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Southern Illinois Makes A.J. Graves Sick

Feb 17, 2007 – 9:09 PM
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Chas Rich

Chas Rich %BloggerTitle%

Butler's star guard and leading scorer, A.J. Graves, was not feeling well. It clearly affected his play, as he actually had to leave the court for a while in the first half. His play, though, only made him feel worse. Graves only scored 5 points, missed his fifth free throw of the season (out of 118) and fouled out of the game with 2:26 left in the game. Butler lost at home 68-64.

This was the Saluki's game. They dictated the pace and style. They played the game they wanted -- slow and careful -- with a tough defense that limits possessions. Not a complete shock, since Butler plays a similarly slow tempo style.

Without Graves playing well, though, the normally highly efficient Bulldog offense wasn't. They fell behind late in the first half and never was able to catch Southern Illinois.They closed a couple of times, but couldn't finish. They hit droughts of 4, 2 and 1:30 in the second half.

Butler is in no real danger of missing the NCAA Tournament, but they are likely to fall out of the top-25 with this home loss. Southern Illinois has surged to the top of the MVC.
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