Sources have reported that former Butler associate head coach Matthew Graves will be adding two former Bulldogs to his staff at South Alabama.

The Indianapolis Star, WISH-TV and Fox 59 have reported that former Bulldogs guard Ronald Nored and coordinator of basketball operations Darnell Archey will be joining Graves at South Alabama.

Former Butler guard Brandon Miller will also reportedly be rejoining Stevens’ coaching staff.

Miller played for Butler from 2001 to 2003 after transferring from Southwest Missouri State in 1999 when he helped lead the Bears to the Sweet 16.

After sitting out the 1999-2000 season, Miller scored 1,121 points in his three seasons with the Bulldogs that culminated with a stellar senior season.

Archey and Miller were seniors on the 2003 Butler squad that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

Miller served as a special assistant to Illinois University coach John Groce this season after having previously worked under former Butler coach Thad Matta at Xavier and Ohio State.

Miller previously worked with Stevens as an assistant coach at Butler during the 2007-08 season.

Nored, a Homewood, Ala., native, served as Brownsburg High School’s boys basketball coach this season.

Meanwhile, Butler fans can breathe easy, as Stevens is not leaving Butler.

It had been rumored last week that UCLA had Stevens at the top of its list of coaches to replace the fired Ben Howland.

Howland was let go last Monday after a 10-season run with the Bruins that included three consecutive Final Four appearances from 2006 to 2008.

UCLA instead named University of New Mexico coach Steve Alford to the position Saturday.

After 17 years in the Butler men’s basketball program, Associate Head Coach Matthew Graves is leaving to become the head coach at University of South Alabama.

“At South Alabama, I think you are looking at a position that right now is one of the top jobs in the Sun Belt (Conference) with everything from resources to location to facilities,” Graves said in a press release.  “What I found throughout this process is that the people are tremendous, much like those I’ve worked with at Butler University.”

South Alabama’s Director of Athletics Joel Erdmann made the announcement Monday at a press conference.

“The pool of finalists was filled with top-notch basketball coaches and basketball minds,” Erdmann said in a press release. “As the process transpired, it became very clear that the right man for the job was Matthew Graves.”

Graves played for Butler from 1993 to 1998. He was the leading scorer for the Bulldogs during the 1996-97 season and helped take the team to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 35 years.

After graduation, Graves started as an assistant coach at North Central and Ben Davis High Schools in Indianapolis before joining the Bulldog staff as coordinator of men’s basketball operations in 2001.

Graves became an assistant coach at Butler in 2003 under former coach Todd Lickliter and was later promoted to associate head coach in 2010.

“I could not be more thrilled for both Matthew and South Alabama,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said in a press release. “He is a terrific person and coach, who will undoubtedly bring great credit to the university.”

While on the Butler staff, Graves was listed No. 2 on CollegeInsider.com’s ranking of the top 25 mid-major assistants in 2009.

The previous South Alabama coach, Ronnie Arrow, retired in December as the winningest coach in the Sun Belt Conference. Associate head coach Jeff Price served as an interim coach the rest of the season, finishing 17-13.

Graves left for South Alabama after Butler’s loss to Marquette in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

“It was a tough decision, but at the end of the day the thing that made it an easier decision was the people involved,” Graves said in an interview with al.com. “There were tears saying goodbye to people. But at the same time, it’s a new chapter, and I’m excited to call South Alabama home now.”

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.

Last year, the varsity men’s basketball team got snubbed for a spot at the NIT, the club basketball team didn’t exist, and intramurals were nearing total joke-status.

This year is a little different.

Basketball was back in the NCAA tournament, club basketball is a Butler-recognized sport, and intramurals are getting more competitive.

Intramural Supervisor and Coordinator of Intramural Championship Events Josh Koch said he thinks intramural competition has continually gotten more intense each year.

“Overall,” he said, “I definitely think the quality (of play) has increased over the past few years, especially this year to last year.”

