COFFEYVILLE, Kan. – Ninth ranked Butler men's basketball picked up a key conference victory on the road Wednesday night, defeating the Coffeyville Red Ravens 56-51 at Nellis Hall.
The win was Butler's (8-1, 3-0 KJCCC) fifth straight over the Red Ravens (4-5, 1-3 KJCCC) and third straight at Nellis Hall. Butler head coach Kyle Fisher is now 6-4 against his former boss and mentor Jay Herkelman. Fisher spent seven seasons as an assistant coach at Coffeyville under Herkelman prior to taking the head job at Butler.
The game was a struggle for both teams on the offensive end as the defensive prowess was present from tipoff. The Grizzlies shot 35.1% from the field but were able to hold the Red Ravens to just 28.6% shooting on their home court.
"The story of the game was the defensive intensity on both sides of the ball," said head coach Kyle Fisher. "Baskets were hard to come by."
Butler got off to a slow start with Coffeyville taking a quick 8-3 lead off a Jahni Summers three just three minutes into the game. Butler battled back but Coffeyville eventually stretched the lead to 11, their largest lead of the game. They made it 22-11 after Cris Carroll knocked down a pair of free throws with 9:30 left in the first half.
Butler's defense kicked into high gear in the final nine minutes of the first half, allowing just six points down the stretch. They outscored the Red Ravens 16-6 to go into halftime trailing by one, 28-27. The Grizzlies seized some momentum when on back-to-back possessions, Jamichael Stillwell drained a three and AJ Williams stole a pass and went coast-to-coast putting in a layup, drawing a foul and making the free throw to make it 22-17 with 7:12 to go. Stillwell had 12 first half points while Williams had six points in the final nine minutes of the half including two layups off steals.
"We didn't play great the first 10 minutes of the first half," said Fisher. "They were guarding us and we didn't handle it very well. The last 8 minutes we finally started to settle in."
Williams opened the second half with a jumper that just beat the shot clock to give Butler a 29-28 lead one minute into the second half. The Grizzlies did not trail again the rest of the way.
When it looked like Coffeyville may put together a run and retake the lead as they trailed 35-34, Red Raven coach Jay Herkelman was called for a technical foul for arguing with the referees. Stillwell knocked down both free throws for Butler to put them back ahead three. The Grizzlies then scored two straight buckets and took a 41-34 lead after gaining some momentum following the technical.
Butler ultimately squeezed out the win, outscoring the Red Ravens 29-23 in the second half. They grabbed their largest lead of the game (10 points) at 44-34 as Khalil Arnold hit a three off a Williams assist with 10:20 to go. Coffeyville battled back and was within three with just 12 seconds left but Stillwell knocked down free throws to put the game out of reach.
Stillwell led the Grizzlies with 16 points, shooting an impressive 8-9 from the charity stripe. He added 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season, also adding four steals.
"I wouldn't trade him for anyone in the world," said Fisher on Stillwell. "If there's anyone that plays harder in the nation, I'd like to watch him. He's all about winning, all about his team, and competes like that every day."
Williams had 15 points to go with three steals and three rebounds. It's his seventh straight game scoring in double figures. Deuce Drake was also in double figures with 10 points and four rebounds. Christian Richardson was impressive as the 7'0" forward tallied his first career double-double, finishing with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
"This was a great performance for him (Richardson)," said Fisher. "It showed maturity and mental toughness for him to be able to hang in and trust it and get himself ready to go and play after he didn't play well a game ago."
Both teams did not shoot well from deep with Butler shooting 3-17 (17.6%) and Coffeyville 6-26 (23.1%). The Grizzlies were outrebounded 46-40. The turnover margin was nearly identical with Butler coughing the ball up 13 times and Coffeyville 15.
The Grizzlies will host a top-10 matchup at the Power Plant on Saturday at 4 p.m. as the sixth ranked Cougars come to town.
