FanHouse Bracketbusters

St. Mary's might have been the biggest winner in Saturday's BracketBuster following a huge 75-64 win over Utah State. The Gaels had been adrift in recent weeks, seemingly rudderless without star Patrick Mills.

But St. Mary's has been solid in recent weeks, fattening up on the weaker teams in the West Coast Conference. Saturday's win over the Aggies was a big exclamation point on the season, letting people know that the Gaels are still in the hunt for an at-large bid.

Not to say that St. Mary's is in right now; the Gaels still have a lot of work to do. But the team is squarely on the bubble right now.

Butler's star guard and leading scorer, A.J. Graves, was not feeling well. It clearly affected his play, as he actually had to leave the court for a while in the first half. His play, though, only made him feel worse. Graves only scored 5 points, missed his fifth free throw of the season (out of 118) and fouled out of the game with 2:26 left in the game. Butler lost at home 68-64.

This was the Saluki's game. They dictated the pace and style. They played the game they wanted -- slow and careful -- with a tough defense that limits possessions. Not a complete shock, since Butler plays a similarly slow tempo style.

Without Graves playing well, though, the normally highly efficient Bulldog offense wasn't. They fell behind late in the first half and never was able to catch Southern Illinois.They closed a couple of times, but couldn't finish. They hit droughts of 4, 2 and 1:30 in the second half.

Butler is in no real danger of missing the NCAA Tournament, but they are likely to fall out of the top-25 with this home loss. Southern Illinois has surged to the top of the MVC.