Since the club team is official, Koch said, a limit was put on the number of club players allowed on a single team, which evens out the playing field quite a bit. “There are probably ten or twelve teams that could’ve played in the championship games,” he said.

Koch said there’s also been a lot more interest in intramural basketball events because of coordinators using social media, as well as adding in special halftime events and trying to reach a wider audience with the event.

“All the work we do beforehand,” Koch said, “I think that brings a lot more interest to intramurals.

“We don’t have a single frat or sorority team in the games, so it kind of limits who’s going to come, but I think all the teams [were] really good.”

This year, 61 teams participated in multiple weeks of intramural play, with 35 teams in the men’s tournament, 8 teams in the women’s and 18 in the co-rec division.

The co-rec championship was the first to take place last night.  Victorious Secret lead Sleeve of Wizards 48-45 with three minutes left, but a layup and Claire Milam jumper stretched Victorious Secret’s lead to eight. Sleeve of Wizards’ Justin Simmons responded with a trey to bring the score back within five, but Victorious Secret held them off, winning 56-50.

Milam, one of last year’s co-rec championship team members, said it was a lot tougher to get to the finals this year than last year

Last but not least, Prestige Worldwide and Catapres Convicts met in the men’s championship game. Tied 16-16 with two-and-a-half left in the first half, scores remained close throughout the game until the last thirty seconds, when Catapres Convicts pulled away for a 41-34 win.

Lexington—Butler coach Brad Stevens is the worst kept secret in college basketball.

Everyone has known that Stevens is a good coach. But this year, people are getting a chance to understand and break down just how good he is.

After all, you don’t boast a 12-4 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament record and have the most victories in Division I men’s basketball in your first six years as coach of a single team, if you are an average coach.

But it’s not just the record that is impressive about Stevens. It’s his demeanor, his commitment to Butler and his knowledge of statistics and of the game.

Now, I’m not saying that Butler takes it all for granted. School officials proved that when they extended his contract through 2021-2022 and, in all honesty, when they made the decision to join the Big East.

And I’m not saying that local media—myself included—take him for granted. We all know how good he is.

What I am saying is that I have been amazed at the celebrity status he has achieved in Lexington this week, not only among media members, but among other coaches and teams as well.

Bucknell coach Dave Paulsen said watching tapes on Butler was like watching a coaching clinic. And Marquette coach Buzz Williams said he holds Stevens in the highest regard.

“Coach Stevens is a Hall of Fame coach,” Williams said. “He’s just not old enough for you to call him that yet.”

Even former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy got in on the Stevens love.

Dungy said in a tweet: “Brad Stevens is a great coach and a great person. I would love to have my son play for him.”

So everyone is in agreement that Stevens is better than good, right?

During a press conference, Stevens said Dungy was someone he would like to think he modeled his coaching style on, but he really couldn’t say that.

“I’ve always admired and thought that the ultimate coach was Tony Dungy,” Stevens said. “But he’s way better than I am and way more calm and poised than I am.”

This coming from the guy who crossed his arms and barely looked up at the scoreboard as sophomore forward Roosevelt Jones made a last-second, game-winning basket to beat then-No. 8 Gonzaga on ESPN College GameDay in January.

“I’m not near the coach that Coach Stevens is,” Williams said. “Our kids are not going to make a shot and my reaction is going to be the same way his.

“But I have great respect and admiration that he can operate like that.”

Despite the high regard from his peers, Stevens sees it differently.

“I think that that’s been sensationalized a bit,” Stevens said. “I don’t think I’m as cool and collected as everyone likes to talk about.

“Sometimes my competitive side spirit gets the best of me.”

Seniors Andrew Smith and Rotnei Clarke have seen that side of him, which not many others have.

“He’s usually calm and he really holds his composure well,” Clarke said. “When he’s upset, you’ll know. And we’ve known”

In spite of all of this, the biggest surprise the media has had this week was being introduced to Stevens’ knowledge of the game.

