Second-half surge leads Butler past Seton Hall

INDIANAPOLIS — Butler put together a 6-minute, 45-second highlight reel, a sequence the Bulldogs absolutely needed Sunday afternoon in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Thanks to a staggering, 27-3, second-half run, Butler beat No. 24 Seton Hall for the second time in 12 days, prevailing 77-57 in Big East Conference action.

Butler earned its first Hinkle Fieldhouse victory against a Top 25 opponent since Jan. 19, 2013, when it defeated then-No. 8 Gonzaga 64-63.

The Bulldogs (15-6, 5-3 Big East) trailed 37-34 when they began the game-deciding blitz that was capped by a layup from guard Roosevelt Jones, giving Butler a 61-40 lead with 8:09 remaining.

Center Andrew Chrabascz led the Bulldogs with 16 points, guard Kellen Dunham added 15, Jones scored 12 and point guard Alex Barlow had 11.

“Really, even though you can get caught up in a good run because of the crowd, we still have to focus on possession by possession,” said Barlow, who had eight assists. Butler totaled 20 assists on 27 field goals. “You can’t celebrate and then let the opponent get back and score. With each possession in that run, we were focused on not giving up an easy basket or taking a bad shot.”

Chrabascz credited freshman forward Jackson Davis’ energy off the bench for fueling the huge momentum swing that made it possible for the Bulldogs to win. Davis scored only four points and played just six minutes but provided excellent defense.

“We strung together some defensive stops,” Chrabascz said. “We went through a little stretch where we were allowing them to do stuff, and we weren’t playing as hard as we possibly could.

“I thought that was when it really made a big difference for us. You don’t notice that it’s like a 27-3 run when you are playing, but while it was a little bit shocking, we did earn it.”

Butler outrebounded Seton Hall 37-36 and was guilty of only five turnovers, shooting 49.1 percent (27 of 55) in the victory. The Bulldogs’ only real flaw was shooting 16-for-31 from the free-throw line (51.6 percent).

Forward Brandon Mobley led Seton Hall (13-6, 3-4) with 15 points. The Pirates shot 36.7 percent from the floor, 52.9 percent, 9-for-17, at the foul line.

“That has happened to us a couple of times on the road now,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said of Butler’s 27-3 blitz. “We did a good job early in the second half making a run, and then we had a couple of really good looks at the basket during their run, but they did a great job in transition to get some easy buckets.

“They are an excellent defensive team, and when you give up easy buckets, you are going to be in trouble.”

Butler used a 12-0 run from the second half’s 14:54 mark until 12:44 remained to seize a 46-37 lead.

The Bulldogs followed the 12-0 run with a 6-2 spurt to increase their advantage to 52-39 with 10:44 to play. Barlow’s 3-pointer at the 9:44 mark extended the Butler lead to 55-40.

“Our guys responded really, really well today,” Butler coach Chris Holtmann said. “We had a lot of really good possessions. When we got an and-one play from (forward) Kameron Woods to tie it at 37, I thought that was a really big play.

“Something positive happened for us. I never felt like we were in jeopardy of the game getting away from us, but we needed a boost right there. Our senior, Kam, did that.”

Getting 15 first-half points from Chrabascz, Butler led 32-28 at halftime, gaining that four-point advantage on a 3-pointer from Barlow with three seconds to play.

The Bulldogs raced to a 19-6 lead but were plagued by poor free-throw shooting, allowing Seton Hall to get back into the game.

Butler shot only four of 13 from the line before intermission, while Seton Hall was three of six.

“As I have mentioned a couple of times before, our free-throw coach needs to be fired, and that actually is me,” Holtmann said. “In all honesty, that took a little wind out of our sails in the first half. We have worked on free throws more in the last couple of weeks than we have all year. I do think it takes a little