Butler basketball suffered its first loss of the season on the road against nationally-ranked Baylor. What were my biggest takeaways from the performance?
Butler basketball’s undefeated start to the 2019-20 season has finally come to an end. The Dawgs took their first loss of the season on Dec. 10th with a hard-fought one-point road loss to nationally-ranked Baylor. On the whole, though, it is difficult for the fanbase to be too upset with the defeat. After all, Butler did an incredible job fighting back from trailing by as many as 16 points before eventually missing some crucial opportunities to take the lead in the final minutes. Butler definitely had its chances to win this game, but knocking off a fringe top-10 team away from home is something that not many teams could pull off.
More than anything, this performance should have shown that the Dawgs are definitely deserving of their top-25 national ranking. Butler still sits at 9-1 on the year with five wins over high-major teams and a close loss to a darn good team in Waco, TX. Baylor proved in this game that it is also one of the better teams in the entire country as this was a battle that the entire nation should have been paying attention to. Sure, it wasn’t the prettiest or highest-scoring affair, but these two teams both play with discipline and defensive tenacity.
In the end, though, Butler’s deficit was a bit too much to overcome, especially with Baylor’s consistent efforts on the offensive glass. The Dawgs were nearly able to pull off the comeback victory but were stifled in the final minutes by a charge call and then a block at the rim with one second left. The game was a battle for both sides, but one of the teams needed to leave the Ferrell Center with the loss. Unfortunately for the Dawgs, they were that team.
Now, even though Butler fans might not want to relive the tough defeat, let’s dive into my biggest takeaways from the performance away from home.