Butler Bulldogs Unable To Solidfy Themselves Yet Again
By Jacob Rude
Despite back-to-back title game appearances just two years ago, the state of Indiana never truly felt like a Butler Bulldog state. Even two years ago when the Butler Bulldogs stunned the city of Bloomington and the state of Indiana by knocking off #1 ranked Indiana on an Alex Barlow game-winning shot, it felt more like a flukey win than a sign of a better team.
This year, it was the Hoosiers who came into Bankers Life Fieldhouse as the unranked underdogs facing the ranked Bulldogs from Butler. With the Indiana program still not on sure footing after a wild off-season, Butler could have sent a big message to the entire state. A win over the Hoosiers would signify a changing of the guard, with Butler establishing themselves at the top of the totem pole of Indiana colleges, likely sending the Hoosiers staggering back after yet another loss in a key match-up this season.
Instead, this time around, Indiana returned the favor.
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Despite heading into the locker room tied thanks in large part to Kellen Dunham, Butler could never pull away from the Hoosiers early in the second half and eventually fell victim to a big Hoosier run and could never get back over the hump, losing 82-73. After letting Dunham run wild in the first half, the Hoosiers tightened up defensively led by point guard Yogi Ferrell, who had missed most of the first half due to foul trouble.
“They changed defenses a little bit and we’re going to have to handle that a little bit better,” head coach Chris Holtmann said. “We did have a couple of looks right around the basket that, if a couple of those go down, it’s probably a different story.”
Despite shooting just 41.9% from the field and being out-rebounded by the Hoosiers in the first half, Butler used a 7-0 run over the final 1:51 seconds to tie the game going into halftime, with all the points scored by Dunham, who finished the first half with 17 points.
However, Dunham and the Bulldogs regressed in the second half, shooting just 36.8% from the field, highlighted by a 2 f0r 7 shooting performance from the junior. Meanwhile, Indiana improved to 47.1% and had two players in double figures in the second half.
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“I just thought they were able to make a few more plays there offensively in the second half that opened it up from a one or two possession game to a three possession game,” Holtmann said.
The nail in the proverbial coffin came on a pull-up three-pointer in transition from Ferrell with 3:09 remaining, capping off a 10-0 run and giving the Hoosiers a 76-65 lead, their biggest of the day.
Quite surprisingly, the Bulldogs were out-rebounded by an undersized Hoosiers squad, something senior forward Kameron Woods, Butler’s leading rebounder on the season, took blame for.
“I think any time you talk about rebounding, that’s something I take credit for, so in the first half, I know I didn’t do my job as well as I can,” Woods said. “I just think they wanted to be really physical and, in the first half, they were able to get a lot of offensive rebounds.” The Hoosiers did, in fact, pull down 11 offensive rebounds in the first frame compared to just four from Butler.
For Butler, it signified another example of one step forward, two steps back for them this season. After knocking off the UNC Tar Heels for their biggest win this year, they dropped the following game to the Oklahoma Sooners. Then, after climbing back to a #15 ranking, they dropped their contest against Tennessee last Sunday before being handed their second-straight loss on Saturday.
With Big East competition looming, the Bulldogs will have their hands full, their first two conference match-ups coming against #7 ranked Villanova and #20 ranked St. Johns, both on the road. Butler’s talented roster will be truly tested this season. For the Butler faithful, let’s hope this was a lesson learned in Indianapolis for which they can grow on.