Butler men upset No. 2 Hutchinson with 73-63 home victory

In front of a loud, raucous crowd at the Power Plant, the Butler men knocked off No. 2 Hutchinson 73-63 and handed the rival Blue Dragons its first defeat of the season Saturday night.

Grehlon Easter scored a game-high 27 points on 9-of-19 from the field for Butler (10-3 overall, 3-1 conference), who snapped a six-game losing streak to Hutchinson (11-1, 3-1).

"This was a huge win for us," said Easter. "We knew we could put up with any team in our conference and today was a good test for us going against the No. 2 team in the nation. We responded well."

"It was a great win for us moving forward," said Butler head coach Kyle Fisher. "I'm really happy for our guys. They put in two really good days of preparation and really executed a good plan for them. They deserved it."

Easter was practically Butler's only offensive weapon in the first half, as the freshman guard scored 19 of his 27 and hit four 3-pointers to keep the Grizzlies within six, 36-30, at the break.

Hutchinson led by as many as nine, 25-16, with 7:19 before halftime. Easter would hit a pair of treys on consecutive possessions to cut the Dragons' lead to four at the 3:44 mark, then hit a 3-pointer just before the conclusion of the half.

"Grehlon's a tough kid," Fisher said of Easter. "He certainly kept us in it in the first half and we couldn't get much going offensively. "

Easter received offensive help in the final 20 minutes of action, as Juwan White scored 13 of his 15 points – including 6-of-8 from the field. Kamron Brice pitched in with nine of his 12 points in the second half, while Ndongo Ndaw played 13 minutes and pulled down nine rebounds with four points in the final stanza.

"Going into the second half, I told (Grehlon) that I was going to help him," White said. "Coach (Fisher) told us to we had an extra gear and we hopped into it. I think the big thing was just sticking together, sticking it out and we came out with the victory."

Butler grabbed control of the contest near the halfway mark of the second half. Down 45-40 with 12:07 remaining, White hit a long-range jumper just inside the arc, then Easter stole a pass near the top of the key on the other end and broke away for a dunk 14 seconds later to spark the crowd.

After a Hutch basket, Tracy Jones pulled Butler back within one on a tip-in following a White miss. A Blue Dragon turnover led to the second-half media timeout, then Butler came out of the break with a Brice 3-pointer at the right wing to give the Grizzlies a 49-47 lead with 9:28 remaining.

Hutch re-tied the contest at 49-all on a Josh Baker basket, but Butler answered with another Jones putback after Easter drove baseline and missed a challenged basket. From there, Butler clamped down defensively while the Blue Dragons would go cold from the field – making just two field goals over the next 8:17.

With Butler up 52-50 with 6:30 to play, Brice scored on an offensive putback, then Hutch called a timeout after Blue Dragon center Majok Kueth was whistled for traveling. The timeout did little to spark the Dragons, as a Ndongo Ndaw turnaround hook shot pushed Butler's lead to six.

Butler continued to pull away with an 11-4 run beginning when White drove the paint for a left-handed layup at the 4:22 mark, then Easter drove the line for a spinning layup on the Grizzlies' next possession.

White would add a spinning jumper in the lane to give Butler a 64-55 with 3:08 to play. Butler pushed its lead to 12 on a 5-0 run, with White hitting 1-of-2 free throws then adding a layup on a breakaway. Easter scored his final two points with a pair of foul shots for a 69-57 Butler lead with 1:17 remaining.

White finished with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, four rebounds and two assists, while Brice had 12 points behind 3-of-6 3-point shooting and had four boards. In a reserve role, Ndaw pulled down 12 rebounds and scored six points in just 21 minutes of play.

Baker led Hutchinson with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 4-of-7 from 3-point land and added seven rebounds and three assists. D.J. Mitchell added 16 points and five rebounds, while Kuath scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and had five boards.

The Blue Dragons, who shot from 71 percent from the foul line on the season, made just 12-of-24 charity shots. Meanwhile, Butler hit 75 percent (15-of-20) from the line.

Butler will attempt to build off Saturday's win when they head to Goodland on Wednesday for an 8:30 p.m. contest against Northwest Kansas Technical College (2-8, 0-4). The game will be Butler's final game before heading into winter break.