Chattanooga vs. Butler game recap: Bulldogs struggle, but find way to knock off Mocs

Although it was obvious that Butler couldn't maintain shooting 72% from the field, as they did Saturday against Maine, no one was expecting such a big drop off as we saw in the first half against Chattanooga on Tuesday night. The Bulldogs struggled through the first half shooting only 34.8%. They managed to improve a bit in the second half, thanks to Kellen Dunham, but going from one extreme to another like that is undoubtedly alarming.

After Butler took an early lead, Chattanooga switched into a zone defense, and the Bulldogs looked lost, going 5+ minutes without a basket in the first half. Chattanooga was aided by the hot shooting of sharpshooter Eric Robertson, who hit three first half three-pointers.

The second half turned into the Kellen Dunham Show. After scoring seven points in the first half, Dunham doubled that in the first four minutes of the second half as Butler began to pull away.  To help matters, the red-hot Eric Robertson had to sit for a portion of the early second half after picking up his third foul.

Dunham was also one of the only players who hit more than 50% of his free throws. He went 10-12 from the line, the rest of the team combined to go 11-22. Kameron Woods struggled from the field, but did wind up with a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds in the 70-48 victory.

The Bulldogs now turn their attention to Loyola (MD) who will travel to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday for a 5 p.m. matchup in Indianapolis.