ROSEMONT, ILL. – Butler saw a one-time, ten-point lead erased early in the second half and then stormed back from a six-point deficit to post a 67-53 victory over DePaul at Allstate Arena on Saturday (Feb. 28).  The win was the second straight for the #23-ranked Bulldogs and lifted the team to 21-8 on the year and 11-5 in the BIG EAST.

Junior Kellen Dunham paced Butler with a game-high 24 points, while junior Roosevelt Jones finished with 16 and senior Kameron Woods added 14.  The three combined for 30 of Butler's 38 points in the second half.

The Bulldogs, who led by ten points on two different occasions in the first half and 29-24 at halftime, found themselves trailing 38-32 less than six minutes into the second half.  The Blue Demons (12-18, 6-11 BIG EAST) opened the final period with nine unanswered points and an overall 14-3 run to grab the lead.  

"Give DePaul credit.  They have a team full of shot-makers and they make if very difficult for you to guard them," said Butler Head Coach Chris Holtmann of DePaul's second half run. "They had some life because of how well they were playing offensively.  They made some really difficult shots and they made some that we contributed to that were easier."

The six-point deficit seemed to catch the attention of the Bulldogs.  Dunham and Jones scored Butler's next nine points to key a 9-3 run, which tied the game at 41-41.  Woods then hit a pair of free throws to ignite a 7-0 run that put the Bulldogs in front for good.

Butler out-scored the host Blue Demons, 35-15, over the final 14:07.

"(Our leaders) just said that we've got to turn up our level," noted Holtmann.  "Our first four minutes of the second half wasn't what it needed to be, and (our players) made the decision to play better and have more winning possessions and we were able to do that."

The Bulldogs jumped out to a strong start in the game, scoring the first seven points of the contest and eventually stretching the margin 16-6 before the 12-minute timeout.  The lead grew to ten points a second time when Dunham hit a lay-up to make it 24-14 with 5:42 remaining in the opening period.

DePaul closed the first half on a 10-5 run to cut the margin to five points at halftime.

Butler, led by Woods and Alex Barlow, finished with a decisive 36-19 rebounding advantage, and the Bulldogs out-scored DePaul, 13-2 on second-chance points.  Woods and Barlow each pulled down a game-high six rebounds, while Jones and Austin Etherington each added five.

The six rebounds by Woods boosted his career total to 890 and moved him into sole possession of third place of Butler's all-time rebounding chart.  He's bidding to become just the third player in Butler history to record 900 career rebounds.

The Bulldogs, paced by Dunham, hit 16 of 19 (.842) free throw attempts in the second half and 22 of 27 (.815) for the game.  Dunham was perfect on ten attempts from the charity stripe.
Senior Jamee Crockett, playing his final game at Allstate Arena, led the Blue Demons with 20 points.  He scored 15 points in the second half.

The win, Butler's eighth in the past ten games, lifted the Bulldogs into sole possession of second place in the BIG EAST.  Georgetown, which was tied with Butler for second place heading into Saturday's action, fell at St. John's.

The Bulldogs will close out their home slate on Tuesday (March 3) against Georgetown.  The 7 p.m. (ET) contest at Hinkle Fieldhouse will be the final home game for Woods, Barlow and Jackson Aldridge.  The three seniors have helped Butler to 48 homes wins during their four collegiate seasons.