North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Butler Bulldogs

Butler rolls past North Dakota, 79-64

Many of the Butler shots came up short of the rim, both from the field and the free-throw line. Neither team was able to string together shots to take control early.

Josh Schuler found Troy Huff, who drove to the basket for a layup, giving North Dakota an 11-10 lead with 10:32 left in the first, its third and final lead of the night.

Dunham struggled with his shot early, going just 1-of-4 in the game's first 10:30, then seemed to flip a switch with the Bulldogs trailing by one and took control of the game by scoring 15 of Butler's final 29 first half points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Perhaps the game-changing moment was not a result of his shooting but his passing.

Huff missed a jumper for North Dakota(2-5) that Dunham corralled and drove down the court and lofted the ball to the basket, as Khyle Marshall broke free to pluck ball from the air for a thunderous dunk as the smaller-than-normal crowd at Hinkle Fieldhouse erupted.

To close the half with a statement, Dunham hit a three-pointer from about 35 feet out as the buzzer sounded.

Dunham led all scorers with 29 points on 9-of-15 from the field, 5-of-8 from behind the arc and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Marshall added 21 points, however he struggled 3-of-7 from the line.

North Dakota could not recover as the Butler defense rode the momentum from the surging offense.

Butler (6-2) went on a 33-6 run that spanned halftime, beginning with 4:42 left in the first half and ending with 15:14 left in the second, making it 54-26.

Huff led North Dakota with 20 points and five rebounds. Jaron Nash added 10.

How can I watch North Dakota vs. Butler?

• TV Channel: North Dakota at Butler 2021 College Basketball, week 5, is broadcasted on FS1.
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