Butler finds help from 2 surprising freshmen

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Khyle Marshall spent most of the season trying to crack Butler’s experienced lineup.

Crishawn Hopkins settled for playing everybody else’s best point guard.

When the two finally got a chance to show what they could in last week’s regional final, well, they delivered in typical Butler fashion _ making all those critical plays to help send the Bulldogs get to a second straight Final Four.

“I think Khyle’s been big all through the tournament. He does things that don’t show up, like tips and hustle plays,” senior Matt Howard said. “They really are coming along because we’ve put them in positions where they can be successful.”

Even though they’ve taken different paths to get here.

Marshall, a muscular 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward from Florida, made an immediate impact because of his size and athleticism. He averaged 5.9 points in 15.2 minutes this season, with a steadily increasing role as the top backup for the foul-prone Howard or 6-11 sophomore center Andrew Smith.

Hopkins, last season’s player of the year in Indianapolis, has barely averaged 6 minutes and played in only 20 of 36 games.

The reason for the big disparity between the highly-touted newcomers: Butler has a plethora of guards and long-range shooters already in its rotation, but always wants another big body.

Coach Brad Stevens, admittedly a numbers fanatic, doesn’t think their stats are reflective of what they’ve done.

“He (Hopkins) plays the same spot as Ronald (Nored) so we had to decide whether to play him every other possession in practice or whether to let him run the other team’s stuff,” Stevens said Monday. “Last week, he was Erving Walker and Jordan Taylor. Two weeks before that, he was Norris Cole and he was just unbelievable. We couldn’t guard him (Hopkins).”

Walker and Taylor are the point guards for Florida and Wisconsin. Cole is the point guard for Horizon League rival Cleveland State.

And all three would acknowledge it’s not easy beating this defense _ especially now.

Only two of Butler’s last 14 opponents have reached 70 points _ Florida and Pittsburgh _ and in the tournament, opponents are shooting just 41.2 percent from the field.

But the young duo is following the same roadmap Smith and others have taken at Butler.

Marshall’s hard work and Hopkins’ quick flurry against Florida helped the Bulldogs rally from an 11-point second-half deficit to upset the second-seeded Gators 74-71.

Story Continues →

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.