Charles Chaney
Student Sports Media
Dodge City’s Josh Boutte scored 37 points while pulling down 23 rebounds as the Butler men’s basketball team could not overcome Boutte’s evening to beat the Conquistadors 86-79 on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
“He’s a man,” Butler Head Coach Bryan Miller said. “He abused us tonight.”
Butler fell to 14-9 overall and 11-9 in the Jayhawk Conference.
“Tough loss,” Miller said. “Credit Dodge, they’re a really good team.”
Sophomore Jacolby Harris had 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting and four steals, leading Butler in scoring.
It was not all daisies for Harris. He went 4-of-10 from the free throw line in the first half. His missed free throws really were the icing on the cake to a pitiful free throw shooting performance from the Grizzlies.
Butler was 20-of-35 from the free throw stripe.
Another slow start thwarted an opportunity for Butler to end their three game losing streak. Dodge City jumped out 23-10 with 11:25 to go in the first half and really never looked back.
“It seems like it takes us awhile to get going,” Miller said. “Maybe we should start pressing from the get-go so we’ll go.”
Butler fought back from a halftime deficit, trailing 39-27 on the back of Harris. He started a run by nailing three straight baskets, cutting the Dodge City lead to 55-47 with 13:05 left in the second half.
The Grizzlies would get within 59-57 with 8:24 left in regulation but could not get any closer as Dodge would go on a 17-6 run over the next 5:22 of the half.
While the Grizzlies outrebounded the Conquistadors, Dodge City dominated on second chance opportunities, outscoring Butler 23-13. Dodge City also outscored Butler 24-16 with points off turnovers.
“Our backcourt has to take care of the ball,” Miller said.
Butler’s starting backcourt had 12 of Butler’s 22 turnovers.
With 49 seconds left, it appeared Dodge had the game wrapped up but there was no quit in the Grizzlies. Freshman LaJuan Hardy, who finished with 14 points nailed a three-pointer. Then, Harris made two free throws, cutting the Dodge lead to 84-75.
Freshman Ketarrious Bouchum had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the loss.
After a second technical foul on Dodge City’s Harris Brown, leading to his third ejection of this season, Harris nailed a three-pointer and Ladarrien Burney split free throws with 14 seconds remaining. Butler had climbed to within 84-79. Kourtney Ware nailed his free throws icing Butler’s comeback efforts.
Despite the loss, Butler remained tied for fourth place in the Jayhawk Conference standings. Both Cloud County and Garden City also lost that night and Coffeyville winning created a four-way tie for fourth.