EL DORADO, Kan. — Hutchinson (10-5, 6-3) only surrendered the lead to No. 5 Butler (12-3, 7-2) for 10 seconds Wednesday night.
Fresh off last Saturday's 70-62 victory over No. 6 Cowley, the Dragons continued their second-semester dominance with a 73-70 win at the Power Plant.
Hutchinson took a six-point advantage into the break and pushed that lead to double digits early in the second half.
The Dragons held a four-point advantage and their breath as leading scorer Quez Thornton was sidelined with an injury with 10:12 left to play.
Thornton did not return and finished the game with 11 points.
Bo Aldridge led the Dragons with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
DJ Dudley added another 11 as Hutchinson held off a late Butler push.
Clinging to a three-point lead, Hutchinson turned the ball over to full-court pressure.
Josiah Kirkwood stole an inbound pass and scored a quick layup with 9.8 seconds remaining.
Hutchinson safely inbounded the ball after its final timeout and Butler was forced to foul.
Mikhail Abdul-Hamid hit both free throws to put Hutchinson back up three.
Without timeouts, Kirkwood pushed the ball down the floor and tried a quick layup. Kobe Smith rebounded the miss and time expired.
FINAL: Hutchinson 73 Butler 70
Former Blue Dragon Russell Branch led Butler with 18 points.
The Dragons led for 38 minutes and 53 seconds in a game that was tied once with two lead changes.
Hutchinson is on the road Saturday at Pratt for a 4 p.m. tipoff.