Butler did it: YSU rally falls short

The Bulldogs made
crucial 3-pointers to beat
the Penguins 78-69.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — When playing the No. 12-ranked team in the country, you can’t afford to make critical mistakes.

Youngstown State men’s team made too many Saturday night.

The Penguins (7-11, 3-5 Horizon League) gave nationally-ranked Butler something to think about in the second half, but YSU was unable to pull out the win, dropping a 78-69 contest before a crowd of 6,198, the fifth-largest crowd to watch the Penguins at Beeghly Center.

Youngstown State trailed by as many as 20 points in both halves, but whittled the Bulldogs’ lead down to eight points (54-46) with just over 10 minutes to play. But they made the mistake of leaving the Butler shooters open from long range and the Bulldogs pumped in four consecutive 3-point shots and pulled back to a 20-point margin with just under eight minutes remaining.

“It was disappointing,” said YSU coach Jerry Slocum. “You just can’t leave a team like Butler wide open the way we did at that stretch. They are a very, very good basketball team, but the way we came back shows just what we are capable of doing.

“When we were within eight points we came back and missed three of four free throws,” he added. “We get rewarded for making a good offensive effort and then miss the free throws.”

The Penguins shot 51 percent from the field against the Bulldogs, just the fourth team this year that has shot over 50 percent against them. But the Penguins made just 12-of-20 free throws.

Junior Jack Liles paced the Penguins with 21 points, while senior Byron Davis added 16 and senior John Barber had 15 and eight rebounds. The Penguins were outrebounded by Butler 32-29.

Butler (17-2, 6-2) was led by freshman Matt Howard with 20 points, while senior Pete Campbell added 19 and senior Mike Green contributed 16. Howard and Green each had eight rebounds, while Green dished out 10 assists.

The Penguins battled the Bulldogs throughout the first seven minutes and Butler finally went ahead for good on two free throws by Green with 12:43 remaining.

That started a 12-0 run that pulled the Bulldogs into a 21-11 advantage, which they increased to 20 points by the four-minute mark on a basket by Howard, 35-15. Butler led 40-22 at the intermission.

The Penguins opened the second half with a 13-5 run and quickly cut the Butler lead to 10 points, 45-35, as Liles and Davis combined for nine of those points.

Davis added another 3-point shot and Liles had a three-point play off a YSU 9-2 run and the Penguins were within eight points 54-46 with 10:30 remaining.

But then the Bulldogs did what they do best as Campbell hit consecutive 3-pointers and A.J. Graves came up with two more and the lead was back up to 20 points, 66-46.

But the Penguins just wouldn’t go away and followed up with a 9-2 run that brought them within 13 points, but they also missed 4-of-6 free throws in that stretch.

YSU got the lead down to 11 (77-66) on a 3-pointer by Barber with 1:31 remaining and the Bulldogs did their part by missing three straight free throws, but the best the Penguins could do was two more free throws by freshman Vance Cooksey with 45 seconds remaining.

The Penguins head back out on the road for their next four contests, beginning Thursday night at Wisconsin-Milwaukee at 8 p.m. They will also play at UW-Green Bay, Loyola and Illinois Chicago before returning home to play Detroit Feb. 7.

mollica@vindy.com