TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Indiana State junior guard Brenton Scott was ready to put his skills on display against No. 16 Butler.
"He's hard-headed," Sycamores coach Greg Lansing said. "He's so competitive. He just thinks he can beat you. He thinks he can get a basket. It doesn't matter who is guarding him."
Scott had 25 points and nine rebounds to lead Indiana State to a 72-71 upset of Butler on Wednesday night at Hulman Center.
Sycamores senior forward Matt Van Scyoc added a career-high 23 points to complement Scott.
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"I just wanted to show everyone how good of a player I am and I can help the team win," said Scott, who hit 9 of 18 shots from the field. "Now that I'm stepping into more of a leadership role I wanted to prove we can win. I just want to prove a point and make a statement."
After Indiana State's Jordan Barnes missed the front end of a one-and-one, Butler's Tyler Lewis tied the score at 71 by making two free throws with 11.5 seconds left.
Scott hit the first of two free throws with 1.5 seconds left to give Indiana State a one-point lead. Butler's Kelan Martin missed a shot beyond half-court at the buzzer.
The Bulldog dropped to 8-1 and Indiana State improved to 5-4.
"We thought we have a good chance to beat them if we carried out our game plan. We knew it wouldn't be easy," said Lansing, whose team snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bulldogs.
"That's a team (Butler) that is going to win a bunch of basketball games. And we're showing we're getting better."
Fans stormed the court after the game.
"It was an awesome atmosphere," Van Scyoc said.
Butler coach Chris Holtmann said some might not have believed him, but he knew his team had a long way.
"We need to play better and coach better," Holtmann said. "We got beat (Wednesday night) on the defensive end, but we didn't have a good start or a physical start. We had lapses defensively, but it started with a lack of physicality. We expected this to be a dogfight and it was."
Van Scyoc hit 6 of 9 3-pointers, including four in the second half.
"He got too many clean looks," Holtmann said. "We had too many defensive breakdowns. He got comfortable."
Van Scyoc said he got confidence from his defense on Butler's Andrew Chrabascz missed his first two shots.
"If I'm feeling good on the defensive end, my offense comes through," Van Scyoc said.
Scott's three-point play gave Indiana State its largest lead at 40-32 with 17:02 left in the second half. Butler answered with a 16-2 run to take the lead at 48-42. Indiana State quickly found life again with Scott's layup and a 3-pointer by Van Scyoc.
Scott's 3-pointer tied the score at 55 with 6:29 to go. After Butler's Kamar Baldwin scored, Van Scyoc was fouled on a 3-point attempt. He managed to make only one free throw. However, Scott scored two straight baskets to push the Sycamores' lead to 60-57 with 3:57 remaining.
After Scott's steal, Butler committed goaltending. Chrabascz, who scored a team-high 18 points, sank a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 62-60.
Van Scyoc answered with a trey to make it 65-60 with 2:48 to go. Van Scyoc hit two more 3-pointers after that to keep the Sycamores ahead.
The Sycamores led 32-28 at halftime with six points being its largest lead midway through the first half.
NOTES: Butler now has a 70-57 advantage in the series that dates to 1903. ... Indiana State snapped a nine-game losing streak against nationally ranked opponents. Before Wednesday, the last victory over a ranked opponent came at No. 21 Notre Dame on Nov. 17, 2013.
