Men's Basketball Preview: Region VI Quarterfinals vs Independence (March 7th)

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