St. Louis (MO) - Two conference losses for Butler. Two court stormings.
Thus is life for Butler (17-4, 4-2) as the top ranked team in the Atlantic-10.
Butler failed to overcome 23 turnovers and a raucous, capacity Chaifetz Arena crowd, as the No. 9 Bulldogs lost their second consecutive Atlantic-10 road game to St. Louis (15-5, 4-2) 75-58.
Junior guard Jordair Jett led all scorers with 19 points off the bench. He was 8-12 from the field including 2-4 from 3-point range. He also grabbed four rebounds and two assists.
Fellow juniors Dwayne Evans and Rob Loe added 15 points and 12 points respectively.
Rotnei Clarke led the Bulldogs with 17 points on 5-12 shooting from the field (3-7 from 3-point range). He also had a team high 6 turnovers.
Despite a slow start by the Billikens from the field, which gave the sloppy Bulldogs hope early in the first half, St. Louis dominated from mid-way through the 1st half until the finish.
Butler jumped out to a 10-5 lead early in the first half before St. Louis turned up its defensive pressure.
St. Louis' 1st-half lead ballooned to 17 points before Butler could stop any of the momentum.
Butler used a 9-0 run to cut the St. Louis lead in half with just a minute to play in the 1st half.
Freshman Devontae Morgan made an uncontested layup, senior Rotnei Clarke connected on a 4-point play, and senior Andrew Smith made a 3-pointer.
Smith finished the game with 12 points and 6 rebounds.
Butler had cut the lead to 8.
St. Louis answered with a 3-pointer just before the half-time buzzer and extended its lead to 11 at the break, 34-23.
The answer by the Billikens was a theme that continued throughout the 2nd half. Butler would make a few shots in a row, before St. Louis countered and stopped any momentum gained by the Bulldogs.
St. Louis led by as many as 20 in the 2nd half and cruised to victory in front of a sell-out crowed of 10,612.
Many of Butler's primary scorers had poor games.
Freshman Kellen Dunham and Junior Khyle Marshall each had their worst games offensively of the season. Dunham had just 4 points on 2-7 shooting (0-1 from 3-point range), but did grab a team-high 7 rebounds. Marshall finished with just 2 points and 3 rebounds, but committed 5 turnovers.
Butler shot 22-51 (43.1%) from the field, including 5-14 (35.7%) from the 3-point arc. They also connected on 9-13 (69.2%) free-throws.
St. Louis shot 30-60 (50%) from the field, including 6-19 (31.6%) from the 3-point arc. They also connect on 9-16 (56.3%) free-throws.
This was Butler's fourth loss of the season. The Bulldogs have lost to Xavier by 15, Illinois by 17, La Salle by 1, and St. Louis by 17.
Butler takes the floor Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse against Rhode Island at 4PM EST, looking to recover from their second loss of conference play.
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