By PAUL GOTHAM
The number jumps off the screen. The Butler University Bulldogs rank second in the nation scoring 89.9 points per game.
That’s right. The same Butler Bulldogs which took the University of Notre Dame to overtime in the third round of the 2015 Midwest Region and lost…67-64 are now pouring points like champagne on New Year’s Eve in Times Square.
Is this the new Butler? An offensive juggernaut?
Second-year coach Chris Holtmann isn’t knocking back the Dom Perignon.
“I think a lot of that is a by-product of the schedule we played to be honest with you,” Holtmann said during this week’s Big East tele-conference. “I think we played a difficult and challenging schedule, but you know you have that 144-point game against the Citadel. That kinda skews it in a lot of ways.”
But the Bulldogs (11-1) netted 94 against Tennessee. Seventy-four points versus Purdue (one of the stingiest defenses in the country) also speaks to an uptick in the offense.
“We certainly have done some things offensively in terms of our efficiency this year that I feel really good about,” Holtmann added. “We’ve done a good job handling the ball. Our pace has been good for the most part, so I think we’ve made some improvements in that area.”
Butler topped the 90-point mark just twice all last season and scored less than 70 in nine of their final ten games in 2014-15. With a turnover rate of 12.9 (per BBState) the Bulldogs currently rank fourth in the nation in floor percentage (the percentage of offensive possessions in which at least one point is scored) at 48.8 and tally 1.209 points per possession.
“I have been a little bit surprised that we have consistently put up the kind of offensive numbers that we have put up,” Holtmann commented. “I said in the off-season we were going to be a good offensive team.”
Kellen Dunham leads the way with 15.6 points per game. Kelan Martin adds 14.2 and has hit 50 percent (17 of 34 from long range. Roosevelt Jones is playing more than 30 minutes per game scoring 13.8 while handing out a team-high five assists.
No. 9 Butler opens the Big East season hosting No. 12 Providence. The game is set for a 2:30 tip time on New Year’s Eve. The Bulldogs then travel to Cincinnati to face the No. 6 Xavier Musketeers on Saturday. There’s a game at DePaul next Tuesday before No. 16 Villanova comes to the Hinkle Fieldhouse a week from Sunday.
“Our guys have a great awareness now that the game changes, and we’re going to have to be really, really sound on both ends to have success in this terrific league.”
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