It truly started after the win against Bucknell, when he was discussing the triangle-and-two defense the Bison employed. He talked about how little the Bison had played in that formation, even breaking it down on a game-by-game basis.

“They played it for six possessions against LaSalle in December,” Stevens said. “And they played it one other time in one other game that I can remember.”

People at the press conference laughed, but I think they were really in shock. There was one that was ready to test his knowledge of Marquette and Davidson.

Of course Stevens, being who he is, credited his staff, including the overnight stat-phenomenon Drew Canon.

But don’t let the humbleness fool you. Stevens is a stat guy. Andrew Smith gave an example of his preparation for games on Selection Sunday.  He said the Bulldogs learned they were paired with Bucknell and did about 15 minutes of media before going to the locker room to meet with Stevens.

“Coach came out and said, well, I’ve already watched 20 clips of Bucknell’s defense,” Smtih said. “We all just started laughing. I don’t even know where he gets that information so quickly.”

The fact remains that he does.

“He’s a pretty special coach,” Smith said, “and in my opinion the best coach in America. And I think he has proved it year in an year out.”

He manages to take less-than-top-rated players, put them together and create a national championship game caliber team. He manages to get the best from his players and gets them to buy into his program. He manages to at least fool all of us into thinking he does it all as the calmest coach in college basketball.

“I think the best piece of advice I got was right when I got the head coaching job at Butler,” Stevens said.  “(One of my friends) said, ‘you know what? What I learned was you have to be yourself.’

“So I can tell you just be yourself and if it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. At least that way you have no regrets with it.”

Butler used its traditional opponent-stifling defense to propel itself to the next round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament with a 68-56 win over Bucknell.

It was the defensive-minded Butler basketball that the nation was introduced to during the Final Four run in 2010.  It was the kind of basketball where you can only score 21 points in the first half and still win.

It was the kind of Butler basketball where you can go from having a double-digit lead to being down by six and still win.

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“They have some mettle, they have some intestinal fortitude that is built up over time, but also a core part of our program,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “But it is truly a Butler team, which I feel really good about.”

The Bulldogs took a 21-14 lead into the locker room at half-time.

They were only shooting 32 percent and had yet to make a 3-point field goal.  But, they had held Bucknell to a mere 25.9 percent shooting from the field and Naismith Player of the Year finalist, senior center Mike Muscala to only two points.

“It may not have been esthetic the entire game, you know missing our first 13 3’s,” Stevens said. “But our defense was really good in the first half. “

The team’s defense let up for about ten minutes at the beginning of the second half, when Bucknell went on a 19-2 run led by senior Joe Willman and Muscala.

Butler went over three minutes without scoring a basket and the Bison extended its lead.

“We knew they were going to make a run,” senior center Andrew Smith said. “We were prepared for something like that and fortunately were able to fight back.”

Stevens called a timeout after Willman scored a jumper to give Bucknell it s largest lead at six points.

Coming out of the timeout freshman guard Kellen Dunham sunk two free-throws to break the dry spell, but it was the seniors who really got Butler going.

Smith hit the first Butler 3-pointer of the game two possessions later, followed by a steal by Marshall to Clark for his first three of the game.

It was the start of a Butler 22-5 run.

“I told them in the locker room there’s a lot of teams in this tournament that wouldn’t be able to withstand a 16-point swing,” Stevens said. “And then have a 16-point swing of their own.”

Butler built its lead to 12, the largest of the game for either team and cruised to the win with 12 made free throws at the end.

Clarke led Butler with 17 points, followed by sophomore Roosevelt Jones and Smith both with 14. Smith finished the game with a double-double by adding a career-high 16 rebounds.

He also set a Butler record for rebounds in a NCAA Tournament game.

Sophomore Alex Barlow set a career-high with 10 points and added five rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot.

“Barlow was dialed into a different level than pretty much any other guy we had on our team the last couple of days,” Steven said. “With his study, getting into the film room, with his ability to read actions.

