KNOXVILLE, TENN. – Tennessee used a 12-0 run in the first six minutes of the second half to tie the game and a 19-6 run in the final six minutes of the contest to grab a 67-55 come-from-behind victory over #15 Butler on Sunday, Dec. 14.  The loss was Butler's first in the U.S. and it snapped the Bulldogs' four-game winning streak.

Junior Kellen Dunham scored 16 points, including 11 in the first half, to pace the Bulldogs, and senior Kameron Woods matched his career-high with a game-leading 16 rebounds.  But the Bulldogs (8-2), who had a nine-point lead at halftime, managed just six field goals in the final 20 minutes, while committing nine turnovers.

"You have to give Tennessee a lot of credit for how they played.  We felt like they were obviously going to be a difficult team to play and very difficult to play at home," said coach Chris Holtmann after the game.  "(The Volunteers) were tougher than us, certainly throughout the second half, They were quicker to loose balls, and obviously we did some things to contribute to that, but you have to give them credit."

"We couldn't get a stop in the second half," added the Butler coach.  "And if you ask me what the most disappointing thing in the game was, it was the fact that we got out-toughed in some areas and we just could not get a stop in the second half."

At the start of the final period, it looked like Butler might be on the verge of blowing the game open.  The Bulldogs, leading 34-25 at halftime, opened the second half with a three-point field goal by Dunham to grab a 12-point lead, their biggest of the game.

But the Volunteers (4-3), led by Josh Richardson, quickly regrouped and scored 12 unanswered points to tie the game at 37-37.  Richardson scored the first eight, Kevin Punter scored two and Derek Reese knotted the score.  The game was tied twice more, before Butler took its final lead at 49-48 on a free throw by Roosevelt Jones with 6:54 left.

Amari Moore put the Volunteers on top for good, 50-49, with a lay-up at 6:15, igniting the final decisive run for the home squad.  Tennessee stretched its lead to 58-52 on a pair of free throws by Moore and then scored the final nine points of the game, after sophomore Andrew Chrabascz hit a three-point field goal to cut the Volunteers' lead to 58-55 with 2:40 remaining.

After shooting just 39.1% in the first half, the Volunteers hit 16 of 27 (59.3%) in the final period and outs-scored Butler 42-21.

"What has been out bread-and-butter through the first half of the season was a real liability and that was our halfcourt defense today," stated Holtmann.

Butler led throughout most of the first half, though the margin didn't exceed five points until the final four minutes of the opening period.  Chrabascz hit a pair of free throws to give the Bulldogs a 28-22 advantage with 3:54 remaining, and then Butler took its biggest lead of the first half on a three-point field goal by Martin with 14 seconds left in the period.

Richardson, who had just two points in the first half, wound up leading all players with 20 points, while Punter added 18.  The Volunteers finished with 10 steals in the game and out-scored Butler, 19-5, on points-off-turnovers.

Dunham was one of just two Bulldogs to score in double-figures in the game.  Freshman Kelan Martin came off the bench with 13 points, including ten in the first half.  The setback was Butler's first since a loss to #21 Oklahoma in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.

Butler will take a week off for final exams before returning to action against Indiana at the Crossroads Classic on Saturday, Dec. 20.  The game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis will start at 2:30 p.m. (ET).