Jahmyl Telfort made big shots all night long for Butler against Texas Tech on Thursday and his biggest make lit the fuse on a decisive run in overtime.
The Bulldogs gutted out a 103-95 victory in OT by weathering the Red Raiders’ second-half rally, fueled by 3-point shooting and point guard Joe Toussaint’s big night.
The Bulldogs closed the game on an 18-10 burst to finish a gritty win in the Big East/Big 12 Battle at Indianapolis.
Telfort led Butler (6-2) with 26 points, DJ Davis notched 25 and hit three 3-pointers and Pierre Brooks helped ice the win in OT with a point-blank layup on an inbounds play and clutch long-range dagger as part of his 18 points.
Butler’s Posh Alexander logged 10 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. It was the first triple-double by a Bulldogs play since Roosevelt Jones had one against St. John’s on Feb. 6, 2016.
Chance McMillian pumped in 24 points for Texas Tech (5-2) and hit eight of his team’s 13 3-pointers. Toussaint added 18 points and recorded 12 assists.
The teams swapped the lead three times early in overtime, but when Telfort connected on a 3 with 3:24 to go, the Bulldogs took over and never looked back. That was the 11th of 12 treys for Butler.
Red Raiders’ guard Pop Isaacs (18 points) forced overtime when he scored on a left-handed driving layup with 3.8 seconds to go in regulation. Telfort got just past midcourt for a desperate 3-point attempt that was short.
Telfort put the Bulldogs in front 83-81 with a 3 from the left wing with 30 seconds to go after Isaacs was called for a travel with the score knotted.
Before the late clutch shots, the Red Raiders surged back and seemed in control when a 25-10 lead gave them as large as a 73-67 lead when McMillan buried 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions.
Butler didn’t fold, though, and D.J. Davis matched McMillan with two huge 3s, the second at the 1:37 juncture for an 80-79 lead.
After carving out a 45-38 halftime lead, the Bulldogs extended their lead to a game-high 62-52 on a Telfort jump hook, the end of a 10-3 run.
Texas Tech’s Darrion Williams responded with 3-pointers on back-to-back trips, and the rest of the game was back-and-forth.
–Field Level Media
