Butler closed out its Thanksgiving Weekend in Orlando with a 70-56 win over Boise State Sunday in the 2023 ESPN Events Invitational.

With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 5-2 and capture fifth place in the event by winning two of their three games.

The Broncos fall to 3-3 on the season.

After scoring a career-high 26 points in Friday's win over Penn State, Pierre Brooks II made a run at that number Sunday, finishing with 25 points. Twenty of those points came in the second half.

COACH THAD MATTA: "I thought kind of from the start, we were solid. We had a little bit of a letdown defensively in the first half there. We were down about five in the first half and went on (a 17-4) run or whatever it was to end the first half. And I challenged these guys to come out strong, but they got us to start the second half. We were a little bit sloppy, but I thought the guys locked down and did a tremendous job. Very, very happy. And, and I'm sure Boise State is too, but we're as banged up as we could be. I mean guys were limping to the finish line but as I told them, they showed great toughness and that was the difference. Our defense was really, really good today."
 
OF NOTE:

• Brooks was 9-for-16 overall, but made seven of his eight attempts in the second half, including all three of his shots from behind the three-point arc.
• Brooks is the first Bulldog to score 20 points in a half since Chuck Harris on March 6, 2021.
• Posh Alexander had 10 points to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Jahmyl Telfort scored 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting, adding a team-best five assists and four rebounds.
• Jalen Thomas pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, matching his best mark of the young season.
• Butler shot 52 percent from the field, the third consecutive game shooting 50 percent or better. Butler has made at least half of its attempts in four of the first seven games of the season.
• The Bulldogs' defense limited Boise State to 32-percent shooting.
• Early in the second half, Boise State trimmed the lead to three (38-35 at the 18:35 mark) before Butler unleashed a 14-0 run to take control of the game, 52-35.
• Butler made seven of its final eight attempts of the first half to take a 35-27 halftime lead. An Andre Screen lay-in as the first half clock expired capped a 17-4 scoring run by the Bulldogs to close out the first half. That was in response to Boise State taking its largest lead of the half at 23-18 with 6:03 remaining following a 15-4 run of their own.
• All three teams that Butler faced in Orlando made the 2023 NCAA Tournament; five of Butler's seven opponents to start the season were part of the 2023 NCAA Tournament field.
• Butler and Boise State had not met as men's basketball opponents prior to today.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs, after playing their last four games away from home, return to Hinkle Fieldhouse for a Thursday night tip against Texas Tech. The match-up, part of the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle, is slated for a 6:30 p.m. tip on FS1. Tickets are still available for the contest.