Butler can't cool off surging Seton Hall, loses tight one in Hinkle matinee

INDIANAPOLIS – Kadary Richmond scored 24 points, including the last six of the game, to carry Seton Hall past Butler 78-72 Saturday in Big East basketball before a crowd of 7,777 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Until Richmond’s two free throws with four seconds left, the teams were never separated by more than four points over the closing 16 minutes.

Butler (11-6, 2-4) was coming off a 69-62 win at No. 12 Marquette. Seton Hall (12-5, 5-1) extended its winning streak to four and remained in first place in the Big East .

Flat star dooms Dawgs vs. Seton Hall:'In this league... you’ve got to play 40 minutes.'

Seton Hall is 8-1 against Butler in the past nine meetings.

Lawrence Central’s Dre Davis scored 14 points for Seton Hall.

For Butler, Posh Alexander scored 17, Jalen Thomas 15, Jahmyl Telfort 13 and Pierre Brooks II 12. Brooks has scored in double figures in all 17 games.

Three takeaways:

Arc madness

Butler won at Marquette largely because the Golden Eagles shot 5-of-31 (16%) on 3-pointers.

Seton Hall, on the other hand, started 6-of-7 from the arc and led by as many as 11 points in the first half. Butler simply lacked the resistance or close-outs necessary to disrupt Seton Hall’s 3-point rhythm.

Butler held Seton Hall without a 3-pointer in the second half but had to play from behind for all but a few seconds.

Pirates paint themselves a victory

The Pirates led Butler 36-20 in points in the paint, largely because they blocked 13 shots. Center Jaden Bediako blocked five.

Butler’s two centers, Jalen Thomas and Andre Screen, had three and four attempts blocked, respectively. Coach Thad Matta said afterward the Bulldogs needed to shot fake to avoid such blocks.

Dawgs are in this together

Butler’s offense is formidable when all five are clicking . . . but needs that to happen.

DJ Davis, after averaging 23 ppg in three games, scored four at Marquette and four against Seton Hall. Davis, who went in the game leading the Big East in 3-point percentage in conference games (.464), was 0-of-6 on 3s.

The Bulldogs don’t have enough firepower elsewhere for one of their top scorers to be shut down.

Butler was limited to one field goal over the closing five minutes of the first half, when a four-point deficit expanded to 11.

Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.