Eric Hunter Jr. scored 12 of Butler's final 17 points as the Bulldogs held on for a 75-70 Thanksgiving Day win over BYU on the second day of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
 
Hunter finished with 19 points and went 3-for-3 from three-point range with all of those treys coming in the final seven minutes of the contest.
 
With the result, Butler improves to 4-2, while BYU is now 3-3.
 
The Bulldogs will now face North Carolina State in their third and final game of the event Friday in the fifth-place game.
 
STAT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Butler orchestrated a 17-6 run to take a 54-48 lead with 11:20 remaining after BYU opened the second half with a 12-0 spurt that erased a 37-30 Butler halftime lead. Jayden Taylor scored 11 of those 17 points during the run.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Taylor scored a season-high 20 points to lead Butler in scoring; he went 8-for-13 from the field.
• Both Simas Lukosius and Manny Bates finished with 14 points. Lukosius had a team-best six rebounds, while Bates had a Butler-high of four assists.
• The 19 points were both a season- and a Butler-high for Hunter.
• Butler shot 53 percent from the field overall and went 6-for-10 from three-point range in the second half.
• BYU's last lead of the game came at 46-45 with 14:06 to play. Butler's lead would grow to eight at two points later in the game before BYU trimmed the lead to one at both 66-65 and 69-68 as a 1-3-1 zone frustrated Butler at times during the final five minutes of the game. A Bates alley-oop slam and four Butler free throws over the final minute sealed the win.
• BYU had a 39-27 rebounding advantage including 17 offensive rebounds, which led to 20 second-chance points for the Cougars.
• Fousseyni Traore led BYU with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
• BYU shot 42 percent from the field, but only 3-for-20 from three-point range.
• Bates was limited to seven minutes in the first half with two fouls and DJ Hughes left the game later in the first half due to injury and did not return. Freshman Connor Turnbull played a career-high eight minutes, all in the first half.

OF NOTE:

• Butler and BYU had met previously only once – Dec. 19, 1930. The Bulldogs won, 45-34, at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The 45 points scored and the 34 points allowed were both season-highs for the 1930-31 Bulldogs, who were coached by Tony Hinkle.
• Butler opened the Battle 4 Atlantis Wednesday night with a 71-45 loss to No. 22/21 Tennessee. After defeating USC Thursday, Tennessee will play Kansas in Friday's Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.
• BYU fell to USC by a score of 82-76 in Wednesday play at the Battle 4 Atlantis.

 
UP NEXT: The Bulldogs now move to the fifth-place game against North Carolina State, which is scheduled for Friday at 10 p.m. That contest will air on ESPN2. North Carolina State defeated Dayton, 76-64, Thursday.