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Butler Basketball: Bulldogs hold off Indiana’s late run in victory

By Lukas Harkins

Dec 17, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Butler Bulldogs forward Kelan Martin (30) celebrates with his teammates during a timeout in the second half of the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Butler beat Indiana 83-78. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 17, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Butler Bulldogs forward Kelan Martin (30) celebrates with his teammates during a timeout in the second half of the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Butler beat Indiana 83-78. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Butler basketball used scoring from all nine of their players to defeat the 9th ranked Indiana Hoosiers.

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Both Butler and Indiana took the last week off to participate in final exams, but they both came out to play at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in the Crossroads Classic on Saturday. Butler came out victorious, winning 83-78.

Related Story: Where is Butler, Indiana seeded in our latest Bracketology?

After a back-and-forth first 10 minutes of the game, it was Butler who pulled away. After a Kelan Martin jump shot with 10:21 left to play in the first half, Butler took a 16-14 lead, and they never trailed for the remainder of the game.

Martin led the way for the Bulldogs, as he was the hot man with 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. Along with Martin, both Andrew Chrabascz and Kamar Baldwin scored in double figures, both totaling 14 points each.

Junior guard James Blackmon Jr. finished with 26 points for the Hoosiers and was joined in double figures by Thomas Bryant and Robert Johnson. In his return from injury, OG Anunoby had seven points, seven rebounds and three assists in 26 minutes of play.

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Despite a strong showing in the second half, including several runs that brought the Hoosiers inside 10 points, Butler never relinquished their lead. With 40 seconds left, Blackmon buried a three-pointer and Indiana trailed by just two points. After a stagnant start to their possession, Butler head coach Chris Holtmann called timeout.

With this, he was able to draw up an inbound play on the ensuing possession that ended in a Tyler Wideman dunk. After that, it was two free throws from senior point guard Tyler Lewis that capped off the Bulldog victory.

As many people expected, Indiana was able to dominate on the glass, which resulted in a +16 (!) rebounding differential in their favor. It was, however, Indiana’s carelessness with the ball and Butler’s outstanding shooting from deep that made the difference. The Hoosiers committed 13 total turnovers, seven more than Butler, and the Bulldogs knocked down 10 three-pointers at a 47.6 percent clip.

This was Indiana’s second loss of the season, with the previous defeat coming on the road against Fort Wayne. However, their strong resume will likely still place them among the best teams in the country. Indiana has two more contests left before Big Ten play begins, and their next battle is on Monday night against Delaware State.

Butler, on the other hand, moved to 3-0 against the AP Top 25 this season. They face off against Vermont on Wednesday in their last non-conference game of the season. The Bulldogs have a very impressive non-conference resume, including multiple neutral site victories, which will greatly help them come March.

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Butler’s ability to win big games is certainly a testament to Holtmann and the rest of their team. They’ve shown incredible resiliency when challenged in tough match-ups.