Butler men dominate Dodge City 88-57 in home victory

Butler sophomore Grehlon Easter scored 18 points as the Grizzlies rolled to an 88-57 home conference win over Dodge City Wednesday night at the Power Plant.

Juwan White added 14 points in the win for Butler (9-3 overall, 2-1 conference), while Kamron Brice and Marque English scored 10 points each. Brice added a team-high nine rebounds to lead the Grizzlies.

Dodge City (7-3, 0-3) averaged 101 points per game coming into Wednesday's contest, but was held to a season-low 57 points on just 28.6 percent shooting (18-of-63). Meanwhile, Butler made 54.5 percent (30-of-55) from the field and hit 10 treys in the victory.

"I thought we would play well being back home after a two-game road swing," said Butler head coach Kyle Fisher. "It's always good to see the ball go through the net early on and that kind of jumpstarted our defense. To hold them to 57 points, we're pretty pleased with our effort there."

Butler built an early 10-point lead behind a 14-2 run over a four-minute stretch, with Brice scoring eight of the Grizzlies' 14 points. Brice opened the spurt with a 3-pointer from the near corner, then Marque English added a running layup in the paint. Brice followed with a layup off a steal for a 7-2 Butler lead.

After a Dodge field goal, Brice and Zach Butler hit consecutive 3-pointers and English made 1-of-2 foul shots to put Butler up 14-4 with 14:45 remaining in the half.

Butler led by as many as 14 in the first half, as the Grizzlies' perimeter shooting kept the hosts in front. The Grizzlies hit 6-of-14 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of play, with Brice and Easter each hitting two treys in the opening half.

"We've been emphasizing throwing the ball in the post and getting paint touches," said Fisher. "You're either driving it in or throwing it in, and that makes the defense collapse. We've got guys that are capable of making shots and it was good to see them have some success back here at home."

Up 41-30 at the break, Butler extended its lead to 23 with another 14-2 run to open the second half. The Grizzlies hit three treys during the run, which was started with a Javaunte Hawkins 3-pointer on Butler's opening possession of the half. Juwan White added consecutive treys to cap the run, as Butler took a 55-32 lead with 15:20 left in the game.

Dodge City struggled offensively to begin the second half, missing their first five shots from the field and turning the ball over six times. The Conquistadors made their first field goal on the half at the 12:55 mark.

A dunkfest by Butler keyed an 8-0 run for a 76-48 lead with 3:58 remaining, as the Grizzlies had three straight dunks from Easter, Ndongo Ndaw and English.

"Our defense really energized our offense," Fisher said. "We started getting some blocks, some deflections, some turnovers which led to some transition baskets, which is always fun. I was really pleased with our defense and how that created some offense for us."

Ndaw had some impressive moments in the second half, as he finished with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, seven rebounds and three blocks in 15 minutes of action.

Butler stretched the lead to 30 in the final minute, as Dylan Orr assisted on a Jude Warren lay-in for an 84-54 lead.

The Grizzlies will host No. 2 Hutchinson on Saturday at the Power Plant, as the undefeated Blue Dragons (11-0, 3-0) are coming off a 101-78 home win over Neosho County. Fisher will be introduced to the Butler-Hutch rivalry, but he is no stranger to big games against the Blue Dragons after spending seven seasons as an assistant at Coffeyville prior to becoming the Grizzlies' head coach.

"It will be a lot of fun out here in the Power Plant playing one of the best teams in the country," said Fisher. "They've got a lot of talent and play really well together. We'll be prepared for them. They'll get a good shot from us."

Saturday's tipoff from the Power Plant is at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live online at http://butlergrizzlies.com/watchlive