Grizzlies Overwhelm Snow with Full-Court Pressure, Advance to Quarterfinals

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The No. 8 seed Butler Grizzlies advance to the NJCAA Quarterfinals after 101-96 win over No. 9 seed Snow on Tuesday afternoon. 

From the opening tip, Snow (29-5) struggled to handle the Grizzlies (25-9) full-court pressure, committing eight turnovers within the first four and a half minutes and three on their first three possessions of the contest. Snow big man Sean Felts, coming off a 27-point, 12 rebound performance in the first round against No. 24 Trinidad State on Sunday, picked up his second foul with 17:05 to go in the first half and was sent to the bench. 

Butler managed to take a double-digit lead (20-9) with 14:21 to go after a layup by Xavier Brown and later took an 18-point lead with 6:49 left in the half. The turning point of the half came with 4:24 to go with the Grizzlies holding a 40-30 lead. Snow was called for an offensive foul on a fast break. After the whistle was blown, Snow's Sam Sivulich continued to drive to the rim and attempted a layup and fell to the ground, with Butler's Amare Jones in pursuit. The officials went to the replay monitor and called Jones for a deadball contact technical foul. So instead of the Grizzlies having possession up 10, Snow shot two technical free throws and made them both and then maintained possession. On the ensuing possession, Snow's McCaden Adams made a three plus the foul to send him to the free throw line, where he converted. In a matter of seconds, Butler's 10-point lead was now cut to four, 40-36 with 4:20 to go in the half. 

Snow would again trim the deficit, going into the break trailing the Grizzlies 48-47, ending the first half on a 28-11 run. 

Snow took their first and only lead (55-52) of the game after a three pointer, and the Grizzlies freshman guard Tristan Hankins immediately responded with a three of his own to tie the game back up at 55 apiece. 

The Grizzlies took their biggest lead of the half with 9:14 to go. Tim Walker II drove in the lane and made a layup, and on the inbound, Jaise Combs stole the inbound and pulled up a three and drilled it right in front of the Butler bench to put the Grizzlies up 87-73, forcing Snow to call a timeout.

The Badgers couldn't get any closer than seven for the remainder of the contest until the final seconds as the Grizzlies held off a late Snow surge.

The story of the game was ball pressure. Butler forced 30 Snow turnovers, a season-high for the Badgers. Butler had 29 points off turnovers, 23 offensive rebounds, and 27 second chance points.

Butler shot 41.7 percent from the field (40-96) and were 13 of 52 from beyond the arc. The Grizzlies got off 24 more shot attempts than Snow (33-72) and had 21 steals on the afternoon. 

Hankins and Combs led the way offensively for the Grizzlies, both recording 21 points. Hankins also contributed with 11 rebounds and five assists, completing the double-double. Xavier Brown scored 16 points off the bench for the Grizzlies. 

Snow's McCaden Adams had a game high 26 points and eight turnovers. After scoring 20 points in the first half, Adams was held to only six points in the second.

Butler is headed to the NJCAA National Tournament Quarterfinal for the first time since since 1996. 

Next up: The Grizzlies will face the No. 1 seeded Howard Hawks on Wednesday at 12 p.m. This will be the second meeting between the Grizzlies and Hawks this season, as Howard came out victorious back in early November, defeating the Grizzlies 95-94. The first time around was a nail biter the whole way, as the game was tied at 49 apiece heading into halftime. Butler was held to only 38.2 percent shooting and were nine of 40 from deep in the first meeting. Howard committed 27 turnovers in the win.