Butler back in role it knows — underdog

Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY

After two games in the unfamiliar role of a higher seed, Butler is back where the Bulldogs are much more accustomed to being.

Welcome back to the underdog Bulldogs, who face top-seeded Syracuse tonight in the West Regional semifinals.

The Bulldogs may eventually shed this image, but they don’t seem to be in much of a hurry to do so. Actually, they really don’t seem to care either way.

“You don’t ever look at the seed or the number next to the team’s name, otherwise, you’ll let that become a factor in your mind,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said.

Butler is unbeaten in the NCAA tournament as the higher seed. But that has only happened four times and the Bulldogs (30-4) are quite comfortable playing as one of the tournament’s lesser-known teams.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is trying to get the Orange (30-4) past this round for the first time since they won the national title in 2003.

The Orange know a little about being unheralded, too. They started the season unranked and ended it as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Boeheim doesn’t want his players to forget how far they had to climb this season when they prepare for the Bulldogs, who have won 22 in a row.

“I don’t look at conference when you get into the NCAA tournament. The only thing that matters in the NCAA tournament is the teams you’re playing against,” Boeheim said. “They’re as good a team as I’ve seen all year.”

Xavier-Kansas State

SALT LAKE CITY

Time is supposed to ease the pain of past embarrassments.

The way Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen sees it, though, there are some things you simply can’t forget.

Locked in Pullen’s memory is the way he felt on New Year’s Eve 2007 — the night his team got blown out by Xavier, the same team the second-seeded Wildcats face tonight in the West Regional semifinals.

“They laughed on the court, played around,” Pullen said. “You don’t forget things like that. So when you get the opportunity to play against a team like that, you always remember that, no matter if it’s one person from that team or 10 people from that same team.”

K-State got payback for the 26-point loss — the worst of coach Frank Martin’s short career — with a physical, grinding 15-point win this season in Manhattan.

Now, one of America’s hidden little rivalries resumes, this time with the stakes ratcheted up a few notches.

WEST VIRGINIA-WASHINGTON

SYRACUSE, N.Y.

West Virginia guard Darryl Bryant’s broken foot hasn’t affected the loose and upbeat approach that’s carried the Mountaineers to the East Regional semifinals.

Senior Da’Sean Butler has confidence in his teammates and sees no reason for the Big East champions to “get uptight or panic” in the NCAA tournament. The No. 2 seed Mountaineers (29-6) are scheduled to play No. 11 seed Washington (26-9) tonight.

Kentucky-Cornell

SYRACUSE, N.Y.

Cornell has made itself the early tournament darlings of March. The Big Red win with seniors, goof off at news conferences, and have embraced every second of the sudden national spotlight.

Kentucky coach John Calipari has a roster dotted with potential one-and-done players. Cornell (29-4) might be a one-year wonder.

There is no more fascinating round of 16 matchup than top-seeded Kentucky (34-2) trying to end 12th-seeded Cornell’s NCAA tournament run on tonight in the East Regional semifinal. Or is it the other way around?

“I’m enough of a fan to understand why this is so intriguing to everybody,” Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. “I get that. I don’t know if our guys really understand it. They believe that they’re a good enough basketball team … to play with anybody in the country.”