Ace Hunt
Gosycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Devonte Brown paced three Sycamores in double figures scoring but it was nationally-ranked Butler that came away with a 77-54 victory over Indiana State in front of 5,528 fans inside Hulman Center.
The Sycamores fell to 3-4 while No. 23 Butler improved to 6-1.
Brown led the Sycamores with 16 points while Jake Kitchell poured in 14 and Brenton Scott added 10. Tre' Bennett had six assists off the bench and T.J. Bell contributed six rebounds. Scott was credited with three steals.
In the second half, the Sycamores hit 10-of-21 shots from the field (47.6 percent). Butler finished the contest with a 53.8 shooting percentage.
Kitchell got the Sycamores started early with a field goal off the assist from Khristian Smith. Butler would score five in a row before Kitchell drained a 3-pointer to level the score at five with 17:35 remaining in the first half. Brown would keep the Sycamores close with a driving lay-up and then a free throw as Indiana State was behind 11-8 with 13:46 left before halftime. The Bulldogs would then score nine a row before Scott's lay-up after a steal with 8:56 on the clock made it 20-10.
A conventional 3-point play by Kitchell with six minutes remaining in the opening stanza pushed the Sycamores to within 29-13. Alex Etherington converted a jumper with 3:45 on the clock to keep the Sycamores within 15, and then Etherington drilled a trifecta to cut the Butler advantage down to 32-19. The two teams battled back and forth before Kitchell's free throw with 45 seconds remaining whittled the Bulldog cushion at 13. Kellen Dunham scored on the next possession and Butler went into the break with a 37-22 lead.
Khristian Smith scored on the Sycamores' first possession of the second half to make it 37-24 before Butler answered with four in a row to stretch the lead to 17. A conventional 3-point play off an offensive rebound by T.J. Bell made it 41-27. Another 3-pointer from Kitchell got the Sycamores within 46-34, but a 7-0 Butler run stretched the lead out to 53-34.
Scott would hit a 3-pointer off an assist from Bennett at the 7:24 mark to make it an 18-point Butler lead. The Bulldogs owned a 77-51 lead before Scott's 3-pointer at the 1:22 mark yielded the final score of 77-54.
Five Bulldogs finished in double figures scoring with Roosevelt Jones and Kellen Dunham leading the way with 14 points each.
The Sycamores return to action when they begin a two-game road swing on Saturday, December 6 at Ball State. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. (ET) from Worthen Arena in Muncie.
