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13th ranked Butler beats the University of Vermont 81-69

Posted at 9:02 PM, Dec 21, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-21 21:36:45-05

INDIANAPOLIS -- 13th ranked Butler beat the University of Vermont 81-69 Wednesday night in Indianapolis. 

The Bulldogs are now 11-1 as they prepare for next week’s Big East Conference opener against St. John’s.

Andrew Chrabascz scored a season-high 28 points and No. 13 Butler shot 69.6 percent from the field in the second half Wednesday night to pull away from Vermont 81-69.

The Bulldogs (11-1) have won three straight and extended their home winning streak against non-conference foes to 36.

Drew Urquhart and Trae Bell-Haynes each scored 14 points to lead the Catamounts, who took advantage of Butler's sluggish start to keep the score close most of the first half.

Chrabascz changed everything with a 3-pointer in the middle of a 7-0 run. Butler followed that with another 6-0 flurry that pushed the led to 38-24 with 1:30 left in the half, and Vermont couldn't got closer than eight the rest of the game.

Kelan Martin had 21 points and eight rebounds for Butler, which gave coach Chris Holtmann his 100th career victory - 56 wins since taking over at Butler three years ago.

Catamounts forward Josh Speidel, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a serious car crash as a high school senior, received a loud ovation from his home state crowd during a special pregame introduction. He sat on the bench with his teammates dressed in his trademark bow tie.