Butler @ Boise State preview

Butler at Boise St.

Last Meeting ( Nov 26, 2023 ) Butler 70, Boise St. 56

It wasn't clear how many teams would be motivated to compete at the inaugural College Basketball Crown, and a few programs even turned down invitations.

Butler and Boise State didn't want their seasons to end Monday, staying alive with their respective first-round victories -- one that went down to the wire and another that got out of hand.

The Bulldogs and Broncos will face off Wednesday in Las Vegas for the right to advance to the Crown semifinals.

Both teams had some rust to knock off after not playing for two-plus weeks. Butler (15-19) trailed Utah 60-49 about five minutes into the second half before kicking off a dynamic 24-7 run to take a six-point lead.

Utah tied the game with a 3-pointer with 1:17 to go and missed a go-ahead shot with 27 seconds left. The Bulldogs capitalized, drawing up a play for Pierre Brooks II to slice through the lane past multiple defenders, and his layup with 3.2 seconds on the clock was the difference in an 86-84 win.

"Me and (Patrick McCaffery), it's our last time playing, and (Andre Screen) as well, so we wanted to (go) out with a bang," said Brooks, who had 22 points and nine rebounds as he wraps up his fourth college season and his second at Butler.

"We wanted to make the NCAA Tournament but it wasn't with us this year. So we just have to play the hardest, and we wanted to stay in Vegas."

Boise State (25-10) was one of the first four teams out of the NCAA Tournament field and displayed its talent Monday against George Washington. Despite scoring just three points in the first eight minutes, Boise State caught fire and raced away to an 89-59 victory.

Freshman Pearson Carmichael had 15 points and a whopping six steals as Boise State produced a 27-5 edge in points off turnovers and 18-0 in fastbreak points. Senior Tyson Degenhart, meanwhile, scored a team-high 19 points to reach 1,990 for his career.

Already the program's all-time scoring leader, he could become its first 2,000-point scorer Wednesday.

"This is a very, very focused group," Degenhart said. "Especially led by the seniors. This is our last, one of our last go-arounds in college basketball, so we just want to give it our all and just see where we can end up. And I think we have a team that can go all the way."

The winner will face the winner between Nebraska and Georgetown in the semifinals. The tournament championship is Sunday.

--Field Level Media