Senior center Andrew Smith of the men’s basketball team has been named one of 10 finalists for the sport’s 2012-13 Senior CLASS Award.

The award is given to seniors who have excelled in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition.

The acronym CLASS stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School.

Smith said Butler has equipped him well in balancing classwork and basketball.

“It really helps for me to go to a school like Butler,” Smith said. “They just kind of set you up for success in the classroom and on the court as well.”

Smith is a finance major and carries a 3.55 grade point average as an honor student.

“It’s all about time management,” Smith said. “Fortunately, we have guys like Matt Howard. He was a finance major as well.

“He kind of took me under his wing and kind of gave me the ability to help me with what classes to take and teachers to take, and he really helped me manage my time and figure out how to be a successful student-athlete.”

Smith was selected to the Capital One Academic All-District V Team last month and has previously been named to the Butler Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll.

Coach Brad Stevens said the Senior CLASS Award ranks among the highest honors a college player can receive.

“As a senior, to me, there are probably two recognitions that you can really look at nationally that are ones that we really value,”  Stevens said. “That’s being named one of the Senior CLASS finalists because of all that it entails when it considers and takes into account character and community service, and certainly academic achievement and achievement on the court.”

This is the third consecutive season a Butler player has been a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award.

Smith joins former Bulldogs Howard—a finalist in 2011—and Ronald Nored (2012) as finalists for the award.

“It means a lot to me to be in the same category as them as far as this award, and I’m glad to be able to represent Butler and this team,” Smith said.

Stevens said it has not been tough to bring in players that are just as talented academically as they are athletically.

“I don’t think that’s the difficult part,” Stevens said. “These guys are ambitious guys. They want to do well on and off the court.
“Andrew’s always been a good student and certainly has really found his niche in the School of Business and what he wants to do after school is over and after his playing career is over.”

Voting is underway, and fans can vote on the Senior CLASS Award website or the Senior CLASS Award Facebook page until March 25.

Fan voting makes up one-third of the total vote.  NCAA Division I coaches and national media account for the remaining two-thirds.

The winner of the Senior CLASS Award will be revealed at this year’s Final Four in Atlanta in April.

After tonight’s men’s basketball game against St. Bonaventure, Butler will officially be halfway through its inaugural season in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The Bulldogs currently sit in second place in the A-10 standings, with an overall record of 18-4 and a conference record of 5-2.

The two conference losses have come against La Salle on a last-second shot at the end of regulation on Jan. 23 and against Saint Louis on Jan. 31.

Virginia Commonwealth sits at the top of the conference standings with a conference record of 6-2.

Just one game in the loss column separates the top nine teams in the A-10 standings. Only the top 12 go on to the A-10 tournament in March.

The A-10 currently has 10 teams in the top 100 of the RPI, according to RPIRatings.com, second most of any league behind the Big East (13).

Butler is ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25. That marks the eighth consecutive week for Butler in the Top 25.

The A-10 has six other teams that have received votes in the AP, ESPN and USA Today Coaches Polls.

Saint Joseph’s, Saint Louis, Temple and Xavier have all gotten votes in both polls. La Salle and VCU both received votes in last week’s polls.

Butler’s current seniors are 51-8 in Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bulldogs have five of their final nine contests on their home court.

BUTLER PLAYERS TO WATCH

Rotnei Clarke­—The senior guard leads his team in scoring, averaging 17.1 points per game.

He has scored in double figures 15 times this season.

Clarke is one of 50 players named in the Atlanta Tipoff Club 2012-13 Naismith Early Season Watch List.

Khyle Marshall—The junior forward averages 10.2 points per game, one of five Butler players averaging double figures in scoring.

Marshall also averages five rebounds per game, third best on the team.

Butler is 12-0 this season when Marshall scores in double-figures.

Roosevelt Jones—The sophomore forward has averaged 10.6 points per game on the season, including 13.3 points over the last 10 games.

Jones leads the Bulldogs in rebounds with 5.5 per game.

He also leads the team in assists with 3.6 per game.

Andrew Smith—The senior center is the only active collegiate player to have played in two national championship games.

