Butler opened the BIG EAST portion of the schedule with a 63-59 win over DePaul Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Freshman Simas Lukosius led the Bulldogs with 15 points, including 13 in the opening 20 minutes and a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to ice the game. Chuck Harris and Jayden Taylor each added 13 points for Butler.
Aaron Thompson had seven points, seven assists and a career-high seven steals that were just one off the Butler program single-game record.
DePaul opened the second half with a 10-2 run to trim Butler's lead to 39-36 with 16:18 remaining. The Bulldogs responded with a 10-1 spurt to take a 49-37 advantage at the 11:48 mark. That 12-point edge was Butler's largest lead of the game.
Less than 30 seconds later, Butler's Bryce Golden and DePaul's Yor Anei got tangled by the Butler bench. Golden was assessed a flagrant foul and both players were given a technical foul. That disqualified Golden with his fifth foul. DePaul's Nick Ongenda was ejected for leaving the DePaul bench to join in the melee.
Butler led 60-50 with 5:55 to play following a Taylor lay-up. DePaul would chip into the lead and ultimately pulled within 60-58 with 48 seconds to play. An empty Butler possession was followed by DePaul being fouled with four seconds remaining. Brandon Johnson made the first, but missed the second free throw and Lukosius pulled down the rebound. The freshman made two free throws after being fouled to give Butler a 62-59 lead. A DePaul turnover essentially ended the game as Taylor added a free throw for the final margin.
Butler forced DePaul into 21 turnovers as the Bulldogs had 11 steals on the night. The Blue Demons shot only 39 percent from the field.
Johnson led DePaul with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Javon Freeman-Liberty added 13 points, but went only 4-of-16 from the field while largely guarded by Thompson throughout the game. The Blue Demons played without second-leading scorer David Jones.
Bryce Nze returned to action for the Bulldogs after being out since the team's Nov. 17 game against Michigan State with a shoulder injury. He had seven points and five rebounds in 29 minutes.
Butler had not played since Dec. 18 after the team's Dec. 23 game at St. John's was canceled on the day of the game due to COVID issues within the Red Storm program. DePaul has battled their own COVID issues and hadn't played since Dec. 14.
Butler's Saturday contest at UConn has been canceled due to COVID issues within the Huskies program. The Bulldogs now will next play Tuesday at home against Seton Hall.