Bucknell’s Willman finished the day with a career-high 20 points and six rebounds in his last collegiate game.

Butler held Muscala to nine points, tying a career-low.

Butler will play Marquette on Saturday. Butler beat the Golden Eagles back in Novemeber during the Maui Invitational on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Clarke.

The time has not yet been announced.

See photos from the game here.

Whenever an athletic team is entering a new phase, making history or experiencing success, people want to witness it.

The Butler men’s basketball games have become a sought-after ticket, not just in Indianapolis but also around the country.

The Bulldogs have played in 14 sellout games this season, nine on the road.  With the final home game of the season on March 9 against Xavier

already sold out, that makes a single-season record five sellouts at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The team’s recent success, the move to the Atlantic 10 Conference, beating a top-ranked team for the first time in school history, hosting ESPN

College GameDay and multiple last-minute wins has made getting your hands on Bulldogs tickets a more difficult ordeal than it was in the past.

The increased demand has seen tickets appear on sites such as StubHub for several times their face value.  Upper-level tickets for the Xavier game that were sold at the Butler ticket office for $21 can be found on StubHub for as much as $159, and lower-level seats that sold for $41 can be found for $225.

Lee and Noah, two brothers who asked that the Collegian not disclose their last names, traveled from Chicago and St. Louis, respectively, and met in Indianapolis for the game Friday night.  They decided two days before that they would come to the game.

“Our dad teaches at (Saint Louis), so we’re fans,” Noah said.

They traveled all the way to Hinkle without tickets but purchased them from a man on the corner of 49th Street and Boulevard Place about an hour before tip-off.

Their tickets were in the upper-level section 32, where the majority of Billiken fans sat for the game.

“We paid $40 each,” Noah said.

Those same tickets were $17 originally from the ticket office inside Hinkle.

Two of the three men on the corner with “I need tickets” signs around their necks were from St. Louis.  The third was from Indianapolis.  One of the St. Louis men had more tickets for section 32.

“I want $40 or $50 each,” said the man, who asked that the Collegian not disclose his name.

Shortly after saying that, he ran across the street because an IMPD officer was approaching.

“This is college property,” the officer said. “If I catch you on this side again I’ll lock you up.”

Since they can’t stand on the property, scalpers often stand on the south side of 49th Street to avoid any trouble.

The university is not concerned with the ticket resale.

“You can’t avoid that, nor do you necessarily want to,” said Matt Harris, manager of fan development and tickets.  “Any company or individual has the same chance to purchase tickets as anybody else.  They have to go through the same method.”

The rise in demand this season has left some question as to whether or not ticket prices at the box office may rise in the future.

“That’s hard to say,” Harris said. “It depends on who we’re playing, when we’re playing, how many games we have. We haven’t even put pen to paper yet to figure out next year’s prices.”

The only remaining home game for the Butler men’s basketball team is against Xavier on March 8. .

The Butler men’s and women’s basketball teams will be wrapping up their seasons in the next couple weeks, which means conference championships are right around the corner.

The major difference for the Atlantic 10 Conference compared to the Horizon League is the tournament is—at least for the men—played entirely on a neutral court.

“(The Atlantic 10 Tournament) will have its set of challenges,” men’s coach Brad Stevens said. “The biggest difference for us is that’s a long way for our fan base to travel, and it’s an expensive trip to make.”

In the Horizon League, game locations are based on seeding, with the higher seeds claiming home-court advantage. The regular season champion receives a bye into the semifinals and home-court advantage for all remaining games should it win out.

“I like the idea of anything that pertains to tournament play being on a neutral floor,” Stevens said. “I understand why, in the Horizon League, we didn’t do it that way, and I voted for that. But I do like the idea of playing a neutral court.”

The entire men’s A-10 Conference Championship will be played at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., March 14-17.

