Butler takes control late, hands Virginia first loss

Finley Bizjack scored 25 points to lead Butler to an 80-73 victory over Virginia in the Greenbrier Tip-Off Sunday in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Michael Ajayi contributed 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulldogs (5-1), who also beat South Carolina in their opening game of the event on Friday.

Ajayi, a transfer from Gonzaga, has registered a double-double in each of his first six games for Butler, which is off to its best start since the 2019-20 season.

Jamie Kaiser Jr. had 10 rebounds with five points and four steals for the Bulldogs who trailed for just 23 seconds in the game, early in the second half.

Malik Thomas scored 24 points for Virginia (5-1). The Cavaliers also got 14 points from Jacari White and 11 points and six rebounds from Chance Mallory.

Thijis De Ridder added 10 points and Kansas State transfer Ugonna Onyenso blocked eight shots for Virginia, which made 40.8% of its shots from the floor and 8 of 27 attempts (29.6%) from 3-point range.

Butler answered with 48.2% accuracy from the floor, making 6 of 15 attempts (40.0%) from distance, with Evan Haywood making all three of his shots from 3-point range.

Butler got off to a quick start after two layups by Drayton Jones (six points, nine rebounds) helped the Bulldogs to a 9-2 lead.

After Virginia rallied to tie it, Butler had a 13-3 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Haywood on consecutive possessions, as the Bulldogs pushed their lead into double digits for the first time at 26-16.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by De Ridder and White triggered a 12-1 run as Virginia tied the game 42-42 with under a minute remaining in the first half.

Early in the second half, Thomas made a 3-pointer and followed with a pull-up jumper which gave the Cavaliers their only lead of the game at 49-48 with 16:46 remaining..

Butler regained the advantage and pushed it to 76-66 when Bizjack hit a teardrop runner with 2:39 left.

The Bulldogs' stars carried them down the stretch. Bizjack scored seven points in the final 7:26 and Ajayi added six points in the final 4:02.

- Field Level Media