening to see how people rely on each other because they really do not have anything else, any material resources or material belongings,”Anderson said. “Their entire society and their entire lives are just built around the relationships that they make with each other.”

Sophomore Andrea Baker said she made a special connection with an orphan named Roseguelin.

“She stayed attached to me the entire trip at all times, no matter how many kids were around,” Baker said. “She would even just be holding onto my pinky if it was stretched across. She just had to be connected to me at all times.”

Even though the two had a language barrier, they were inseparable throughout the week and shared a heartfelt goodbye.

“The night I knew I had to say goodbye, I knew I was going to be emotional,” Baker said. “I didn’t want her to see me cry, and I knelt down to just give her a hug because, again, we couldn’t even communicate.

“When I knelt down and she knew I was telling her goodbye, she just bawled, and, I mean, I lost it because it was so hard, because she was an orphan, so she doesn’t have a family. And I knew that that was a common thing in her life. People would come, but they would leave.”

The group was started by junior Aaron Harrison, who wanted to build relationships with Beauchamp’s people.

In the future, the group hopes to keep investing in the relationship with the people of Haiti and hopes to keep making the trip every Spring Break.

Marquette junior guard Vander Blue scored a career-high 29 points as the No. 3 seed Golden Eagles squeaked out a 74-72 win over No. 6 seed Butler in the third round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Butler had a chance to tie or win the game with 2.9 seconds remaining, but senior center Andrew Smith could do nothing with an inbound pass and threw up a shot that barely hit the backboard as time expired.

Blue scored 19 of his 29 points in the second half to pace Marquette. Blue scored a previous career-high 21 points against Butler in the Maui Invitational contest between the squads.

“Not many guys have gotten 50 against Butler in two games,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “You know, he made big shots. Just a hard guy to stop.”

It was a disappointing end to Butler’s return to the NCAA tournament after playing in the College Basketball Invitational last season.

“It’s hard to (put a positive spin on the season) because the last game is a loss,” senior guard Rotnei Clarke said through tears. “Just make the most of it and try to stay positive.”

Clarke had a strong first 20 minutes against Marquette, tallying 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting. The Golden Eagles’ defense held the one-season Butler player to just six points in the second half, including a scoreless stretch through the last 15 minutes.

“We were trying to pressure him too much,” said senior guard Junior Cadougan. “In the second half, me and (sophomore guard Derrick) Wilson did a great job of contesting his shots and trying to wear him out.”

The first half saw back and forth action early on, before Butler was able to open a slightly larger advantage by the end of the half.

The Bulldogs were paced by seven 3-point baskets spread out amongst five players. Butler held Marquette to 25.9 percent shooting from the field and took a 35-27 lead into the locker room.

Marquette coach Buzz Williams said his team needed to go “all in” on shutting down Clarke in the second half.

“(You) see if those other guys can beat you,” Williams said. “If we could turn it into a fight and make it ugly, it probably trends toward us.”

Cadougan said he was the recipient of a verbal lashing from Williams at halftime. However, he said it helped the team down the stretch.

“Coach chewed me out in the locker room in front of the team because he knows I’ve been here,” Cadougan said. “I’ve been through it, and he knows that once he chews me out, I accept and build off that.”

The Golden Eagles slowly mounted a comeback over the course of the second half’s first 10 minutes. With seven and a half minutes remaining, a Blue layup tied the game at 58 and finally erased Butler’s advantage.

From there, the small factions of Butler and Marquette fans—sprinkled with Louisville fans from the previous game—saw the two squads trade baskets back and forth through the remainder of the contest.

Neither team would lead by more than four points the rest of the way.

One critical moment came with 3:31 remaining, when sophomore forward Roosevelt Jones had a layup waved off after another Butler player was ruled to have touched the rim.

Jones was also fouled and made one of two free throws to cut Marquette’s advantage to 64-63.

Down 66-65 with 2:56 remaining, Butler would score the next four points off a basket by sophomore forward Kameron Woods and two free throws by Smith.

