Jordan Griffit
Student Sports Media
The Butler Grizzly men’s basketball team rolled through Allen County 90-65 on Wednesday, Jan. 31 in the Power Plant to snap a four-game losing skid. They did so in an athletic fashion as multiple players had highlight slams throughout the electric evening.
There was a surprise line-up change as sophomores Jared Armstrong and Ketarrious Bouchum both started after being reserves for a chunk of the season.
“No clue, it’s about who come to practice and competes,” Head Coach Bryan Miller said when asked about if he will keep the new starting line-up. “If you compete, you play.”
Freshman Anthony Bratton took charge of the boards totaling 16 to go with 12 points, his best performance of the season. His dominance on the boards was able to free up the remarkable athleticism of freshman forward Russell Smith as he was able to soar to the rim all night long. Smith ended with 15 points off of six shots from the field. Two of those points were at the expense of a poor Allen county defender as he jumped into a minefield with Smith in the air. Smith jumped through the middle of the paint and jammed it home on the defender and blew the roof off the Power Plant. Later in the game, Bratton also had a dunk over a defender in the post that could be the most ferocious one of the night.
That was only the beginning of the dunk fest. After that dunk from Smith, multiple Butler players decided to partake in the dunk contest throughout the game. In the second half, Bochum had a beautiful breakaway tomahawk slam that extend the lead for Butler.
Next, a dunk that will forever be known as ‘The Putback,” freshman guard Adrian Moore rained down a thunderous putback dunk that left fans in awe.
After a spirited offensive performance from Armstrong and company, the Grizzlies were able to put together one of the better performances of the year. They also had some posterizing slams from one of the most athletic teams in the conference.