He is the second-leading scorer for Butler, averaging 11.5 points per game.

Smith became the 34th Butler player to score 1,000 career points during the recent win against Rhode Island.

Kellen Dunham—The freshman guard is averaging 10.6 points per game and 12.4 in Hinkle.

He leads the A-10 and ranks fourth in the NCAA Division I in free throws, shooting at 92.1 percent.

Alex Barlow—The sophomore guard  has started in 15 games for the Bulldogs this season.

He is leading his team with more than one steal per game.

Erik Fromm—The junior guard is averaging 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

What can the Butler men’s basketball team do with 3.5 seconds and the ball in the opposition’s possession?

Apparently, win a nationally televised game over a Top 10 team at the buzzer.

Sophomore forward Roosevelt Jones stole an Gonzaga inbound pass near midcourt and completed a layup with one tenth of a second remaining to give the No. 13 Butler Bulldogs a stunning 64-63 win over the No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs.

The basket sent what was an often-raucous Hinkle Fieldhouse crowd into a full-on frenzy that included a storming of the court.

“I never did in my life,” Jones said of hitting a buzzer-beating shot.

Butler (16-2, 3-0) was sure glad he chose this game for that career first.

Down 63-62 with just less than five seconds remaining and possession of the ball, sophomore guard Alex Barlow traveled on the inbound pass, setting up the dramatic game-winning play.

“(Gonzaga) made a great play running at (Barlow), forced him to walk,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “At that point, you’re still in the game because, no matter what, you’re gonna get a shot even if they make two free throws.

“It’s not like it’s complete doomsday.”

It is that mentality that has helped lead Butler to its ever-growing list of shocking victories, and it earned them one more on this evening in Indianapolis.

Gonzaga junior guard David Stockton attempted to lob an inbound pass over Butler junior forward Khyle Marshall to a teammate, but the ball ended up in the hands of Jones instead.

“I heard the (Gonzaga) coach tell Olynyk to get the lob, so I just played behind him and stole it,” Jones said. “I looked at the clock and I think it was four seconds, so I knew I could get it down (the court).

“Then I sprinted and I see Olynyk coming up to me and I floated it over him.”

It was a thrilling finish to a game that saw both sets of Bulldogs grind out every possession like it might be their last.

The final 1:26 of the contest saw five lead changes, each resulting in a one-point advantage.

Early on, Butler had a difficult time obtaining any sort of lead.

Gonzaga (17-2) came out firing on all cylinders, led by a career night from junior center Sam Dower.

Butler went up 3-2 minutes in on a 3-pointer by Barlow. From there, Gonzaga went on an 11-1 run to grab a 13-4 advantage.

Dower had four points during the run and went on to score 16 total in the first 20 minutes. He was averaging 7.2 points per contest coming in.

“(Butler defenders) jump the guards, and we were able to throw it back to (Dower),” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “He’s a very good face up shooter. It’s kind of his wheelhouse.”

Butler started connecting on its 3-point attempts later in the half to turn the tide.

Freshman guard Kellen Dunham drained his first 3-point shot a little more than six minutes in to cut Gonzaga’s lead to 13-7.

With about 11 minutes remaining in the opening 20, Dunham hit another 3-pointer, which was closely followed by senior guard Chase Stigall’s first triple of the evening.

“I just tried to contribute as much as I could,” Dunham said. “(My teammates) did a great job of giving me the ball when I needed it.”

Dunham’s third 3-pointer of the half pushed Butler out to a 22-20 lead with 7:52 to go in the half.

More back-and-forth action followed, and Gonzaga would eventually take a 33-32 advantage into the locker room.

“You saw it, it was a pretty even game,” Few said. “I thought, in the first half, they shot the ball really well from three.”

Butler connected on seven of 13 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes, but was unable to replicate that success in the second half.

Stevens acknowledged that replacing injured senior guard Rotnei Clarke’s offense through the entire game was not possible. Clarke missed his second consecutive game following a neck injury at Dayton last Saturday.

“No offense to anybody on our team, but nobody on our team does exactly what Rotnei does,” Stevens said. “You have to scheme a little differently, and I thought we really did a pretty good job of doing that all game.”

