National Basketball Association
Saint Louis 65, Butler 61
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, February 22, 2013
Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials:
# Wally Rutecki, # Mike Sanzere, # Michael Stephens
Attendance:
10000
By SportsDirect Inc.
Saint Louis 65, No. 15 Butler 61: Mike McCall Jr. scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half as the visiting Billikens completed a regular-season sweep of the Bulldogs to remain atop the Atlantic 10.
Dwayne Evans added 17 points and Kwamain Mitchell tallied 12 for Saint Louis (21-5, 10-2 A-10), which has won nine straight and improved to 4-1 against ranked opponents this season.
Kellen Dunham scored all 14 of his points in the first half to lead Butler (22-6, 9-4), which fell 1½ games behind St. Louis with three games left on its schedule. Rotnei Clarke and Roosevelt Jones added 13 apiece for the Bulldogs.
The Billikens – third in the conference in field goal percentage – settled for a number of long jumpers in the first half and trailed by as many as nine points. Saint Louis made a concerted effort to get the ball inside after the break and it paid off as the Billikens hit eight consecutive shots – including five layups – at the beginning of the second and took a 48-41 lead.
Saint Louis’ cushion grew to nine with 10:57 remaining after a 3-pointer from McCall and pair of free throws by Jake Barnett, but five straight points each from Clarke and Jones sparked a 14-6 spurt to get Butler within 59-58. But two free throws from Mitchell and a tip-in by Evans gave the Billikens a bit of a cushion before McCall sank a pair of foul shots with 20 seconds left to secure the victory.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Saint Louis has defeated four ranked opponents in the same season for the first time in school history. … Butler’s two-game losing streak at Hinkle Fieldhouse is its longest since back-to-back home losses to Valparaiso and Xavier in December 2011. … Eight of the Billikens’ nine victories during their winning streak are by double digits.
Top Game Performances
| Saint Louis |
|
Butler |
|
Mike McCall Jr. 18 |
Scoring |
Kellen Dunham 14 |
|
Grandy Glaze 3 |
Assists |
Roosevelt Jones 3 |
|
Rob Loe 6 |
Rebounds |
Andrew Smith 9 |
|
Mike McCall Jr. 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Roosevelt Jones 7 |
|
Dwayne Evans 2 |
Steals |
Kellen Dunham 1 |
|
Dwayne Evans 2 |
Blocks |
Roosevelt Jones 4 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Saint Louis
|
65 |
42.9 |
3-17 |
14-26 |
10 |
27 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
| Butler
|
61 |
43.5 |
6-18 |
15-26 |
11 |
36 |
6 |
3 |
14 |