Butler Basketball: Takeaways from Dawgs’ much-needed win over Creighton

Butler basketball desperately needed a big win following back-to-back losses and they did just that against Creighton. What did we learn?

Following back-to-back dismal performances against Florida and Georgetown, Butler basketball needed to come out of the gates hot against Creighton and that is exactly what they did. Seemingly from the opening tip, the Dawgs were all over the Bluejays on both ends of the floor. Butler stifled Creighton’s high-powered offense throughout the entire game and their offense moved with more fluidity than it had in weeks. To put simply, the Dawgs came out strong and never took their foot off the gas pedal.

But rather than diving into a simple recap of the game, let’s dive quickly into my three biggest takeaways from the Butler victory (I’m at a family reunion so a little shorter piece.)

1. Kamar Baldwin: The Commander

Butler’s star player, Kamar Baldwin, put on a show in this game. After struggling for most of the season to this point, Baldwin was the best player on the floor in this matchup and it wasn’t even close. Quite simply, he showed exactly why many predicted that Baldwin would be a contender for the Big East Player of the Year award this season. He finished the night with 28 points but his performance was about far more than his scoring.

Baldwin was also tenacious on the defensive end and a true general on the offense. Unlike several games this season where he played “hero ball”, Baldwin took what the defense gave him in this matchup and took advantage every weakness he could find. If he was open for three, he splashed it. If he had a mismatch in the paint, he exploited it. If he was double-teamed, he found the open man for a quality look. He was simply tremendous in this game and Butler will win a lot of games when he plays at this level.

2. Depth can lead this team to big wins

Even though Baldwin was the clear star of the game for Butler in this one, the second most important development was head coach LaVall Jordan’s bench usage. From the opening tip, many assumed that Coach Jordan would tinker with different five-man sets because of his shift in the starting lineup (Brunk/Baddley instead of Fowler/Jorgensen) and that is exactly what he did. 10 different players saw the floor in this matchup for the Dawgs and many responded with big-time performances. When so many quality players see the floor, it is hard to imagine that everyone has an off night.

Most notably, though, Nate Fowler played with a renewed vigor in his first game coming off the bench. After struggling from distance to start the year, Fowler flashed why he is so talented as a stretch big in this matchup. He dropped in 11 points on the night thanks to 3-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc. In addition to making those threes, it is a major development for Butler that Fowler is showing the confidence to shoot those open looks. When Fowler is knocking down trifectas, Butler’s entire offense opens up.

3. NCAA Tournament hopes are very much alive

This was the kind of performance that Butler basketball desperately needed. After dropping back-to-back games to Florida and Georgetown, the Dawgs fell to the “Last Four In” of our most recent bracketology update at Busting Brackets. With this performance, though, not only does Butler add a quality win to their resume but their high level of performance caused them to shoot up in predictive metrics a bit. For reference, Butler entered the game at No. 43 in KenPom’s rankings. Following this game, they rose to No. 37 (with plenty of games left to play in the day).

Looking ahead, this is the kind of performance that should inspire the team moving forward. Kamar Baldwin, who noted that the team held a players-only meeting this past week in postgame, was superb in this game and his intensity seemed to set the tone for the entire team. If Butler continues to play at this level for the rest of the year, they will go dancing as a dangerous team. But…the Dawgs have been incredibly inconsistent so far this year so a few more dominant performances will be needed before the fanbase completely buys in.

This was a huge win for Butler basketball as they look to climb up the national rankings in the next few weeks. The Dawgs showed why many picked them to finish in the top half of the Big East in this matchup and they should look to carry this momentum into the following games.