Butler Basketball: Grades and reactions from 2018-19 exhibition games

Butler basketball dominated both of their exhibition opponents leading into the 2018-19 season. Where did the team excel and where can they improve?

The regular season is nearly upon us. And, in preparation for the new campaign, Butler basketball head coach LaVall Jordan scheduled two exhibition matchups. In these games, the Dawgs showed signs of promise but also some weaknesses as well. Of course, Butler did walk away from their games with two blowout victories but it still important to mention just how the team “looked” when on the court.

In the Dawgs’ first matchup against Tiffin, the team came out strong and received strong offensive contributions from every player. In fact, everybody who played more than five minutes (nine players) recorded at least seven points. In total, Butler’s offense was unstoppable en route to scoring 100 total points on 54.8% shooting from the field. Defensively, the Bulldogs held Tiffin to under 40% shooting and only 63 total points.

Just under a week later, Butler once again took the court to take on Southern Indiana (who faced Indiana earlier in the week). Out of the gates, the Dawgs came out very slow and trailed 11-2 before Coach Jordan needed to call timeout. Over the next 16 minutes of the half, though, the Bulldogs outscored the Screaming Eagles by 23 points to hold a 14-point advantage at the break (38-24). In the second half, Butler continued to put the pressure on and walked away with the easy win.

With the brief recaps out of the way, though, let’s dive into breaking down the play of the team during their two exhibition matchups.