No. 21 Oklahoma 59, Butler 46: Isaiah Cousins recorded 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds as the Sooners rolled over the Bulldogs in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals at Paradise Island, Bahamas.
TaShawn Thomas and Jordan Woodard each added 10 points for Oklahoma (4-1), which plays No. 3 Wisconsin in Friday’s championship game. Ryan Spangler collected 10 rebounds as the Sooners controlled the boards 41-32 and held Butler to 23.7 percent shooting from the field.
Kellen Dunham led the way with 17 points for the Bulldogs (4-1), who play Georgetown in Friday's third-place game. Andrew Chrabascz added nine points for Butler, which went only 4-of-23 from behind the 3-point arc.
Dunham’s 3-pointer tied the game at 8-8 early on before Thomas’ layup ignited a 16-0 run as Oklahoma held Butler without a point for more than seven minutes. The Sooners shot 65 percent in the opening half and led by as many as 17 before settling for a 36-24 lead at intermission.
The Bulldogs pulled within eight early in the second half before Cousins scored seven points during an 11-0 run that pushed Oklahoma’s lead to 19 with just under 10 minutes left. Butler trimmed its deficit to 54-42 after Dunham’s driving layup with 3:57 to go, but the Sooners would not let the Bulldogs any closer.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Oklahoma G Buddy Hield, who poured in 24 points in the first-round victory over UCLA, was held to five on 2-of-10 from the field. … The Bulldogs recorded 29 offensive rebounds against North Carolina in the opening round and the Sooners held them to 13. … Oklahoma took over the lead in the all-time series 3-2 and also won the previous meeting with Butler in a 2003 NCAA Tournament regional semifinal.
Butler | Oklahoma | |
Kellen Dunham 17 | Scoring | Isaiah Cousins 13 |
Andrew Chrabascz 2 | Assists | Buddy Hield 2 |
Roosevelt Jones 6 | Rebounds | Ryan Spangler 10 |
Kellen Dunham 5 | Free Throws Made | Jordan Woodard 6 |
Alex Barlow 3 | Steals | Dinjiyl Walker 2 |
Kameron Woods 2 | Blocks | Isaiah Cousins 2 |