Busting Brackets
Fansided

Butler Basketball: Takeaways from the Bulldogs’ PK80 performances

By Lukas Harkins

PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 23: General view of a rack of basketballs before the between the Portland State Vikings and the Duke Blue Devils during the PK80-Phil Knight Invitational presented by State Farm at the Moda Center on November 23, 2016 in Portland, Oregon. North Carolina won the game 102-78. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 23: General view of a rack of basketballs before the between the Portland State Vikings and the Duke Blue Devils during the PK80-Phil Knight Invitational presented by State Farm at the Moda Center on November 23, 2016 in Portland, Oregon. North Carolina won the game 102-78. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – NOVEMBER 12: Jorgensen
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – NOVEMBER 12: Jorgensen /

Butler falls to Texas in offensive struggle

To put it simply, this game was rough. Although the defense was solid throughout, the offense was never able to get things going. In contrast to what “The Butler Way” is typically all about in regards to quality ball movement and team play, the Bulldogs often resorted to isolation in late-shot clock situations. This offense resulted in missed shots and turnovers from just about everyone on the team.

The two stars for Butler, Kelan Martin and Kamar Baldwin, failed to get things going throughout the game and the team around them suffered. Starting with Martin, he finished with 12 points on an incredibly rough 4-for-19 shooting (2-for-10 from three). For such a prolific scorer, this was a tough night for Martin. After the game, the typically quiet Martin took to Twitter to voice his thoughts on the team’s performance:

As for his counterpart, Baldwin struggled as well. Although he did come away with three steals and six rebounds, Baldwin was just 6-for-15 (1-for-5 from three) from the field while contributing 15 points. On the whole, the Bulldogs shot 32.8% overall and 27.3% from beyond the arc. They led for just 21 total seconds and were outrebounded by the Longhorns, 41-31.

The biggest takeaway from this game was that Butler was flustered by Texas’ length, especially Mohamed Bamba. Bamba may have finished with only six points, but he impacted the game in so many ways. In the box score, he recorded a game-high 12 rebounds and also swatted four shots away. Outside of the box score, Bamba’s impact limited Butler’s ability to attack the basket and caused them to think twice on drives.