Spurtability: Dawgs cruise over Seton Hall

Jones Guarding Gibbs

Photo by Julia Grubbs of ButlerHoops.com

Butler built up a first half lead on a 19-6 run to start the game, and then were able to finally get away from Seton Hall in the second half with a 27-3 run that ultimately decided the game. Especially in the 2nd half, Butler got a number of contributions during the run from several unexpected sources, so let’s look at some of the positives and negatives from tonight’s game.

First, we’ll hit the negatives:

1. Free throw shooting – Even Coach Holtmann admitted during the post game press conferences that the 5 missed free throws the Dawgs had in the first half really dampened what had been a very good first half of play from Butler. (He also said their free throw coach, aka Coach Holtmann should get canned too) Butler was 4-13 from the foul stripe in the first half, and 16-31 for the game. Fortunately they were very good from the field today, but when the Bulldogs have a higher effective field goal percentage 55.5% than they do free throw percentage (51.9%), it’s a bad day. Fortunately today, it didn’t matter, but eventually it will and even guys that Butler fans can normally depend on like Dunham struggled.

2. Interior defense – While Seton Hall was miserable from the field, the biggest reason for this was their 3 point shooting (4-24). Seton Hall was 18-36 on the interior, which sadly is actually an improvement from their 2 point defense prior to today’s game. Obviously like most teams, Butler has some flaws, but this is a weakness that other teams in the Big East will be able to exploit.

3. Andrew Chrabascz’s rebounding – This is nitpicking at its finest, but Chrabascz did not gather in a single rebound during today’s game. Other than Jackson Aldridge, Steven Bennett and Trey Pettus, every other Bulldog at least had one, and Chrabascz played 26 minutes.

Now, the positives:

Jackson Davis

Photo by Julia Grubbs of ButlerHoops.com

1. Jackson Davis – The game was tied at 34 when Jackson Davis entered the game today. By the time he left, Butler had jumped to a 48-39 lead and were well on their way to blowing the game wide open. Holtmann stated that the reason Davis saw time today was because he’s accepted his role on the team as an energy guy. It looked like to me the game has slowed down some for Davis as well. His first Big East basket was a memorable one, with a massive dunk that got the near capacity crowd on its feet and Butler a 9 point lead. Davis has always brought great energy and rebounding, and hopefully this can turn into a more regular occurrence.

2. Roosevelt Jones – While Jones wasn’t scoring a ton of points as he has the last few Big East games, he was very efficient and surprisingly was Butler’s best free throw shooter (4-4) in today’s game. Jones has averaged 19.4 ppg over the last 5 games, and has been much more efficient than he was to start the year. While I doubted Holtmann’s answer as to why he was struggling against major conference teams, it appears whatever rust was still present at the start of the year is wearing away. Not only was he great offensively, but defensively, he, as well as Alex Barlow really helped to slow down Sterling Gibbs after his 30 point outburst in Butler’s previously game against the Pirates.

3. Alex Barlow – Speaking of Barlow, he was fantastic today as well. Along with holding Gibbs well below his season average, Barlow scored 11 points, hit 3 threes, had 8 assists and only 1 turnover and 6 boards. While Jones will rightfully get a ton of credit for Butler’s improvement from last season, Barlow has been a huge key to the Bulldogs success this year. The best part of today’s game was Barlow staying out of foul trouble. If he’s able to stay aggressive defensively, Butler is a different team.

4. 2nd half Dunham – While he didn’t light the world on fire in the second half, Dunham finally was able to break a 2 game streak of being shut out in the second half, and went 3-6 from the field and scored 9 points during the last 20 minutes of today’s game. For Butler to remain successful, Dunham has to be able to produce in both halves, so today was definitely a step in the right direction.

5. The rest of Chrabascz’s game – Ignoring the free throws and rebounds, Chrabascz had a great game today. He was a major focus of Butler’s offense to start the game and he took advantage of the opportunities, hitting all 6 of his field goals in the first 12 minutes of the game. Chrabascz also had 4 assists and only 1 turnover (part of Butler’s 20 assists on 27 made field goal day). Chrabascz’s production also helped open things up for Dunham and the rest of the team, so don’t be surprised if that’s a focus of Butler offensively in future games.

Don’t forget to check out our photo gallery, full press conference video, and the message board to discuss Butler’s big win.

Go Dawgs.

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