Butler upends No. 12 Hutchinson in thriller at Sports Arena

The Butler men won their fourth straight game over archrival Hutchinson, this time in a 62-61 thriller Wednesday night at the Sports Arena..

The Grizzlies overcame an eight-point deficit in the second half to defeat the No. 12-ranked team in the nation on their home floor for the second straight year.

Butler led most of the first 10 minutes of the game, but never by more than three points. Hutchinson would come back to lead 30-28 at intermission.

Hutchinson came roaring out of intermission, taking a 38-30 lead. Hutch still led 43-35 with 13:26 to go, but the Grizzlies got two straight steals that led to layups, cutting the deficit to four.

A technical foul on Hutchinson would ignite a 5-0 Butler run with baskets by Andrew Victoria and Justin Simmons, and the Grizzlies took a 55-52 lead with 7:14 to go.

Jal'n Williams scored Butler's final basket, putting the Grizzlies up 62-58 with 2:52 to go in the game. Hutchinson would get three points in the final minute on a free throw and a basket with 44.8 seconds to go. The Blue Dragons would not score again, despite getting the ball back with 26 seconds to play, missing four shots in the final four seconds.

Justin Simmons led Butler with 19 points. Andrew Victoria had a big night with nine points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots, including a block with 3.9 seconds to play that helped preserve the win. Zac Bargen also had a big night with eight points and seven rebounds.