Blue followed with perhaps his biggest shot of the game, draining a 3-point basket with 1:29 remaining to tie the game at 69 and send the Marquette section of the crowd into a frenzy.

“I got in the groove early in the second half,” Blue said. “I rose up and shot with no conscience because I knew we needed that.”

Marquette would score the next three points off free throws and held a 72-69 advantage with 22 seconds left.

Jones was fouled on the ensuing possession and hit one of two free throws to bring the score to 72-70.

Still down two on the next possession, Clarke took a 3-point shot and missed the rim.

It appeared the Golden Eagles had sealed the deal when junior forward Davante Gardner was fouled by Clarke and hit a pair of free throws, pushing Marquette to a 74-70 lead.

But senior center Emerson Kampen threw a home-run pass directly to Smith, who was rewarded with two points on a goaltending call. Marquette then threw away an inbound pass to give Butler one final chance, down 74-72 with 2.9 seconds left.

“I was pretty upset at myself,” Blue said of the failed inbound pass. “I think our team did a great job of executing at the end and making sure we got that stop.”

Stevens said the defensive formation Williams had the Golden Eagles in on the final possession may have confused the Bulldogs.

“A lot of times, they went zone-two man, and we had a couple of looks,” Stevens said. “The way that they aligned, they switched all their matchups so they put Gardner on Roosevelt and matched everybody else accordingly, and I think our guys mistook that for zone.”

Clarke finished with a team-high 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Smith was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 17 points, adding eight rebounds.

Senior guard Trent Lockett and junior forward Jamil Wilson both tallied 13 to support Blue’s 29.

It was the final game in a Butler uniform for Smith, Clarke, Kampen and senior guard Chase Stigall. All four saw action in the contest.

“Feeling pretty sick right now,” Woods said on Twitter after the game. “Our seniors deserved so much more from (the underclassmen).”

Marquette moves on to face the winner of today’s game between Miami and Illinois.

Williams—who said his wife is currently in a Lexington hospital—praised Stevens and the Bulldogs at the outset of the press conference. He added extra compliments for Clarke, whom he said is “like Pistol Pete” with the ball.

“When the ball is in his hands and he has crossed half court, he legitimately has a chance to make it no matter where he picks up the ball,” Williams said.

Butler finished the season with an overall record of 27-9, including an 11-5 mark in its only season in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The team will move, with most of Butler’s athletic teams, to the new Big East before the next academic year.

Quick Stats

Butler

G Rotnei Clarke: 24 points, 3 assists, 8-of-17 shooting (5-of-12 3-point shooting)

C Andrew Smith: 17 points, 8 rebounds (game-high), 2 steals

F Roosevelt Jones: 8 points, 3 assists, 5 turnovers

F Erik Fromm: 6 points, 2 blocks

FG shooting: 42.9 percent (24-of-56)

3-pt shooting: 45.8 percent (11-of-24)

FT shooting: 68.4 percent (13-of-19)

Rebounds: 33

Turnovers: 15

Steals: 7

Blocks: 8

Marquette

G Vander Blue: 29 points (career-high), 4 steals, 9-of-15 shooting (8-of-8 free throws)

G Trent Lockett: 13 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks

F Jamil Wilson: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals

G Junior Cadougan: 9 points, 2 assists

FG shooting: 42.6 percent (23-of-54)

3-pt shooting: 41.7 percent (5-of-12)

FT shooting: 85.2 percent (23-of-27)

Rebounds: 35

Turnovers: 15

Steals: 9

Blocks: 4

No matter how well a college men’s basketball team may play during its regular season, should it make the NCAA Division I Tournament, it will ultimately fall into one of two categories.

The ‘teams that showed up’ category, or the ‘teams that folded like a card table’ category.

In its last few tournament appearances, Butler has often placed itself in the former group. Whether it is by statistical dominance, sheer luck or a mix of both, Butler coach Brad Stevens knows how to field a tough team to oust from the tournament.

