Game Recap: Butler Survives Northwestern At Arizona Tip-Off

Source: Justin Casterline / Getty

TEMPE, Ariz. — Free throw shooting has always been a staple of what makes for a good Butler basketball player. That quality was put to the ultimate test in the closing minutes of the opening game of the Arizona Tip-Off in Tempe on Thanksgiving Day.

The Butler Bulldogs were thankful for three things in this opening game against Northwestern: making just enough free throws (21-of-27), Jahmyl Telfort’s 23 points, and Andre Screen having the game of his life.

The Bulldogs would ride the knife’s edge the entire second half en route to a 71-69 victory over the Wildcats.

Both teams started the game slow, so slow in fact that in the first four minutes, they only hit two out of ten shots taken between them.

Having enough of the struggles, Butler broke through first embarking on an 11-0 run out of the under-16 media timeout, which turned into a 17-2 scoring swing giving Butler a 21-8 lead with 7:44 to play in the half.

In that juncture, Screen entered the game and made four of his first five shots taken and by the end of the half would have four rebounds to boot. Still, it was only a matter of time before Northwestern found its groove. They did so, not with Nick Martinelli who averaged 24 points per game coming into the game, but young Brooks Barnhizer, the former Mr. Indiana Basketball candidate from Lafayette, Indiana.

Barnhizer’s 11 first-half points, and a scoring drought by Butler, helped Northwestern engineer a 13-2 run to close the first half only down 31-28.

Butler would maintain the lead for the majority of the second half, but only just. Northwestern kept up the pressure while misses and turnovers slowly started to add up for Butler.

The Dawgs had some separation up 49-43 with 10:05 left to play thanks to pure deep shooting from Telfort and Patrick McCaffery. However, an untimely scoring drought that lasted six agonizing minutes left the door open for Northwestern to reclaim the lead. They did just that by going up 53-52 with five minutes left to play.

Enter Finley Bizjack, who hit a desperate 3-pointer to give the lead back to Butler. They would not surrender the lead again, but it was not for lack of trying on Northwestern’s part. The Wildcats kept clawing and fighting, but so did the likes of Jahmyl Telfort and Andre Screen, the latter of whom had two blocked shots in the second half and finished with a stunning performance of 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. 

With 32 seconds left, it became a contest of who was better at free throws. Despite six misses on their part, the Bulldogs survived a bevy of crazy plays from Northwestern, including a banked-in half-court shot from Barnhizer on which he was fouled, but the officials waved off the shot as they called the foul on the floor.

A last desperate volley from the Wildcats turned up fruitless as time expired, assuring Butler of their biggest win of the season against a  ‘Power 5’ opponent. Barnhizer finished the game with 24 points, but the shocking stat was Butler holding Nick Martinelli to just seven points.

Not much rest now for the Bulldogs who take a four-game win streak into the championship game of the Arizona Tip-Off on Friday.

Game Recap: Butler Survives Northwestern In Opener Of Arizona Tip-Off  was originally published on ronewibc.staging.go.ione.nyc