INDIANAPOLIS —
When Indiana State’s men’s basketball team lost starter Dwayne Lathan prior to last Tuesday’s game against Illinois State, they circled the wagons and gutted out an overtime victory.
The Sycamores lost another starter prior to its game against Butler as Carl Richard couldn’t play due to stomach flu. This time, the Bulldogs ran circles around the Sycamores.
ISU succumbed to stellar Butler defense and its own demons on both ends of the floor. Butler dominated ISU to the tune of a 75-54 rout in front of a sellout crowd of 10,000 at Hinkle Fieldhouse for the Sears BracketBusters game.
“To come into an unbelievable atmosphere against a very good team and not compete harder than that? It’s very disappointing,” ISU coach Greg Lansing said.
R.J. Mahurin scored a career-best 22 points, but the Sycamores could produce little else on the offensive end. Lathan returned to action and hit double-figure scoring with 10 points, but no one else was an offensive factor.
Butler did a masterful job against ISU point guard Jake Odum. The sophomore was held scoreless for just the second time this season. Butler had Ronald Nored and Roosevelt Jones on Odum for the majority of the game.
“They played championship-style defense, just like they did last year. That’s what we need to get to,” Odum said.
Defensively, ISU was never a factor. Butler shot 45 percent, and better-than-usual 3-point shooting from the Bulldogs (40 percent, its season average is 28 percent) was salt in ISU’s wounds. Five different Bulldogs reached double-figure scoring. Andrew Smith had 12 to lead Butler.
“It looked like our first conference game at Drake [on Dec. 28] where we gave up 29 layups,” Lansing lamented.
Richard’s presence was sorely missed on the defensive end as Butler’s forwards were able to find space under the basket. ISU was also hurt on the boards as Butler had a 43-28 rebounding advantage.
“That really hurt us. They got a lot of stuff in the paint, they were attacking there. He’s a really good help guy; he always knows the plan and helps us carry it out. It was a loss, but we got hurt in other spots,” said Lansing, who also noted that he wanted to save Richard’s strength for next week’s Missouri Valley Conference games.
Butler coach Brad Stevens conceded that Richard’s absence played an important part in the success the Bulldogs had.
“Richard being out … he’s a heck of a player. He’s a matchup problem, he’s hard to guard, I thought we caught them on the right day,” Stevens said.
ISU (16-12) struggled out of the gate and found itself in an immediate hole. ISU failed to score on 13 of its first 17 possessions as Butler’s defense put the clamps on everyone. Butler — more aggressive than ISU on both ends — used a 13-4 run to take a 23-8 lead at the 10-minute mark.
The Sycamores’ fortunes revived thanks to the shooting touch of Mahurin. The sophomore was the only hot hand ISU had as he scored eight of his 10 first-half points in a seven-minute span. A Mahurin 3-pointer closed ISU’s gap to 30-26 with 3:07 to go in the half.
The Sycamores then went back into an offensive shell. The Bulldogs answered with a half-ending 7-1 run to take a 37-27 halftime advantage.
“R.J. was 5 for 5 [from 3-point range] at the half, but no one else was doing anything. We were getting to the basket and not finishing strong. At the other end, Butler was finishing strong and drawing fouls,” Lansing said.
Butler (17-12) carried the momentum into the second half. The Bulldogs scored on six straight possessions from the 18-minute mark and surged to a 49-32 lead.
The Sycamores would not get its deficit under 13 for the remainder of the game.
ISU has an important week ahead of it. The Sycamores travel to Missouri State on Wednesday and play host to Creighton on Saturday. To avoid the MVC Tournament play-in round, the Sycamores will likely have to win both contests.
INDIANA STATE (54) — Mahurin 6-10 6-11 22, Walker 3-7 1-3 7, Odum 0-3 0-0 0, Lathan 3-12 4-6 10, Printy 2-6 2-2 8, Kitchell 2-2 1-2 5, Eitel 1-4 0-0 2, Gant 0-2 0-0 0, McWhorter 0-5 0-0 0. 17-51 FG, 14-24 FT, 54 TP.
BUTLER (75) — Fromm 4-6 2-2 11, Jones 5-8 1-5 11, Smith 4-11 3-4 12, Nored 1-2 2-2 5, Hopkins 4-10 1-2 11, Smeathers 1-2 0-0 2, Barlow 0-0 0-0 0, Aldridge 0-3 2-2 2, El. Kampen 0-0 0-0 0, Marshall 4-7 2-2 10, Em. Kampen 0-0 0-0 0, Woods 1-4 0-0 2, Butcher 0-1 0-0 0, Stigall 3-6 0-0 9. 27-60 FG, 13-19 FT, 75 TP.
Halftime score — BU 37-27. 3-point goals — ISU 6-14 (Mahurin 4-6, Printy 2-5, Odum 0-1, Eitel 0-1, McWhorter 0-1), BU 8-20 (Stigall 3-5, Hopkins 2-5, Smith 1-3, Fromm 1-2, Aldridge 0-2, Woods 0-1). Rebounds — ISU 28* (Walker 7, Lathan 5, Team RB 4*, Odum 3, Gant 3, Mahurin 2, Printy 2, Kitchell, McWhorter), BU 43* (Jones 12, Woods 8, Smith 5, Team RB 5*, Fromm 3, Stigall 3, Nored 2, Aldridge 2, El. Kampen, Marshall, Em. Kampen), Assists — ISU 12 (Odum 5, Printy 3, McWhorter 2, Lathan, Gant), BU 17 (Nored 10, Woods 2, Jones 2, Aldridge, Em. Kampen, Stigall), Steals — ISU 3 (Kitchell 2, Odum), BU 2 (Jones, Aldridge), Blocks — ISU 3 (Odum, Kitchell, Gant), BU 5 (Smith 2, Woods 2, Fromm), Turnovers — ISU 13 (Odum 3, McWhorter 3, Lathan 2, Kitchell 2, Gant), BU 14 (Nored 4, Aldridge 3, Smith 2, Fromm, Jones, Marshall, Woods, Stigall), Total fouls — ISU 17, BU 20. Fouled out — Woods. A — 10,000.
Next — ISU (16-12) plays at Missouri State on Wednesday. Butler (17-12) plays Illinois-Chicago on Tuesday.
College
Related Photos
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Harassment: Indiana State guard Jake Odum and teammate Lucas Eitel pressure Butler's Erik Fromm along the Butler baseline during first-half action.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Top scorer: R.J. Mahurin was the top scorer for the Indiana State men during their loss at Butler Saturday afternoon.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Rejection slip: Jake Odum has a shot blocked by Butler's Kameron Woods during first-half action in Indianapolis.
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Tribune-Star/Jim Avelis Tall order: Myles Walker tries to get a shot over Butler's 6-foot-11 center Andrew Smith.
Discussion
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