The men’s basketball team hit the road to end its exhibition slate, falling 73-82 at Ohio State.
Despite the loss, there were plenty of encouraging signs for Butler. Perhaps the best breakthrough was seeing the full force of the Dawgs’ guard rotation, which appears to be a strength.
First-year guard Samu Adler, the missing piece of the puzzle, made his first appearance in a Butler uniform and looked comfortable. Despite being held scoreless, the Finnish product jelled well with his new teammates, dishing out a game-high five assists to go along with four rebounds.
The real standout in the backcourt, though, was graduate guard Jalen Jackson. After exiting with a left leg injury late in the Bulldogs’ last game, Jackson recovered quickly and came to Columbus ready to put on a show. He poured in an efficient 27 points to lead all scorers, adding five rebounds and three assists.
Jackson was Butler’s go-to player throughout the game, including leading the team during a late flurry to trim a 17-point lead down to as few as six down the stretch. Ultimately, the Bulldogs could not close the gap, but the late battle resembled a real end-of-game situation much more closely than the end of the exhibition against Indiana, and the road squad fought admirably.
For the Dawgs, the eye test matched the close final score. Head coach Ronald Nored put an emphasis on rebounding over the last week of practice, and it showed on the court. Butler crashed the glass hard and reaped the rewards in the form of a 19-5 offensive rebounding advantage and an 18-8 gap in second-chance points.
Nored also gave us our best look to date at his ability to make in-game adjustments. Most notably, Ohio State was white-hot from long range in the first half, getting open often and knocking down eight of its 14 attempts. However, in the second half, Butler did not give up nearly as many clean looks, holding the Buckeyes to a 1-for-8 mark.
It was comfortably the most complete performance the Dawgs have put together thus far, and comes at the right time. With the tune-ups over, Butler now has eight days to prepare before tipping off the regular season against Lafayette on Nov. 2.