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Butler nearly upsets No. 4 Marquette

Butler nearly upsets No. 4 Marquette

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Oh, what could have been.

The Butler Bulldogs put the pressure on No. 4 Marquette Tuesday night in Hinkle Fieldhouse and nearly completed the season sweep after a 78-72 loss to the Golden Eagles.

The Bulldogs had all of Hinkle on its feet when they cut the Golden Eagles’ 12-point advantage down to two with four minutes left. Butler freshman guard Finley Bizjack scored 16 points in the final nine minutes to give Butler a chance at the upset. But the Bulldogs defense couldn’t hold in the final 90 seconds, giving the Golden Eagles their revenge from January’s loss in Milwaukee.

“I think they’re a good team,” Bizjack said. “I don’t think they’re No. 4 in the country for no reason. I mean, props to them for what they did tonight, but we definitely have to be better. I think we’re a top team in the country and can compete with any team.”

“We’ve got to learn from this game,” Butler head coach Thad Matta said. “We weren’t very good in the first half. I mean, nine turnovers. We were sloppy, and I think that was the difference. You know, we had one of those nights where we couldn’t make shots, and I thought we had some really good looks at the basket. They wouldn’t go in. We’ve got to continue to find ways to get better.”

Both teams came out flat in the first half. Butler turned the ball over nine times in that first 20 minutes. Marquette had seven the entire game.

Marquette led by only two at halftime, but a couple of 6-0 runs in the first 10 minutes of the second half put enough distance between the Golden Eagles and the Bulldogs. Marquette’s top scorer this season Tyler Kolek finished with a game-high 27 points — a sharp contrast to the two points he had in the first battle with Butler last month. Senior forward Oso Ighodaro helped the Golden Eagles with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double.

On the Butler side of the court, four Bulldogs scored in double figures, headlined by Bizjack’s 19.

“That was a heck of a challenging game,” Marquette head coach Shaka Smart said. “Give Butler a lot of credit for the way they fought and battled. We knew that this was going to be a tough place to come into and win. … I’m glad we’re done playing Butler at least for the regular season, but absolutely they’re an NCAA Tournament team.”

Despite the loss, there’s still a lot of March buzz around the Bulldogs, who have beaten two ranked teams already. They have another chance against a top-25 opponent at 12:30 p.m. Saturday when they host No. 17 Creighton. That’s all that’s on Matta’s mind right now.

“We got to be better on Saturday than we were tonight, and that’s where our focus is,” Matta said. “I know this March doesn’t matter if we don’t take care of February, so we need to do more.”