Butler Basketball: Bulldogs ride defense to victory in Newark

Kelan Martin had a rough shooting night, but Butler basketball used their defense to knock off the Seton Hall Pirates.

The Seton Hall Pirates desperately needed a victory over one of the top four teams in the Big East in order to continue to boost their NCAA Tournament resume. But the Butler Bulldogs had other ideas.

Chris Holtmann’s team went into a hostile environment at the Prudential Center in Newark on Wednesday evening and defeated the Pirates, 61-54, in a defensive-minded battle.

The Bulldogs had four players score in double figures (Andrew Chrabascz, Kelan Martin, Kamar Baldwin and Kethan Savage), but it was their work on defense that led the way. The Bulldogs held the Pirates to just 19 points in the first half and forced Kevin Willard’s team into multiple contested outside jump shots.

For the game, Seton Hall shot just 29 percent and 17 percent from beyond the arc and turned the ball over 12 times. Khadeen Carrington and Desi Rodriguez went a combined 8-of-34, and Angel Delgado, who finished with 12 points and 22 rebounds, had very little impact on the game in the opening 20 minutes.

If it wasn’t for the Pirates domination on the offensive glass in the second half and Delgado’s burst of energy (he’s the first player in Big East history to record back-to-back 20-rebound games), Seton Hall likely would’ve lost by at least 10+ points.

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Butler’s offense wasn’t crisp either, but Savage was again excellent off the bench, the Bulldogs had nine assists on 19 field goals and they shot 40 percent from beyond the arc.

Holtmann’s team mucked up the game with their defense and their slow paced offense, and they sure succeeded despite Hall taking a 45-44 lead on a Myles Powell three with 6:34 remaining.

But the most promising aspect of this victory for Butler was the fact that their leading scorer Martin shot just 2-of-10 and the Bulldogs still pulled out a road win in conference play.

That shows mental toughness and incredible grit. This is the same Butler team that trailed at halftime in six of their first eight conference games and went on to win five of those games, including home victories over both Villanova and Xavier.

That’s going to go a long way in March. The Bulldogs may not have as much talent as teams in the top 10, but they sure have the coaching, fundamentals, and chemistry to compete with those units.

Next: Conference battles shake up top 25

I still don’t consider Butler a true contender to win the Big East (until Villanova loses the regular season title I’ll believe it). But they are one of many teams that have a realistic shot at reaching the Final Four.

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