Busting Brackets
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Butler Basketball: Takeaways from road win over Providence

By Lukas Harkins

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JANUARY 04: Kamar Baldwin #3 of the Butler Bulldogs drives to the basket while defended by Ty-Shon Alexander #5 and Kelvin Jones #43 of the Creighton Bluejays in the first half of the game at Hinkle Fieldhouse on January 4, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Butler defeated Creighton 71-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JANUARY 04: Kamar Baldwin #3 of the Butler Bulldogs drives to the basket while defended by Ty-Shon Alexander #5 and Kelvin Jones #43 of the Creighton Bluejays in the first half of the game at Hinkle Fieldhouse on January 4, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Butler defeated Creighton 71-57. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – DECEMBER 21: Thompson of the Bulldogs dribbles. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – DECEMBER 21: Thompson of the Bulldogs dribbles. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

2. There will always be room for improvement.

Butler has played exceptionally well so far this season. There is no doubt about that. The Dawgs have answered the call at every single opportunity through their first 16 contests as they have proven time and time again that they are worthy of being ranked among the best teams in the country. With this victory, Butler now sits at 15-1 (3-0 BE) on the season and could crack the AP Top 5 by Monday.

With that said, though, there will always be room for improvement. Head coach LaVall Jordan has stressed playing a “Full 40” throughout this season and the team is yet to do that. While the Dawgs consistently put together strong performances as perhaps the most reliably solid team in the nation, they have struggled in certain facets of the game as of late.

Butler is no longer a team simply competing to make the NCAA Tournament this season. With its hot start, the team has earned consideration as one of the top national title contenders moving forward. It might be difficult to find too much fault in the Dawgs’ play to this point but fixing some of the little things could be the difference when it comes to who cuts down nets in March.

The Dawgs turned the ball over 17 times and shot just 14-for-21 (66.7%) from the free-throw line against Providence. I don’t necessarily think there is an easy fix for these issues so I won’t break them down much further, but these statistics show that Butler is yet to reach its ceiling this season.

Butler is one of the most disciplined teams in the country but these are still areas for improvement moving forward. I thought that the Dawgs made a few more unforced errors (carries, passes out of bounds) than normal in this one and those are things that can be cleaned up.

Additionally, Kamar Baldwin needs to get back on track from the charity stripe. He is only 10-for-16 (62.5%) over his last seven games (although all of the FTAs came in just the last two) after starting the season 19-for-20.