Graduate forward Patrick McCaffery played in his first game for the Bulldogs after transferring from Iowa. Photo courtesy of Butler Athletics.
SARAH HOHMAN | MANAGING EDITOR | shohman@butler.edu
As the calendar nears November, the Dawgs took the court for the first time since April and beat Illinois Wesleyan 88-47 in an exhibition game at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Let’s go beyond the box score.
Head coach Thad Matta’s first lineup consisted of sophomore guard Finley Bizjack, senior guard Pierre Brooks, fifth-year forward Jahmyl Telfort, fifth-year center Andre Screen and graduate forward Patrick McCaffery. Jaime Kaiser was the only Bulldog out with an ankle injury.
It was not a fast start for the Bulldog offense as the score was tied 10-10 after five minutes. Eventually Butler went on a 33-2 scoring run to create a substantial gap.
“We weren’t as sharp offensively [as we should have been],” Matta said. “Eight of their 10 points were correctable, just because we didn’t do the job we needed to do. I thought we put a nice run together after that … I thought our defense got sharper.”
McCaffery helped jump-start the Dawgs scoring. The transfer went 5-7 in the first half and added three more points in the second half. He even showed a glimpse of his range from beyond the arc.
Sophomore forward Augusto Cassia certainly took advantage of his minutes, going 6-8 from the field and showing aggressive defense. The returner racked up a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds in his 16 minutes. Cassia had some impressive showings last season, but this game looked like a much more polished performance.
“I’m literally just happy to be on the court and be able to help my teammates and be out there,” Cassia said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve played and I’m really happy to help everybody”
Matta was thrilled with the contributions from the two bigs.
“I think these guys gave us a heck of a boost in the first half with a lot of energy and obviously scoring the ball,” Matta said. “[They were] keeping balls alive with offensive rebounds.”
The bench overall impressed, but a key standout was junior guard Kolby King. His energy off the bench allowed him to grab ten boards on top of two points and two assists. The transfer from Tulane showed a new level of aggression that this team needed.
Two of Butler’s routine starters were pretty quiet all night. Brooks and Telfort ended the game with 11 and eight points respectively, but struggled in the first half. The two returners were selected to 2024-25 Preseason All-Big East Second Team.
First-year Evan Haywood saw some minutes off the bench — his first as a Dawg. He collected four points and two assists. Fellow first-year Colt Langdon also joined the party with six points and two rebounds.
As this was Butler’s only exhibition game for the season, the Dawgs will play official basketball next Monday against Missouri State. Tipoff is set for 6:45 p.m. and the game will be aired on Fox Sports 1.
