‘Get this thing right’: Butler misses chance for statement win at No. 18 Houston; what’s next?

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It wasn’t the roar of the crowd after a made bucket or jet lag after a long flight.

The Butler men’s basketball team traveled to Houston for its first true road game of the season and got outplayed by the No. 18-ranked Cougars, getting blown out in the second half en route to a 79-51 loss.

“It wasn’t like a crazy, wild environment. They just took us out of what we wanted to do,” Butler coach Thad Matta said in a phone interview after the game. “We just couldn’t find our rhythm offensively. First half, I thought we did a pretty decent job of following the game plan in terms of what we were trying to do. It just started to snowball, then it became contagious for them guys making shots.”

Houston’s 4-3 record entering Saturday’s game was extremely deceiving. The Cougars are one of the best all-around teams in the nation, boosting a top 3 defense and top 10 offense per KenPom. Against Butler, they made the Dawgs work for everything, forcing them to move the ball around the perimeter and preventing them from getting the ball in the paint. Butler scored just six points in the paint, and the Cougars defended the 3-point shot well too, holding Butler to 32% from deep on 9-of-28 shooting.

Houston’s ability to stay in front of Butler’s drive caused fits for the Dawgs offense. Butler couldn’t dribble past the Cougars, so they tried to go through them, drawing multiple charging violations. The Houston defense held Butler’s top scorers in check, as Jahmyl Telfort and Pierre Brooks II combined for eight points on 3-for-15 shooting. Telfort committed five turnovers to three assists.

“Obviously we were gonna have to make some difficult shots, and we could not throw the ball in the ocean to start,” Matta said. “I thought we did a great job in the first half, keeping ourselves in it with our defense. Second half, we made a couple shots, but it just starts wearing you down when you’re going down, and then all of a sudden they get hot.”

Houston’s leading scorer L.J. Cryer scored 18 of his game-high…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/thing-butler-misses-chance-statement-020700559.html

Author : IndyStar | The Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2024-12-08 02:07:00

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