Box Score Butler shot 86 percent from the free throw line and got a combined 39 points from seniors Roosevelt Jones and Kellen Dunham to drop DePaul, 67-53, Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. With the win, Butler improves to 14-6 overall and 3-5 in BIG EAST play. The win also completes the season sweep of the Blue Demons, who fall to 7-13 (1-7).
Jones scored the first eight points of the game for Butler and finished with a season-high 23 points, four rebounds and four assists. He shot 7-of-11 from the field and made nine of his 11 free throw attempts. Dunham added three first-half three-pointers and seven free throws for 16 points.
"I'm really proud of our guys tonight and of this effort," said Butler coach Chris Holtmann. "They had a great awareness of how physical and tough this game was going to be. It was a grind-it-out kind of game and it's good to get the win."
Four three-pointers, including three from Dunham, in a four-minute spanned turned a 17-16 deficit into a 28-19 Butler advantage with 5:06 to play in the first half. A pair of Dunham free throws with 13 seconds remaining in the half would give Butler a 33-23 halftime advantage, its largest lead of the first 20 minutes.
DePaul would score the first five points after the break before Butler utilized two Andrew Chrabascz makes from behind the arc to go on a 10-0 run. That pushed the lead to 43-28. Butler withstood one more Blue Demons run by making 20 of 23 free throw attempts in the second half. The 14-point final decision was just two points off the largest lead of the game.
Butler out-rebounded the visitors, 36-26, with Tyler Wideman leading the way with nine caroms. The Bulldogs only shot 40 percent from the field, but made 25 of 29 free throws. Butler's defensive effort held DePaul to 39-percent shooting from the field. Chrabascz added 10 points.
Dunham moved into seventh place on Butler's career scoring list, passing Billy Shepherd. Dunham now has 1,737 points in his 3.5 seasons. Jones picked up his 400th career assist in the contest.
Eli Cain and Tommy Hamilton led DePaul with 13 points apiece.
Butler returns to action Saturday at Marquette with a noon (ET, 11 a.m. Central/Milwaukee) tip on FS1. Butler's next home game is Tuesday (Feb. 2) when the Georgetown Hoyas visit Hinkle.
