Butler does it, topping Winthrop 76-64 behind Avery Woodson

By GENARO C. ARMAS
Associated Press

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Butler pushed around a team that had designs on following in its bracket-busting footsteps.

With the way Avery Woodson shot from the perimeter in the first half Thursday, the Bulldogs had little to worry about down the stretch against Winthrop.

Woodson scored 18 points and tied a career high with six 3-pointers in his tourney debut, and the fourth-seeded Bulldogs contained star guard Keon Johnson in a 76-64 win over the 13th-seeded Eagles in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

"I liked their attention to detail, for the most part. I liked their ability to share the ball, for the most part," Butler coach Chris Holtmann said. "I thought we did some good things against a quality team."

Woodson, a graduate transfer from Memphis, hit five 3s in the first half to help the fourth-seeded Bulldogs build a 14-point halftime lead. A 12-2 run in the middle of the second half gave Butler a 60-43 lead with less than eight minutes left and put the game out of reach.

Xavier Cooks had 23 points to lead the Big South champion Eagles (26-7).

"They jumped on us early and that's a hard team to come back on because of their style of play," Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey said.

Butler (24-8) looked comfortable all afternoon at the Bradley Center, the home of Big East rival Marquette. The last time the Bulldogs played in Milwaukee, Woodson scored 17 points in a 68-65 victory over Marquette last month.

Once a mid-major darling, Butler set the tone with an aggressive style befitting a midseason Big East game.

"They were a big, physical team," said Johnson, who finished with 18 points on 7 of 19 shooting.

One more win in Milwaukee and Butler could advance to its fifth Sweet 16 since 2003.

"We feel like home wherever we go," said Butler guard Kamar Baldwin, who defended Johnson for much of the game.

BIG PICTURE

Winthrop: The loss ends the stellar college career of Johnson, a dynamic guard who can drive fearlessly and pull up for a 3. Kelsey called Johnson the "heart and soul" the Eagles. He led the team to its first NCAA appearance since 2010.

"He's one of the best players in the history of this school and I thought (Butler) did a very good job in their game plan in trying to contain" him, Kelsey said.

Butler: The hot start from 3-point range bodes well for a team that shot 36 percent from behind the arc coming into the game. The Bulldogs finished 8 of 19 from 3 (42 percent) against Winthrop thanks in large part to Woodson.

"He got hot early, kind of cooled down in the second half," Baldwin said. "But we're going to need him to keep taking those shots to get through this March Madness."

SECOND-HALF SURGE

Tyler Wideman's dunk on an alley-oop pass from Tyler Lewis made the crowd swoon and gave Butler a 62-43 lead with 7:22 left.

Defense, though, carried the Bulldogs during their second-half run after Winthrop went more than three minutes without a field goal.

Johnson, a 5-foot-7 guard, scored seven straight points during one stretch of the second half to get the Eagles within seven with 13:28 to go. Otherwise, the 6-foot Baldwin, did an admirable job sticking with Johnson, the Big South Player of the Year.

"He's so dynamic with the ball. I thought Kamar worked extremely hard to make it difficult for him," Holtmann said.

QUOTABLE

"Listen, my staff just told me that I look terrible. That I look like I haven't slept. The reason was that kid. He's a load to guard." — Holtmann, on Winthrop's Johnson.

RANGY COOKS

Cooks, a lanky 6-foot-8 swingman, had good looks on drives in the lane in the first half but had trouble getting shots to fall. He finished 10 of 22 from the field and 3 of 10 from behind the arc.

UP NEXT

Butler moves on to a second-round matchup Saturday against fifth-seeded Minnesota or 12th-seeded Middle Tennessee.

Winthrop-Butler Preview

Stats, LLC
MILWAUKEE — With its highest NCAA Tournament seed ever, Butler begins its hopeful march to the Final Four in Milwaukee, where the No. 4 seed Bulldogs will face 13th-seeded Winthrop on Thursday in a South Region first-round contest at the Bradley Center.

Butler (23-8) finished second in a deep Big East Conference this season. The Bulldogs had won four in a row and five of six before dropping their final two contests, including a 62-57 decision to Xavier in the Big East tournament quarterfinal.

But the committee was still impressed enough with Butler’s resume — which included three losses to teams outside the RPI Top 100 but a pair of victories over Big East champ and overall No. 1 seed Villanova — to award a No. 4 seed. While the Bulldogs missed out on a chance to play in Indianapolis, Milwaukee is still a short drive from central Indiana and an opportunity to start the tournament — Butler’s ninth in the last 11 seasons — on a high note.

“It just reminds me of how grateful we are to be part of a program to play in this thing,” Butler coach Chris Holtmann said. “And hopefully we can extend this season.”

Junior Kelan Martin led the Bulldogs with 16.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while senior Tyler Lewis dished out 3.9 assists.

Though the two haven’t played, Winthrop will be a slightly familiar for Butler. Eagles coach Pat Kelsey is a former Xavier player and assistant while Holtmann spent time in the Big South as a coach at Gardner-Webb.

“In some ways, it’ll feel almost like playing them again,” Holtmann said.

Winthrop (26-6) is back in the tourney for the first time since 2010, and is 17-2 since the calendar flipped to 2017. Both of the Eagles’ losses during that stretch came in overtime and of their six defeats this season, two came on the road against teams that also landed in the 68-team NCAA field — Florida State and Dayton.

As a result, Winthrop was seeded 13th, the program’s highest seed since drawing an 11 back in 2007.

“I went into the locker room to address our guys and they’re ready to get started preparing,” Winthrop coach Pat Kelsey said. “The jubilation was the other day when we won the championship and cut the nets down. They’re a hungry bunch and ready to get to work.”

Five-foot-seven senior guard Keon Johnson anchors Winthrop’s attack. The Big South Player of the Year and Tournament MVP averaged 22.5 points this season with 99 3-pointers. He forms a formidable scoring tandem with 6-foot-8 Australian Xavier Cooks, who averaged 16.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

“That’s the exciting part about this tournament,” Butler forward Andrew Chrabascz said. “You get to play the best teams in the country right now.”

The Bulldogs have already have one victory at the Bradley Center under their belt this season; they beat Marquette 68-65 there back on Feb. 7.

The winner will face the winner of Minnesota-Middle Tennessee contest on Saturday afternoon.