Ellenson dominates, but Butler steamrolls Marquette on Senior Day

If only it could Senior Day every day for the Butler Bulldogs. For their group of four seniors, including two longtime program mainstays in hybrid guard Roosevelt Jones and guard Kellen Dunham and two transfers in guard Jordan Gathers and forward Austin Etherington, their last regular season home game was a chance for revenge against the visiting Marquette Golden Eagles. The Golden Eagles had won their previous contest back in late January, but this time, things would go much different.

Despite a massive performance from Marquette freshman Henry Ellenson, the Bulldogs took care of business and kept their tournament dreams alive with a 95-74 home victory.

All four seniors scored eight points or more by the final buzzer, and three of them scored in double digits, led by Etherington with 18 points. Jones, along with sophomore Kelan Martin and junior Andrew Chrabascz, each added 15 points, and Dunham went perfect from the field for 12 of his own. Martin nearly completed the double-double with nine rebounds, and Jones showed off some of his trademark stat sheet versatility with six rebounds and six assists.

Quite frankly, the Bulldogs just out-worked Marquette on both ends, winning in field goal percentage, three point percentage, turnover margin, rebound margin, bench points and points in the paint. However, there was one silver lining for the Golden Eagles, and his name is Henry.

Ellenson finished with a game-high 29 points, scoring just about everywhere on the floor, but getting little to no help from his teammates. Just two other Marquette players, Duane Wilson and Sandy Cohen III, scored in double digits, and the team shot 47 percent from the field overall.

Seeing Ellenson in person is a treat. The Golden Eagles hit a stretch in the second half, as things really began to fall apart, where they handed off the entire offense to their blue-chipper (who had just five FGs in the first half), and that's where his true value really shines. He runs the floor like a guard, shoots like a wing, boards and defends like a big. If Marquette figured out how to clone their freshman superstar and start five Henry Ellenson's, they would be a very good basketball team. However, they can't, and they are not.

While the Bulldogs await the final buzzer of the Creighton-Xavier matchup to determine their final Big East tournament seeding, the Golden Eagles locked up the seven-seed in next week's bracket. We'll have more on the way as the final seeding is locked in.