BUTLER 55, CLEVELAND STATE 51

Official Basketball Box Score Butler vs Cleveland State 01/25/06 7:10 p.m. at Cleveland, Ohio - Wolstein Center -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Butler 10-8, 3-3 HL 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 12-21 0-0 5-9 5 6 11 2 29 1 1 3 1 37 33 CRONE, Brandon...... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 5 0 0 4 1 1 17 03 HORAN, Bruce........ g 1-4 1-4 0-0 1 3 4 2 3 1 1 0 0 38 04 GRAVES, A. J........ g 2-6 1-3 4-7 0 7 7 2 9 3 3 0 0 36 21 SHEETS, Avery....... g 4-9 0-3 0-0 0 3 3 2 8 3 2 0 0 37 01 BETKO, Julian....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 6 24 LIGON, Brian........ 2-6 0-0 0-0 6 1 7 4 4 0 2 1 1 16 32 STREICHER, Drew..... 0-1 0-1 0-1 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 13 TEAM................ Totals.............. 22-50 2-11 9-17 13 25 38 22 55 8 14 5 3 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-29 51.7% 2nd Half: 7-21 33.3% Game: 44.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 0-5 0.0% Game: 18.2% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 7-14 50.0% Game: 52.9% 3,1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Cleveland State 8-10, 4-4 HL TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 21 Tatham, Patrick..... f 3-4 0-1 1-4 0 3 3 2 7 1 1 1 2 23 35 Bullock, J'Nathan... f 4-7 0-0 1-3 1 1 2 1 9 0 2 0 0 26 12 Nwankwo, Ije........ c 4-8 0-0 2-4 5 4 9 3 10 0 3 1 1 22 03 English, Carlos..... g 2-9 1-5 1-3 1 0 1 2 6 4 1 0 1 32 34 Moss, Raheem........ g 2-12 2-7 0-0 1 2 3 1 6 3 1 0 0 30 05 Morris, Victor...... 3-4 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 2 8 1 1 0 1 18 11 Russell, Bahaadar... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 30 Henderson, Justin... 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 9 32 Gansey, Steve....... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 8 33 McGee, Frashon...... 0-2 0-0 1-2 4 6 10 3 1 0 1 2 0 27 40 Murphy, Luke........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 2 TEAM................ 1 1 1 1 Totals.............. 19-49 4-15 9-20 14 20 34 18 51 9 13 4 5 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-16 56.3% 2nd Half: 10-33 30.3% Game: 38.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 2-9 22.2% Game: 26.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-12 41.7% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 45.0% 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Steven Skiles, Lamar Simpson, James Breeding Technical fouls: Butler-None. Cleveland State-TEAM. Attendance: 1515 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Butler........................ 34 21 - 55 Cleveland State............... 25 26 - 51 Points in the paint-BU 30,CSU 20. Points off turnovers-BU 16,CSU 12. 2nd chance points-BU 6,CSU 3. Fast break points-BU 0,CSU 2. Bench points-BU 6,CSU 13. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time. Last FG-BU 2nd-01:50, CSU 2nd-00:34. Largest lead-BU by 14 2nd-12:48, CSU by 2 1st-19:45.

DAVE'S POSTGAME ANALYSIS
The Butler Bulldogs saw a 14-point second half lead get whittled down to two in the closing seconds, but held on for a 55-51 victory over the Cleveland State Vikings at the Wolstein Center. After falling behind 2-0, Butler used an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. That lead hovered between four and eight points for most of the half. The Bulldogs took their largest lead of the half at 34-23 on a Brandon Polk layup with 1:38 left, and led 34-25 at the half. Butler's lead swelled to as many as 14 in the second half at 44-30 with 12:48 to go. That's when the offense began to stall, and the Vikings started to slowly chip away at the lead. Butler scored just three points over the next five minutes, all from Polk, but still led 47-36 with 7:50 left. An 8-2 CSU run got the lead down to five at 49-44 at the 3:41 mark. The Bulldogs pushed it back to seven twice, the latter of which coming on a Polk basket with 1:50 to go to make it 53-46. CSU then scored five unanswered points sandwiched around five missed Butler free throws get within two at 53-51 with 0:34 left. CSU's full court pressure forced a 10-second violation against the Bulldogs, giving CSU a chance to tie or take the lead with the shot clock turned off. But Raheem Moss missed a three-pointer, and A. J. Graves grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Graves, who had just missed two free throws with 0:41 left, calmly sank both freebies to give Butler a 55-51 victory.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Polk. BP had a double-double with career highs of 29 points and 11 rebounds, and was a dominant force from the outset. He also blocked three shots.
No other Bulldogs reached double figures. Graves was the closest with nine points and an impressive seven rebounds along with three assists. Avery Sheets added eight points, three rebounds, and three assists. Brian Ligon was solid off the bench, finishing with four points and seven rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass. Bruce Horan had three points and four rebounds, and Julian Betko added two points. Brandon Crone was held scoreless before fouling out, but did pull down four rebounds. CSU was led by Ije Nwankwo's 10 points and nine rebounds.
After struggling with their rebounding so often this season, the Bulldogs looked to be overmatched on the boards again in this contest, at least on paper. But they outrebounded CSU 38-34, and pulled down several key rebounds, something that had been missing in the losses at Loyola and Youngstown State. The near fatal meltdown in the game's waning moments, with missed free throws and a potentially costly turnover, are certainly a concern. But the defense, particularly in the second half, was outstanding. BU held the Vikings to 39% shooting for the game and 30% in the second half. CSU's leading scorer Raheem Moss, who had 21 points in last year's meeting in Cleveland, was held to 2-of-12 shooting for six points. A much-needed win for the Bulldogs to avoid a winless road trip, and hopefully a sign of improved rebounding going forward.

After three straight road games, Butler will play four of its next five games at home. Up next is a visit from the Wright State Raiders, part of a doubleheader with the Butler's women's team. Game time at Hinkle Fieldhouse is Saturday, January 28, at approximately 2:00 p.m. EST, following the conclusion of the women's game which tips off at noon. Hope to see you there.

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