NEW YORK —
Butler must win four games in four days for a title in its first — and perhaps last — Atlantic 10 tournament.
Doesn’t sound too crazy for the little school that made two straight NCAA championship games.
The fifth-seeded Bulldogs, who missed out on a bye in the deep A-10, pulled away late to beat Dayton 73-67 in the first round Thursday.
“Tournament tough — that’s just kind of the word you have to use when you deal with those guys,” Flyers coach Archie Miller said.
Butler (25-7, 11-5) rode its 3-point shooting — and 3-point defense — to advance to face fourth-seeded La Salle in Friday’s quarterfinals. The Bulldogs were 10-for-24 from behind the arc, while the Flyers attempted just four 3-pointers.
Rotnei Clarke had 21 points and five assists to lead Butler, going 6-of-12 on 3-pointers. Fellow senior Andrew Smith had 18 points and six rebounds.
“They set great screens for me,” Clarke said of his teammates. “Especially when I’m off the ball and in transition, I got a couple of looks, and it’s all from these guys. They look for me when I’m open. It’s really an unselfish team.”
Josh Benson had 18 points to lead 12th-seeeded Dayton (17-14, 7-9).
The Flyers were up 43-39 with less than 14 minutes left before Butler hit 3-pointers on three straight possessions to take the lead for good.
“When they came out and they hit three 3-pointers, that kind of changed the rhythm of the game,” Dayton senior guard Kevin Dillard said.
It was 55-50 with just over seven minutes left when Erik Fromm, who came in averaging 3.4 points, made the Bulldogs’ next four baskets as Butler started to pull away.
Running the floor, the 6-foot-8 Fromm had a fast-break layup on a feed from Alex Barlow and a dunk on a pass from Roosevelt Jones. He made a 3-pointer sandwiched in between, and when Fromm scored inside with 4:26 to go, the Bulldogs led 64-54.
Those nine points were all Fromm scored in the game in 10 minutes.
“I thought the series of plays where Fromm was in the middle of them — the 3 he hit, a couple of effort play points that he had — kind of separated the game,” coach Brad Stevens said.
Butler, the national runner-up in 2010 and ’11, could be headed along with Dayton to join the breakaway Big East basketball schools.
The Bulldogs lost at La Salle 54-53 on Jan. 23 on a last-second shot in their only meeting of the season. Clarke missed that game with a severely sprained neck.
But the Explorers will have plenty to play for Friday as an NCAA bubble team. The Bulldogs have no such worries because of nonconference wins over top-ranked Gonzaga, No. 3 Indiana and No. 12 Marquette.
Their run to the Maui Invitational final in November — with games against Marquette, North Carolina and Illinois on consecutive days — is the perfect groundwork for this time of year.
“This is why you play in Maui. ... Everything you do in the nonconference, from a scheduling standpoint, is to prepare you for now,” Stevens said.
The Bulldogs will need to be sharper than they were Thursday if they want to hang around at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center any longer. The Flyers outscored Butler 48-28 in the paint.
Dillard scored inside and hit a 3-pointer to give the Flyers the four-point lead early in the second half. He finished with 15 points but had five turnovers.
“I think we weren’t really playing hard enough,” Smith said. “We were taking plays off and we were letting them score too easily inside. Obviously you see they outscored us 48-28. You’re not going to win a whole lot of games doing that. We were pretty fortunate. We ended up playing pretty hard, pretty well over the last 15 minutes, but definitely need to improve on the first 25.”
College Sports
Related Photos
-
Butler's Rotnei Clarke puts up a shot past Dayton's Khari Price, second from right, during the first half Thursday at the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament in New York. Seth Wenig / The Associated Press
Discussion
Clarke scores 21, Butler tops Dayton 73-67 at A-10
- College Sports
-
-
Ball State moves to 7th at NCAA regional
The Ball State men’s golf team moved up three spots on the leaderboard Friday with the third-best second round at the NCAA Pullman Regional.
The Cardinals posted a team score of 4-under-par 284, led by former Liberty Christian star Alex Stinson’s 69 at the par-72 Palouse Ridge Golf Club. With one round to play, they have positioned themselves for a run at one of the top-five spots and a trip to the NCAA Nationals. -
Ravens ready to rumble with nation’s best
Everything about this wild and wonderful weekend will be brand new for the Anderson University softball team.
So why should the opposition be any different? -
Clouser’s 68 paces Ball State in NCAA regional opener
Former Liberty Christian star Alex Stinson righted his round with a birdie on the 16th hole and an eagle on the 17th and fought for a 74.
-
Stinson, Cardinals step onto national stage
For the first time in 22 years, the Ball State men’s golf team will be making an appearance in the NCAA Regional, and Liberty Christian product Alex Stinson is one of big reasons.
Stinson, a senior, will be playing in the No. 2 slot for the Cardinals when they play Thursday in the regional at Pullman, Wash. BSU is seeded 10th among the 14 teams. -
AU softball's flying high
In early April, the Anderson University softball team was scuffling along at 1-3 in league play and thinking positive thoughts about remaining in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference title race.
On Friday, the Ravens (31-16) will be one of just eight teams still alive in the NCAA Div. III national championship race. -
George Bremer: Ravens’ win could take awhile to sink in
As the Anderson University softball team’s bus neared campus late Monday afternoon on its return trip from Angola, NCAA Div. III regional MVP Yardley Collett was checking her Twitter account.
There were messages of congratulations from Ravens baseball players and some of the softball team’s fans. And there were also heartfelt greetings from players and coaches around the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. -
Ravens on verge of World Series berth
The Anderson University softball team defeated Aurora University 4-3 and then knocked off Allegheny 16-4 in the first championship game of the NCAA Div. III Regional on Sunday in Angola.
The two victories forced a second championship game Monday at 10 a.m. The winner will advance to the NCAA Div. III World Series this weekend in Eau Claire, Wis. -
AU softball wins pair to remain alive
For the second time in three days, the Anderson University softball team knocked off top-seeded and No. 2 ranked Trine University 10-6 in the NCAA Div. III Regional on Saturday.
The eighth seeded Ravens also defeated the hosts 5-1 in the first game of the tournament on Thursday. -
Ravens turn back No. 2 Trine
Greenfield freshman Sami Frazier limited the No. 2-ranked team in the country to three hits as Anderson University defeated Trine 5-1 here Thursday.
The win moved the Ravens into the second round of the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament in Angola. AU will play at 2 p.m. today against Aurora. -
Ravens dominate HCAC team
Anderson University’s Amy Wuestefeld has been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player of the 2013 softball season and Sami Frazier was named the HCAC Pitcher of the Year as well as Freshman of the Year.
- More College Sports Headlines
-
