Field Level Media
Dec 14, 2019
Bryce Golden scored 12 points, Sean McDermott chipped in 11 and Khalif Battle added 10 as No. 18 Butler relied on a balanced effort in a 66-41 win over visiting Southern on Saturday in Indianapolis.
The Bulldogs (10-1) wiped away the frustration of Tuesday's one-point loss to Baylor by seizing an early lead and cruising to their seventh win at Hinkle Fieldhouse this season.
Butler sank 8 of 22 3-pointers and held Southern to 28.0 percent shooting (14 of 50) to extend their nonconference home winning streak to 56 straight.
Isaiah Rollins finished with 13 points and six rebounds to lead the Jaguars (3-8).
Battle sparked the Bulldogs with a second-half scoring surge. He scored seven points in the first three-plus minutes to push the lead to 43-22. McDermott added a dunk and 3-pointer in a 37-second stretch to pad Butler's advantage to 62-37.
The Bulldogs wasted little time showing they wouldn't have a letdown playing against the struggling Jaguars.
McDermott opened the scoring by drilling a 3-pointer after both teams failed to score in the first two minutes. Golden had a three-point play and Aaron Thompson added a basket to give Butler an 8-0 lead before Rollins hit a 3-pointer to finally put the Jaguars on the board nearly five minutes in.
Jordan Tucker drilled a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 12-3, and two minutes later hit another triple for a 16-3 edge.
Brendon Brooks buried a long trey to slice the deficit to 22-13, but Golden scored four straight points in an 8-0 run that increased the lead to 30-13 with 3:06 left until halftime. Thompson added a basket with one second left in the first half to give the Bulldogs a 34-16 halftime lead.
--Field Level Media