The second half saw the hard-nosed play continue, as easy points were at a bare minimum.

Both teams scraped together 14 points in the paint in the final 20 minutes.

Butler took a quick four-point lead with a layup by Jones and a 3-pointer by Dunham, the team’s only long-distance field goal in the second half.

The largest lead for the remainder of the contest was a five-point cushion for Butler at 55-50 with 4:31 to play.

A predominantly pro-Butler crowd sat on the edge of its collective seat for every play in the game. In the final two minutes, however, it seemed Hinkle might be lifted off its foundation.

With Butler leading 59-58, Gonzaga senior forward Elias Harris made a layup to give his squad a one-point advantage with 1:26 remaining.

Jones responded with a layup of his own to push Butler back out in front, but Harris banked a shot in off the glass on Gonzaga’s next possession to give the Zags a 61-60 lead.

Not to be outdone, Barlow kissed a shot off the glass and in with 24 seconds left to put Butler ahead 62-61.

Gonzaga was unable to break down the Butler defense on its next possession, but junior forward Kelly Olynyk managed to draw a foul in the paint with 4.5 seconds left.

He sank two free throws, and the Zags lead 63-62 to set up the final, nail-biting sequence.

Butler had chances to add breathing room through free throw shooting, but was often unable to do so. Butler finished the game 12 of 23 from the charity stripe, as no player who went to the line shot 100 percent.

Jones recorded a game-high 20 points with five rebounds and four assists. Dunham was the only other Butler player in double figures with 14 points.

Senior center Andrew Smith led Butler with seven rebounds while doing his best to limit Olynyk and Harris down low.

Harris and Dower both tallied 20 points, and Olynyk dropped 14 for Gonzaga. Harris and Olynyk both recorded seven rebounds as well.

The game was the first stop for ESPN’s College GameDay. Multiple ESPN personalities arrive on a custom-made bus to analyze and cover the game, and the crew taped a show early Saturday morning on the Hinkle floor.

During that show, Butler student Kevin Schwartz hit a half-court shot to win $18,000.

“It was great,” Stevens said of the experience. “We hope we might earn our way back sometime on GameDay.”

Butler will head back into Atlantic 10 Conference play Wednesday in a road game against La Salle. Stevens said Clarke is “unlikely” to play in that game.

Stevens said Butler cannot afford to focus on the victory over Gonzaga for too long with conference play resuming this week.

“I think the biggest thing is we’ve got to move on from here,” Stevens said. “We don’t have time to bask in anything.”

The Butler men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to 12 games after a 62-47 win over Richmond Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs (15-2, 3-0) were not hindered by the absence of senior guard Rotnei Clarke who sprained his neck in Saturday’s game against Dayton.

“We had to focus on the game, and I didn’t have any question that we would do that,” coach Brad Stevens said. “Sometimes when you lose a guy, it heightens your focus a little bit.”

Freshman guard Kellen Dunham started in Clarke’s place and scored 11 points in 31 minutes.

Without Clarke’s outside shooting, Butler was able to exploit the Spiders’ (11-7, 1-2) defenders inside and did so successfully.

Richmond was significantly out-rebounded by Butler, with the Bulldogs grabbing 53 rebounds to Richmond’s 20.

20 of Butler’s 53 rebounds were grabbed off the offensive glass.

Senior center Andrew Smith took advantage of the team’s inside presence and scored a game-high 15 points and added seven rebounds.

“Without Rotnei, we lose one of our shooters, so we focused on going inside a little bit more,” Smith said. “But it doesn’t really change what we did a whole lot.”

The Bulldogs held the Spiders to just 21 first half points and 28.6 percent shooting from the field as Butler pulled out to a 33-21 halftime lead.

Richmond was down by as many as 20 points in the second half before making a brief 9-0 run to cut the lead to nine with 8:23 remaining.

However, this offensive burst came too little too late for the Spiders as Butler’s defense held Richmond to a season-low 47 points and a season-low field goal percentage of 32.7 percent.

Sophomore forward Roosevelt Jones led the team with 12 rebounds and also scored 10 points on the way to recording a double double.

