Connecticut Huskies vs Butler Bulldogs Box Score on Jan 09, 2021

Tyler Polley dominated the first half and Tyrese Martin took over early in the second as the visiting UConn Huskies took advantage of turnover-prone Butler to beat the Bulldogs 72-60 in their Big East matchup on Saturday in Indianapolis.

Polley, coming off a career-high 23-point performance in which he hit five 3-pointers, scored 19 on Saturday, including five more from long range, again matching a career high.

Martin scored 15 points and went 3 of 4 on 3-pointers, including two bombs in about two minutes as the Huskies pulled away from a five-point halftime lead. He added seven rebounds.

It was the third straight win for UConn (6-1, 3-1 Big East), and it came despite the absence of the Big East's leading scorer, James Bouknight (20.3 ppg), who injured an elbow in the Huskies' win over Marquette on Tuesday.

Bryce Nze scored 18 points to lead Butler (3-6, 2-4), which finished with 15 turnovers, including a flurry to open the second half. The Bulldogs entered the game averaging only 10.6 giveaways per game.

Aaron Thompson added 14 points and six assists and Bryce Golden 10 points for Butler, which shot 46.7 percent from the field and 33.3 percent (5 of 15) from long range.

UConn, which shot 50 percent from the floor in the first half, including 6 of 11 on 3-pointers, finished at 43.1 overall and 47.6 percent (10 of 21) from behind the arc. The Huskies finished with 12 turnovers, right near their average, but only two in the second half.

The Huskies led by five at halftime and scored the first six points of the second half, four coming from RJ Cole. Golden's three-point play trimmed the deficit back to eight, but then UConn went on a 16-6 run to forge a 56-37 lead. Martin scored eight in the burst.

Butler was unable to get the deficit back to single digits.

Polley hit all four 3-pointers he launched in the first half, helping the Huskies stay ahead despite 10 turnovers. He led all scorers with 12 before intermission on 4 of 5 shooting.

Isaiah Whaley added six in the half and finished with nine for the game. Cole finished with seven points and seven rebounds.

Consecutive 3-pointers by Polley and Adams helped the Huskies extend their first-half lead to 31-21, but Nze hit a bomb of his own, and then he scored after a steal by Thompson to trim the lead back to five at halftime.

Nze led Butler with nine points in the half. The Bulldogs had seven of their turnovers before intermission.

--Field Level Media