Keyon Thomas was 0-4 from deep when coach called his number in the timeout with :19 seconds left in the game that had Hutch leading 65-63. Head coach Kyle Fisher scripted up a play for sophomore point guard Keyon Thomas who hit the go-ahead corner three with :11 seconds giving Butler the 66-65 win over Hutchinson Wednesday night in the Power Plant.
"He is one of our best shooters and he just never got any looks in the second half, but I told him to get me one of those threes and he came up big," said Fisher.
The go ahead three-pointer was just one of eight the Grizzlies made in the game and Thomas' only of the night, but it couldn't have come at a better time.
"The shot by Keyon was great, but the pass by Noah was just as important," mentioned Fisher.
Butler trailed by 18-points in the first half as they couldn't buy a basket suffering a nine-minute scoring drought that gave Hutchinson a 41-27 halftime lead.
Butler outscored the Blue Dragons by 15 in the second half, holding them scoreless in the final three minutes to win by one, 66-65.
Shawn Hopkins led the way for Butler with 16 points and four rebounds. Noah Thomasson finished with 12 hard earned points, most coming at the rim and he also came down with seven rebounds and three assists. Keyon Thomas scored 11, with his biggest basket coming with :11 seconds left in the game down two giving Butler the go-ahead lead. DeeJuan Pruitt scored nine points early, but foul trouble kept him sidelined for a majority of the first half.
Butler was out rebounded by 23, giving up 16 offensive boards and only shooting 37% from the floor but found a way to get it done in the end.
"I am so happy for our guys," said head coach Kyle Fisher. "The way they hung in there and kept battling, especially after the hard loss on Saturday on the road, I am just really happy for how they competed in that second half."
NEXT UP: Butler (3-1, 1-1) will travel to Pratt (1-2, 0-2) on Saturday, February 6 to take on the Beavers at 7:30pm.
NOTES: This is the first time Butler has won back-to-back games over Hutch since 2011-2012 seasons. This is the first time both the women and men have defeated Hutch in the same night since January 15, 2011 when the women won 55-51 and the men won 81-80. Kyle Fisher is 2-0 over the Blue Dragons in his career at Butler.