Mike Freeman, associate athletic director, said each A-10 team is given 150 tickets for the conference tournament. Freeman said the tickets cover the women’s championship game and all men’s tournament games.

“We feel like we are going to sell that many,” Freeman said. “We’ve been working and talking about some other ways to get our hands on some more tickets so that we can help our fans get out there.”

Tickets are also available directly through the Atlantic 10 Conference and Ticketmaster.

“There’s a lot more options if we sell through our allotment, which we hope to do,” Freeman said.

For the women, the first three rounds will be played at Hagan Arena on St. Joseph’s campus in Philadelphia, Penn. The women’s championship game will be held at the Barclays Center.

Freeman said he’s worked with the A-10 to make sure fans interested in traveling to Philadelphia for the women’s tournament are accommodated.

Of the 16 teams in the conference, only the top 12 make the tournament. The top four regular- season teams receive a first-round bye. The first round matches up the No. 8 seed versus No. 9 seed, No. 5 and No. 12, No. 7and No. 10, and No. 6 and No. 11.

The No. 1 seed plays the winner of  the No. 8- No. 9 matchup, the second seed plays the No. 5-No. 12 winner, the third seed faces 7-10 winner; and the fourth seed plays the 6-11 winner. The winner of the entire tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Bulldogs will face a very different tournament environment than ever before. Last year in the Horizon League tournament, the Bulldogs played in the 5,000-seat Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso, Ind.

The Barclays Center seats 17,732 spectators and resides in the largest city in the United States.

Stevens said experience will help the team handle the big stage.

“Some of these guys have played in Final Fours, which is the biggest stage,” Stevens said.

Despite this and demand for tickets, Freeman said fans still interested in purchasing tickets should contact the Butler ticket office.

“We still have some available, and we’re going to do what we can to find additional tickets to help people that are looking to sit in or around other Butler people,” Freeman said.

Lindsay Martin, sports marketing and promotions manager, said Dawg Pound is also willing to assist students who are interested in going to the A-10 tournament.

“It would likely not be tied into the points program because there would be so few students that would be looking to take advantage of that opportunity,” Martin said.

Martin said only one student has asked her about A-10 tournament tickets.

Martin likens the low numbers to traditionally low numbers during events over school breaks.

The deadline for purchasing tickets is today, but Freeman urged fans to still contact the ticket office if they are interested.

“Technically, our deadline is on Wednesday,” Freeman said. “But at the same time, if somebody calls us late next week, we are going to try to find additional tickets for them.

“If we sell more than 150, we are going to try to help those folks. For those people that are interested, it’s best to act now to try and get your hands on something Butler has.”

Of the tickets purchased so far, Freeman said most have been bought by season ticket holders and donors from the Indianapolis area, as well as people from the New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia alumni chapters.

For those who cannot make the trip to Brooklyn, the semifinals will be televised on CBS Sports Network, and the championship game will be nationally televised on CBS.

After tonight’s men’s basketball game against St. Bonaventure, Butler will officially be halfway through its inaugural season in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The Bulldogs currently sit in second place in the A-10 standings, with an overall record of 18-4 and a conference record of 5-2.

The two conference losses have come against La Salle on a last-second shot at the end of regulation on Jan. 23 and against Saint Louis on Jan. 31.

Virginia Commonwealth sits at the top of the conference standings with a conference record of 6-2.

Just one game in the loss column separates the top nine teams in the A-10 standings. Only the top 12 go on to the A-10 tournament in March.

The A-10 currently has 10 teams in the top 100 of the RPI, according to RPIRatings.com, second most of any league behind the Big East (13).

Butler is ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25. That marks the eighth consecutive week for Butler in the Top 25.

The A-10 has six other teams that have received votes in the AP, ESPN and USA Today Coaches Polls.

Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis, Temple and Xavier have all gotten votes in both polls. La Salle and VCU both received votes in last week’s polls.

Butler’s current seniors are 51-8 in Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs have five of their final nine contests on their home court.

