Roosevelt Jones scores 23 to lead Butler to upset of No. 21 Seton Hall
If winning on the road is a sign of a good team, Butler is getting there.
Roosevelt Jones scored a season-high 23 points, Kellen Dunham added 21 and Butler knocked off No. 21 Seton Hall 79-75 in overtime on Tuesday night.
The win was the second straight against a ranked team on the road for the Bulldogs (13-5, 3-2 Big East) and it handed the Pirates (13-4, 3-2) their first home loss. Butler also beat a ranked St. John's earlier this month.
"You can see how hard it is," Butler coach Chris Holtmann said. "Our guys stayed with it. In league play, you just have to stay with it long enough to give yourself a chance to get the ones that you can get late. If you can get one of those that you have a chance late, then that's a good sign."
Butler wasn't perfect. It blew a late seven-point second half lead, but it came up big in overtime, Dunham and Jones scored nine of the first 10 points for the Bulldogs and they never looked back.
"We all just came together," Jones said. "We had to stay together and had to play together. We knew we could get it."
Andrew Chrabascz added 12 points and Kameron Woods had 15 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who posted an impressive win over Xavier this past weekend.
"We did play much better defense in the second half," Holtmann said. "I think they got what they wanted in the first half. I think our guys realized that and were frustrated by that and made a concerted effort to be better defensively in the second half. We got better chances offensively because we were better defensively."
Sterling Gibbs led Seton Hall with 30 points before fouling out with 2:08 left in overtime. Khadeen Carrington added a career-best 20 points and fellow freshman Angel Delgado had 12 points and a career-best 15 rebounds.
Gibbs felt the Pirates ran out of gas in overtime after battling to get back in the game in the second half. Coach Kevin Willard added the team also was tired after a tough win on Saturday at Creighton.
"This is a group that really did well on the road the other day," Willard said. "They fought back and won a tough game. They fought today but we just didn't play overly well and Butler did."
Butler never trailed in the overtime, with Dunham putting it ahead 70-67 with a 3-pointer from the left wing with 3:49 to go.
Wood, who finished with nine points, stretched the lead to four points with a free throw, but Gibbs got Seton Hall back in the game with a 3-pointer with 2:32 to play.
Gibbs, however, picked up his fifth foul on the ensuing possession and walked off the court disgusted with the call. Dunham hit both free throws to push the lead to 73-70.
Desi Rodriguez scored on a dunk to get the Pirates to 73-72 but Jones hit consecutive layups and Woods added a free throw to give Butler a 78-72 lead with :08 seconds left.
A 3-pointer by Carrington with 6 seconds to play got Seton Hall to 78-75 but Jackson Aldridge iced the game with a free throw with :04 to play, his only point of the game.
Butler had a chance to win it at the end of regulation but Dunham's contested shot from just inside the 3-point line fell short.
Trailing 62-55 with 2:23 left in regulation, Seton Hall used an 8-1 run to tie it on a three-point play by Carrington.
After Dunham and Gibbs each hit two free throws, Woods scored on a rebound follow with 29.5 seconds to go to give Butler a 67-65 edge. Carrington hit a short jumper in the lane five seconds later for the final points of regulation.
Butler had used a 13-1 run to start the second half to turn a 32-28 deficit into a 41-33 lead.
TIP-INS
Butler: After allowing Seton Hall to shoot 50 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs limited Seton Hall to 12 of 38 in the final 25 minutes, including 3 of 11 in the overtime.
Seton Hall: The Pirates were looking for their first 4-1 start in the conference since 2011-12 and just the sixth time overall.
