Grizzlies threes shoot down Saints

Mark Morgan has sometimes been the forgotten sophomore on the Butler Grizzlies as his fellow classmates have been making highlight reel plays all season at the Power Plant.
Morgan made the most of his opportunity in the second half of the Grizzlies battle with nationally-ranked Seward County, hitting four three-point baskets as Butler bombed the Saints with threes on the way to an 84-74 Jayhawk League victory.
The White City sophomore said he’s been feeling better about his shooting the last couple of weeks as the conference season got into full swing.
“I have felt more comfortable,” Morgan said. “I’ve been feeling it a little bit because of the way everybody else has been playing. They’ve been getting me the ball by penetrating real well and then dishing the ball back out. I’ve been wide open on a lot of the shots when they kick it out and then it’s just like when I’ve been in the gym working hard.”
The Grizzlies (18-4, 6-2) made eight of their 12 from three-point range after intermission and 11-of-23 from the field for the game. Freshman Brandon Hillyard made all three of his attempts from beyond the arc and freshman Anthony Cousin made the eighth three-pointer.
Butler coach Michael Bargen said the three-point shot was key in the victory over the Saints (17-5, 6-2) from the start of the game with Karvel Anderson hitting two three-pointers early after Seward took a 10-4 lead to open the game.
“Those guys stepping up and making those shots was really big for us,” Bargen said. “It was different guys and it started with Karvel hitting those threes to drag us out of a funk and Mark and Brandon stepped up in the second half. If we can get those guys to step up and hit consistently, we can be a pretty complete team.”
Two other keys for the Grizzlies were defense and  rebounding.
The Grizzlies allowed only one field goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half; and Butler outrebounded Seward 39-21 and scored 14 points off of second chances.
“We know that conference season is where the wins count,” said Caleb Walker, who led the Grizzlies with 22 points and six rebounds. “This is what we’ve been working for, so we’ve been working hard to get into first place.”
The Grizzlies and Saints are a game behind Hutchinson (20-2, 7-1) in the conference standings.
Cousin joined Morgan and Walker in double figures for Butler with 16 points. Freshman Josh Gibbs also had a big game for the Grizzlies, leading in rebounds (seven) and assists (six) to go along with his eight points.
The Grizzlies don’t have a lot of time to celebrate as they return to action tonight for another league battle at the Power Plant against Dodge City. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.