By: NSU Sports Information
Game Stats
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Northern State Wolves channeled the magic of Butler’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse for all it was worth on Wednesday evening, as a big three-point bucket from senior Alex Thomas as time expired gave the Wolves their very own Hoosiers moment. Thomas’s trey – his first of the night – lifted NSU past the Bulldogs 53-50 in exhibition men’s basketball action.
The win caps a three-game exhibition trip for the Wolves, who played Northern Iowa on Sunday and Purdue on Tuesday. Butler is coming off back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Final Four, advancing to the national championship game both times. The Bulldogs returned eight players from last year’s squad, and were ranked 31st with 25 points both the Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today preseason national polls.
Northern State trailed by nine with under five minutes to play, but took advantage of a late surge – aided by a pair of Bulldog turnovers – to close the gap in the waning minutes of play. A lay-up by freshman Seth Bachand followed by a traditional three-point play from sophomore Trent Zomer cut it to four at 50-46 with 2:56 left to go.
Collin Pryor took advantage of a Butler turnover to make it a two-point game, then tied it at 50-all with just under a minute left after Butler’s Andrew Smith mis-fired on a three-pointer. The Bulldogs shot just 17 percent (3 of 18) from long range on the night, including 1-for-7 in the early going.
Smith again had a chance to put the Bulldogs up after drawing a fifth personal foul from NSU’s Dustin Tetzlaff, but missed the front end of the 1-and-1 opportunity. NSU came away with the rebound and immediately called timeout with 36 seconds to go to set up the final possession.
Thomas, who finished with five points, lifted the game-winner from the top of the key over a Bulldog defender for the dramatic victory.
The Wolves overcame 18 turnovers in the game and managed to hold Butler to just six points in the final nine minutes of the game. Pryor turned in a solid all-around performance for the Wolves, going 9-for-12 from the field – including an offensive rebound and put-back in the final moments of the first half that tied the game at 25-all – to finish with 18 points. He also had seven rebounds as the Wolves out-did the Bulldogs on the boards 35-31.
Smith, the Bulldogs’ top returning scorer from last season, had 19 points and eight boards for Butler.
The Wolves begin regular season action at home on Nov. 15, hosting Jamestown College in the first of four non-conference home games. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Wachs Arena.