A year ago, the Bulldogs did just that in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament and it helped catapult them to a 23-11 season and NCAA Tournament berth. “Time will tell”, Butler coach Chris Holtmann said following the loss in a release. Outside of a few minutes Sunday night Miami got “good Rodriguez” in Puerto Rico, and as a result they head back to the mainland with the Puerto Rico Tipoff trophy in tow. The Red Raiders got the rebound, and the game was over. We would have gotten the last shot and who knows where we go with that? Here are some things that we learned about the Bulldogs in the tournament: 1. Smith’s dunk off a feed from Toddrick Gotcher started the 7-0 burst, which ended when Gotcher took a feed from Smith to knock down a 3-pointer for a 65-52 lead with 8:46 left.
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Miami entered the season expecting to contend in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a veteran squad that won 25 games, blew out eventual national champion Duke in its famously hostile Cameron Indoor Stadium and reached the NIT championship game past year. Sophomore forward Jackson Davis is active, but it is often misguided energy.
Point guard Angel Rodriguez, a Cupey, P.R. native, was named tournament MVP after scoring 19 points with three assists and three steals in the final. His assist total isn’t a requirement for Butler to have success.
“My goal is to be more consistent, and have a great assist-to-turnover ratio, ” Rodriguez said of his evolved game. The Utes made 26 of 34 free throws…. It’s early, so there is no reason to panic. It’s a credit to them. “It’s why they work so hard”.
A year ago, Poeltl had to miss large parts of Ute games because of foul trouble, which happened in the first two tournament games when he picked up two first-half fouls and went to the bench. “It’s a game of possessions, and we just didn’t close it out”. “We have a very good chance of doing something special, but we have to be consistent and make sure we make it about the team rather than the individual”. If Murphy can get going, the Hurricanes will have a rotation of 10 high-quality players. And so far (and it is very early), Butler has been very strong in this area (with the exception of the Miami loss). They are No. 10 in KenPom.com’s efficiency ratings. “That to me is truly more special than just simply winning this tournament, knowing the guys are hungry for more”.
“That is a real step for him because he made some important passes at the right time”, Holtmann said. Utah missed 13 of its first 17 shots from the field. However, against Miami, those numbers weren’t as impressive.
While the score was not favorable for the No. 16 Runnin’ Utes, it was the abundance of turnovers that had head coach Larry Krystkowiak frustrated with his team’s performance. The better (and more frequent) the ball movement, the more success Butler will have.
After back-to-back 20-point games to open the season, Joey King went scoreless in the first half Thursday. And that is the case this season.
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When a Dunham 3-pointer trimmed the deficit to eight with nine minutes to play, Je’Quan Newton responded with a critical jumper. But on any given night, the leading scorer could be Lewis, Chrabascz, Wideman, or possibly even Martin later on this season on a rare occasion.
