Feb. 5, 2011
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
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By: Robert Ivory
CLEVELAND, Ohio- With the black jerseys on and the most electric atmosphere the Wolstein Center has been all year, the Vikes were unable to capture the win as they fell 73-61 Saturday afternoon to the Butler Bulldogs.
"They came in here and outplayed us today, that's all you can say," head coach Gary Waters said. "We made 18 buckets and when you hit 18 baskets, you are not going to beat very many teams. They have not gotten our best game yet. That's a positive."
"Trey got in foul trouble and when you take 15 points out of your lineup that hurts. I need to get their minds focused, because the game on Monday is going to be tough."
The Vikings were led by junior Jeremy Montgomery, as he scored 18 and collected 4-5 from beyond the arc.
Norris Cole added 15 points and four assists, the 31st consecutive time he has scored in double figures.
"They played well against us," Cole said. "That's on us. I'm not down, my team is not down."
After Tim Kamczyc knocked down a three with 13:05 in the second half to tie the game for the ninth time during the day, Butler took the tempo and controlled the final minutes, as Matt Howard hit some key threes, part of his 14-point night.
"We had to speed the game up and get turnovers or try to play them head-to-head and they out-executed us," Waters said."
After hitting just 39.4% in the first half, Butler shot 55.2% in the second and forced the Vikes to 12 turnovers.
Kamczyc finished with 12 points, hitting all of his six shots from the line. Both his baskets were three pointers.
A third of the Vikings' baskets were from three (6-18) and were outscored 15-6 off turnovers.
The Vikings fall for their first time at the Wolstein Center this year, snapping their 15-game winning streak at home. It also drops them to 21-4 on the year and 10-3 in the league.
CSU started the game off with Kamczyc hitting a three from the top left hand side of the arc on a pass from Cole. That came after both teams missed their first two shots each.
Butler senior Matt Howard answered with a three of his own to tie the game at the 17:43 mark. Neither would then find a field goal until 15:39 when Matt Smith gave Butler their first lead of the day, hitting a shot under the basket then Zach Hahn hit a three to give the Bulldogs a 5-0 run.
Both teams shot 30% from the field to open the game, and the Vikes had four turnovers, but lead the battle on the boards 8-5 and hit their first three of six from behind the arc.
That was until Montgomery hit a three of his own to stop the skip and the ballgame was again tied at eight. He liked it so much, that he did it again and gave CSU the lead with another three and gave CSU the early (13:23) 11-8 lead. In almost repeat fashion, Montgomery hit his third trey in a row.
In 2:27, Montgomery had scored more points (nine) than the Bulldogs did in 8:30 minutes, as his three treys were all his baskets. His nine points led all scores at the half.
"I did not try to force the issue," Montgomery said. "I found the open shot and hit them."
After a Norris Cole fast break layup, the Vikings had gone on an 11-0 run over 2:55 to lead 16-8 as the Butler called a timeout. From that point on, no team would have bigger than a six point until the eight minutes remaining in the game.
"We were on an emotional high," Waters said. "I told them to be intense, not emotional."
Butler did make a strong run, as the hit three straight baskets to make it 16-14, with Khyle Marshall hitting a layup in the paint to give Butler just their second lead in the game, 18-17, with 8:43 to go.
A pair of Cole free throws gave back the lead as Cole went to the bench after the shots. Cole scored just eight points in the half, but hit all of his four free throws.
"They did what we thought they were going to do," Cole said. "They had a good focus on getting back in transition, they had three or four guys getting back on defense."
Butler and the Vikings would battle back and forth, as Butler shot below the 40% mark, but at the 6:30 mark had taken eight more shots attempts (22-14).
The Bulldogs would go on an 8-2 run to give them a five-point lead with 5:13 left in the half. Cole would hit a pair of free throws to get CSU within three, then would find big Joe Latas (his only basket) under the basket to make it 26-25, Butler with 3:53 in the half.
With Butler up 32-29 with a minute to go, Shelvin Mack went to the free throw line and was only able to hit one on the front end.
Luda Ndye could not capitalize, as he missed a layup as he drove to the basket. That was the second time that the Vikes missed (non-difficult) layups in the paint.
CSU got the rebound on a Mack missed jumper. Waters called a timeout with 22 seconds left. He called a play for Cole to run the lane. He did, but was unable to hit a tough layup and did not get enough contact to get the foul.
Butler led by four, 33-29 at the intermission.
Right off the bat, Aaron Pogue hit a shot right under the basket and the Vikes trailed by just a basket. Trevon Harmon then flew to the basket, hit a layup, then was fouled by Howard, which quickly gave him his third foul of the night.
The basket counted, but the referees had to converse. After originally giving the ball back to CSU, they awarded Butler the ball.
The first two minutes seemed to continue in that way, as CSU was falled for a few fouls, including a charge.
CSU got three consecutive stops, which included some great individual efforts, as Josh McCoy flew in from nowhere to block a Zach Hahn shot and Pogue tough defense in the paint.
Montgomery led the charge down the right side of the floor. He missed the shot, but hit the two free throws, giving CSU a 36-35 lead with 15:57 left to play.
Aaron Pogue missed a layup under the basket, as Shelvin Mack hit a three on the other end. In the next possession, Pogue hit the shot that he missed to retie the game at 38 at the 14:40 mark.
Harmon was guilt of his fourth foul with 13 and a half to go, but Kamczyc hit his second three of the night to tie the game up at 43 with 13:00 to go.
Butler led 47-43 after Marshall hit a deep jumper, but on the ensuing possession, Kamczyc ran the lane and got Andrew Smith to collect his fourth foul. With that foul, Butler's Marshall and Smith had four and Howard had three.
Howard hit a key three to get the Bulldogs a seven-point lead 58-51 and another one to put Butler up 63-53, their biggest lead of the day, with 4:40.
Montgomery would not let the night away hitting a three from the left hand corner and CSU was back within seven.
He would then be called for an intentional foul. Nored hit one of the two free throws, then Harmon picked Howard's pocket. Cole drove the floor, got the basket and hit the free throw to get within seven, again. But it was the Bulldogs the rest of the way.
With the win, Butler moves to 15-9 overall and 7-5 in the Horizon League.
The Vikings have little time to rest, as they hit the road for a single-game road trip to Detroit Monday against the Titans of Detroit Mercy, starting at 7:00 p.m.
