The Maui Invitational has become the premier pre-season tournament in college basketball in recent years. Butler got its first invitation to play in Maui this year and made a great showing and better than most thought they would. They stunned Marquette on Monday afternoon with Rotnei Clarke's 25-foot three-pointer as time expired to win by one, 72-71. With 17 points each from Clarke and freshman Kellen Dunham, the Bulldogs completely shocked North Carolina in the semifinals, 82-71.
With the way the Butler Bulldogs (3-2) came alive against Marquette and North Carolina, they are quickly turning into a team with nerves of steel and really playing like they've got ice water in their veins. They gave it their best in the three-day Maui Invitational, but met their match in the Illinois Fighting Illini (6-0) on Wednesday night. Butler dropped the Maui Championship to Illinois, 78-61.
Brad Stevens' crew seemed a little behind than normal, which allowed Illinois to take advantage of Butler's somewhat late start in getting their style of game going. Senior Brandon Paul led Illinois with 20 points on the night and was named the MVP of the Maui Invitational.
The Illini sprang out to a 16-7 lead, thanks to a three-pointer right out of a timeout by D.J. Richardson. Butler closed the gap to a five (26-21) and six (28-22) points before Illinois extended their margin to 15 (37-22) before the first half came to a close, leading Butler 39-28.
With 12:26 left, Butler cut the deficit to five (49-44) with a Rotnei Clarke three, giving the Dawgs a big boost of confidence. Two three-pointers by Tyler Griffey and jumpers by Richardson and Brandon Paul deflated that Butler confidence and Illinois was back up on the Bulldogs by 15.
Butler twice brought it back to a nine point game before Illinois made its final push to put it out of reach for good, winning going away, 78-61.
Illinois had four players in double-figures, including Brandon Paul with 20, Tracy Abrams had 17 while D.J. Richardson and Tyler Griffey scored 14 each.
Butler's lone scorer in double-figures was sharp-shooting Rotnei Clarke with a game-high 27 points. The transfer from Arkansas was 10-for-19 from the floor and 6-of-13 from three-point land, playing 39 of the 40 minutes. The rest of the Bulldogs were pretty much shutdown from their normal outputs. Khyle Marshall finished with 8 points, Roosevelt Jones had 7 and Kameron Woods grabbed 8 rebounds.
Coach Stevens will look to regroup his Bulldogs back at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Tuesday, November 27 at 7 p.m. when Hanover makes the trip up from southern Indiana. Butler stays home and hosts the Ball State Cardinals at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 1st.
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