Graduate forward Michael Ajayi logged his 13th double-double of the season in the lopsided loss to Xavier. Photo by Jonathan Wang.
DAVID JACOBS | MANAGING EDITOR | drjacobs@butler.edu
The men’s basketball team crawled out of the gates against rival Xavier — succumbing to as large as a 13-point first-half deficit — and never recovered en route to a 89-75 defeat.
Graduate forward Michael Ajayi was as steady as ever, pouring in 13 of his 22 points and seven of his 12 rebounds in the first half, often showing the most energy on the team at any given time.
Despite his efforts, continued turnover troubles — including five from Ajayi — and lackluster shooting from the rest of the roster proved to outweigh any positive contributions Ajayi was able to bring to the court.
Butler’s second and third-leading scorers, redshirt-sophomore guard Jamie Kaiser Jr. and junior guard Finley Bizjack, combined for just 3-of-17 from the field and 1-12 from range. As a team, Butler shot just 29% from deep and 43% from the floor.
On the flip side, Xavier flaunted 30 assists on its 35 made baskets to pair with a 47% hit-rate from the field and just nine turnovers as a team.
Despite all of the shortcomings, the Dawgs still headed to the lockers down just eight points after a buzzer-beating lay-up from Bizjack.
After the Bulldogs saw graduate forward Tre Carroll knock down a three-pointer to open up the scoring for Xavier, timely free throws from Bizjack and improved play found the Dawgs trailing by just five points early in the second half. However, 18 second-half points from Carroll and simply better basketball from the Muskies paced them to securing their third-consecutive double-digit victory over the Dawgs.
In such a lopsided loss, head coach Thad Matta will have his hands full to regroup this Bulldog squad that has now lost four in a row and is playing like a completely different squad than the one that entered the new year at 10-4.
The Dawgs will have a short turnaround on the road, as they eye a difficult test against the surging Seton Hall Pirates on the road on Jan. 17.
