Fifth-year forward Jahmyl Telfort had 25 points in the loss against UConn. Photo by Jonathan Wang.
CALEB DENORME | MANAGING EDITOR | cdenorme@butler.edu
The men’s basketball team dropped to 8-11 after an overtime loss to UConn. This defeat also means the Bulldogs’ conference record falls to 1-7.
Butler was without junior guard Kolby King, who is recovering from a concussion. This meant that sophomore guard Finley Bizjack got the starting nod. The Trophy Club, Texas native made the most of his opportunity, pouring in 17 points. Fifth-year forward Jahmyl Telfort led the scoring charge with 25 points.
The Dawgs started slow, falling behind by 15 at one point before clawing their way back into the game. Butler took the lead with just under four minutes to go in the second half, but could not land the knockout punch to shock the Huskies on their home floor.
In a heartbreaking overtime loss, let’s go beyond the box score.
Mental improvement
Throughout this season one of Butler’s main problems was its work effort and mentality. Early on, it looked like this game would be the same old story for the Dawgs.
With just over four minutes to go in the first half, the Bulldogs were staring down the wrong end of a 15 point deficit. Butler was being out-rebounded and out-toughed on both ends of the floor. Then, a switch flipped and the Dawgs began to show a bit of bite.
Thad Matta’s men cut the UConn lead down to eight by halftime and kept chipping away despite everything the Huskies were throwing at them. Telfort ran the show, Bizjack made hustle plays and fifth-year center Andre Screen did the dirty work down low.
As time went on, Butler began to gain momentum and UConn looked vulnerable. The Bulldogs saw that weakness and continued to attack until they grabbed the lead late in the game.
The Dawgs could have closed down shop when they went down by 15. Nobody would have blamed them because fans had seen it happen before. Instead though, this team decided to fight back and take the No. 19 team in the nation down to the wire in a hostile environment.
The mentality and toughness Butler displayed against UConn is a glimmer of hope in an otherwise gloomy season. Fans will be hoping this version of the Bulldogs will show up moving forward.
Close only counts in horseshoes
So many times this season the Dawgs have found themselves on the wrong side of close games. Some will say that Butler is better than its 8-11 record, but the ability to get the job done in crunch time is crucial to being a winning basketball program.
There were a few moments in this game where the Bulldogs could have all but secured the victory but could not get it done. Senior forward Pierre Brooks missing a free throw on the front of a one-and-one to possibly extend Butler’s lead to three is one example. Another is Screen fouling UConn forward Alex Karaban to give him an and-one opportunity to tie the game in overtime, which he would end up converting.
No matter how much talent the Bulldogs seemingly have or do not have on the court, the veteran mindset to close out games is not there right now. For how hard Butler played, it was almost a shame it did not end up walking out of Connecticut with a win.
For now, the Dawgs will rue their missed chances and move their focus to face DePaul this Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler will likely get another chance to prove they can close out a game as a revamped Blue Demon squad comes to Indianapolis.
Comments