Butler escapes the Northwestern rally and takes the decisive win at the Arizona Tip-Off

Northwestern had the game-winning basket at the rim, but the ball rolled out, giving Butler a 71-69 victory in the semifinals of the Arizona Tip-Off on Thursday.

Butler (5-1) advances to the championship game Friday at 9:30 p.m. to face the winner of UNLV/Mississippi State.

Jahmyl Telfort led Butler with 23 points. Andre Screen added 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

Here are three takeaways from the thrilling victory:

Butler finally closes out a close game

Last season, Butler found ways to drop close games. There was a decision not to call a foul against Providence, which resulted in a tied 3-pointer. Butler lost to the Friars in overtime. The Dawgs allowed Seton Hall to score the final eight points, blowing a late lead for another narrow loss.

Thursday’s game against Northwestern showed all the signs of another devastating disappointment. Butler struggled to get the ball past the Wildcats’ press, nearly turning the ball over several times. Finley Bizjack missed two free throws late. Boden Kapke shared a pair, helping Northwestern stay within two points. With the lead down to three points with less than 10 seconds remaining, Butler appeared to have learned his lesson from not committing a foul against Providence last year. It would have been an absolutely heartbreaking play if Telfort Brooks almost fouled Barnhizer as he made a 3-pointer. The potential four-point play could have given Northwestern the lead, but the foul was called on the court, leading to two free throws instead.

In the end, Butler did just enough to get the win.

Butler made some adjustments on the fly by passing the ball back to the inbounder, freeing up Bizjack to receive the ball and beat the press late in the game. It’s always best to learn a lesson from defeat. Butler will advance in the tournament, but needs to improve his late-game execution.

Andre Screen dominates from the bench

Andre Screen had one of the best all-around performances of his Butler career in the first half against Northwestern. Screen scored eight of his 15 points in the first half, along with four rebounds and two blocks. He finished the game with nine rebounds and three blocks.

The Wildcats had no answer for Screen. When the Cats sent a double team, Screen did a great job passing from the double and finding cutters and open shooters on the perimeter. Screen didn’t start the game but played the starting minutes. Together with his substitute Kolby King, he achieved a team-best performance of +11 plus/minus. Screen gave the Dawgs valuable minutes and showed he is capable of dominating inside against a Power Four school. He shot an efficient 7-for-10 from the field and did an excellent job protecting the rim without fouling.

The Butler defense slows down Nick Martinelli

Nick Martinelli entered Thursday’s game as the fourth-leading scorer in the country, averaging 23.8 points per game. Stopping the 6-7 forward was the No. 1 item on Butler’s scouting report and the Dawgs were up to the task. Butler held Martinelli to just seven points on 3-for-15 shooting.

Breaking News

Dellupodisabato

Butler escapes the Northwestern rally and takes the decisive win at the Arizona Tip-Off

Leave a Reply Cancel reply