Fifth-year forward Jahmyl Telfort led the Dawgs with 23 points. Photo courtesy of Butler Athletics.
SARAH HOHMAN | MANAGING EDITOR | shohman@butler.edu
The Bulldogs had a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving with a 71-69 win over Northwestern in the first round of the Arizona Tip-Off. With the win, the Dawgs advance to the championship game on Friday, Nov. 29 and are now 5-1 on the season.
Fifth-year forward Jahmyl Telfort led the Dawgs with 23 points — shooting over 58% from the field. Fifth-year center Andre Screen also impressed, pulling together a near double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Turnover troubles persisted as the Dawgs had 15 on the night — giving away the basketball eight times in the second half. Butler averages over 13 turnovers a game to start the season.
Despite the Dawgs being up five with 1:30 left, the Thanksgiving game came down to two Wildcat attempts in the last seconds with the chance to tie and send it to overtime.
Let’s go beyond the box score for Butler’s lucky win in Arizona.
Andre Screen finds his rhythm
Sophomore forward Augusto Cassia replaced Screen in the starting lineup on Nov. 11, which certainly felt like the right choice for head coach Thad Matta at the time. Although Screen did not start against the Wildcats, he seized over 25 minutes compared to Cassia’s eight.
With the sluggish start for the Dawgs offense, Butler needed someone to breathe life into the team. Screen scored eight points off the bench in just 10 minutes to kickstart the Bulldogs’ scoring and kept the momentum going through the entire game.
Matta has been open about making in-game adjustments with his centers, proving this strategy against Northwestern.
Lazy late-game execution
Butler had some late-game struggles last season and the Bulldogs showed they still have work to do tonight. The Dawgs struggled to inbound the ball efficiently and missed three key free throws in crunch time.
In what should have been an easy close-out for the Bulldogs, Northwestern almost pulled off a comeback. As Big East play approaches, Matta and the Dawgs have to work on closing out the tight games.
Butler will face off against either Mississippi State or UNLV at 7 or 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 29 for the Arizona Tip-Off Championship.
