EL DORADO, Kan. — Kam Thomas came off the bench for the first time as a Blue Dragon (11 starts in 11 appearances) and led Hutchinson with 21 points in the Power Plant Wednesday night.
No. 21 Hutchinson (11-2, 6-1) got an immediate spark from Thomas after trailing 5-0.
Battling sickness, Hutchinson started Dallas Whitney for the third time this season and Kernan Bundy for the first time.
Thomas scored five straight after a Dre Weathers And-1 and the Dragons went on a 10-4 run against No. 17 Butler (10-3, 5-2).
The Dragons took a 30-25 advantage into the locker room and came out flat in the second half.
Butler built a nine-point advantage as Hutchinson shot just 3-of-17 to open the second frame.
Jamichael Stillwell notched a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards to lead the Grizzlies.
Hutchinson went 8-of-14 in the final seven minutes to rally back.
Butler failed to extend its one-point advantage with 1:34 to play as Kaleb Washington missed a pair of free throws.
Butler made good on just 13-of-24 attempts from the charity stripe (56.5%), including a measly 5-for-13 in the second half (38.5%).
Hutchinson reclaimed the lead with 1:06 remaining when a Tino Simon 15-footer rattled home.
A Jason Drake layup gave Butler the 60-59 advantage with 47 seconds left.
Thomas immediately answered with his third triple of the contest.
Butler struggled with the ensuing inbound. The first attempt was knocked out-of-bounds and given back to the Grizzlies. A nearly-identical pass was batted away by Hutchinson on the second attempt. Both deflections nearly went off Butler players.
The third time was the charm as Hutchinson stole the entry pass with 37 seconds remaining and drew a Grizzly foul with the shot clock dark.
J.P. Ricks made just one-of-two from the line to put Hutchinson up three.
Stillwell tried to tie the game on a guarded three, but clanked the ball off the backboard and committed his final foul on a Whitney rebound.
Whitney went to the line with 4.2 seconds left and a chance to ice the game.
He missed both free throws.
Out of timeouts, Butler pushed the ball up the floor and got a 35-foot attempt from Amare Haynie.
His shot to tie the game rolled off the rim at the buzzer.
FINAL: Hutchinson 63 Butler 60
Hutchinson is home Saturday at 4 p.m. against Northwest Tech (4-9, 0-7).
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