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HUTCHINSON — North Platte (Neb.) coach Kevin O'Connor swears he wasn't up until early Thursday morning devising schemes to stop Butler's pair of stars, Anthony Cousin and Caleb Walker.
"We were pretty general talking about them coming in," O'Connor said. "We were more concerned about our frame of mind, to be honest. But we knew if (Walker) had a big night, it'd be tough."
On Thursday afternoon, Cousin and Walker didn't give O'Connor much to worry about in North Platte's 80-70 victory in the losers bracket of the NJCAA Tournament.
The duo combined to finish 1 of 21 from the field and turned the ball over five times as Butler was eliminated in consecutive games.
"I don't know if it was so much what our defense was doing," O'Connor said. "I think they just had an off night."
Butler coach Mike Bargen offered up his explanation of not only his top two players' performance, but his team's 34.8 percent shooting effort.
"I think their length really bothered us, it really did," he said. "We were trying to get fouled early, instead of just going up strong. We were trying to draw the foul from so far away, you're not going to get those calls."
Tuesday night's loss didn't appear to be in Butler's minds, as it controlled the game early. The Grizzlies led 21-12 before hitting a cold streak.
It didn't matter if Butler attacked the basket or kicked out for an open jump shot, nothing worked. During the dry spell, North Platte turned a nine-point deficit into a 14-point lead with a 25-2 run.
"I don't know how to explain it," O'Connor said. "We just started playing more cohesively. We brought better energy and we finally started rebounding."
But the Grizzlies made their run to open the second half. Walker's only points on the day — two free throws — closed the score to 50-49 with 13:54 to play. It was the closest they came.
"It felt like we were making enough plays," Butler's Josh Gibbs said. "But they came down and kept making plays themselves. They just made more plays than us."
Gibbs led the Grizzlies with 18 points and Troy Pierce added 15. With its second loss in the tournament, Butler concluded a 29-7 season.
"They set a standard that's going to be tough to match in the future," Bargen said. "But I'm excited with all of the young guys that we have coming back."
BUTLER: Cousin 1-10 4-4 6, Morgan 0-1 0-0 0, Pierce 5-8 5-6 15, Walker 0-11 2-2 2, Gibbs 6-12 5-11 18, Hilyard 2-6 0-0 6, Sloan 2-5 0-0 6, Brooks 3-6 0-0 8, Reinhardt 1-1 0-0 2, Ingram 3-6 1-3 7. Totals 23-66 17-26 70.
NORTH PLATTE: Williams 1-6 3-5 5, Brown 5-7 2-2 13, Grabau 5-9 3-4 13, Gruszecki 4-10 4-4 15, Mauge 3-3 4-4 10, Ragland 7-11 6-8 24, Weatherford 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-47 22-27 80.
Halftime—North Platte 38, Butler 31. 3-point shooting—Butler 7-22 (Sloan 2-3, Brooks 2-4, Hilyard 2-5, Gibbs 1-4, Morgan 0-1, Walker 0-2, Cousin 0-3), North Platte 8-16 (Ragland 4-5, Gruszecki 3-6, Brown 1-2, Grabau 0-1, Williams 0-2). Rebounds—Butler 39 (Walker, Ingram 8), North Platte 32 (Ragland 6). Assists—Butler 13 (Cousin 8), North Platte 14 (Williams 7). Fouls—Butler 22, North Platte 20.
Quarterfinals
E. Utah 82, Wallace 66
E. UTAH: Glover 16, Williams 6, Colomon 11, Dalton 6, Hawk-harr 1, Mills 19, Custodio 3, Joaquim 11. Totals 18-40 22-43 82.
WALLACE: Crowe 18, Hendix 9, Hughes 4, Hall 6, Farmer 14, Crawford 7, Thomas 8. Totals 14-37 11-18 66.
Halftime—E. Utah 39-26. 3s—E. Utah 8-14 (Williams 2-4, Colomon 2-3, Dalton 1-1, Thompson 1-2, Custodio 1-2, Joaquim 1-2), Wallace 9-38 (Crowe 4-10, Hendrix 3-13, Farmer 2-12, Hughes 0-2, Anderson 0-1). Rebounds—E. Utah 63 (Mills 13), Wallace 45 (Thomas 10).
Howard 72, Walters 56
WALTERS: Upton 22, Payne 2, Newbell 2, Sturdivant 3, Smith 4, Flynn 2, Crisp 4, Malone 6, Wells 11. Totals 22-41 12-21 56.
HOWARD: Austin 8, Watkins 21, Crowder 16, Emory 12, Bright 6, McGee 2, Menter 7. Totals 22-42 16-23 72.
Halftime—Tied 31-31. 3s—Walters 0-4 (Crisp 0-1, Upton 0-1, Payne 0-2), Howard 4-17 (Crowder 2-6, Austin 1-4, Menter 1-3, Obasi 0-1, Watkins 0-2). Rebounds—Walters 33 (Wells 6), Howard 39 (Crowder, Emery 8).
Losers Bracket
NW Florida 77, E. Miss. 75
NW FLORIDA: Mosley 23, Brantley 3, Owens 10, Bryant 16, Crawford 14, Cooper 9, Robertson 2. Totals 20-40 16-20 77.
EAST MS CC: Walker 2, Bennett 1, Alexander 20, McCoy 7, Harriss 13, Ware 22, King 4, Dixon 3, Thompson 3. Totals 17-45 8-17 75.
Halftime — East MS CC 39, NW Florida 39. 3's — NW Florida 7-18 (Mosley 5, Brantley, Bryant); East MS CC 11-26 (Alexander 6, Ware 4, Dixon 1). Rebounds — NW Florida 45 (Crawford 11); East MS CC 42 (Harris 6).
SE Illinois 65, Connors State 64
SOUTHEASTERN ILLINOIS: Seck 12, Ashford 14, Brown 3, McClure 17, Long 4, Jackson 4, Kirksey 11. Totals 18-45 23-29 65.
CONNORS STATE.: Rutledge 7, Wilford 12, Jones 10, Brown 4, Garner 3, C. Washington 18, J. Washington 4, Maclin 6. Totals 22-43 8-13 64.
Halftime — Connors 36, Southeastern Illinois 33. 3's — Southeastern Illinois 2-16 (Ashford 1, Brown 1); Connors 4-11 (Rutledge 1, Wilford 3). Rebounds — Southeastern Illinois 46 (Seck 8); Connors 35 (C. Washington 12).
Middle Ga. 85, Brunswick 80
MIDDLE GA: Forge 21, Callaway 4, T. Knight 14, M. Knight 7, Williams 4, Hall 31, Cooper 4. Totals 25-51 14-21 85.
BRUNSWICK NC: Thompson 7, T. Graham 17, Smith 23, Knox 2, Yarborough 6, M. Graham 20, Young 2, Bobson 3. Totals 18-41 14-18 80.
Halftime — Middle GA 43, Brunswick NC 37. 3's — Middle GA 7-25 (Forge 6, T. Knight 1); Brunswick NC 10-29 (T. Graham 3, Smith 2, M. Graham 4, Bobson 1). Rebounds — Middle GA 49 (M. Knight 9); Brunswick NC 48 (Yarborough 10).
