INDIANAPOLIS — Patrick McCaffery's 20 points helped Butler defeat Eastern Illinois 73-58 on Tuesday night.
McCaffery added seven rebounds for the Bulldogs (7-1). Jahmyl Telfort scored 20 points while going 5 of 6 from the floor and 10 of 10 from the free throw line, adding six rebounds. Kolby King shot 3 for 5 (2 for 3 from 3-point range) and 2 of 4 from the free throw line to finish with 10 points. The Bulldogs prolonged their winning streak to six games.
Kooper Jacobi led the Panthers (2-6) in scoring, finishing with 22 points and two steals. Eastern Illinois also got 12 points, six rebounds and five assists from Nakyel Shelton. Zion Fruster finished with eight points and two steals.
Butler took the lead with 4:24 remaining in the first half and never looked back. The score was 36-27 at halftime, with Telfort racking up 10 points. Butler extended its lead to 63-48 during the second half, fueled by an 8-0 scoring run. McCaffery scored a team-high 11 points in the second half as his team closed out the win.
Box score
E. ILLINOIS (2-6)
Bolis 0-3 0-2 0, Jacobi 7-14 3-4 22, Fruster 3-13 0-0 8, Olafioye 1-5 3-4 5, Shelton 5-15 2-2 12, Goodman 3-8 0-0 7, Prost 1-3 0-1 2, Grbovic 0-2 0-0 0, Kalle 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-64 8-13 58.
BUTLER (7-1)
Brooks 4-7 1-2 9, Cassia 1-1 0-0 2, McCaffery 6-14 3-3 20, Telfort 5-6 10-10 20, Bizjack 2-4 0-0 4, King 3-5 2-4 10, Screen 1-1 4-6 6, Moore 0-1 0-0 0, Haywood 0-2 0-0 0, Kapke 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-44 20-25 73.
Halftime: Butler 36-27.
3-Point Goals: E. Illinois 8-20 (Jacobi 5-7, Fruster 2-3, Goodman 1-6, Shelton 0-4), Butler 7-20 (McCaffery 5-8, King 2-3, Moore 0-1, Telfort 0-1, Bizjack 0-2, Haywood 0-2, Brooks 0-3).
Fouled Out: Jacobi.
Rebounds: E. Illinois 22 (Shelton 6), Butler 39 (King 9).
Assists: E. Illinois 10 (Shelton 5), Butler 14 (Telfort, Moore 3).
Total Fouls: E. Illinois 23, Butler 14.
Attendance: 6,886 (9,100).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