Sophomore forward Kameron Woods scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds in the win.

Sophomore guard Alex Barlow spent much of the game playing point guard in Clarke’s absence and finished the game with five points and five rebounds.

Alex Barlow hit a tear-drop layup with less than three seconds remaining in overtime, and the Butler men’s basketball team shocked No. 1 Indiana 88-86 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Saturday.

The game was the first of two in the second Crosstown Classic.

“My initial thoughts were we were in trouble when it was 84-80 with three guys sitting on the bench next to me,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “Such a gutty effort by our guys. Don’t use this as an excuse to get down on Indiana.”

With about 19 seconds remaining in the game, the score was tied at 86 and Barlow moved the ball upcourt off an inbound pass. He let some time tick off the clock, then drove it straight into the paint, twisting and turning as he released the floater. It bounced around the rim and eventually fell with 2.5 seconds remaining.

“I was looking for the options, and they weren’t open,” Barlow said. “I saw the clock at about six (seconds), so I figured I’d try to make a play.

“The floater is a shot I work on a lot, and I just happened to get a lucky bounce.”

Indiana called a timeout to draw up their final play, but senior guard Jordan Hulls was unable to connect from near half court as time expired.

The Bulldogs (8-2) played all of the overtime frame without senior center Andrew Smith and sophomore forward Roosevelt Jones, who both fouled out in regulation.

Many of Butler’s key players struggled with foul trouble all afternoon. In addition to Smith and Jones, junior forward Erik Fromm fouled out during the overtime period. Barlow had tallied four by the end of the contest.

The game started at a slow pace, which played into Butler’s hands. The Hoosiers (9-1) scored the first points of the game nearly two minutes in.

The Bulldogs grabbed an early 9-5 advantage with four points from Jones and a 3-point basket from Smith.

Indiana moved in front 13-12 on a dunk by junior guard Victor Oladipo with 11:38 remaining in the half. Butler would not lead again until the 5:54 mark of the second half.

Indiana led 37-33 at halftime, spurred by nearly 44 percent shooting from the field and 12 free throw attempts to Butler’s four.

The Bulldogs shot better than 39 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but they struggled to contain Oladipo, who tallied 10 points in that time.

While the Hoosiers’ defense did a good job containing senior guard Rotnei Clarke in the first half (six points), Jones was all over the court. He posted eight points, eight rebounds and five assists in 19 minutes of action.

“I thought it was hard for them to guard Roosevelt, really hard,” Stevens said. “With all due respect to everyone else on the court, I thought he was the best player on the floor when he was on the floor. When that ball went up to the rim, he found ways to get it on both ends of the floor.”

Clarke credited Oladipo with attempting a different type of defense while guarding him.

“Most guys will stay below me, but Oladipo went high and kind of denied me, trying not to let me touch the ball,” Clarke said. “It was my teammates in the second half.”

The Bulldogs trailed 57-50 after senior forward Christian Watford hit a free throw with nine minutes remaining.

Butler began its push toward regaining the lead after the converted free throw. The Bulldogs scored six of the next eight points to cut the deficit to 59-56. Smith then made a pair of layups, sandwiched around a 3-point basket from Dunham.

Stigall then drained a 3-pointer to push Butler to a 66-59 lead.

The Hoosiers did not hit a field goal between a 3-pointer by junior forward Will Sheehey at the 11:24 mark and a layup by sophomore guard Remy Abell at the 3:43 mark.

Up 71-64 with 2:25 remaining, Butler attempted to fend off a push by Indiana. The Hoosiers pulled to within two with 1:14 remaining at 71-69.

Dunham made one of two free throws — the miss was only his second of the season — on the next possession to give Butler a three-point lead. Freshman guard Yogi Farrell then committed a turnover with 49 seconds remaining, after which Dunham was fouled again. This time, he sank both free throw attempts to put Butler up 74-69.

Farrell made a layup on IU’s next possession, and Oladipo used a full court press to steal the ball from Dunham on the ensuing inbound pass. Oladipo made a layup to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to one.

