Butler surprising everyone but themselves through 4 games

They knew it once they were able to assemble as a whole this summer, but the Butler Bulldogs had a feeling that they could probably turn first-year head coach Brandon Miller's head coaching debut into something special.

Butler finds itself undefeated through 4 games and have faced some pretty good competition in doing so.

One big thing that was a big plus was that the Bulldogs were very fortunate to be able to open the 2013-14 campaign with three consecutive home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse. With a lot of inexperienced players and many newcomers, there couldn't be a better way to open the season, than on their home court.

It wasn't until the fourth game that they were forced to hit the road, but it was a short road trip, as the Bulldogs traveled up I-69 to Ball State in Muncie, Indiana to face the Cardinals at Worthen Arena.

Butler 89, Lamar 58 (November 9)
The Lamar Cardinals were kind of a quirky opponent to open the season against. Coached by Pat Knight, son of legendary former Indiana University head coach Bob Knight, you could just assume that he would recruit players that are athletes who want to be winners.

Nimrod Hilliard (23 points), Donovan Ross (18) and Amos Wilson (9) struck quite a resemblance to that of an opponent Butler saw three times during Atlantic 10 play last year. Their style and scrappiness of play had streaks of the Saint Louis Billikens. The only problem was that Lamar just couldn't finish plays off in the second half, which allowed the Bulldogs to roll over the Cardinals 51-26 in the final 20 minutes for an 89-58 runaway season-opening victory.

Senior forward Khyle Marshall would take charge to lead Butler with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 13 rebounds. His offensive outburst was aided by 13 from Kellen Dunham, 11 by Kameron Woods and Erik Fromm pitching in 10.

Butler 70, Princeton 67
The Bulldogs knew that facing an opponent like Princeton would pose some problems on both ends of the court. Princeton has been known for years for setting up their offense to run the famous play called, "The Back Door." Trailing the Princeton Tigers of the Ivy League for the first 13 minutes of the first half, Butler figured out exactly what it needed to do to take the Tigers right out of their scheme and win the ball game.

Keeping at it on defense for a solid 40 minutes of hard-nosed basketball is exactly how Butler got it done to take down Princeton. Tenacious defense and knocking down 38% (9-24) from outside the arc were just two facets of the game where Butler was able to be that much better than the Tigers to pull out the three-point victory.

Sophomore guard Kellen Dunham scored a career-high 26 points on 50% overall shooting, while drilling 4-for-8 from three-point land. Three others joined KD in double-figures. After just 5 points in his debut vs. Lamar in the opener, Elijah Brown netted 13 points off the bench. Kameron Woods notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards for the junior. Senior Erik Fromm had 10 for the second consecutive game.

Butler 85, Vanderbilt 77 (OT)
Last season, Butler was able to pull off the upset over the Commodores in Nashville. This time, Vanderbilt wanted to bring Southeastern Conference (SEC) basketball to Indianapolis and give the Butler faithful a taste of what their southern flavor of hoops is all about. Vanderbilt has had some pretty decent seasons of late and made it to the NCAA Tournament six times since 2004. Their best success was Sweet 16 appearances in 2004 and 2007.

Butler was able to control the tempo of the game in the first half and took a 38-30 lead into the locker room. Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings circled the wagons and must have given his Commodores a wake up call during halftime, as they were able to take charge for a majority of the second half to outscore the Bulldogs 40-32, forcing overtime.

The Bulldog offense was anchored by their leader, Khyle Marshall. He was simply a mad man on the hardwood and did not want to lose this game, no matter what it took. Marshall led the Dawgs with a team-high 26 points on 11-for-15 field goals. It wasn't the fact that Khyle scored 26, is was the fashion he was able to do it.

With just 5 points at the half, it seemed like a switch flipped on inside of Marshall and the second half and overtime belonged to the 6'6 senior from Davie, Florida. Toward the end of regulation, Khyle scored 16 of Butler's final 22, but most importantly, he was able to outscore Vanderbilt 9-7 in the extra period. Obviously with Marshall's career night, Butler was able to pull away from Vandy 15-7 in overtime for an 85-77 win.

Dunham and Kam Woods were a great supporting cast, once again. KD finished with 16, while Woods put together a pretty good stat line of 10 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocked shots. Junior Jackson Aldridge and freshman Andrew Chrabascz each pitched in with 7 each.

Butler 59, Ball State 58
Different situations and matchups force different personnel to step up and make their presence known. In most cases, I think it's someone that doesn't normally show up in a scouting report or does something significant when watching them on film in preparation.

Butler knew that their first road test would literally be a test. Neither team shot the ball well, which makes you wonder which of these two would come out on the better end of this game and wind up with the win.

