On Saturday afternoon, the Butler Bulldogs headed on the road to Chicago with hopes of ending their five game losing streak in desperate need of a win to keep their slim tournament hopes alive.
The dawgs started the game off slow, trailing 19 to 15 to a 3-25 DePaul team, who has not won a conference game all year. However a 30 to 4 run helped the Dawgs take an 18 point lead into the half.
Junior guard, Pierre Brooks, added 16 points in the first half for the Dawgs thanks to a hot six for six shooting start. Brooks had been struggling in February and seemed to have finally broken out of his slump with 16 points in this game.
In the second half, DJ Davis helped the dawgs maintain a double digit lead throughout the second half adding 24 points and seven rebounds for the Dawgs. Butler ended up winning the game by 19 and ending a brutal 5 game losing streak.
The bulldogs head into their regular season finale against Xavier with a small chance at an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. For the dawgs to be in tournament contention, this is a must win game as well as winning at least two games in the Big East Tournament in Madison Square Garden next week.
The Butler Bulldogs would end the season with a 20-14 record with 5 Quad 1 wins. With a resumé like that, it would be very hard for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to leave the dawgs out of the field.