And Stevens’ players know how to show up during the Big Dance.

Of course, there’s always some luck involved when any team experiences a deep tournament run.

But in Butler’s case, the statistics offer an intriguing look into why Butler’s recent teams have seen NCAA tournament success.

Let’s take a look back to the 2009-10 season, during which Butler put itself on the map with a run to the National Championship Game.

The Bulldogs averaged a little more than 70 points per game on nearly 46 percent shooting during the regular season. They turned the ball over less than and outrebounded their opponents through the campaign.

When that team got to the tournament—as some pundits may have predicted—it just wasn’t as statistically strong.

Butler was playing against consistently tougher competition than it saw in the Horizon League. The Bulldogs’ tournament competitors shot better against Butler than Butler’s regular-season opponents did.

On the other side of the ball, Butler scored nearly 10 points less per game during the tournament than they did in the regular season. Every key offensive statistic went the wrong way, numerically, for Butler during the tournament.

And yet, the Bulldogs won five tournament games and lost their sixth, the National Championship contest against Duke, by two points.

Flash forward to the 2010-11 season. The team wasn’t exactly the same, but the script was, statistically.

Butler’s shooting from the field dropped from 44.6 percent shots made in the regular season to 37.3 percent made in the tournament. Points per game fell by nearly nine.

The Bulldogs’ opponents rebounded better in the tournament than Butler’s regular-season foes. If you take out the offensively putrid National Championship game against Connecticut, the same could have been said for shots made against Butler.

But, again, Butler racked up five tournament victories before falling shy of a sixth.

This doesn’t make any sense, especially if you’re a statistical guru. Granted, Stevens is one himself and he isn’t complaining.

But through a single game in this season’s tournament, the script of Butler being statistically worse in the tournament versus the regular season is playing out once again.

And Butler is 1-0, preparing for a game against Marquette tonight.

There are a few reasons for Butler’s success in spite of everything the stats suggest.

The first actually lies in the statistics and is the only one I haven’t mentioned yet: opponents’ points per game.

While Butler’s tournament opponents seem to have little trouble shooting better than Butler’s regular season opponents, it has not translated to more points.

The 2009-10 season saw Butler allow 59.9 points per game during the regular season. The Bulldogs’ tourney opponents could barely muster 56, on average.

During the next campaign, Butler allowed 71.8 points per game in the regular season. That figure dropped to 61.3 during the tournament.

During the 2012-13 regular season, Butler allowed 63.8 points per contest. Bucknell managed just 56.

Despite allowing opponents to sink a higher percentage of shots during the tournament than they do in the regular season, the Bulldogs prohibit their tournament foes from scoring more total points.

Much of this likely has to do with Butler’s game tempo, which is typically relaxed and slow. It is harder for opponents to get off more shots when they just don’t have the ball very much.

Butler’s defense also forces opponents to make many passes and wind the shot clock down below 10 seconds as often as possible.

The cast has certainly changed for Butler since the 2009-10 season, but the system has not.

“We’re similar (to past Butler teams) in we focus on the defensive end,” senior center Andrew Smith said during the Bucknell postgame press conference. “We feel like, even if you’re having a bad night, you’re going to be able to play the game if you focus on defense. That’s the main similarity.”

While strong defense is clearly a reason why Butler can limit its tournament opponents’ point production, it is not as straightforward as that.

There are many college teams that play ‘strong defense’. But they don’t all play the same style of defense.

Stevens is known for switching up defensive views throughout contests so opponents are unable to focus on and try to overcome a single defensive outlook.

After the Bucknell victory, he talked about why he made the decision to put junior forward Khyle Marshall on Bucknell senior center Mike Muscala.

“They run a lot of action where we’re going to hedge a ball screen and Andrew is going to return to Khyle’s guy, and Khyle is going to return to Andrew’s guy,” Stevens said. “So it was almost like we pre-switched to guard the switch later on.”

Pre-switched to guard the switch? Not a phrase you hear very often in college basketball press conferences.

