CHICAGO (AP) — Upe Atosu scored 22 points and Butler had its best offense game of the season to shock No. 25 DePaul 86-81 on Monday to wrap up the regular season.
It was Butler’s first-ever win over DePaul in 21 meetings.
The Bulldogs shot a season-high 54% (33 of 61), had their third-most 3-pointers and second-best percent by going 10 of 22 (45.5%) and went 10 of 11 from the foul line (90.9%) for their best outing except for a 6-for-6 game.
Butler’s season shooting percentages coming into the game were 35.3% overall, 31.2% behind the arc and 71.5% from the line.
The loss put the Blue Demons’ No. 3 seed in the Big East Conference tournament in jeopardy pending the outcome of other games on Monday. Butler is the No. 10 seed and plays Friday.
Okako Adika added 17 points for Butler (3-16, 3-15), which averaged just 55.5 points a game, although this was its third-straight game with at least 68. Tenley Dowell scored 13 points, Genesis Parker 11 and Nyamer Diew 10 with eight rebounds.
Deja Church and Lexi Held scored 20 points each and Church grabbed 12 rebounds for DePaul (14-7, 11-5), which lost for the third time in four games, two to teams with losing records. Jorie Allen scored 18 points and Darrione Rogers 13 with nine rebounds.
DePaul shot 34.6% (28 of 81) overall and 10 for 37 from deep (27%). A 20-5 advantage in offensive rebounds and a plus-8 in turnovers didn’t help with 20 more field goal attempts. In their previous two losses, the Blue Demons shot 38.9% and 38.2%.
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