Thomas sparks Grizzlies to big second half run lifting Butler to 75-66 win over Red Devils

Thomas sparks Grizzlies to big second half run lifting Butler to 75-66 win over Red Devils
March 28, 2021

The Butler Men's basketball team came from behind in the second half and picked up their 16th win of the season with a nine-point 75-66 victory over Allen County and improved to 10-0 on their home court this year.

Keyon Thomas came in with the Grizzlies down seven early in the second half and made two threes which sparked the team and forced an Allen timeout. Thomas's energy would allow Butler to go on a 23-8 run regaining the lead and not giving it back up.

Butler led by as many as 19 points later in the second half, but full court pressure put on by Allen allowed the Red Devils to chisel away at the Grizzly lead and get it to single digits when the buzzer sounded.

Butler got 30 points from their bench in the game and were led in scoring by Donyae McCaskill who finished with 13 points off 5-6 shooting in just his 18 minutes played. Keyon Thomas finished 3-3 from behind the arc and chalked up 12 points in the contest. Shawn Hopkins also finished with 12 points nearing a triple-double with eight rebounds and nine assists. Noah Thomasson chipped in 11 points and DeeJuan Pruitt had his sixth straight double-double and eighth of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds in just 19 minutes on the court.

Butler shot 53% from the floor and 46% from three, an area they have struggled the past few weeks. The Grizzlies won the rebound battle by six and had nine offensive boards on the night.

NEXT UP: Butler (16-4, 14-4) will host No. 18 Cowley (15-4, 15-2) on Monday, March 29 in the Power Plant at 7:30pm. Butler fell on the road to the Tigers in the first go around and will look to have an answer for their full court pressure Monday night. The Tigers defeated No. 4 Coffeyville on Saturday winning 86-77 at home. Butler is now two games back of first place and will play the top two teams in their final two regular season games.

NOTES: Butler wins sixth straight game…Pruitt posts sixth consecutive double-double and eighth this season…Scored 30 points off the bench…Best night shooting from 3pt since March 6 vs Allen.