Box Score



Box Score (PDF)

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – An 8-0 second-half run gave Butler the pad they needed as they surged past the University of Evansville men's basketball team by a 68-59 final on Saturday afternoon at the Ford Center.
 
Evansville (6-6) led by three points at the half, but a stretch midway through the final period gave the Bulldogs (9-2) the lead for good.
 
Leading the way for UE was D.J. Balentine.  He drained 9 of his 21 attempts to finish with a game-high 26 points.  He knocked down all seven free throws while dishing out 5 assists.  Egidijus Mockevicius continued to be a force on the inside, pulling in a career-high 15 boards, almost half of the Aces' tally in the game.
 
"I am proud of our guys, they did a great job of bouncing back from last week," head coach Marty Simmons said.  "We had a great week of practice and our guys were very spirited.  You have to give Butler the credit, they played a great game and deserved the win."
 
The Aces posted the first four points of the day as Blake Simmons got the offense rolling.  Butler started the game missing their first four shots to go along with a turnover before Alex Barlow scored on the fast break to put the Bulldogs on the board.
 
Butler took its first lead at 8-7 as Kellen Dunhan hit a pair of free throws, but Adam Wing made it 2-for-2 from downtown to put UE back on top at 10-8 just over six minutes in.  The Bulldogs were ice cold from outside in the early-going, missing their first eight treys before Jackson Aldridge hit the first at the midway point of the half to give BU its largest lead at 15-12.
 
A first half that featured eight lead changes saw the back-and-forth action continue as Evansville rallied back to retake the lead with a 5-0 run that was capped off by a Simmons jumper as he improved to 3-for-3 from the floor at that point.  Four points in a row by Balentine saw UE match its largest lead at 21-17 with five minutes remaining.
 
Neither team would lead by more than a possession for the remainder of the period; with the score tied in the closing seconds, Balentine launched a long trey to send the Aces to the break up by a score of 32-29.  Those tallies gave him 11 in the half.
 
Three Bulldogs found the bottom of the net as Butler reeled off the first six points of the second half.  Evansville missed its first four shots of the period while turning the ball over twice before Mockevicius got to the basket with an open dunk to get UE back on the board just over three minutes in.  Simmons hit a nice floater on the ensuing trip as UE retook the lead at 36-35 as the Aces forced four consecutive misses on the defensive end.
 
Balentine's fifth bucket of the day, a breakaway dunk, put Evansville up 41-40 with 10:32 remaining, but Butler made a game-changing run, posting eight points in as Alex Barlow started the run with a three before ending it with a layup.  The Aces went 0-4 with two turnovers in the stretch as Butler took the largest lead either team had enjoyed to that point at 48-41.
 
With just under seven minutes remaining, Mockevicius knocked down both free throw attempts before Duane Gibson got on the board with a layup to get UE back within a possession at 48-45.
 
That is as close as the Aces would get, though, as Butler pushed its lead to double figures for the first time at 59-49 inside of 1:30 remaining before going up by as many as 14 (65-51) by making seven free throws in a row.  A late Tyler Ptacek three helped UE close to the final of 68-59.
 
Led by Kameron Wood's 13 boards, the Bulldogs finished with a 49-31 edge in that category, including 16-6 on the offensive glass.  Alex Barlow was the top scorer for BU with 16 points while Kellen Dunham checked in with 15. 
 
Evansville finished with a slight shooting advantage of 37.9%-37.7% and also saw its offense dish out 16 assists on 22 baskets.
 
Following the Christmas holiday, the team will have its final non-conference tuneup prior to Missouri Valley Conference play when the Aces take on Grambling State on Dec. 28 beginning at 1:05 p.m. in the Ford Center.