LAS VEGAS – Butler came to college basketball’s Maui Invitational without its top rebounder, started this game without its top scorer and ended it without its top playmaker.
Next-man-up is a trendy slogan in sports, but the Bulldogs are overdoing it.
But if they were low on players, they were high on energy. Never mind that the opponent was host Chaminade, an NCAA Division II school from Hawaii. The Silverswords played evenly in the first half of losses to Oregon and Notre Dame, and for them to be 20-point underdogs seemed like Las Vegas was overdoing it.