EL DORADO, Kan. — No. 19 Hutchinson (22-6, 16-6) struggled on the glass in the first half against Butler (20-7, 14-7).
The Dragons faced a Butler team that had lost only once this season in the Power Plant. That loss came against league-leading Dodge City.
The Grizzlies outrebounded the Dragons 24-14 in the first half. Twelve of those rebounds came on the offensive glass and produced 17 second-chance points.
Hutchinson trailed 35-32 at halftime after Eden Holt hit his only three-point attempt. It was the only Butler three that found net out of eight attempts in the first half. The Grizzlies shot just 15% from distance with three makes.
Marque English, who scored 24 points with five three-pointers the last time these two teams met, continued his cold streak with zero makes in four attempts from deep. English is now 0-9 from three in his last four games.
Hutchinson only took five threes in the second half after hitting just 3 of 13 in the first half. The Dragons nailed 3 0f 5 in the second half, including a Cecil Lee three that turned the tide.
Kaimen Lennox had a shot blocked underneath the basket with under five minutes to play. He caught the ball on his way down and threw it off a Butler defender as they both fell out of bounds. His heads-up play saved the possession for Hutchinson, but with just one second to shoot on the shot clock.
Lee quickly took the inbound in front of the Blue Dragon bench and fired up a three with a defender in his face. The ball tickled the twine as the shot clock expired and gave Hutchinson a 64-59 advantage with 4:37 left.
The Dragons were down by as many as seven early in the second half before battling to a 55-all tie with 8:10 remaining.
The Dragons followed the Lee three with a Jacquez Yow And-1. Yow took the ball on a give-and-go in the paint and scored through contact. His free throw put Hutchinson up nine with 2:21 left.
The Dragons made their first 18 free throws and finished the contest 23 of 27 (85.2%).
Butler mustered just 67.7% from the charity stripe.
Butler made 3 0f 20 three-pointers.
Hutchinson allowed only three offensive rebounds in the second half and held Butler to only one more second-chance point.
The Dragons evened the rebound count at 38 after a 10-rebound deficit in the first 20 minutes.
FINAL: Hutchinson 75 Butler 66
Angelo Stuart added to his three-point record by making three triples out of four attempts. He was 6 of 12 overall with 19 points and five rebounds.
Kaimen Lennox scored 15 while Nate Goodlow added 12. Goodlow also had nine boards (four offensive) and four assists.
Trey Payne led Butler with 19 points.
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