And that leads us to the final reason why Butler is continually able to defy the odds: Stevens as Butler’s coach.

Like I said above, the cast has certainly changed. It has to—players graduate, move on the NBA or other careers.

Stevens has resisted any possible temptations associated with jumping to a big conference school to build a system that senior guard Rotnei Clarke described as “tough.”

“I can’t explain it,” Clarke said. “It’s pretty complex. It’s something I’ve never seen before, the things that we do defensively, and it takes a little bit to understand.”

Stevens has installed a defensive system that works at the tournament level. And the most important part: he gets his players to invest in it wholeheartedly.

“Once (people) see us in person or on TV, they see how physical we are on defense,” sophomore forward Roosevelt Jones said. “Coach Stevens wants us to focus on defense, and so that’s what we do.”

Jones said he and his teammates knew they could come back when Bucknell jumped out to a 37-31 lead early in the second half.

“Coach Stevens said when we got back in the huddle that they were going to make a run, and we had to make our own run,” Jones said. “We knew we could come back if we stayed the course and played defense.”

Staying the course seems to be the true theme here. Statistics would not suggest that ‘the course’ leads to Butler victories in the tournament.

Luckily for the Butler community, Stevens and his players follow their own course.

Butler is looking to win. Marquette is looking for revenge.

Tomorrow’s third round match-up boasts a rematch of the two from the Maui Invitational back in November of this season.

Butler beat Marquette on a buzzer-beating, desperation heave from senior guard Rotnei Clarke.  And Marquette hasn’t forgot about it.

Marquette guard Vander Blue said that is the lasting memory of the Maui invitational for him and most of the team.

“That shot was amazing,” Marquette guard Junior Cadougan said. “It’s motivation, period.”

It hasn’t helped that ESPN created a commercial using the shot.

“I would say it’s fresh in their minds,” Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. “They’ve seen the commercial countless times on ESPN.”

But Butler has moved on.

“You know, there’s a lot of attention put on it during the tournament,” senior guard Rotnei Clarke said. “But since then, we’ve moved past it.

“It’s definitely not going to have any impact on the game tomorrow.”

The one thing the two teams can agree on is both teams have improved since November.

“They’ve obviously really improved in a lot of areas.” Clarke said. “They’ve had some guys like Wilson who has really stepped up their game since Maui and they’re really clicking on all cylinders right now.”

Marquette finished its season with a 23-8 record and its first-ever Big East Conference regular season championship.

Nearly half of the Golden Eagles’ games came against teams that were selected for the NCAA Tournament or NIT.  They were 6-7 against NCAA Tournament teams.

Marquette defeated Davidson 59-58 last night on a last-second shot in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The Golden Eagles had three players in double-figures, led by the last shot hero, Vander Blue with 16 points.

It was the same play, by the same guy that led Marquette to a last-second victory over St. John’s in its regular season finale.

Clarke described Marquette as “big, physical, fast and athletic.”

“They do a great job rebounding and get of lot of points in the paint too,” Clarke said.

Some of those words Marquette players would use to describe Butler as well.

Both teams hold a positive rebounding margin, with Butler on average out-rebounding opponents by 7.6 per game and Marquette 4.3.

And physicality has become a synonym for senior center Andrew Smith and his entourage down low.

“I remember that Smith was a real physical player,” center Chris Otule said. “All their bigs are really physical and we have to focus on trying to defend without fouling.”

Smith has played against some of the best centers in the country this season including Indiana’s Cody Zeller, Gonzaga’s Kelly Olynyk and Bucknell’s Mike Muscala.

Last night he, along with the other Butler big men held Muscala, who averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds this season, to only nine points, a career-tying low and 10 rebounds.

Not only has Marquette improved, but so have the Bulldogs as they traditionally have during the post season.

“Brad Stevens is not 12-4 in the NCAA Tournament because he coaches the same team in March that he coaches in November,” Williams said.

