Butler's Brad Stevens: Matt Howard's 'mind and his motor are different'

By David Woods, The Indianapolis Star

HOUSTON -- Butler coach Brad Stevens is credited with having a bright mind in college basketball, so this did not compute.

On a December trip to Hawaii, he scanned a list of the top 10 NBA prospects playing in the Diamond Head Classic. Matt Howard was MVP of the tournament in leading Butler to the championship.

The list excluded Howard.

So what if he leads Butler to a national championship? That's kind of the whole idea in this sport, right?

"He only wins. And his mind and his motor are different," Stevens said. "I mean, he is different. He is an outstanding player. And it's going to translate to any level."

Howard was his usual self -- crafty, deceptive, impactful, competitive -- Saturday night. He closed out a 70-62 victory over Virginia Commonwealth that sent the No. 8-seeded Bulldogs to Monday night's NCAA championship game against No. 3 seed Connecticut.

Howard, a 6-8 senior from Connersville, was a difference-maker despite 0-of-5 shooting from the arc and just three field goals. He was 11-of-12 on free throws and grabbed eight rebounds.

Now he and classmates Shawn Vanzant and Zach Hahn have a chance to tie two seniors from last year -- Willie Veasley and Nick Rodgers -- as the winningest players in Butler history. The Class of 2010 had 118, one more than the Class of 2011.

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Howard didn't close out this victory as dramatically as he did twice in Washington, D.C., early in the tournament, but he did it just as effectively. In the final minute, he had a rebound basket and four free throws to increase a four-point lead to 10.

In the first two rounds, he sank a last-second layup to beat Old Dominion 60-58 and a free throw to eliminate No. 1 seed Pittsburgh 71-70.

"We knew it was going to be like this," Howard said. "We haven't had a game that wasn't."

The Rams weren't exactly generous in praise. Forward Jamie Skeen called Howard "a flopper" and said he would not root for the Bulldogs in the championship game, even if they are VCU's mid-major brethren.

Moreover, VCU coach Shaka Smart alluded to a disparity in fouls ---- VCU 24, Butler 16 -- and said Butler had a way of being physical without getting fouls called.

Howard picked up his fourth foul with 9:22 left and sat out about five minutes but never fouled out.

Howard was sprawled on the court last year, hands on head, after Gordon Hayward's half-court shot missed in a 61-59 loss to Duke for the national championship. He said he kept thinking there would be one more shot.

Now, there is.

"We came into that game winning an incredible amount of games in a row," Howard said. "And so you almost expected to win. That's the way our team had prepared, like we were ready to play every game."

At the end of his distinguished career, Howard has been awarded one more game.