PRATT, Kan. – Jared Armstrong scored a career-high 32 points to lead the Butler men to a 128-107 road win at Pratt in the first game of the new year.
The 128 points set a Butler school record for most points scored in a conference game. Oddly enough, the Grizzlies set that record nearly a year ago against the same opponent, as Butler scored 122 points against the Beavers on Jan. 4, 2017.
Butler (6-7 overall, 3-7 conference) set season-high marks in three-pointers made (16) and assists (25). Also playing a key role in the win was a high-scoring second half, where the Grizzlies scored 76 points and shot 64 percent (25-of-39) from the field.
The Grizzlies jumped out to a 5-0 lead after a 3-pointer by Tevin Berry and a bucket by Russell Smith. Pratt battled back to tie the score 14-14 before Butler went on another 5-0 run, taking the lead for good.
Armstrong was the catalyst in the first half, scoring 20 of his points. His second straight 3-pointer put Butler up 25-17 with 11:40 left in the half.
Later in the period, Armstrong would knock down yet another 3-pointer as Butler pushed the lead to double digits at 33-22 with 9:22 to play in the half.
Butler led by as many as 14 points in the first half with a 41-27 lead at the 6:09 mark of the first half. The Grizzlies would take a 52-42 lead into the break.
In the second half, Butler built the lead back to 14 after Tevin Berry hit his second 3-pointer of the half to make it 68-54 with 17 minutes remaining.
Pratt (6-8 overall, 3-7 conference) would cut the lead to single digits before Anthony Bratton scored to make it 74-63 with 13 minutes to go.
Butler would hit the century mark on a basket by Adrian Moore with 5:08 remaining in the contest, making it a 100-87 contest. The Grizzlies would go up by 20 for the first time on a bucket by Equan Ards with 2:08 left that made it 118-98.
In addition to the career-high 32 from Jared Armstrong, Butler also got 27 from Equan Ards and 22 from Russell Smith, who made 10-of-11 shots from the field. Tevin Berry (15) and Adrian Moore (10) were also in double figures. Both Armstrong and Berry had five three-pointers each in the win.
Pratt was led by Dawson Gunter's 21 points, while Asem Johnson added 20. The Beavers had six players score in double figures.
Butler returns to the Power Plant on Saturday to take on Coffeyville at 7:30 p.m.
NOTES: Butler set season-highs in conference play for field goal percentage (56.4), three-point percentage (43.2) and free-throw percentage (88.9)... Butler scored 100 or more points in a game for the fourth time this season... The 100-point mark was eclipsed for the first time since a 103-92 win over Hesston on Nov. 8, while the 128 points was the third-highest total scored this season by the Grizzlies.