The Bulldogs are coming off a 105-80 exhibition win over Indiana State. Photo by Andrew Buckley.
SAWYER GOLDWEIN | SPORTS EDITOR | sgoldwein@butler.edu
After splitting a pair of exhibition games against Notre Dame and Indiana State, the men’s basketball team is ready to officially tip off its season. The Dawgs get underway with another in-state matchup, facing off against Southern Indiana on Nov. 5.
Here is what you need to know before the Bulldogs take on the Screaming Eagles:
Who: Butler vs. Southern Indiana
When: Nov. 5, 7 p.m.
Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse
How to watch: ESPN+
Health and rotations
Even before the season begins, head coach Thad Matta’s team has already had a few health issues to navigate. Most recently, first-year forward Efeosa Oliogu-Elabor rolled his ankle during pre-game warmups of Butler’s exhibition win over Indiana State.
The Ontario native sat out the game and is still expected to need more time to recover.
“He will not play tomorrow night,” Matta said. “I doubt he’ll play Saturday [against IU Indy]. He was on the bike for the majority of practice [on Tuesday].”
While the Dawgs would love to have Oliogu-Elabor healthy, the silver lining is that it allows Matta and company to experiment with some different rotations early in the season against seemingly weaker competition.
“You hate [guys] missing time,” Matta said. “But what it has done is we’ve had to look at some alternative lineups and move guys around. The good thing is, we’ve had time to do that, which has been big for us.”
Junior center Kevin Ndzie has also been dealing with an injury since joining the team in late September. Ndzie practiced fully for the first time on Tuesday after missing the exhibition matchups due to a back issue. He is making progress, but is not expected to play against Southern Indiana.
Scouting the Screaming Eagles
Southern Indiana finished 10-20 last season, with its 5-15 conference mark leaving them in the cellar of the Ohio Valley Conference.
Now entering just their fourth year as a Division I program, the Screaming Eagles underwent a near-complete overhaul. Head coach Stan Gouard returns just three players, and only one — senior guard Braxton Jones — who started any games.
The remainder of the roster is filled with transfers from top to bottom, nearly all juniors and seniors. The players’ previous schools range from the University of California to Oklahoma Panhandle State University, leaving major question marks about how quickly the team will be able to jell.
For Matta, a roster with so many new pieces presents some challenges for pre-game scouting.
“We’re going in blind,” Matta said. “They’ve got [12] new guys. I don’t want to say it’s a guessing game … We have to come out and do what we do the best that we can.”
Senior guard Trey Thomas could be the player to watch after a first-team All-Southwestern Athletic Conference selection with Bethune-Cookman.
No matter who is the focal point of the Eagles’ offense, if Butler plays its own game and executes properly, it should have no problem handling business in the season opener.
