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Butler Basketball: 3 takeaways from the Bulldogs’ loss at Maryland

By Lukas Harkins

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 12: Aaron Thompson #2 of the Butler Bulldogs trips while dribbling as Amir Bell #5 of the Princeton Tigers defends at Hinkle Fieldhouse on November 12, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - NOVEMBER 12: Aaron Thompson #2 of the Butler Bulldogs trips while dribbling as Amir Bell #5 of the Princeton Tigers defends at Hinkle Fieldhouse on November 12, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – NOVEMBER 12: Thompson
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – NOVEMBER 12: Thompson /

Playing in College Park is no easy thing to do. Butler basketball found that out the hard way on Nov. 15, falling to the Maryland Terrapins by double-digits.

This was a rough one for Butler basketball. After back-to-back victories over Kennesaw State and Princeton to start the season, they were outmatched for the majority of their first major road test against the Maryland Terrapins. From start to finish, the Terps were all over the Bulldogs with tenacious defense, outstanding rebounding, and top-notch shooting from the floor.

Although the Bulldogs hung around a single-digit deficit for the majority of the game, they were never able to make that one big run to put them in front and change the tide of the game. On the whole, this was a disappointing loss for the Dawgs as they struggled to get anything going on either end of the floor.

Their star players, Kelan Martin and Kamar Baldwin, also struggled throughout, as they combined for 27 points on a dreadful night from the floor (combined 11-for-36, 30.6%). As far as the rest of the roster went, things weren’t much better. Butler shot just 34.3% from the field and 36.4% from three. They were led in scoring by sophomore Sean McDermott, who had 17 (5-for-12 FG, 3-for-7 3P).

Maryland, on the other, rode their hot shooting and dominating rebounding performance to victory. For the game, the Terrapins shot a blistering 57.4% from the field and were 45.0% from three. These numbers were obviously phenomenal, but they were even brought down by several missed shots down the stretch. For the majority of the game, in fact, the Terps were shooting better than 70% from the field.

The Terps were led by sophomore guard Anthony Cowan, who had 25 points. Although he shot effectively from the floor (5-for-8), this scoring outburst was thanks in large part to his 15 free throw attempts (he made 12). For reference, Butler shot three less free throws than him as a team in this game.

Now, let’s get into the key takeaways from this game for both teams.