Official Basketball Box Score
Butler (Ind.) vs South Dakota State
12/28/05 7 p.m. at Brookings, S.D. (Frost Arena)

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VISITORS: Butler (Ind.) 7-5
                          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  9-12   0-0    0-1    0  7  7   1  18  1  3  1  1  25
33 CRONE, Brandon...... f  3-5    1-2    4-5    0  4  4   3  11  3  3  0  0  27
03 HORAN, Bruce........ g  5-7    5-7    3-3    0  2  2   1  18  1  1  0  1  28
04 GRAVES, A. J........ g  4-9    2-4    0-0    0  3  3   0  10  4  1  0  1  25
21 SHEETS, Avery....... g  4-7    2-4    0-0    0  1  1   1  10  6  1  0  1  31
01 BETKO, Julian.......    1-2    0-1    3-3    1  1  2   3   5  3  4  0  0  15
05 SLATON, Ben.........    2-3    0-1    0-0    1  0  1   0   4  0  0  0  1   5
23 NELLEMS, Marcus.....    2-3    2-2    0-2    1  2  3   0   6  3  0  0  1  17
24 LIGON, Brian........    0-1    0-0    1-3    1  5  6   3   1  0  3  1  0  17
32 STREICHER, Drew.....    1-1    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   5   2  0  0  0  0  10
   TEAM................                         2  3  5
   Totals..............   31-50  12-21  11-17   7 29 36  17  85 21 16  2  6 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-26 57.7%   2nd Half: 16-24 66.7%   Game: 62.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  9-14 64.3%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 57.1%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  9-12 75.0%   Game: 64.7%    2

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HOME TEAM: South Dakota State 3-10
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
50 Ben Beran........... f  6-17   0-5    0-1    2  2  4   3  12  0  1  0  2  29
42 Mohamed Berte....... c  4-9    0-0    4-6    3  3  6   4  12  1  2  1  0  35
04 Eric Heien.......... g  1-2    0-1    0-0    1  3  4   1   2  4  2  0  1  27
22 Andy Kleinjan....... g  0-4    0-3    2-2    0  1  1   1   2  0  1  0  0  22
24 Matt Cadwell........ g  1-6    0-0    2-2    1  0  1   2   4  2  4  0  2  34
03 Mackenzie Casey.....    0-1    0-1    0-1    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  1   9
32 Andre Gilbert.......    3-9    1-2    1-2    1  4  5   2   8  3  3  0  3  28
54 Michael Loney.......    3-7    0-0    2-3    4  1  5   1   8  0  2  0  0  16
   TEAM................                         1  1  2             1
   Totals..............   18-55   1-12  11-17  13 16 29  15  48 10 16  1  9 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-27 37.0%   2nd Half:  8-28 28.6%   Game: 32.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  1-4  25.0%   2nd Half:  0-8   0.0%   Game:  8.3%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-9  66.7%   2nd Half:  5-8  62.5%   Game: 64.7%    1

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Officials: Chris Beaver, Peter Juzenas, Tom Mauer
Technical fouls: Butler (Ind.)-None. South Dakota State-None.
Attendance: 1968
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Butler (Ind.).................   41   44  -   85
South Dakota State............   27   21  -   48
SDSU plays Jan. 2 at Montana State
Butler hosts Illinois-Chicago on Jan. 2 in Horizon League opener

DAVE'S POSTGAME ANALYSIS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Brandon Polk. BP followed a solid effort against IU with 18 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds.

All five of Butler's starters reached double figures. Horan matched Polk with 18 points. Brandon Crone had 11 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Avery Sheets added 10 points and six assists with just one turnover in 31 minutes. Graves had 10 points, four assists and three rebounds. Marcus Nellems had six points, three rebounds, and three assists. Julian Betko added five points and three assists. Ben Slaton had four points, while Drew Streicher added two points. Ligon had one point and six rebounds. SDSU was led by Ben Beran and Mohamed Berte, who finished with 12 points each.

Something about playing SDSU brings out the best in Butler's offense. Last year at Hinkle, the Bulldogs had 22 assists on 29 field goals; tonight, they had 21 assists on 31 field goals. Butler shot a blistering 62% for the game, including 57% from behind the three-point line. The Bulldogs' 16 turnovers were uncharacteristic, but certainly far from fatal in this game. Defensively, Butler held the Jackrabbits to 33% shooting (including 1-of-12 from three-point range) and forced 16 turnovers. I was concerned that Butler might be a little flat after the IU game, heading on the road three days after Christmas for the final game before Horizon League play begins, but that clearly wasn't the case.