No. 17/16 Butler limited Purdue to 33-percent shooting and hit their final 11 free throws over the final 2:19 to ice a 70-61 win Saturday afternoon at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis as part of the Crossroads Classic.
 
Aaron Thompson had 12 points, six assists and five rebounds to key the Butler effort. He went 8-of-13 at the free throw line. Bryce Golden led Butler with 14 points.
 
OF NOTE:

• The Bulldogs are 11-1 on the season with six of those wins coming against power conference opponents. Four of those six power conference wins have also come away from Hinkle Fieldhouse.
• Butler had 16 assists on 21 made field goals.
• Butler held a 36-30 rebounding advantage and scored 26 points in the paint to only 16 by Purdue.
• Jordan Tucker (12) and Sean McDermott (11) joined Golden and Thompson in double figures.
• The Bulldogs finished 21-of-32 at the free throw line despite starting the day 3-of-11 at the line.
• Purdue shot 19-of-57 from the field overall, but 9-of-20 from three-point range.
• Purdue is just the fourth of Butler's 12 opponents to crack 60 points. Butler entered the game fourth nationally, allowing only 54.5 points per game.
• Kamar Baldwin, hampered by foul trouble most of the game, finished with five points, five rebounds and three assists.
• Butler shot 47 percent from the field.
• The Bulldogs are now 6-3 all-time in the Crossroads Classic.

WHAT COACH SAID:
"We didn't get out to a great start," said Butler coach LaVall Jordan. "I thought they came out really aggressive, especially on the backboards, and we had to respond coming out of the first media, and these guys have done that pretty much all year, where you ask them to do it and they grit their teeth and they respond. So that was something we talked about, and then they came out and we changed the mood of the game."
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY:
Purdue came out of the blocks first, taking an 11-4 edge in the opening minutes of the game. Butler then settled and responded with a 14-2 run that gave the Bulldogs a 24-17 advantage with 3:53 to play in the first half. Butler made six of seven attempts from the field to close that stretch.
 
After taking a 26-21 halftime lead, the Bulldogs then scored the first eight points of the second half to push the lead to 34-21 with 17:31 remaining. That lead would grow to 17 midway through the first half before Purdue began chipping away.

The Boilermakers used some early Butler misses at the free throw line, while making six straight shots from the field to pull within double figures at 58-51 with 3:23 to play. That capped an 11-1 run. The lead would be shaved all the way to four with just under a minute to play (62-58). At that point, Butler made eight straight free throws and forced three straight misses by Purdue. A meaningless three-pointer in the closing seconds by Purdue made up the 70-61 final.
 
UP NEXT:
The Bulldogs have a week off for the holidays before returning to action a week from today (Saturday, Dec. 28), hosting Louisiana-Monroe in the final non-conference action of the season.