The Butler Bulldogs had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Saturday. They walked away with a 67-54 victory over Huss. Given Butler's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 110th, while Huss is ranked 309th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Leading Butler to victory were Reece Starnes and Tyler Showalter. Starnes dropped a double-double on 16 points and 22 rebounds, while Showalter scored 25 points along with eight rebounds and two blocks. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Starnes has scored all season. Terrance Badio was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with two steals.
Huss' defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Zamarius 'Z-Man' Gladden, who scored 19 points along with nine rebounds and five steals, and Satchelle Pettis who scored 15 points along with five assists and five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Christian Barnette, who scored four points along with six rebounds and three blocks.
Butler is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-6 record this season. As for Huss, they have fallen quite a ways from their 18-9 record last season and are now at 3-9.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Butler will take on Sun Valley at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Huss, Huss and Stuart W. Cramer will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 16th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Hopefully Stuart W. Cramer focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 17 on Friday.
