BRADLEY 75, BUTLER 66

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS Butler Bulldogs vs Bradley Braves 12-07-04 7:05 p.m. at Peoria, Ill. (Carver Arena) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Butler Bulldogs 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 33 Crone, Brandon...... f 1-2 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 5 3 1 1 0 0 23 44 Brooks, Nick........ f 1-7 0-3 2-2 3 2 5 0 4 0 2 0 2 21 35 Smalligan, Jamie.... c 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 1 0 16 03 Horan, Bruce........ g 3-5 3-5 0-0 0 1 1 2 9 2 0 0 1 33 21 Sheets, Avery....... g 7-13 1-3 2-3 0 1 1 2 17 3 6 0 1 33 04 Graves, A.J......... 7-15 2-6 0-0 1 0 1 2 16 2 1 0 6 31 20 Polk, Brandon....... 7-10 0-0 1-3 2 1 3 2 15 0 3 2 0 31 32 Streicher, Drew..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 11 42 Patterson, Gary..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 27-54 6-18 6-10 8 10 18 16 66 8 13 3 10 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-28 53.6% 2nd Half: 12-26 46.2% Game: 50.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 60.0% 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Bradley Braves 5-1 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 15 Sommerville, M...... f 9-16 1-2 1-2 4 4 8 2 20 4 5 1 0 38 13 O'Bryant, Patrick... c 2-9 0-0 4-4 6 4 10 2 8 1 1 2 2 26 05 Bennett, Tony....... g 6-12 1-1 2-2 3 2 5 2 15 3 1 0 2 36 14 Crouch, Jeremy...... g 6-8 1-1 0-0 1 2 3 2 13 2 2 1 1 31 20 Ruffin, Daniel...... g 5-9 1-1 2-3 2 3 5 3 13 7 3 0 5 35 10 Tauai, J.J.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 2 0 1 2 0 0 14 22 Wright, Lawrence.... 3-8 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 2 6 0 3 0 0 16 32 Adams, Danny........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 TEAM................ 2 2 4 Totals.............. 31-62 4-5 9-11 22 22 44 15 75 18 17 4 10 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-28 57.1% 2nd Half: 15-34 44.1% Game: 50.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-1 100 % 2nd Half: 3-4 75.0% Game: 80.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 81.8% 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Steven Skiles, Tim Hutchinson, Kyle Ingram Technical fouls: Butler Bulldogs-None. Bradley Braves-None. Attendance: 8811 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Butler Bulldogs............... 36 30 - 66 Bradley Braves................ 35 40 - 75 Points in the paint-BUTLER 32,BU 30. Points off turnovers-BUTLER 30,BU 17. 2nd chance points-BUTLER 6,BU 24. Fast break points-BUTLER 6,BU 13. Bench points-BUTLER 33,BU 6. Score tied-2 times. Lead changed-2 times. Last FG-BUTLER 2nd-00:32, BU 2nd-02:53.

DAVE'S POSTGAME ANALYSIS
The Bradley Braves turned 22 offensive rebounds into 24 second chance points en route to handing the Butler Bulldogs their second straight defeat, 75-66 at Carver Arena in Peoria, IL. Bradley jumped out to a 13-5 lead at the first media timeout, and extended their advantage to 12 at 23-11 and again at 27-15. But the Bulldogs scored 11 unanswered points to make it 27-26, and used an 8-0 to close the half with a 36-35 lead. The Braves outrebounded Butler 19-7 in the opening period, but the Bulldogs capitalized on 10 Bradley turnovers to stay in the game. A pair of Nick Brooks free throws to open the second half gave Butler its biggest lead at 38-35, but a Bradley 3-pointer quickly tied the game at 38. The Braves led 41-40 when an 8-0 run put them in control, and another 6-0 run following a Butler basket gave Bradley a 55-42 lead. The Bulldogs cut their deficit to five on three occasions, the last of which came at 62-57, but could get no closer. Marcellus Sommerville scored 12 points over the final 8:04 to seal the win for Bradley, 75-66.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: A.J. Graves. The freshman scored a career-high 16 points, 13 of which came in the second half. He was very active on defense, finishing with six steals and numerous other tips and deflections. His play in the second half was the difference between a nine-point loss and getting blown out of the gym.
Avery Sheets and Brandon Polk keyed the Bulldogs' first half run, combining for 23 of Butler's 36 points (13 and 10, respectively). Sheets finished with 17 points and three assists, but Bradley's defense forced him into an uncharacteristic six turnovers. Polk had 15 points, three rebounds and two blocks. Bruce Horan had three three-pointers for nine points. Brooks finished with four points and five rebounds, while fellow sophomore Brandon Crone added three points before fouling out. Drew Streicher had two points and played tremendous defense on Sommerville while he was in the game. Sommerville led Bradley with 20 points.
Butler got completely manhandled on the boards, 44-18. Bradley's 22 offensive rebounds were four more than the Bulldogs managed in total. From my vantage point, it wasn't that the Bulldogs were physically overmatched, but rather out of position. Part of that came from not blocking out, but our defense played a role as well. Bradley's guards were beating our defenders off the dribble quite a bit, and as the interior defense adjusted to help, it took them out of rebounding position. We need to do a better job of defending the perimeter and hedging off screens--that will go a long way towards fixing the rebounding problem.

The Bulldogs close their three-game road trip when they visit the Indiana State Sycamores. Game time is Saturday, December 11, at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Back to the Butler Basketball Page

DISCLAIMER: This page is not endorsed by, run by, or otherwise affiliated with Butler University. It is maintained by yours truly, an alumnus, with the sole intent of being the best place for Butler Men's Hoops info on the Internet.

[counter]

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page