Butler must raise defensive intensity against Bluejays
INDIANAPOLIS -- The No. 16 Butler Bulldogs have at least two reasons to be on top of their game Tuesday night -- payback and poor defense.
The former is because their opponent Tuesday at Hinkle Fieldhouse is No. 22 Creighton, which beat the visiting Bulldogs 75-64 on Jan. 11.
The latter is because a lack of defensive effort resulted in Butler's first home loss of the season, 85-81 to Georgetown on Saturday. The Hoyas shot 72.7 percent in the second half, 63.8 percent for the game.
"We got a little outside of who we need to be and who our identity needs to be," Bulldogs coach Chris Holtmann said. "That's disappointing. I'll accept responsibility for that."
Senior forward Andrew Chrabascz said he should have done a better job getting the Bulldogs (18-4, 7-3) ready.
"That falls on my shoulders," he said. "Every night you got to be ready. Now we have to play a very good Creighton team and we have to prepare well for them."
Chrabascz said the team had played well defensively in the previous few games.
"So it was a step back," Chrabascz said. "We have to make sure we put on our hard hats and get ready to compete."
Holtmann said his players shouldn't have underestimated Georgetown.
"If our guys don't understand, they've got to prove it every night based on where we were picked in the league (sixth)," Holtmann said. "Georgetown was picked ahead of us in the league."
Holtmann said if his players don't understand that, then he's done a bad job communicating it and his players aren't as aware as he believes they are.
The Bulldogs host a Creighton team (19-3, 6-3) that showed signs that it might be back on track after struggling to replace its floor leader.
Creighton lost starting point guard Maurice Watson Jr. to a torn ACL in his left knee in a 72-67 win over Xavier on Jan. 16. The Bluejays were beaten by visiting Marquette 102-94 on Jan. 21 and host Georgetown 71-51 four nights later before rebounding to rout visiting DePaul 83-66 on Saturday.
"There has been a lot of adjustments, tinkering and experimentation, for lack of a better word, to try to figure out what's best going forward," coach Greg McDermott said.
McDermott said the defensive intensity was much improved against DePaul, though a team can't change everything.
"Your identity can't totally change," he said. "It's just different people executing what you need to do. Transition offense is a big part of what we do. We'll get better on the court as we adjust without Maurice, but defensive rebounding is where we are going to have to hang our hat because if you're not good in that area, you are putting so much pressure on an offense that is a lot different than it used to be."
Creighton senior forward Cole Huff isn't sure if the Bluejays completely turned the corner.
"It's hard to tell, this is just one game," Huff said. "Obviously, it's a step in the right direction. There are a lot of things we have to watch on film and clean up. Butler came here and I know they weren't too happy with the result. I know they are going to make some changes, play a lot harder and do some things differently, and we're going to have to answer the call."
