Butler men bounce back with 23-point home win over Pratt

The Butler men rebounded from Saturday's home loss to Barton with a 78-55 home conference victory over Pratt Wednesday evening at the Power Plant.

Butler (12-4 overall, 5-2 conference) took advantage of Pratt's poor first-half shooting enroute to a 37-18 halftime lead, as the Beavers shot just 16.7 percent (5-of-30) from the field and did not make a two-point basket in the opening half.

Pratt, who came into Wednesday's contest averaging 85.5 points per game, was held to a season-low in both points (55) and field goal percentage (25.4). The Beavers made just 16-of-63 shots, going 8-of-30 from beyond the arc and hitting only 8-of-33 inside the perimeter.

"I was really pleased with our defensive effort tonight," said Butler head coach Kyle Fisher. "Obviously, we were really guarding them. It wasn't our best defense in the second half, but it was certainly good to bounce back and get a win on our home floor. I told the guys even though we didn't play our best in the second half, you never want to apologize for a 23-point win against any Jayhawk opponent."

Grizzly sophomore guard Grehlon Easter led all scorers with 21 points, marking the third time this season he has eclipsed the 20-point mark. After missing Saturday's game with an injury, Marque English returned to action with a strong 17-point, 11-rebound performance, while Ndongo Ndaw added 11 points and seven rebounds to help Butler to the win.

"It was good to have Marque back," said Fisher. "He gives us a physical presence in there. He does a lot of things for us on the defensive end, as well as being efficient around the basket. Ndongo really started to find a rhythm in there. With a team that shoots so many threes like they do, we've got to do a good job on long rebounds. I think we did that tonight."

Pratt's offensive troubles were evident early in the first half after taking an early 7-4 lead over the Grizzlies with 16:01 remaining before halftime. The Beavers went 10:03 without a made field goal, relying on 3-point attempts and unable to get second-chance shots as Butler dominated the glass.

Meanwhile, Butler made a 26-5 run over a 13:49 stretch to build a 30-12 lead with 2:53 left in the half, as the Grizzlies received strong efforts from Ndaw and Kamron Brice. The duo combined to score 17 points during the run.

Down 7-4, the Grizzlies scored 12 straight after an Easter field goal. Ndaw and Brice each added five points, with Brice scoring a layup and a 3-pointer during the run. Ndaw capped the spurt with a made basket and swishing a bonus free throw on the play with 9:18 remaining.

Butler took its largest lead of the half at 37-15 on a Shawn Hopkins 3-pointer with 24 seconds, while Pratt ended the half with a buzzer-beating trey from John Long, who led the Beavers with 18 points.

The Grizzlies extended its lead to 25 points early in the second half behind consecutive 3-pointers from English and Easter for a 43-18 advantage.

Pratt finally made its first basket inside the perimeter with 14:47 remaining in the game, as Tommy Thomas drove to the basket for a lay-in. The Beavers would wiggle Butler's lead back down to 16 near the midway mark of the second half, but an 8-2 run capped by an English trey put the Grizzlies back up 59-36 with 8:42 remaining.

Butler's biggest lead of the night came with 4:31 left after a quick 7-0 run, as English made back-to-back baskets and Easter added a 3-pointer for a 73-47 advantage.

Butler connected on 42.9 percent (27-of-63) of its shots and outrebounded the Beavers 40-35.

The Grizzlies will have a two-game road swing beginning Saturday at Garden City (7-8, 1-5). The Broncbusters are near the bottom of the Jayhawk West standings, with Dodge City (0-6) and Northwest Kansas Tech (0-7) still winless in conference play.

Garden opened conference with an 88-85 home win over Cloud County back on Nov. 27, but has since lost five straight games. The Busters are coming off a 72-67 road loss Wednesday at Neosho County. Tip-off at Garden will start at 4:00 p.m. following the conclusion of the women's game. 

"I don't know much about Garden as we've been occupied with Pratt," Fisher said. "I know they're big and they're good. It doesn't matter who you play or where you play them. If you don't play well enough, you're gonna get beat."

Butler will play at Cloud County on Monday in Concordia, then return home for a early afternoon contest against East leader Allen at 1:00 p.m.