3 reasons Butler basketball beat Troy: Chuck Harris, Jair Bolden and 3-point shooting

INDIANAPOLIS – After another abysmal first half, Butler turned it on by shooting 69% in the second half and defeated Troy 70-59 in college basketball Saturday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Chuck Harris scored 23 points and Jair Bolden 21 for Butler, which was 12-of-25 on 3-pointers.

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The Bulldogs climbed to 3-0 ahead of Wednesday’s Gavitt Games showdown against Michigan State. Butler is 62-1 in its past 63 nonleague home games.

Troy, which led by 10 points in the first half, is 1-1.

Three reasons Butler won:

Bryce Nze’s 80-foot buzzer-beater

Turns out the Bulldogs really needed this one.

With time expiring in the first half, Bryce Nze rebounded a miss near Butler’s own basket and one-handed the ball in the other direction. The ball bounced off glass and through, and video review showed he released it with one-tenth of a second on the clock.

Distance of the shot had to be almost 80 feet, because court length is 94 feet and he was at the free-throw line (15 feet from the rim).

So instead of going into halftime trailing 23-20, Butler tied it at 23.

It is 40 minutes, after all

The Bulldogs will want to forget the first 19 minutes, 59.9 seconds.

Butler, or any other power conference team, has rarely been worse on offense.

Through 8 ½ minutes, Butler had twice as many turnover (six) as field goals (three). In the first half, the Bulldogs committed 14 turnovers on 34 possessions. Until the Nze heave, they shot 6-of-20 from the field.

Through it all, Butler continued to dig down and defend. In first halves, IUPUI scored 19 points, Central Arkansas 30 and Troy 23.

Even though the Bulldogs played all three opponents without suspended point guard Aaron Thompson, it is a troubling sign to struggle in first halves.

Jair Bolden is golden

Bolden, a sixth-year super-senior, has been Butler’s salvation off the bench. In three games, he has totaled 43 points (14.3 ppg) and shot 59% on 3-pointers (10-of-17).

In their first week together, sophomore Harris and freshman Jayden Taylor have become a strong backcourt.

In his first two college games, Taylor totaled 30 points. By my count, no other Butler freshman in the 2000s ever scored that many. He scored 10 against Troy.

After an eight-point game Friday against Central Arkansas, Harris shot 9-of-14 against Troy and 4-of-6 on 3s.

Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

Butler 70, Troy 59 

TROY (1-1): Odigie 5-10 2-4 13, Stampley 3-6 0-0 8, Tshimanga 2-5 0-0 4, Deen 3-10 3-3 10, D.Williams 1-5 0-0 2, Z.Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Eugene 4-6 0-2 8, Miguel 2-4 0-0 4, Leftridge 0-0 0-0 0, Punter 0-2 0-0 0, Waters 3-5 2-2 8, Turner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-56 7-11 59.

BUTLER (3-0): Golden 0-2 0-0 0, Nze 2-7 0-1 5, Harris 9-14 1-2 23, Taylor 3-6 3-5 10, Lukosius 1-2 1-1 3, Bolden 7-9 3-3 21, Wilmoth 2-4 0-0 5, Groce 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 25-47 8-12 70.

Halftime—23-23. 3-Point Goals_Troy 4-19 (Stampley 2-4, Odigie 1-1, Deen 1-5, Miguel 0-1, Waters 0-1, Eugene 0-2, Punter 0-2, D.Williams 0-3), Butler 12-25 (Bolden 4-5, Harris 4-6, Taylor 1-2, Groce 1-3, Wilmoth 1-3, Nze 1-4, Golden 0-2). Rebounds_Troy 20 (Deen 6), Butler 30 (Nze 8). Assists_Troy 7 (Deen 4), Butler 18 (Nze 5). Total Fouls_Troy 16, Butler 15.