Insider: Butler gets lift from big men, closing in on NCAA bid

Butler badly needed Andrew Chrabascz when it last played Marquette. The sophomore forward scored a career-high 30 points in the Bulldogs' 72-68 overtime victory over the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee on Jan. 31.

But Chrabascz was on the bench Wednesday night when Marquette visited Hinkle Fieldhouse, missing his third consecutive game with a broken hand. After a lopsided loss at Xavier on Saturday, the 23rd-ranked Bulldogs weren't quite sure who would make up for his absence. He had averaged nearly 18 points in his final five games before being injured against Villanova on Feb. 14.

Enter Kameron Woods and Tyler Wideman. One is a senior, the other a freshman. But both were surprisingly efficient in Butler's 73-52 win before a crowd of 7,830, ensuring the Bulldogs a winning record in the Big East Conference.

"That's just huge for our team, to see that kind of growth with Drew out," said guard Kellen Dunham, who led the Bulldogs with 22 points.

Dunham bounced back nicely from an off day at Xavier, going 4-for-6 from 3-point range. But big scoring nights are the norm for him. Not so from Wideman and Woods.

Start with the 6-8, 245-pound Wideman. He had eight points and nine rebounds in an 88-76 victory in the first game against Xavier on Jan. 10, but had done little since. He blamed it partly on a lingering stomach flu.

No matter the issue, Butler needed more than the two points it got from him in each of the two games since Chrabascz's injury. Holtmann kept him in the starting lineup again on Wednesday in part because he didn't have much choice.

It worked out well. Woods picked up his second foul with just over 6 minutes left in the first half and didn't play again before intermission. Wideman responded, scoring eight points and grabbing seven rebounds before the break. The highlight came when he put the ball on the floor and drove around two Marquette defenders for a dunk to give Butler a 21-15 lead with 8:09 left.

"This guy to my left here gave us a tremendous lift in so many areas," Holtmann said during his postgame news conference with Wideman sitting next to him. "Really proud of what he brought."

Wideman finished with eight points and eight rebounds before fouling out in the final 2 minutes.

"He does have a good touch facing the basket," Holtmann said. "He's never been a back-to-the basket player.He's always been facing it. His back to the basket game is really evolving. It's something we haven't needed as much. He needs to be an energy guy for us."

The 6-9 Woods has been around a lot longer and has been one of the top post defenders in the Big East, if not the nation, this season. His seven rebounds on Wednesday gives him 884 for his career, tying him with Matt Howard for the third-most in program history.

But offensively, it hasn't been quite as pretty. Woods entered the Marquette game shooting 48 percent from the field, not exactly what a team expects from its top post players. Shots more than two feet from the basket have been an adventure.

But he was 6-for-9 from the field on Wednesday and scored a season-high 14 points. Marquette (11-16, 3-12 Big East) had cut the lead to 50-42 with just over 11 minutes left when Woods hit back-to-back hook shots in the lane to start an 18-4 spurt over the next 7 minutes. Roosevelt Jones' free throw made the score 68-46 with 3:22 remaining.

"He did look confident," Holtmann said of Woods. "He made some plays around the basket and facing the basket. I don't think he forced things. We put a few things for him in the days prior, but I think most every shot he took was a really good shot within our offense."

Another highlight came when Woods caught a pass in transition in stride, was able to stop abruptly and fire back out to a wide-open Dunham, who hit a 3-pointer to give Butler a 44-35 lead with 15:54 left.

"Kameron did a good job of looking for me in a little bit of traffic," Dunham said.

Butler is 2-1 since Chrabascz went out. Woods has picked up his offensive game in both victories. He scored 10 points, including eight in the second half, and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 58-56 win at Creighton on Feb. 16.

"He's a guy we're going to continue to look to because it gives us the balance we've talked about all year," Holtmann said.

Butler shot 51 percent from the field (27-for-53), had a season-low six turnovers and outrebounded Marquette 29-18. The Golden Eagles are last in the Big East. Even without Chrabascz, it's a game the Bulldogs should win – although Holtmann figured it would be much closer.

"We were just thinking about grinding out a win and we were able to get some turnovers there in the second half that I think helped open it up a little bit," he said. "That gave us a little bit of breathing room. That was the turning point in the game."

The win left Butler 20-8 and 10-5 in the Big East, guaranteeing them a winning record in conference play. That and an RPI ranking of 24 – according to cbssports.com -- should guarantee the Bulldogs a spot in the NCAA tournament. They'll fight for a high seed in their final three regular-season games and the Big East tournament.

That all begins Saturday at DePaul, where Chrabascz is expected to miss a fourth consecutive game. He's yet to be cleared to resume to basketball activities.

But more performances like the ones from Wideman and Woods on Wednesday night will make that absence easier to take.

Follow Star reporter Michael Pointer on Twitter: @michaelpointer.