The game could be the start of a long, or short with as many conference changes happening, rivalry for these two teams. Both will be in the Big East next season.

But as always, Butler coach Brad Stevens is focused not on next year and not on “a shot that should have never gone in,” but on what he can control; the next play, the next game.

“There is a lot that goes into being able to move on to the next play,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “(We) manage the good, manage the bad and understand that as long as you have season left, you can always take advantage of what’s next.”

Game time is set for 7:45 p.m. at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. It will be shown on CBS and can also be watched online on March Madness live.

In March 2012, the Butler community was wondering if the school would move to the Atlantic 10 Conference and, if so, when it would occur.

Butler officials did not keep students, faculty, staff and other supporters waiting long when another opportunity to change athletic conferences came about this year.

Butler President James Danko announced Butler’s acceptance of an invitation to the new Big East via a pre-recorded video yesterday.

Butler will officially become a conference member July 1.

The clip was played before a small, but excited crowd of Butler community members mixed with Indianapolis media members.

“Today, a new chapter is written (in Butler history),” Danko said. “This unprecedented opportunity will match Butler with a group of schools that represent an ideal fit for our university, both academically and athletically.”

Viewers were then treated to a live look-in of the Big East’s press conference in New York City, where Danko and Barry Collier, Butler vice president of athletics, were present.

Danko was the first of 10 school presidents introduced by sports commentator Gus Johnson prior to the start of the press conference.

In addition to Danko and the presidents of the ‘Catholic 7’ schools from the current Big East, Xavier University and Creighton University’s presidents were also present at the conference, signaling the schools’ decision to join the new Big East as well.

Providence College President Father Brian Shanley said he and the other Catholic 7 presidents were thrilled to offer invitations to Butler, Xavier and Creighton.

“You have great academic traditions, you have great leadership in your athletic departments in your commitment to student-athletes, and you play some really good basketball,” Shanley said of the three invitees.

Xavier, like Butler, will be departing from the A-10. Creighton will be coming over from the Missouri Valley Conference.

Butler is the only university in the 10-school conference that is not recognized as a Catholic school. Shanley said the Big East was never intended to be an all-Catholic conference, joking that Butler was not invited to join because it would be the “token non-Catholic school.”

Butler is departing the A-10 after a single academic year in the conference. The university will remain part of the conference through the rest of the 2012-13 school year.

Media reports have suggested Butler could have to pay as much as $2 million to the A-10 as an exit fee.

Danko said in a conference call that Butler has submitted a letter stating its intentions to the A-10 and that the school will now enter into a legal settlement with A-10 officials to discuss an exit fee.

The idea of staying in the A-10 for another year before switching athletic conferences yet again was something Danko said he and other Butler officials definitely thought about before accepting the Big East’s invite.

“The downside of waiting another year is that you’re not sure the opportunity is going to be there in a year,” Danko said. “It was such a compelling opportunity for us. You consider it, and you weigh the costs and benefits.”

Danko did not say when Butler was first contacted about potentially joining the Big East. However, Creighton President Father Timothy Lannon said he was first contacted Feb. 27 and that Creighton was officially given an invite on March 13.

An enticing benefit for any school considering joining the new Big East was FOX Sports 1 offering the conference a large television deal.

Georgetown President Dr. John DeGioia said during the press conference that the proposed 12-year, $500 million deal had been accepted by the new Big East schools. Randy Freer, FOX Sports co-president and COO, said the deal extends beyond covering men’s basketball, adding that FOX Sports 1 looks forward to covering such sports as women’s basketball, lacrosse and baseball.

“Despite the many successes we have achieved in such a short amount of time, we still have a great deal of work to do in this coming year,” DeGioia said.

One thing conference members must decide on is a commissioner. DeGioia said the Big East will receive assistance from Russell Reynolds Associates, a senior executive search firm, in finding a new commissioner.

The Big East will also receive the services of Dan Beebe, former Ohio Valley Conference and Big 12 Conference commissioner. DeGioia said Beebe will work with athletic directors to help ensure all new Big East schools are prepared for fall athletic competition later this year.

