No. 5 Butler Drops 1st Conference Game of Season

EL DORADO, Kan. – The fifth ranked Butler Community College men's basketball squad suffered its first Jayhawk Conference loss of the 2024 season falling 70-61 to No. 23 ranked Coffeyville on Saturday night in the Power Plant.

The Grizzlies (12-2, 7-1 KJCCC) turned the ball over a season-high 26 times in the game while shooting 38.9% from the field as the Red Ravens escaped with the road win to move to 7-1 in league play, 11-3 overall.

Butler (7-1), Coffeyville (7-1) and Cowley (8-1) all have just one conference loss atop the league standings with no unbeaten teams remaining in the 13-team league.

.@BucoMBB lost their first conference game of the season on Saturday to #23 Coffeyville, 70-61

Highlights ⬇️#BucoNation pic.twitter.com/C0Ylqa73BW

— Butler Grizzlies (@ButlerGrizzlies) January 6, 2025

The game saw 10 ties and eight lead changes.

Three minutes into the game the Grizzlies faced a 6-0 deficit. They then proceeded to rip off a 16-0 run to go up 16-6 with 11:50 to play in the half with three's from Rashad McCormick, Josiah Kirkwood and Bubba Leavell to go with a handful of other baskets.

The two teams battled through the remainder of the first half with multiple lead changes. Coffeyville went up by five at 28-23 with 2:48 to go in the half but Butler closed out the half outscoring the Ravens 8-5 and headed to the locker room trailing 33-31.

Butler's last lead of the game came with 8:29 to play as Kirkwood made a layup to make it 48-46.  A Devonte Reed layup tied the game 51-51 with 6:28 remaining but the Ravens followed it up with a three from Kaason Thomas and never trailed again as they outscored Butler 19-10 over the final 6:28.

Sophomore guard Russell Branch scored eight points over the final three minutes including a three with just over a minute left to pull Butler within five at 66-61 but Butler was unable to get a stop on the ensuing possession.

Kirkwood led Butler with 14 points off the bench. Devonte Reed finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Emeka Opurum added a game-high 12 rebounds.

Coffeyville's Justin Taylor had 18 points to lead the way while Trenton Ruth had 11 points and Brian Griffith had 10. Griffith added five assists and Abdul Kata had seven points and 10 rebounds.

The Grizzlies were just 5-17 from three, their second lowest total on the season. The lowest came in the previous game as Butler was 4-22 from distance in a road win at Indy.

Next up for Butler is the Hutchinson Blue Dragons on Wednesday, Jan., 8th at 7:30 p.m. from the Power Plant. The game can be streamed at ButlerGrizzlies.com/WatchLive or the BCTV+ mobile app. It can also be heard on 97.5 and 1240 KFH.