EL DORADO – All-American Kadeem Allen tied a career high, but it wasn’t enough as the Butler Grizzlies rallied from 11 points down early in the second half to defeat the No. 4 Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team 80-78 on Monday night at the Power Plant.
Allen had his third 30-point game in his last four outings, scoring 35 points on 13 of 25 shooting. That tied his career high he established six days ago against Johnson County.
But Butler evened the season series with the Blue Dragons by coming alive from 3-point range in the second half. The Grizzlies were 0 of 7 from behind the 3-point line in the first half and trailed 40-29 with 19:35 to play in the second half. Shomari and Bakari Triggs started to find the range from deep and quickly turned an 11-point deficit into a 59-52 Butler lead with 9:40 remaining in the game.
The Blue Dragons fought back to tie the game at 65-all on an Allen score with 5:15 to play. A Shomari Triggs bucket with 2:19 left gave Butler a 74-69 lead. HCC had chances to tie or take the lead, but couldn’t hit the big shot. Allen’s desperation heave from halfcourt was well off the mark.
Hutchinson (6-1) drops its first game of the season shooting 46.7 percent from the field, but just 1 of 9 from 3-point range. HCC was 21 of 28 from the foul line. Playing for the third time in four days and for the fourth time in the last seven, the Blue Dragons were out-rebounded 41-30, giving up 18 offensive rebounds that led to 15 Butler points.
Two other players scored in double figures for the Blue Dragons. Freshman DeShawn Freeman scored 16 points and sophomore Nathan Jackson added 10. Darrick Wood added nine points.
Shomari Triggs finished with 23 points, hitting 2 of 3 3-pointers to lead Butler. Trent Richardson had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Bakari Triggs had 16 points and Sean Goodwin had 12.
Butler becomes the first opponent to shoot better than 50 percent against the Blue Dragons this season, shooting 50.8 percent (30 of 59). Butler hit 17 of 27 shots (63 percent) in the second half where it outscored Hutchinson 51-40. The Grizzlies finished 6 of 16 from 3-point range, 6 of 9 in the second half. They hit 14 of 27 free throws.
HCC found itself down 7-2 early, but countered with a 7-0 run capped off by a Jackson hoop with 13:22 to play in the half. Butler then led 29-25 and the Blue Dragons closed the half on a 13-0 run. A couple of Freeman dunks got the Dragons down and Allen hit a floater with 1 second left in the half to give the Blue Dragons a 38-39 halftime advantage.
A Jackson basket on HCC’s first possession of the second half boosted the run to 15-0 and gave the Dragons a 40-29 lead. A couple of 3-pointers by the Triggs’ brothers quickly pulled the Grizzlies within 42-40 with 16:17 to play in the half.
Despite shooting 50 percent in the second half, the Blue Dragons couldn’t hold off Butler. A Shomari Triggs 3-pointer with 11:11 left gave the Grizzlies a 53-51 lead.
An Allen putback with 5:15 to play tied the game at 65-all. Shomari Triggs hit 1 of 2 free throws with 4:50 to play to give Butler the lead for good. That lead grew to five on three occasions, the final one at 76-71 with 1:26 to play. Wood converted a three-point play with 1:07 left to pull Hutchinson within 76-74.
Goodwin scored a huge basket inside with 34 seconds left to put butler up 78-74. Freeman then scored on a putback with 17.3 seconds left to bring the Blue Dragons within 78-76. Shomari Triggs hit 1 of 2 free throws for a 79-76 lead. The Dragons scored quickly on the other end with a hoop from Freeman to pull within 79-78 with 6 seconds left. Triggs hit 1 of 2 with 4.4 seconds remaining and the Dragons couldn’t hit the halfcourt shot at the buzzer.
HCC will play Western Texas and Central Nebraska this weekend at the Hutchinson Clinic Classic on Friday and Saturday at the Sports Arena. Game time each night is 7:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES – After the 180th meeting between the two long-time Jayhawk Conference rivals, Hutchinson leads Butler 117-63 in the all-time series. … Over his last four games, Kadeem Allen has scored 130 points, an average of 32.5 points per game. … HCC was out-rebounded for the third time in the last four games.
(HCC Sports Information)