Barlow was fouled on the next possession and made a pair of free throws, giving Butler a 76-73 lead.

Indiana gave the ball to Farrell on offense, and he responded by sinking a 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left to tie the game.

Butler senior guard Chase Stigall attempted a 3-point shot of his own on the final possession of regulation, but he was unable to convert.

“We had a timeout left, but as he was dribbling down the court, I didn’t see us getting a better look than that,” Stevens said.

Butler shot nearly 52 percent from the field in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to put away the Hoosiers just yet. Indiana hit 18 of 24 free throw opportunities in the second half to stave off defeat in regulation.

The Bulldogs entered overtime without Smith and Jones, who both fouled out in the final two minutes of regulation. They also went into extra time with Barlow and Fromm both sitting on four fouls.

“Proud of your effort, keep it going,” Stevens said of his message to the team heading into overtime. “We switched a ton of ball screens. We didn’t feel like we wanted to give that up on those guys.”

The Hoosiers took an 84-80 lead with 2:14 remaining in overtime after a layup by sophomore forward Cody Zeller. The Bulldogs would not be denied, however, as Clarke and Stigall sank back-to-back 3′s after the Zeller basket to give Butler an 86-84 advantage.

Zeller made another basket with 23 seconds remaining to knot the game up at 86, setting the stage for Barlow’s dramatics.

It was Butler’s first victory over a No. 1 team in the regular season. The Bulldogs posted their fifth consecutive victory overall and their sixth straight at Bankers Life.

“I told Rotnei, you didn’t come here to win a game in December,” Stevens said. “As a coach, I’d like to have Xavier and Illinois back, but I’m not going to be greedy.”

Jones called the victory “a good confidence boost,” but said the Bulldogs are aware of their ability.

“We already know how good we are and how good we can be,” Jones said. “So we just want to prepare for Evansville and get ready to play hard again another game.”

Clarke finished with a game-high 19 points on 7 of 19 shooting, including 5 of 11 from beyond the arc. Clarke, who is in his first season with Butler, played all but a few possessions in the contest.

“I think it’s work ethic,” Clarke said of his ability to play for long stretches. “Just going into the gym every night and shooting game-like shots and doing game-like things has really prepared me for this.”

Jones had a game-high 12 rebounds and tallied 16 points in 29 minutes. Smith finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, while junior forward Khyle Marshall and Fromm also reached double figures in scoring.

Oladipo was Indiana’s offensive sparkplug, tallying 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting. He also had four steals and a pair of blocks.

“Oladipo is just a hard guy to play against,” Stevens said. “We walked out of our locker room, I turned to (assistant coach) Matthew Graves and said ‘I’ve never seen a guy that athletic.’”

Zeller also recorded 18 points, although 10 of them came from the free throw line. Sheehey (13), Ferrell (12) and Watford (10) all posted double-figure points as well.

Butler outrebounded Indiana 40-38, including a 24-17 advantage at halftime. The Hoosiers turned the ball over just one time outside of Oladipo and Ferrell, who each had six turnovers.

The Bulldogs will now prepare for Evansville, whom they’ve lost to in overtime each of the last two seasons. This season’s contest will happen at Hinkle Fieldhouse at 2:00 Saturday.

“Ready to go,” Clarke said. “We’ll enjoy this one today, but we’ll get prepared and be ready for them.”

Showing it was not completely dependent on senior guard Rotnei Clarke, the Butler men’s basketball team stormed past IUPUI 87-55 yesterday.

Clarke did not score until the 8:37 mark of the first half, but the Bulldogs (6-2) had already built a 26-6 lead.

Butler’s defense stymied the Jaguars (3-7), as it took them more than nine minutes to get past the two-point mark.

“Obviously I thought we were strong offensively the majority of the game,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “I thought we were really good defensively the first 13 minutes of the game.”

Five different Bulldogs connected from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes, including senior center Andrew Smith, who hit his second of the season.

Two 3-point baskets by junior forward Erik Fromm on back-to-back possessions midway through the half brought the crowd to its feet.

“In our system, our forwards are open a lot, especially with Rotnei and Kellen and Chase all very capable shooters,” Fromm said. “Part of being prepared to shoot the wide open shots is getting in the gym.”

