Independence at Butler
Region VI Quarterfinals
Tuesday, March 7th | 7:30 PM Tipoff
The Power Plant | El Dorado, Kansas
Watch Live: butlergrizzlies.com/watchlive
Dennis Higgins Radio Broadcast: 97.5 FM | 1240 AM KFH
Live Stats: tinyurl.com/yx2d2u3c
Massey Ratings Score Prediction (masseyratings.com): Indy 69, Butler 76
Other Massey Ratings Insights: Chance to win %: Indy 27%, Butler 73%,
Betting line: Butler -6.5, Game O/U: 145.5 points
Notes Compiled by Wyatt Ebersole
Series Since 2011: Independence leads 10-11
Meetings this season: January 14th at Indepenence: Butler won 84-81, March 1st at Butler: Butler won 72-66
Opening notes:
- The Butler Grizzlies will face the Independence Pirates on Tuesday at home in the quarterfinals of the Region VI Playoffs
- The Grizzlies had a first-round bye, while Independence upset #5 seed Garden City on their home floor 82-78 on their home floor
- Butler is the #4 seed and Independence is the #12 seed
- According to Massey Ratings, Independence is rated 121st in the NJCAA and Butler is ranked 30th
- Butler has won two of their last three first-round playoff matchups
- With their win over Garden, Independence has won five of their last six first round playoff matchups
- Independence has not advanced past the quarterfinals since the 2006 season
- The Grizzlies are looking for the season sweep of the Pirates for the first time since the 2014-2015 season as Butler won the first matchup of the year on January 11th, 84-81 at Indy
- Butler is 6-4 in their last ten games and have lost three of their last six
- Indy is 3-7 in their last ten games and prior to their victory over Garden, they had lost six straight games
- Last time vs Independence: The Grizzlies played Indy last Wednesday, where they outlasted a second half comeback by the Pirates to pick up a victory and clinch a first round bye
- Butler is 13-2 playing against unranked teams this season (only losses are vs Colby and at NW Tech)
- Butler is 50-8 at home since Kyle Fisher took over as head coach of the Grizzlies
- Indy head coach Justin Mann is in his second year as head coach of the Pirates after being the top assistant under former coach Bill Morosco
- Butler is 12-2 at home this year, have won eight straight at home, and have won ten of the last eleven in the Power Plant
- The Grizzlies are 4-0 playing on Tuesday's this season with the last Tuesday game coming on January 24th against Colby in the Grizzlies 72-67 win
Last action for the Grizzlies
Wednesday, March 1st | Independence 66, Butler 72 Final
- The Butler Men picked up a tense, narrow victory over Independence to close out the regular season
- With the win, combined with a win by Hutchinson over Garden City, the Grizzlies clinched a first-round bye for the second straight year
- The loss made it so that the Grizzlies no longer control their own path to a bye in the Region VI Playoffs
- The Grizzlies overcame another double-digit deficit, but could not pull the game out
- The Butler Men were issued three technical fouls in the game that led to five big Garden City free throws
- Despite the loss, the Grizzlies had their best shooting night (47.4%) from the field since their road win over Hutch on February 4th where they shot 58.2%
- The Butler Men made 17 free throws in the game, their seventh straight game making at least 17 shots from the charity stripe
Scouting the Pirates
- The Pirates are in their second season under their former assistant coach Justin Mann
- Indy has three players averaging double figures in scoring this year. Those being Johan Nziemi (14.7), Josh Smith (13.2), and Kam Parker (12.7)
- Indy is fourth in the conference in field goal percentage at 45.9%
- The Pirates allow the third most points per game of teams in the conference at 79.7
- Indy is 4-10 on the road this season, but have won four of their last six road games
Notes about the series
- Indy leads the series 11-10 since 2011 and the Butler has won three of the last five
- The Grizzlies are 5-2 against Indy in the Kyle Fisher era
- Butler swept Indy this season for the first time since the 2014-2015 season
- Butler is 5-6 at home against Indy since 2011
- Butler has won four straight games at home against the Pirates
NO LEAD IS SAFE WHEN THE GRIZZLIES ARE BEHIND
- The Butler Men have overcome four double-digit, second half deficits this season
A Grizzly W would…
- Improve them to 23-8 on the year
- Advance them to the Region Final Four on Friday
- Be their third win in their last four games
- Be their fourth win in their last five matchups with Independence
- Be their second straight year advancing to the Region Final Four
- Help the Grizzlies case for an at-large bid to the National Tournament if they need one
A Grizzly L would...
- Drop them to 22-9 overall
- Almost certainly end their season
- Be their second time in the last three years losing their first playoff game
Looking ahead
If the Grizzlies win, they will advance to the Region Semi-Finals on Friday, which will be played in the Garvey Center on the campus of Friends University