BYU Falls To Butler Despite Big Performance From Traore

PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball falls to 0-2 in the Battle 4 Atlantis after losing to Butler, 75-70. The loss drops BYU to 3-3 overall on the season.

Final: Butler 75, BYU 70#BYU drops to 0-2 in the #Battle4Atlantis. 3-3 overall on the season.#BYUHoops

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 25, 2022

BYU basketball falls to 0-2 at the Battle 4 Atlantis

Fousseyni Traore had an excellent game, finishing with 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists in 30 minutes of action.

4 @ButlerMBB players tallied double digits to defeat BYU! #Battle4Atlantis pic.twitter.com/DkhMuUGVKq

— Battle4AtlantisOfficial (@B4AOfficial) November 25, 2022

BYU basketball will close out its visit in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament on Friday at 1:30 p.m. against the Dayton Flyers. The winner will claim a 7th-place finish.

Here’s a recap of how the BYU/Butler game played out.

Starting Lineups

Starting lineups for #BYU vs. Butler

BYU (3-2)

Jaxson Robinson
Rudi Williams
Spencer Johnson
Gideon George
Fousseyni Traore

Butler (3-2)

Eric Hunter Jr.
Chuck Harris
Jayden Taylor
Simas Lukosius
Manny Bates#BYUHoops #Battle4Atlantis

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 24, 2022

First Half

• 19:56 – Spencer Johnson grabs the tip-off and finds an open Gideon George for a quick score. Excellent start for BYU. BYU 2, Butler 0
• Pause in the action for a clock operator issue.
• 18:07 – Butler’s Manny Bates, a grad transfer from NC State, picked up his second foul. Butler 6, BYU 3
• 16:01 – BYU shoots 40% from the field, while Butler goes into the first media timeout at 71%. Butler 10, BYU 5
• 14:01 – BYU basketball ends a three-minute scoring drought with a layup from Fousseyni Traore after grabbing an offensive rebound. Butler 14, BYU 7

#BYU has seven turnovers at the under-12 media timeout in the first half.

Butler has scored 10 points off BYU's turnovers.#BYUHoops #Battle4Atlantis

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 25, 2022

• 11:16 – BYU is up to seven turnovers and Butler has scored 10 points off turnovers. Butler 20, BYU 11
• 9:34 – First three-pointer of the game for BYU. Noah Waterman buried a three on the wing. Butler 24, BYU 18
• 6:51 – BYU hasn’t knocked down a field goal in the last 2:43 of action. Butler 26, BYU 20
• 4:16 – BYU missed a three-point attempt from Rudi Williams, but Jaxson Robinson got the offensive rebound. He had a shot at the rim that went in-and-out. Butler 28, BYU 23
• 3:41 – Butler then popped off a 6-0 run over a 44-second stretch. Butler 32, BYU 23
• 1:19 – BYU has knocked down its last three field goal attempts. Butler 35, BYU 30
• 1.8 – Atiki Ally Atiki comes up with a block at the final horn. Butler 37, BYU 30

Halftime: Butler 37, BYU 30

Notable halftime stats

• All five of BYU’s starters are in the negative in plus/minus, with Gideon George the lowest at minus-11.
• BYU has turned the ball over on 25.7% of their possessions. In total, through the first 20 minutes, BYU has committed nine turnovers.
• BYU’s leading scorer is Fousseyni Traore, Noah Waterman, and Gideon George, all with five points each.
• The last lead for BYU was at the 19:01 mark with a 3-2 lead.

BYU basketball starts strong, but Butler holds them off

• 18:46 – Strong start from BYU as they open up with a 5-0 run. Butler’s Thad Matta burns an early timeout. Butler 37, BYU 35

Great start from #BYU to begin the second half. Reel off a 5-0 run forcing Thad Matta to burn a timeout for Butler at the 18:46 mark.#BYUHoops #Battle4Atlantis

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 25, 2022

• 17:22 – BYU opened the second half on a 12-0 run, the longest run of the season for the Cougars. BYU 42, Butler 37

#BYU opens the second half on a 12-0 run. #BYUHoops #Battle4Atlantis

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 25, 2022

• 15:03 – BYU is shooting 60% from the field and 66.7% from three-point range. They hold a lead at the first media timeout. BYU 44, Butler 42
• 12:42 – Butler bounces back with a 7-2 run of their own. Amid that run, there was an out of bounds call on BYU that appeared to go off Butler. No review. Butler 49, BYU 46
• 11:49 – Butler’s Jayden Taylor is up to 20 points. It’s the most points he scored in a game against a Division I team. Butler 52, BYU 48

Fouss always has a handful of excellent low post moves. He's had great ones tonight. #BYU #BYUHoops #Battle4Atlantis

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 25, 2022

• 9:09 – Fouss Traore ends a three-minute scoring drought with a bucket at the hoop. Traore is putting on a clinic with some of his low-post moves. Butler 54, BYU 50
• 8:53 – Officials called a foul on Rudi Williams on a play where Traore got a clean steal. It negated a breakaway layup for Fouss.
• 7:39 – BYU is shooting 21% from three so far on the night. In a surprising twist, Butler now has more turnovers than BYU. Butler 56, BYU 51
• 5:06 – Butler came up with a 50/50 loose ball and found a wide-open Eric Hunter Jr. for a corner three. Butler 65, BYU 57

Fouss can't be stopped right now in the post. This is his night. Keep feeding him the rock.#BYU #BYUHoops #Battle4Atlantis

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 25, 2022

• 3:58 – Fousseyni Traore has earned his second double-double of the season with 17 points, 10 rebounds. Butler doesn’t have an answer for Traore down in the post. Butler 65, BYU 61
• 2:29 – BYU’s zone defense has given Butler some headaches. The Bulldogs call a timeout. They haven’t scored a field goal in the last 2:41 of action. Butler 66, BYU 65
• 2:08 – Eric Hunter Jr. knocks down a highly contested three for Butler out of the timeout. Butler 69, BYU 65
• 1:54 – Gideon George comes up with an old-fashioned three-point play to answer with an and-one. Butler 69, BYU 68

Strange to not see Spencer Johnson on the floor in these late-game minutes. He's been clutch for #BYU this season.#BYUHoops #Battle4Atlantis

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 25, 2022

• 1:06 – Rudi Williams had an excellent crossover that freed him up for an open three-pointer, but the attempt came up short. Butler 69, BYU 68
• 37.1 – Butler Manny Bates catches a lop and throws down a dunk. Butler 71, BYU 68
• 33.9 – Mark Pope calls a timeout.
• 12.3 – Gideon George misses a three-pointer. Butler then knocks down two free throws. Butler 73, BYU 68

Mark Pope said that Spencer Johnson had a "health issue" that prevented him from playing late in the game. Didn't provide any additional details beyond that.

Johnson played 25 minutes in tonight's loss to Butler.#BYU #BYUHoops #Battle4Atlantis

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) November 25, 2022

FINAL: Butler 75, BYU 70

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

Follow @Mitch_Harper