Ben Bentil had 21 points and nine rebounds to lead the Friars. The Terrapins (17-2, 6-1 Big Ten) shot 44 percent and were outrebounded 41-31 by the scrappy, hustling Wildcats (15-5, 3-4).
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A late scramble saw Butler guard Kellen Dunham following a missed 3-pointer by forward Kelan Martin with a hurried 3-point shot that would have tied the game at the buzzer but didn’t come close.
The No. 16 Providence Friars have dropped two of their last three games, both at home.
The Friars fought through some early foul trouble and poor shooting to overcome a four-point deficit in the closing minutes. “So he’s made it an art form”, Butler coach Chris Holtmann said.
The Friars were led by Ben Bentil who netted 20 points on 6 of 14 shooting from the field and 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
No. 24 SC 77, MISSISSIPPI 74, OT: In Oxford, Mississippi, Michael Carrera scored 19 points, and Laimonas Chatkevicius added 17 for the Gamecocks.
While this was an impressive play, the humble Dunn will more than likely tell you that the best part of this night was that he and the No. 116-ranked Friars were able to hold on for the 71-68 win.
“It’s the second time he’s done it on us”. If Providence can play its game it should be able to out score Butler, though. Cooley said from his perspective it’s harder to find a tougher conference than the Big East this season.
“When the Big East went to this new brand, this new identity, everyone talked about ‘How competitive will it be?'” Providence coach Ed Cooley said. Butler G Kellen Dunham is 19-for-34 from 3-point range in the past five games – after an 0-of-21 drought over the previous four.
STAYING POSITIVE: Dunham said despite the current losing streak to ranked opponents, the Bulldogs remain upbeat as they head deeper in the second half of the season.
At 15-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play, Providence sits in fifth place in the Big East. It hasn’t been easy as of late for this group to get things going.
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As is the case with most games in this league, it didn’t come easy. Look for Dunn to have a big game tonight in the second meeting between these two teams – perhaps the most important game of the year for the Friars. The 25-year-old died last week following a two-year battle with cancer. The 6-foot-4 point guard has scored at least 20 points in four out of the five Big East games so far with Saturday’s loss against Seton Hall being the outlier. Butler plays at Creighton on Saturday while Providence is at No. 4 Villanova the same day before hosting No. 5 Xavier next Tuesday.
