Butler heats up in second half to stop DePaul
Finley Bizjack scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to rally Butler to an 87-80 Big East win over DePaul on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.
Michael Ajayi, who fought off a pregame illness, finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the Bulldogs (12-7, 3-5 Big East) erased a 4-point halftime deficit. Evan Haywood scored 15 points while Azavier Robinson chipped in with 13 points, five assists and three steals.
Layden Blocker led the way for DePaul (11-8, 3-5) with 20 points, including 17 in the second half. CJ Gunn, the reigning Big East Player of the Week, scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half as the Blue Demons dropped to 0-4 in league road games.
After Blocker hit a pair of free throws to give DePaul a 43-37 lead with 18:16 left, Butler used six points from Bizjack and five from Robinson to go on a 13-0 run to take a 50-43 advantage with 15:43 to go.
Brandon Maclin snapped Butler's run with a 3-pointer, but the Bulldogs resumed their onslaught. Two Bizjack free throws capped a 20-4 Butler spree that gave them a 57-47 advantage with 11:23 remaining.
An Ajayi turnaround jumper gave Butler a 70-55 lead, their largest of the game, with 7:07 to go. Butler shot 63% in the second half while outscoring DePaul 54-43.
Sparked by 3-pointers from Blocker, Theo Pierre-Justin and Gunn, DePaul rode an 11-0 run to jump to an 11-2 lead.
Butler answered by making five shots in a row and seven of nine to take a 21-20 lead on Haywood's layup with 9:22 remaining in the half.
The Bulldogs held a 26-25 lead before going on a four-minute scoring drought that enabled the Blue Demons to go on a 7-0 run and take a 32-26 lead.
Pierre-Justin's 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining was DePaul's seventh of the first half, matching a season-high in first-half 3-pointers.