Woods' late free throws propels Butler past Xavier

He's done it in back to back games.  Kameron Woods had another fine game with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 blocks, as Butler survived a late second half comeback to defeat Xavier.  Rotnei Clarke found his shot in the second half which allowed Butler to extend to an 8 point lead, and Clarke finished as Butler's leading scorer with 21 points.  Kellen Dunham had an quiet 8 points, yet he continues to scored very efficiently.  Andrew Smith has struggled mightily from the field lately, and settled for just 7 points.  While his interior defense left a lot to be desired, Erik Fromm was an offensive spark for the Bulldogs in the first half, and his two field goals ended a five game field goal drought.  Roosevelt Jones had a poor game, and did not assert himself too much offensively.  He went 1/3 from the field in 39 minutes, and had 4 assists to go along with 5 turnovers, including a five second violation when holding the ball near half court.  Nonetheless, this was a good with for Butler who will take a two game winning streak into the Atlantic 10 tournament.  I believe they will be the #4 seed with a first round bye, as they would hold the tiebreaker with Temple if those two teams are tied in the standings.  (Butler has the same conference record as LaSalle, but the Explorers won the head to head match up therefore earning the #3 seed.)

Notes:
- Seniors Chase Stigall and Emerson Kampen started, alongside Andrew Smith and Rotnei Clarke.  However, both were out of the game by the 16:00 mark, never to reenter in the game.
- Butler beat Xavier for the first time since Gordon Hayward's "buzzer beater" in December 2009.  Today's game reminded me a lot of that game in that Butler blew a second half lead, allowed Xavier to take the lead late, and then came back to win in the final five minutes.  Some of Semaj Christon's shots in the second half were eerily similar to those of former Xavier guard Jordon Crawford who propelled Xavier in that 2009 game.
- With the way that Kameron Woods has played this year, I have to believe both he and Marshall deserve 25 minutes per game next season, even though they play the same position. While we're looking towards next year, I think Nolan Berry and Erik Fromm will round out the Butler frontcourt along with Marshall and Woods, but I'll talk about next season more once this season is over.