BUTLER 65, EVANSVILLE 64

Official Basketball Box Score Evansville vs Butler 12/06/03 2:00 pm at Indianapolis, Ind. (Hinkle Fieldhouse) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Evansville (0-4) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 22 Cuffle, Clint....... f 4-15 3-8 2-2 4 5 9 2 13 1 1 0 0 40 44 Petty, Justin....... f 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 5 0 1 1 1 0 6 02 Burton, Andre....... g 7-11 1-1 1-2 2 0 2 4 16 2 9 1 0 36 20 Wagner, Lucious..... g 4-8 2-2 0-0 0 3 3 2 10 2 4 0 0 34 32 Nelson, Robert...... g 2-4 0-0 1-2 0 3 3 5 5 0 0 0 0 24 04 Anslinger, Kyle..... 4-6 3-5 0-0 0 2 2 2 11 0 1 0 0 26 24 Gore, Drew.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ 33 Webster, Matt....... 2-5 0-0 3-3 1 5 6 1 7 1 2 0 0 22 55 Strickland, Bradley. 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 2 0 1 2 0 12 TEAM................ 1 3 4 1 Totals.............. 24-50 9-16 7-10 9 22 31 24 64 7 19 4 0 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-25 52.0% 2nd Half: 11-25 44.0% Game: 48.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-10 60.0% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 56.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 7-10 70.0% Game: 70.0% 1,3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Butler (3-2) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 01 Lightfoot, Duane.... f 4-8 0-0 5-8 1 3 4 3 13 2 1 1 1 32 22 Monserez, Mike...... f 5-14 2-8 5-6 3 2 5 0 17 5 0 0 0 34 34 James, Jeff......... c 3-6 0-0 0-2 1 1 2 4 6 0 1 0 1 20 03 Horan, Bruce........ g 4-11 4-9 0-0 0 0 0 2 12 2 1 0 0 37 21 Sheets, Avery....... g 6-9 1-3 1-2 0 2 2 1 14 2 1 0 2 35 10 Parker, James....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 24 Ligon, Brian........ 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 3 30 Gardner, Nick....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 0 1 0 2 11 33 Crone, Brandon...... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 9 35 Smalligan, Jamie.... 0-2 0-2 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 44 Brooks, Nick........ 0-2 0-1 1-4 1 3 4 1 1 1 1 0 0 9 TEAM................ 2 3 5 Totals.............. 22-53 7-24 14-26 10 16 26 16 65 12 7 1 6 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-27 40.7% 2nd Half: 11-26 42.3% Game: 41.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-13 23.1% 2nd Half: 4-11 36.4% Game: 29.2% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 14-26 53.8% Game: 53.8% 8,3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Sid Rodeheffer, Tim Fogarty, James Breeding Technical fouls: Evansville-TEAM. Butler-None. Attendance: 4924 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Evansville.................... 32 32 - 64 Butler........................ 25 40 - 65 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

DAVE'S POSTGAME ANALYSIS
The Butler Bulldogs overcame a 10-point second half deficit and held off a feisty Evansville squad, 65-64. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but Evansville responded with five straight points of its own to tie the score. The lead changed hands seven times during the opening frame, the final time coming on a Kyle Anslinger basket to make it 19-18 with 8:57 to go. The Aces would push their lead out to seven at halftime, 32-25. Evansville opened the second half with a conventional three-point play by Andre Burton to push their lead to 10 at 35-25. Fouls were called early and often in the second half, as the two squads were whistled for a combined nine fouls in the first 2:32 of play, including a technical foul on UE head coach Steve Merfeld. Butler chipped away at the Aces' lead, but struggled from the free throw line the entire half. Nonetheless, a 20-4 Butler run spanning just over six minutes put the Bulldogs back in the lead, 45-39. The Aces fought back to tie the score at 53 with 6:25 remaining. A pair of Matt Webster free throws gave the Aces a 55-53 advantage, but a Mike Monserez three-pointer gave Butler the lead for good at 56-55. Layups by Duane Lightfoot and Avery Sheets made it 60-55. Webster's layup with 1:20 remaining pulled the Aces to within three at 60-57. Sheets hit one of two free throws, and Burton made a layup at the other end to make it 61-59 with 0:42 to go. A Monserez basket put the Bulldogs up 63-59. But once again, the Aces responded, this time with a Lucious Wagner layup to make it a one possession game again at 63-61 with 8 seconds remaining. Monserez was fouled and sank both free throws to give Butler a 65-61 lead. In a bizarre ending, Anslinger shot a well-defended three-pointer which bounced away, but Lightfoot was called for goal tending as he went for the rebound and Evansville was credited for a made three-pointer, making in 65-64. The officials then ruled that time had expired at that point, and the Bulldogs escaped with the win.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Monserez. Mike looked much more like himself today. Though he still struggled from long range (2-of-8 3-pt FG), he did just about everything else really well. He finished with team-highs of 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists. He also had zero turnovers in 34 minutes.
Three other Bulldogs finished in double figures. Sheets finished with 14 points and a pair of steals. Lightfoot, playing through an ankle sprain, added 13 points and four rebounds. Bruce Horan nailed four three-point baskets for 12 points. Jeff James added six points. Nick Brooks came off the bench in the second half and hauled down four rebounds in nine minutes to go along with a made free throw. Brian Ligon and Brandon Crone each made 1-of-2 free throw attempts for a point apiece. Evansville was led by Burton's 16 points.
Butler forced 19 Evansville turnovers and scored 20 points off those miscues. And while the offense still wasn't firing on all cylinders, the ball movement was much better today than it has been. The Bulldogs were much more agressive in taking the ball to the hole. Sheets scored three layups in the second half off of drives from the left side. Monserez had the fade-away working in the paint as well. There's an old adage that goes, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." As proof of that, I offer up a stat for each team coming into the game for comparison to what actually happened in the game. Evansville came in shooting just 30% from three-point range, and Butler was shooting 79% from the free throw line. Today, the Aces were 9-of-16 from behind the arc (56%), while Butler was 14-for-26 (54%) from the charity stripe. I would venture to guess that not too many people went into this game thinking Evansville would shoot better from three-point range than Butler did from the free throw line, further proof as to why the game is played on the hardwood and not on a stat sheet.

The Bulldogs hit the road for their next two games, part of a crucial stretch in the schedule where they will play six of their next eight games away from home. First up are the Bradley Braves. Game time is Wednesday, December 10, at 8:00 p.m. EST.

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