Butler carried a 52-21 advantage into the locker room behind 12 points each from Clarke and freshman guard Kellen Dunham.

The Bulldogs shot 60 percent from the field and 3-point line in the first half. The Jaguars shot a respectable 41 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but only junior forward Donovan Gibbs had more than five points.

“Not to be too obvious, but the start was not what we had in the cards,” IUPUI coach Todd Howard said. “I was very pleased with our second half. I thought, to battle the way we did, guys competed.”

In the second half, Butler outscored IUPUI by just one point, but the Jaguars were never able to truly threaten the Bulldogs’ lead.

“I thought we had two good days of practice,” Stevens said.

Butler finished with five players in double figures and 11 players with at least two points.

Clarke and Dunham each tallied a game-high 17 points. Smith added 11 points, while Fromm and junior forward Khyle Marshall both recorded 10 points.

Dunham actually came off the bench in the first half, as Stevens opted to start sophomore guard Alex Barlow instead.

“We talked about that with Kellen and obviously his minutes aren’t going to deviate,” Stevens said. “We said, ‘let’s see if this will be a better fit for us.’”

While Butler outrebounded IUPUI 29-21, Smith, Marshall and sophomore forward Roosevelt Jones combined for just one board.

Gibbs and junior center Mitchell Patton led the Jaguars with 10 points apiece. Gibbs also tallied a team-high six rebounds and three assists.

Butler will now prepare for two consecutive games against Big 10 opponents. The first will see the Bulldogs travel to Northwestern Saturday.

The Wildcats (7-2) are coming off a stunning 74-70 victory over Baylor on the road earlier this week.

“Watched the whole game,” Stevens said. “I watched a little bit more of that than I usually do so that I have a good feel when I talk to the team.”

Butler will face crosstown foe Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis tonight at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

The Jaguars (3-6) finished seventh in the Summit League last season, going 14-18 overall and 7-11 in conference play.

Former Purdue guard John Hart is spending his senior year at IUPUI, where he is averaging 16.6 points a game.

IUPUI Senior guard Ja’Rob McCallum is a transfer from Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is the nephew of Detroit coach Ray McCallum.

Tonight’s game will be the fourth meeting between the two Indianapolis schools. The teams last met in the 1999-2000 season, when the Bulldogs won 70-59 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Butler is coming off a 67-53 win over Ball State last Saturday

The Bulldogs (5-2) found their shooting touch early in the game, hitting 7 or 8 shots from the field to take a 15-7 lead in the opening minutes.

However, Butler struggled the rest of the half with the Cardinals (2-4), owning an edge in the first half with 50 percent. Butler shot 37.1 percent.

Ball State tied the game at 33 when junior forward Majok Majok hit a jumper as time expired in the first half.

The Cardinals took a 36-33 lead early in the second half, their first lead of the game.

But Butler was able to stifle Ball State’s offense for the remainder of the game, forcing 19 turnovers, 12 of which came in the second half.

The Bulldogs went on a 26-7 run in the first 14 minutes of the second half. Ball State was held to two field goals during the stretch.

“I thought we did a good job being active with our hands in the second half and loose balls we came up with,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “In the first half, we didn’t.”

The Bulldogs scored 27 points off turnovers. The team only committed five turnovers in the game.

Butler’s defense also made 10 steals, with sophomore guard Alex Barlow and sophomore forward Roosevelt Jones leading with three each.

“He changed the game,” Stevens said of Barlow. “That’s the guy that changed the game. There is no other story, in my opinion.”

Barlow played a season-high 19 minutes, playing all but two minutes of the second half.

“I was feeling good out there,” Barlow said. “I had a lot of energy. I felt like I was moving my feet well. And I had great help.”

Senior guard Rotnei Clarke was battling a cold but still managed to lead Butler with 15 points. Clarke shot 5 for 18 from the field, going 3 for 12 from beyond the 3-point line.

“I thought he got better as the game went on defensively, that’s usually the good sign of a well-conditioned person,” Stevens said.

