WRIGHT STATE 54, BUTLER 53

Official Basketball Box Score Wright State vs Butler 1/24/04 2:00 PM EST at Hinkle Fieldhouse -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Wright State 10-8, 7-1 HL TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 Burleson, Drew...... f 2-3 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 1 0 25 15 Doliboa, Seth....... f 8-17 1-3 0-1 2 6 8 0 17 0 2 1 0 36 40 Kock, Alex.......... f 2-4 1-3 0-1 0 1 1 2 5 1 1 0 0 35 00 Hollins, Vernard.... g 4-9 1-1 4-7 0 4 4 3 13 6 1 0 2 32 01 Wood, DaShaun....... g 1-8 0-1 2-2 1 3 4 1 4 3 1 0 6 39 12 Severovas, Vova..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 19 21 Starkey, Mark....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 33 Boyd, Zakee......... 2-4 2-3 0-0 0 1 1 3 6 0 0 0 0 13 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 21-47 5-11 7-12 5 17 22 13 54 10 5 2 8 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-25 40.0% 2nd Half: 11-22 50.0% Game: 44.7% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 45.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 58.3% 1,3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Butler 7-10, 3-5 HL TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 22 Monserez, Mike...... f 2-13 1-5 0-0 1 6 7 1 5 9 5 0 1 39 34 James, Jeff......... f 1-1 0-0 0-0 3 0 3 3 2 0 1 0 0 15 35 Smalligan, Jamie.... c 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 5 5 1 3 2 0 0 0 23 03 Horan, Bruce........ g 6-10 6-10 0-0 0 6 6 2 18 0 1 1 0 38 21 Sheets, Avery....... g 3-11 3-8 0-0 2 0 2 2 9 3 1 0 0 33 01 Lightfoot, Duane.... 4-9 0-0 2-3 2 4 6 4 10 0 4 0 1 24 24 Ligon, Brian........ 2-2 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 2 4 0 0 0 0 13 33 Crone, Brandon...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 44 Brooks, Nick........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 2 0 2 0 0 10 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 20-51 11-27 2-3 12 25 37 17 53 14 14 1 2 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-22 45.5% 2nd Half: 10-29 34.5% Game: 39.2% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-14 42.9% 2nd Half: 5-13 38.5% Game: 40.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% Game: 66.7% 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Phil Bova, Kyle Ingram and Lenny Memminger Technical fouls: Wright State-None. Butler-None. Attendance: 5423 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Wright State.................. 28 26 - 54 Butler........................ 28 25 - 53 Points in the paint-WSU 24,BU 10. Points off turnovers-WSU 9,BU 0. 2nd chance points-WSU 9,BU 9. Fast break points-WSU 0,BU 0. Bench points-WSU 10,BU 16. Score tied-8 times. Lead changed-8 times. Last FG-WSU 2nd-05:29, BU 2nd-00:12.

DAVE'S POSTGAME ANALYSIS
The Wright State Raiders earned their first-ever regular season series sweep of the Butler Bulldogs with a 54-53 victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The first half was very evenly played, with neither team leading by more than four points. Butler led 9-5 at the 15:48 mark, and Wright State held a 22-18 advantage with 6:03 left in the half. After the first 20 minutes, there were four ties and seven lead changes, and the score was dead even at 28 apiece. Butler shot 46% and outrebounded WSU 18-10 in the opening frame, but committed eight turnovers. The second half began evenly as well, but the Raiders would make their move towards the middle of the period. The score was knotted at 38-38 with 13:26 left when a 12-2 Wright State run made it 50-40 at the 8:25 mark. They would eventually push their lead to 12 at 54-42 with 5:29 to go on a Vova Severovas field goal. That basket would represent the Raiders' last points of the game, as the Bulldogs held Wright State scoreless from that point onward. A Brian Ligon jumper started the Butler rally. Bruce Horan, Jamie Smalligan, and Avery Sheets each hit a three-pointer, and coupled with a turnover and a pair of missed front ends of one-and-one free throws by the Raiders, pulled to within one at 54-53 with 12 seconds left. Butler was forced to foul Seth Doliboa with five seconds remaining. Doliboa, an 87% foul shooter, missed Wright State's third straight front end bonus free throw, and Monserez grabbed the rebound. He drove to just inside the three-point line, but his shot at the buzzer bounced away, and Wright State survived, 54-53
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Horan. Unlike Wednesday's game in Youngstown, where he was held scoreless until the final seconds of regulation, Bruce made it a point to get in the scorebook early and often. He drained three three-point shots for Butler's first nine points of the game, and finished 6-of-10 from long range for a career-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds, also a career-high.
Duane Lightfoot was Butler's only other double-figure scorer, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds. Sheets had nine points and three assists. Monserez struggled through a 2-of-13 shooting performance for five points, but dished out nine assists and pulled down seven rebounds. Ligon added four points and three rebounds off the bench, while fellow freshman Smalligan added three points, five rebounds, and two assists. Nick Brooks and Jeff James had two points each. Brandon Crone, making his first appearance since undergoing knee surgery December 22, missed his only shot attempt (a three-pointer) but pulled down a rebound and displayed his trademark hustle, diving after loose balls and keeping them alive. Wright State was led by Doliboa's 17 points and eight rebounds.
With each game over the past week-and-a-half, Butler has taken a step forward. The first step was to break their losing streak and get their first conference win (Loyola); the next step was to win consecutive games for the first time since the first two games of the season (Detroit); then came their first road win in League play (at Youngstown State). Today was the opportunity to take the next step: avenge an earlier loss and defeat one of the top three teams in the Horizon League. Unfortunately, Butler came up short. Many of the stats from today's game were encouraging, especially when compared against those from the 51-39 loss at Wright State earlier this month. The Bulldogs shot 41% from three-point range, the first time they've eclipsed the 40% mark all season. They outrebounded the Raiders 37-22, after getting pounded on the glass 44-26 in the loss at Dayton. They had 14 assists on 20 made baskets. They held the Raiders scoreless for the final 5:28 of the game. The problems came with turnovers (Butler committed 14 while forcing WSU into just five) and perimeter defense (WSU shot 46% from three-point range). They also missed several point blank layups that would have made a huge difference, both in terms of the score and momentum.
Wright State coach Paul Biancardi said afterward, "[Butler] made a terrific comeback at the end. I think if there was 30 more seconds to go, we might have lost that game, the way they came back. I think we were very lucky to win this game, to be honest with you--maybe more lucky than good." Butler coach Todd Lickliter credited the Raiders' defense. "They were very aggressive in the way they played," Lickliter said. "We had the ball a couple of times and they'd just take it out of our hands." After shooting at least 17 free throws in each of the last five games, Butler only had three attempts at the foul line today, all in the first half. "It troubles you a whole bunch," Lickliter said of the lack of free throw opportunities. "I can't answer it, because I don't think we're playing any different. They forced us to shoot jump shots--if you're going to sag, it's pretty hard to drive," Lickliter noted. "It's hard to create foul situations on that. We had to shoot jump shots, they sagged back in on us so bad." As the Bulldogs enter the second half of the HL season, the difference between a 4-4 record and a 3-5 record could be significant come tournament time. "[It's a] huge difference. This will be interesting, to see how we respond. We owe it to ourselves and to everybody else involved to do our best, to work hard, to try to improve, to grow."

The Bulldogs will look to bounce back against the Cleveland State Vikings. Game time is Thursday, January 29, at 7:00 p.m. EST. Hope to see you there.

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