DeGioia said that, while negotiations amongst member universities are ongoing, the Big East expects to continue sponsoring all of the sports it currently does. He said the Big East may have to recruit and accept associate members for some sports, such as rowing, lacrosse and field hockey.

Butler’s men’s lacrosse club team has proven fairly popular on campus in recent years despite being dropped as a school-sponsored sport in 2007.

The Big East will consist of 10 schools for the next academic year, but Shanley did not rule out the possibility of more schools being invited down the line.

“For now, we’re very happy at 10 and we’ll see what happens going forward,” Shanley said. “We’ve discussed actively a number of schools that are really strong potential partners for us. We also believe the landscape of college sports has not stopped morphing.”

Danko said observers have to remember that, while extra revenue will be coming in to the university as a result of the move, the university’s expenses will also grow.

As reported in “After one season in the Atlantic 10, is Butler packing up and moving on?” in The Collegian’s March 6 issue, Butler’s 2011-12 athletic budget of $14.7 million was less than half the athletic budgets at three Big East schools.

“We realize our budget relative to some of the other schools is not at the same level,” Danko said. “It’s a matter of trying to be very disciplined about how we allocate our resources, having many internal conversations with our CFO and our athletic department and with our trustees.”

Come July, Butler will be part of a basketball-centric, student-centered conference, Shanley said.

“What we celebrate today and relaunch today is the work of (first-ever Big East commissioner) Dave Gavitt,” Shanley said. “If we didn’t get together and form a conference that was basketball-centric, that was located in the best media markets, that played at the highest level, we would be left behind.”

After weeks of media speculation, it is now official: Butler University will be a member of the Big East.

Butler will enter the new Big East—consisting of the seven Catholic schools departing the current Big East—alongside Xavier and Creighton on July 1.

Butler President Jim Danko officially announced the school’s intention to leave the Atlantic 10 Conference after one academic year through a video in Butler’s Johnson Room this morning.

Ben Hunter, chief of staff, said school officials were delighted to receive an invitation to the Big East.

“For us, it creates long-term stability not only for the university’s athletics and academics, but it gives us greater control over the decisions that impact our sports program,” Hunter said.

Butler’s football team will remain in the Pioneer Football League, as it did when the school jumped to the A-10.

The women’s golf team will leave the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and join the rest of Butler’s athletic teams in the Big East.

“Joining the Big East is an unprecedented opportunity for Butler and represents an ideal fit for us—academically, athletically and geographically,” Danko said in a press release.

Hunter said he was unsure how much it would cost the university to leave the A-10 on such short notice.

Previous reports from the Associated Press said Butler would be forced to pay a $2 million exit fee, for not giving 27 months notice before switching conferences.

Xavier will also depart from the A-10, while Creighton will jump from the Missouri Valley Conference.

The three schools will join the ‘Catholic 7’ in the Big East after those seven schools purchased the rights to the conference name.

The seven schools already in the Big East are: DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova.

“This new opportunity to compete against Big East universities—which have a rich tradition of excellence across a wide range of sports—will enhance the Butler experience for all our student-athletes,” said Barry Collier, vice president of athletics, in the release.

This is the fifth athletic conference Butler has been a member of since 1946, excluding a yearlong independent stint.

Butler was a charter member of what eventually became the Horizon League in 1979, and the school stayed there until leaving for the A-10 in 2012.

“The A-10, like the Horizon League, is an outstanding conference, and we were honored to be a member,” Danko said in the release. “After in-depth deliberations and analyses, we determined that joining the Big East was the right thing to do for our students and our institution, regardless of the timing of past conference transitions.”

Hunter said the move is a bold moment for Butler and is a culmination of Danko and past presidents’ leadership.

“This is writing the next chapter of Butler University,” Hunter said. “This is a truly momentous change for the university. I hope there’s great excitement around this, not only for the opportunities it brings in sports, but also in academics.”