Box Score A career-high 24 points from Kelan Martin to go along with 19 apiece from Kellen Dunham and Andrew Chrabascz fueled Butler in an 85-71 win over Indiana State Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse. With the win, Butler improves to 6-1 on the season while the Sycamores fall to 3-4.
Indiana State chopped into Butler's 43-36 halftime advantage before an 8-0 run pushed the Butler lead to 61-49 with 9:43 to play. After Indiana State once again cut the lead to six, Butler posted a 10-0 run to push the lead to 75-59 and put the game out of reach.
"This was a grind-it-out, physical game," said Butler coach Chris Holtmann. "We've really focused on winning the next possession and there was a stretch where we were able to string together a run of good possessions on both ends of the court in the second half that put us ahead. I liked the way the guys accepted the challenge coming off Wednesday night (win over Cincinnati). We need to do that again with another quick turnaround with a game on Monday night."
Martin's career-day came efficiently, as he made 10 of his 14 field goal attempts. He added five rebounds and four steals (also a career-high).
Dunham had 19 points on only seven attempts (making six). He went 6-of-7 at the free throw line. Chrabascz added 19, including seven free throws as Butler went 24-of-31 as a team, compared to 13-of-16 for the visitors.
Senior Roosevelt Jones had seven points, eight rebounds and seven assists in 32 minutes of play. Butler shot 57 percent from the field. The Bulldogs entered the contest ranked 15th nationally in field goal percentage and have now made more than 50 percent of their attempts in four the team's seven contests.
Tyler Wideman had eight points and seven rebounds. Only four Bulldogs took more than three shots on the afternoon.
Brenton Scott came off the bench to lead Indiana State with 18 points. The Sycamores shot 39 percent from the field and committed 14 turnovers. They were added by eight three-pointers, as Butler went 3-of-11 from behind the arc. Both the makes and the attempts were season-lows for the Bulldogs.
Butler has a quick turnaround, returning to action Monday night. The Bulldogs host VMI at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available for the contest, which will also be broadcast on FSN.
