Fifth-year forward Jahmyl Telfort put up a double-double against Marquette on Dec 19. Photo courtesy of Butler Athletics.
SARAH HOHMAN | MANAGING EDITOR | shohman@butler.edu
Despite a forceful start against No. 9 Marquette, Butler could not hold on and lost 80-70 on the road, falling to 7-5 on the season. The Bulldogs have now lost four straight.
The Dawgs came out firing from three, shooting over 40% from beyond the arc in the first half. Fifth-year forward Jahmyl Telfort led the charge with a double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Junior guard Kolby King also put up 16 on 60% shooting from the field.
Down three points at halftime, Marquette came out aggressive. The Golden Eagles executed a 8-0 run to take the lead and never looked back.
In Butler’s first Big East loss, let’s go beyond the box score.
No rebounding
Despite outshooting Marquette 51% to 42% from the field and 41% to 20% from three, the Bulldogs had no chance at winning with their margin of rebounding.
Marquette put up 20 offensive rebounds compared to four from Butler. Golden Eagle senior guard Stevie Mitchell led on the boards with nine. Marquette had 28 second-chance points compared to just seven from the Bulldogs. With so many redemption opportunities, it did not matter how Marquette was shooting, it was going to score.
Head coach Thad Matta decided to start small with a lineup of sophomore guards Finley Bizjack and Landon Moore, senior guard Pierre Brooks, Telfort and graduate forward Patrick McCaffery. With recent struggles from fifth-year center Andre Screen and injured sophomore forward Augusto Cassio along with a smaller Golden Eagle lineup, this change made sense. Even when Marquette had the size matchup to their advantage, it simply came down to who was more aggressive on the boards.
Thrown into the fire
Tipping off Big East play against No. 9 Marquette is not an ideal schedule for a team who lost three straight and it will not get much easier. Butler will have to recharge and quickly leave this loss behind as No. 13 UConn will be waiting for them at Hinkle on Saturday. The Huskies fought off a pesky Xavier team to win their first conference game.
If the Dawgs want to turn this season around, they have to flip the switch abruptly and start winning games against these top Big East teams.