Junior forward Khyle Marshall led the Bulldogs with six rebounds while scoring 10 points. Senior center Andrew Smith added 12 points and five rebounds in the victory.

Senior Rotnei Clarke and junior Khyle Marshall each finished with 19 points to lead the Butler men’s basketball team to a 97-73 win over Hanover Tuesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

After a championship loss to Illinois in the EASports’ Maui Invitational, the Butler men’s basketball team looked to bounce back against the Division III program.

The opening play was an alley-op from sophomore Roosevelt Jones to Marshall. The Bulldogs never looked back.

“Rose had a good pass in that opening play to Marshall,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “It really set the tone for the rest of the game.”

Butler (4-2) opened on a 15-2 run.

The team built a 17-point lead in the first half, before Hanover (3-1) attempted a comeback.

Hanover cut the lead under 10 when Jacob Steinhart made two 3-pointers to trim the margin to nine. Clarke’s two free throws later expanded Butler’s lead to 41-24, but Hanover’s 8-0 run trimmed the margin under 10 again.

Despite the visitor’s best efforts, Butler’s lead was never really threatened, due in part to Butler’s scoring balance.

All five starters finished in double-double figures.

In the first half, the Bulldog bench only contributed two points. In the second half, the bench combined for 22 points.

Hanover made 12 3s in 32 attempts.

Butler only attempted 18 3-point shots, making nine of them.

The focus for Butler was its inside game.

“That was more by their design,” Stevens said. “They were taking away the outside and forcing us to drive or pass to the post.”

Senior center Andrew Smith finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

“It was really a credit to our guards,” Smith said. “They had some great passes and were getting us the ball.”

The Bulldogs finished shooting over 59 percent and out-rebounded Hanover 42-22.

The loss was Hanover’s first of the season.

The game was the first of a three-game home-stand for Butler. The second game is against Ball State on Saturday, starting at 2 p.m.

Senior guard Rotnei Clarke and freshman guard Kellen Dunham each tallied 17 points, and the Butler men’s basketball team used a strong first 30 minutes to defeat No. 9 North Carolina 82-71. The game was a semifinal match-up of the Maui Invitational.

The Tar Heels (4-1) made a strong run through the final 10 minutes, but the Bulldogs (3-1) were able to come up with key stops late.

The Bulldogs hit 12 of 25 3-point attempts in the contest. Clarke and Dunham combined for nine of those, with Dunham going 5 of 9 from beyond the arc.

Butler held UNC to 18 points in the opening half and held a 17-point advantage going into the locker room. The output was the Tar Heels’ lowest of the young season.

The Bulldogs did not miss many shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half, pushing their lead to as many as 28.

The Tar Heels began to chip away late, eventually cutting the Butler lead to six with 1:03 remaining.

A much-improved performance from the free throw line helped Butler seal the victory, however. The Bulldogs went 20 of 25 from the charity stripe in the contest.

Sophomore forward Khyle Marshall had 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Butler out-rebounded UNC 36-27, including 12-10 in offensive rebounds.

Senior center Andrew Smith tallied 13 points before fouling out in the final two minutes. Senior guard Chase Stigall added nine points, including back-to-back 3-point baskets that temporarily stalled the Tar Heels’ run late.

Sophomore guard P.J. Hairston led UNC in scoring with 15 points. Highly-touted sophomore forward James Michael McAdoo was held to 10 points and five rebounds.

Butler will take on the winner of tonight’s game between Chaminade and Illinois in the invitational’s championship game Wednesday.

BY THE NUMBERS

Butler

Rotnei Clarke: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 for 11 FG shooting, 4 for 6 3-pt shooting

Kellen Dunham: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 for 10 FG shooting, 5 for 9 3-pt shooting

Andrew Smith: 13 points, 7 of 8 FT shooting

Khyle Marshall: 10 points, 11 rebounds

Roosevelt Jones: 6 points, 4 assists

North Carolina

P.J. Hairston: 15 points, 7 rebounds

Marcus Paige: 13 points, 5 assists, 5 of 10 FG shooting

Reggie Bullock: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists

James Michael McAdoo: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 of 11 FG shooting