Ace Hunt
GoSycamores.com
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana State was paced by Brenton Scott and his 18 points but No. 25 Butler's hot shooting proved too much to overcome as the Bulldogs earned an 85-71 in front of over 8,000 fans inside Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The Sycamores fell to 3-4 overall while Butler improved to 6-1. The Bulldogs have now won four in a row in the all-time series.
Scott got his 18 points on the strength of three 3-pointers to lead the Sycamore offensive attack. Brandon Murphy tied a career high with 10 points while Devonte Brown added 10 of his own. The Sycamores hit 38.5 percent of their shots while the Bulldogs were able to convert 56.9 percent of their attempts for the game. Butler held a slim 33-30 margin in the rebounding battle.
Butler held a 43-36 lead at the half, but it was the Sycamores who struck first at the break with an Everett Clemons second chance bucket and then a Devonte Brown 3-pointer at the 19:13 mark to trim the Bulldog advantage down to 43-41. Brandon Murphy went in double figures scoring with a dunk off the feed from Brown as the clock neared the 18 minute mark to keep the Sycamores within striking distance at 47-43.
The Bulldogs answered the dunk with a 6-0 run for the 53-43 advantage, but then the Sycamores got cooking on both ends. Emondre Rickman and Clemons each recorded lay-ups and then a Brenton Scott steal and fastbreak score made it a 6-0 run for the Sycamores at the 12:03 mark to cut the Bulldog edge down to 53-49. Butler scored eight in a row until Brown broke the string at the 9:18 mark to make it a 61-51 Butler lead.
Indiana State would not go away with three free throws from Brown as well as a 3-pointer by Scott with 7:37 to go which cut the Butler lead to down to 63-57. Brown then hit a driving lay-up on the next possesion to answer a Bulldog score but consecutive trips with three points each saw the deficit reach 71-59 as the clock approached the six minute mark.
Brenton Scott continued a strong second half with a conventional 3-point play at the 4:56 mark which got the Sycamores within 75-62.
Brandon Murphy got on the board first for the Sycamores with a second chance lay-up which answered four points in a row to begin the contest for Butler. A Matt Van Scyoc 3-pointer at the 17:18 mark gave Indiana State its first lead of the game at 5-4 and then his lay-up in the paint staked the Sycamores to a 7-6 advantage just over four minutes in. The Bulldogs scored the next five before consecutive 3-pointers for Khristian Smith and Brenton Scott knotted the contest at 13 with 13:43 on the clock.
The Sycamores nailed a trio of 3-pointers before Brandon Burnett converted one the conventional way with 11:54 on the clock to cut the Bulldog advantage down to 17-16. Burnett continued a solid start with a 3-pointer at the 10:39 mark to end a Butler run and get the Sycamores within three points before Brenton Scott drilled another at the 7:49 mark to make it just a one point game at 27-26.
Butler was able to rattle off seven in a row to force an Indiana State timeout. Murphy trimmed the lead down to 34-28 with a pair of free throws at the 4:34 mark. Smith and Murphy each had nice tip-ins on the next two trips before Murphy used a baseline spin move at the 2:52 mark to get within 36-34. Smith hit a pair of free throws out of the final media timeout of the first half to cut the Butler cushion down to 40-36.
The Bulldogs scored three points on their final three possessions of the half and an Everett Clemons halfcourt shot just missed wide right at the buzzer as Butler owned a 43-36 lead at the break. Brenton Scott and Brandon Murphy tied for the team high of eight points each over the course of the first stanza.
Kelan Martin was one of three double digit scorers for the Bulldogs and scored 24 points to lead Butler in the contest.
Indiana State returns home for the first time in nearly in a month when they face off against Valparaiso on Wednesday, December 9 inside Hulman Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. (ET).
