Senior forward Patrick McCaffery had 20 points against Eastern Illinois. Photo by Andrew Buckley.
CALEB DENORME | SPORTS EDITOR | cdenorme@butler.edu
The men’s basketball team improved to 7-1 with a 73-58 win over Eastern Illinois. After returning to Hinkle as the Arizona Tip-Off champions, the Dawgs kept their noses out in front of the Panthers to capture another victory. Forwards Jahmyl Telfort and Patrick McCaffery led the scoring charge for the Bulldogs, each pouring in 20 points.
Let’s go beyond the box score for Butler’s seventh win of the season.
Another slow start
Butler put up 36 points in the first half, but it was not smooth sledding. The Bulldogs turned the ball over on the first possession, continuing a worrying trend of carelessness with the basketball, notching 17 turnovers by the end of the night.
Coach Thad Matta was adamant the turnover numbers need to go down and his team needs to protect the basketball
“I mean 17 turnovers is mind-boggling to me,” Matta said. “Every night we take the court we need to be as sharp as we can possibly be.”
This is not an uncommon occurrence through the first eight games of this season for the Bulldogs. Butler tends to start games on the slow side and then pull away in the second half.
The Dawgs seemed to buck this trend in the Arizona Tip-Off wins over Northwestern and Mississippi State, but the issues returned against Eastern Illinois. Butler had six turnovers in the first half and took 25 shots compared to the Panthers’ 35.
Another issue early on was the Bulldogs’ tendency to give up offensive rebounds. Butler allowed six offensive boards in the first half, but luckily Eastern Illinois only converted those giveaways into two points.
Had this been a better opponent, the Dawgs could have been caught out due to their slow start. They will not get away with any falters off the line against Houston on Saturday.
A team-oriented offense
Out of the ten players that got onto the floor for Matta, eight of them got into the scoring column. Telfort, McCaffery and junior guard Kolby King finished with double-digits in points.
Butler’s ability to get scoring input from all-around is a bright spot. Having multiple players who can put the ball in the basket regardless of if they start or not is a good problem for Matta to have.
One of the best shooting performances of the night came from McCaffery. The Iowa transfer went 6/14 from the field and a blistering 5/8 from beyond the arc, with many of those threes coming from the corner. No matter where the shot is on the court, McCaffery always likes a good look at the rim.
“I just like open threes,” McCaffery said. “Let it rip [and] shoot a lot of them from all over.”
Butler now sets its sights on a massive matchup with Houston on Saturday. Beginning a stretch of tougher games, the Dawgs will need to limit mistakes heading into this portion of the schedule.
“We know we have a big test on our hands,” McCaffery said. “We know that’s going to be a dogfight.”
