Butler Tops West Plains in Rematch

EL DORADO, Kan. – The Butler Grizzlies avenged Monday's loss to Missouri State-West Plains at the Power Plant, defeating West Plains 99-80 on Saturday afternoon.

Butler traveled to West Plains, MO. on Monday and lost a heartbreaker to West Plains 116-115 for their second loss on the young season. Saturday afternoon in El Dorado was a different story.

The Grizzlies (4-2) held a 43-38 advantage over West Plains (2-6) at the break. West Plains had 11 turnovers in the first half alone.

Butler opened up their lead in the second half, forcing 12 more West Plains turnovers in the half, 23 for the game. The Grizzlies started to capitalize off of West Plains' mistakes, finishing with 28 points off turnovers. Butler outscored West Plains 56-42 in the second half en route to the 99-80 victory.

The Grizzlies had six players finish in double figures. Freshman Tristan Hankins led the scoring off the bench with 14 on five of nine shooting, three of seven from down town. Fayetteville, Arkansas native Odie Williams added 12 points and four steals for the Grizzlies. Devin Kerr had a near double-double with ten points and eight rebounds. Sophomore AJ Pierre-Jerome had 10 points on the day, six of six from the charity stripe.

As a team, the Grizzlies shot 15-16 from the foul line. Butler shot off 33 more field goal attempts than West Plains, 36-92 for the day. The Grizzlies also shot 12-44 from three point land. The Grizzlies had 47 total rebounds, 20 of them offensive, along with 23 assists.

Butler now trails West Plains in the all-time series 2-4. 

Next up: Butler will travel to Coffeyville on Wednesday for their first conference match up on the season at 7:30 p.m. from Nellis Hall.