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Butler faces Cleveland State for Horizon title

Mar 11, 2008 - 1:33 PM Cleveland St (21-11) at No. 10 Butler (28-3) 9:00 pm EDT

INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) - The top two seeds will again meet for the Horizon League tournament championship on Tuesday when No. 10 Butler hosts Cleveland State.

While the top-seeded Bulldogs are making their third consecutive appearance in the league final and are in the championship game for the ninth time in 12 years, the team has not won the title since 2001.

The second-seeded Vikings meanwhile, are in the title game for the first time since joining the league in 1995.

Butler advanced to the final with a 66-50 victory over fourth-seeded Illinois-Chicago, while Cleveland State reached the championship game with a 78-73 win over sixth-seeded Valparaiso. It was the Vikings' first conference tournament victory since 2001.

The two teams split a pair of regular season games, each winning at home in close contests. Cleveland State defeated the Bulldogs, 56-52, on January 17 before Butler handed the Vikings a 51-46 loss on February 16. The Bulldogs' 16-2 conference record was four games better than Cleveland State and Wright State.

Senior Mike Green, the league's Most Valuable Player, averages 14.6 points for Butler. The Bulldogs are lead by senior guard A.J. Graves (13.5 points), freshman forward Matt Howard (12.5 points) and senior forward Pete Campbell (11.5 points).

The Vikings are paced by junior forward J'Nathan Bullock (14.8 points) and junior guard Cedric Jackson (14.3 points).