BUTLER 70, BRADLEY 60

Official Basketball Box Score Bradley vs BUTLER 12/06/05 7:00 PM at Indianapolis, Ind. (Hinkle Fieldhouse) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Bradley 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 15 Sommerville, M...... f 9-16 3-6 2-3 0 2 2 2 23 1 1 1 0 35 21 Andrews, Zach....... f 4-5 0-0 3-4 7 4 11 3 11 1 3 1 0 26 22 Wright, Lawrence.... f 5-12 1-2 2-5 3 5 8 4 13 1 3 0 2 29 05 Bennett, Tony....... g 2-7 0-1 0-0 2 4 6 4 4 3 1 0 1 35 20 Ruffin, Daniel...... g 1-4 1-4 0-0 1 1 2 3 3 4 1 0 1 31 02 Brown, Ray.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 2 10 Tauai, J.J.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 9 14 Crouch, Jeremy...... 2-10 0-6 2-2 0 2 2 2 6 5 5 0 0 24 54 Singh, Sam.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 9 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 23-54 5-19 9-14 14 20 34 22 60 16 17 2 4 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-27 51.9% 2nd Half: 9-27 33.3% Game: 42.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 3-12 25.0% Game: 26.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-2 0.0% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% Game: 64.3% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: BUTLER 5-3 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 20 Polk, Brandon....... f 7-12 0-0 3-4 2 6 8 2 17 3 3 1 3 36 33 Crone, Brandon...... f 4-9 2-3 4-4 1 5 6 3 14 1 0 0 1 31 03 Horan, Bruce........ g 4-9 3-7 0-0 0 2 2 1 11 1 0 0 0 27 04 Graves, A. J........ g 2-4 1-3 6-8 0 2 2 1 11 1 4 0 1 27 21 Sheets, Avery....... g 1-7 1-5 0-0 0 1 1 3 3 6 1 0 0 33 01 Betko, Julian....... 3-5 1-3 4-4 3 2 5 2 11 3 2 0 4 28 23 Nellems, Marcus..... 1-2 1-2 0-0 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 7 24 Ligon, Brian........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 32 Streicher, Drew..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 TEAM................ 2 2 2 Totals.............. 22-48 9-23 17-20 9 18 27 13 70 15 12 1 10 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24 41.7% 2nd Half: 12-24 50.0% Game: 45.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-11 27.3% 2nd Half: 6-12 50.0% Game: 39.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 14-16 87.5% Game: 85.0% 0,2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Tim Hutchinson, Gerry Pollard, Frank Spencer Technical fouls: Bradley-None. BUTLER-None. Attendance: 2694 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Bradley....................... 30 30 - 60 BUTLER........................ 26 44 - 70

DAVE'S POSTGAME ANALYSIS
The Butler Bulldogs overcame a seven-point first half deficit and a 22-7 rebounding disadvantage in the opening frame to post a 70-60 victory over the Bradley Braves at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs used a 10-2 run to take a 16-14 lead at the 10:02 mark, but Bradley soon regained the lead. The Braves pushed their advantage to seven at 28-21 with 4:29 to go in the half, and led 30-26 at halftime. Bradley dominated the boards, with their eight offensive rebounds outnumbering Butler's total of seven, but the Bulldogs did enough other things to keep the game close. The second half saw two ties and five lead changes. Bradley held a four point lead at 48-44 with nine minutes to go after a three-pointer by Marcellus Sommerville. The Braves would not score another field goal for nearly seven minutes. With Bradley managing just five free throws over that stretch, Butler went on a 14-3 run to take a 58-51 lead and equaled that advantage at 60-53 before Lawrence Wright's layup with 2:16 left made it 60-55. A huge three-pointer from Avery Sheets, his first and only points of the game, pushed the lead out to eight and seemed to put Butler in control. Bradley would get no closer than six down the stretch, and a pair of Brandon Polk free throws gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead, closing out a 70-60 victory.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Julian Betko. He didn't necessarily have the most statistically impressive game for the Bulldogs, but I thought he played very well at both ends of the floor. His 28 minutes, 11 points and five rebounds off the bench were all Butler career highs, and his three assists and four steals equalled his career bests in his brief Bulldog career.
Brandon Polk led the way for Butler with 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Brandon Crone added 14 points and six rebounds. Bruce Horan and A. J. Graves each finished with 11 points. Sheets finished with the aforementioned three points along with six assists with just one turnover in 33 minutes. Marcus Nellems added three points off the bench. Bradley's Sommerville led all scorers with 23 points.
The thing that impressed me most about his game was how hard both teams played. Regardless of the outcome, you had to be impressed with the efforts of both squads for 40 minutes. Butler's 20-12 rebounding advantage in the second half made the final totals a more reasonable 34-27 in favor of the Braves. Bradley outscored the Bulldogs 16-5 on second chance points, but Butler forced the Braves into 17 turnovers while commiting 12 themselves, leading to a 21-10 advantage in points off turnovers. As I've said before, we can live with a rebounding deficit if we defend well and capitalize on mistakes by our opponents. Another positive to take was how Butler played down the stretch, turning a one point lead with 6:33 to go into a 10-point win. For a team that struggled so much last season to close out games, that is a very promising thing to see.
The Bulldogs take a break from the hardwood to concentrate on final exams before welcoming Indiana State to Hinkle Fieldhouse. Game time is Saturday, December 17, at 2:00 p.m. EST. Hope to see you there.

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