Graduate forward Michael Ajayi logged 12 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in a losing effort to Villanova. Photo by Jonathan Wang.
DAVID JACOBS | MANAGING EDITOR | drjacobs@butler.edu
The men’s basketball team got off to a hot start from the field — streaking out to as large as a nine-point first-half lead — before relinquishing control and succumbing to an 85-67 defeat to Villanova.
While both teams struggled with turnovers throughout the first 20 minutes, the Bulldogs held a slim 33-30 advantage thanks to timely shots from the perimeter while holding the Wildcats to an abysmal 8.3% clip from deep.
Junior guard Finley Bizjack was the main catalyst, scoring 14 first-half points on 50% shooting, a good omen after the Trophy Club, Texas native had failed to score more than 11 points in each of the previous outings. However, a near-scoreless second half from Bizjack turned the Bulldog offense stale, as no other player was able to step up to supplement the much-needed three-level scoring.
“We watched film at halftime, and we saw how he was getting open,” Villanova head coach Kevin Willard said. “We’re a big personnel team, and we just made those adjustments about how we were going to defend him.”
Upon returning to the court, defensive adjustments were not the only changes coming into the second half as Villanova sprinted out of the gate to the tune of a 10-0 run, quickly sucking any home-court energy lingering in the air as waves of fans filed back into their seats following halftime.
Although a three-pointer from redshirt-sophomore forward Jamie Kaiser Jr. stunted the run and helped cut the early second-half deficit to just four points, the ‘Cats went unconscious from the field, converting on 70.4% of their shots and 6-of-9 from deep in the second half.
“We didn’t come out with any fire,” Bizjack said. “They came out on a run, and we had to burn a timeout … That’s something that kills you; we’ve got to play harder.”
Valiant efforts from graduate forward Michael Ajayi — who logged his 12th double-double of the season — helped keep the Dawgs within reach, but after the under-12 timeout, the Bulldogs failed to get within seven points.
As the final whistles blew, it was a disastrous collapse from the Bulldogs after they once had full control of the game.
“I think the biggest thing is that [when the shots aren’t falling], we still have to go down and defend,” head coach Thad Matta said. “I don’t wanna say I got to challenge their manhood — I love this team; I love these guys — [but] we got to continue to learn from this … I just want to be a better basketball team than we were today, that’s for sure.”
Butler will be back at Hinkle on Jan. 6 with a date against a spiraling St. John’s squad to try and keep pace with the rest of the conference in the win column.