BUTLER PLAYERS TO WATCH

Rotnei Clarke­—The senior guard leads his team in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game.

He has scored in double figures 15 times this season.

Clarke is one of 50 players named in the Atlanta Tipoff Club 2012-13 Naismith Early Season Watch List.

Khyle Marshall—The junior forward averages 10.2 points per game, one of five Butler players averaging double figures in scoring.

Marshall also averages five rebounds per game, third best on the team.

Butler is 12-0 this season when Marshall scores in double-figures.

Roosevelt Jones—The sophomore forward has averaged 10.6 points per game on the season, including 13.3 points over the last 10 games.

Jones leads the Bulldogs in rebounds with 5.5 per game.

He also leads the team in assists with 3.6 per game.

Andrew Smith—The senior center is the only active collegiate player to have played in two national championship games.

He is the second-leading scorer for Butler, averaging 11.5 points per game.

Smith became the 34th Butler player to score 1,000 career points during the recent win against Rhode Island.

Kellen Dunham—The freshman guard is averaging 10.6 points per game and 12.4 in Hinkle.

He leads the A-10 and ranks fourth in the NCAA Division I in free throws, shooting at 92.1 percent.

Alex Barlow—The sophomore guard  has started in 15 games for the Bulldogs this season.

He is leading his team with more than one steal per game.

Erik Fromm—The junior guard is averaging 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

Former Butler guard Ron Nored shared his testimony of faith to roughly 100 attendees at a Converge church service last year.

This year, it’s Rotnei Clarke’s turn — with the possibility of an audience more than double the size of Nored’s.

On Feb. 10, Clarke will give his testimonial in the Johnson Room of Robertson Hall at an event Converge has been working on since last October.

Austin Weaver, Converge president, said in an email the idea is to give as many students as possible the chance to hear Clarke speak.

The event will also provide refreshments, including a meet-and-greet session with Clarke and a photographer to take pictures of attendees.

“The point of having Rotnei Clarke come share his testimony is to possibly reach students that are looking for something more,” Weaver said. “Rotnei Clarke is a professed Christian, and he wants to share his story of what God means to him in his everyday life.”

Weaver said Clarke “instantly agreed” to speak at the service.

“Anytime I have the chance to speak about the Good News and the Gospel and what I’m about, I take it,” Clarke said. “A lot of people just see what we’re doing on the court. They don’t get to see the heart of the athletes, how they are off the court or field.

“I think it’s important for us to be good examples. So there wasn’t any hesitation for me.”

Converge arrived on Butler’s campus just last year.

Clarke will be attending for the first time this Sunday. But Weaver said he hopes after this event, more students will realize this is an on-campus option for church.

Converge is a non-denominational Christian church service held in the Johnson Room every Sunday at 4pm. There is a worship leader, as well as a pastor who delivers the day’s message.

The invitation list has grown from 200 to over 1,000 since the event was created last week. At press time, the event’s Facebook page had 1,073 invited, with 226 people confirmed and 76 undecided.

Butler junior Ari Kasle is one of those confirmed to attend the event. Kasle said he’s never been to any of the Converge events — he’s just going to support Clarke, whom he met during Clarke’s first semester at Butler. The two have become friends, with Kasle even helping Clarke around after his ankle surgery last year.

Kasle is Jewish, so he doesn’t believe the same things Clarke does.

“Rotnei’s a devout Christian,” Kasle said, “but at the same time, he’s really open to other religions too. He’s never tried to convert me or anything like that.

“Faith is a huge part of his life, but he’s not the kind of guy that’s going to force his beliefs on you, preaching all the time.”

Clarke said his message is meant to make an impact on peoples’ lives, particularly by using basketball as a podium.

“I’m just trying to use the opportunities I get with the platform I have,” he said. “I don’t want to pressure anyone to go, but if they want to go, great. If not, that’s also their decision.

“But reaching out to people and giving people hope — that’s why I play.”