Box Score Information on tickets for Saturday's Game in Raleigh
An 8-0 spurt by Kelan Martin broke a 48-all tie and catapulted Butler to a 71-61 win over Texas Tech Thursday (March 17) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. The ninth-seeded Bulldogs are 9-1 in their last 10 first round contests in the NCAA Tournament. Butler (22-10) advances to play Saturday in Raleigh.
Martin, Butler's second-leading scorer at 16.1 points per game entering today's game, was scoreless through the first 31 minutes of Thursday's before scoring eight points in the span of 51 seconds to give Butler a 56-48 lead, its largest of the game at that point. He hit back-to-back threes followed by a steal and a breakaway dunk. Martin finished with 11 points.
The offense fell to Kellen Dunham early in the contest as 13 of his game-high 23 came in the first half as Butler took a 30-28 lead into the locker rooms. Texas Tech's 12-2 run midway through the first half gave the Red Raiders a 16-9 advantage. Butler responded late in the first half by hitting five straight shots in a stretch to retake the lead, 24-23.
Following Martin's heroics in the second half, Texas Tech would pull as close as three (56-53 with 6:48 to play), but Dunham would hit a pair of threes and the Bulldogs would limit TTU to only five points until a meaningless three at the buzzer went in for the eighth-seeded Red Raiders.
"Defensively, we were good at times today," said Butler coach Chris Holtmann. "We did have some activity that lead to some turnovers and we took advantage of those (Butler had 12 points off eight Texas Tech turnovers in the second half). Our guys showed good poise except for one stretch in the first half, and we made plays when we needed to."
Dunham's 23 points came on 8-of-15 shooting, including five three-pointers. Tyler Wideman added 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting to go along with seven rebounds. Andrew Chrabascz was the fourth Bulldog in double figures with 13 points. Roosevelt Jones made only one of his eight shot attempts, but had eight rebounds and six assists.
Tyler Lewis, returning to PNC Arena where he played for North Carolina State for two seasons, had two points.
Dunham and Jones each approach a mark held by Matt Howard. Dunham has 1,938 career points, one shy of Howard for third place in Butler history. Jones started his 133rd career game Thursday, tying Howard for the all-time Butler mark.
Butler had a 34-28 advantage on the boards and each team committed 14 turnovers. The Bulldogs shot 49 percent from the field, including 9-of-17 from three-point range.
Devaungntah Williams led Texas Tech (19-13) with 18 points.
Butler will play Saturday against the winner of top-seeded Virginia and #16 seed Hampton. That game is currently underway. The game time and national television partner will be announced later tonight.
