The Butler Bulldogs defeated the Seton Hall Pirates, 82-77, on Wednesday, Jan. 15, despite Pirates guard Chaunce Jenkins leading the game with 21 points.
Both teams were firing from the 3-point arc in the late stages of the game as Butler was looking to put the nail in the coffin, and Seton Hall was fighting to stay alive. Butler had the lead almost all game, but Pirates guard Jahseem Felton nailed a three from the right wing to cut the lead to two, 74-72, with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Kolby King brought the ball up for the Bulldogs and they passed it around several times, with no open looks yet. With the shot clock winding down, Patrick McCaffery got the ball on the right side of the court.
McCaffery shot a running floater near the basket, hitting the backboard and going into the net. With the basket, the Bulldogs led, 76-72, with 42 seconds remaining. There was still plenty of time for the Pirates to muster up four points.
Pirates guard Chaunce Jenkins had been giving the Bulldogs a challenge all night. At this stage in the game, he had 19 points and was scoring at all three levels.
Jenkins drove to the left and the defense collapsed on him. Gus Yalden set an off-ball screen to free up Isaiah Coleman, who ran towards the left wing near Jenkins.
Jenkins read the trap that the Bulldogs set for him and found Coleman on the wing. Despite the hand in his face, Coleman got off the shot, but the ball hit the left side of the rim.
The ball headed towards half-court and both teams raced to it. Jenkins and King were the two closest for their respective teams. King nearly had the ball in his grasp but was bumped by Jenkins and fell to the ground. The foul was clearly unintentional, yet it still took King a moment to collect himself.
Both teams scored a couple more times after this, but the Pirates ultimately couldn’t close the gap.
With senior Dylan Addae-Wusu sidelined at the last second because of a foot injury, the Pirates were at a disadvantage. Addae-Wusu has been a crucial glue guy all season long, and they were undoubtedly going to miss his intensity and defensive prowess.
Butler had a firm grasp of the game, leading 39:08 of the 40-minute contest. The Pirates still found ways to score, like when the teams were trading buckets in the middle of the first half.
Chaunce Jenkins was dominant throughout the game, scoring 21 points on 7-12 shooting. This was his second-highest point total of the year, with his first being his 22 points against VCU in November.
Scotty Middleton was lights out from behind the arc, shooting a perfect 4-4 and scoring 14 points total. Two of his 3-pointers came towards the latter half of the game: one with 5:12 remaining and the other with 3:45 remaining.
Senior forward Pierre Brooks was the standout for Butler, as he has been all season. Brooks scored 19 points and made six of his eight free throws of the night.
Brooks’s most crucial free throws came with 18 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs led 78-74 and Middleton had just committed an intentional foul. Despite the pressure, Brooks made both free throws, securing the win for Butler.
The Pirates are currently 6-13 and 1-7 in BIG EAST play. Their next game is against the Creighton Bluejays on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 1:30 p.m. at the CHI Health Center Omaha.
Matthew Soetebeer is the head editor for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at matthew.soetebeer@student.shu.edu.