Defensively, Butler exceled by forcing Ball State to turn the ball over 17 times. The host Cardinals weren't rattled, for the most part, being on their home floor at Worthen Arena in front of 6,015 in attendance.

Ball State took a seven-point advantage into halftime, up 30-23. BSU expanded their lead to 11 with a 12-8 run to start the second half for a 42-31 lead. From that point on, Butler would make the second half theirs 36-28, to eventually steal a 59-58 road victory.

The Bulldogs were tested beyond what they imagined, but knew exactly what would be needed to happen. Alex Barlow and Elijah Brown stepped up and sparked a 16-2 run for BU that would put Butler up by three.

With that three-point lead, Butler was outscored 14-12 in the final 8 minutes, but that still gave them a one-point win. Kameron Woods sparked the Butler offense scoring 6 of his 12 in the final eight minutes, but Ball State guard Jesse Berry kept the Cardinals in a one possession game with all 7 of his points in the final five minutes of play.

Majok Majok led all scorers with a game-high 15 points, while Chris Bond added 14 for the Cardinals.

Marshall led Butler with a team-high 14, while Elijah Brown tied his career-high with 13 off the bench. Woods had another double-double with 12 points and 10 boards and point guard Alex Barlow added 10.

Where the Bulldogs (4-0) go from here...
It may not have been the stiffest competition in their first four games early on in the season, but they can honestly say they've been tested by their opponents.

Lamar gave Butler a game, but only for the first half, before the Bulldogs ran away with a 31-point win. Princeton took Butler down to the wire, but Butler was able to prevail and slip away by three. Vanderbilt gave the Bulldogs the most they could take, forcing overtime, before Butler won by 8 in the extra period. Ball State gave Butler their biggest scare as an undefeated team, but found a way to escape Muncie with a 59-58 win.

As expected, Khyle Marshall and Kellen Dunham lead Butler in scoring. Each are averaging 15.8 per contest. Kameron Woods is just about putting up double digits in both scoring (11.0) and rebounding (9.0). Freshman Elijah Brown has slowly, but surely gotten himself into a comfort zone of late, averaging 8.8 per game and give head coach Brandon Miller quality minutes off the bench. Alex Barlow is dishing out 3.2 assists a game, while also compiling a 4.3/1 assist to turnover ratio. As a team, Butler is committing 8 turnovers and causing 15. They're hitting the boards to outrebound opponents  by an average of 36-34.

The Butler bench has also been able to rotate four other key role players into the lineup to contribute. Junior Jackson Aldridge, sophomore Devontae Morgan, along with freshmen Rene Castro and Andrew Chrabascz have all pitched in to play their part in getting the Bulldogs off to this 4-0 start.

This week will be Butler's toughest of the season. The Bulldogs (4-0) compete in the Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, featuring some pretty hefty competition. They open up play on Thanksgiving Day at 2 p.m. against Washington State (2-2). On Friday, November 29, they'll face either the winner of Purdue (5-0) vs. Oklahoma State (4-0) or the loser of that Boilermakers/Cowboys matchup. Depending on the outcome of those games, Butler could face Saint Joseph's (2-1), Siena (2-4), Memphis (2-1) or LSU (3-1) on Sunday, December 1.

4A #25 Noblesville Miller girls dominate Arsenal Tech in season opener, 62-29

The Noblesville Millers got their season off to a great start with a very convincing 62-29 victory over the visiting Indianapolis Arsenal Tech Titans at The Mill in Noblesville on Tuesday night.

Coming into the 2013-14 season, it was a wonder who would fill the void in the Miller backcourt with junior star Becca Bergman out for the season with a torn ACL. Kayleigh Herron and Audrey DeFoe started in the backcourt, along with Noblesville's lone senior Jessica Kiser.

The Miller backcourt did just fine in the absence of Bergman running the point. There were some shaky times before they got into a groove. Add the aforementioned trio, plus junior Cori Cain, sophomore Rachel Shipman and freshman Brooke Herron off the bench together and those worries of Bergman's point production subside.

That combination of six put together an offensive effort that (27 points) that just about equaled Arsenal Tech's offensive total of 29 points as a team.

Noblesville led 16-5 after one quarter and snagged 12 rebounds in those first eight minutes.

It was a sloppy second quarter, but Noblesville obviously still kept the Arsenal Tech Titans at enough of a distance that they were able to find room for things to improve on in the second half. The Millers took a 31-12 advantage into halftime.

The Millers burst out in the 3rd quarter and took full advantage of an Arsenal Tech team that was absolutely gassed through the first 16 minutes. There were a couple different Titans that were subbed off the floor because they had thrown up from what could only be assumed to be lack of conditioning.

Noblesville led 52-21 after three, but their quarter scoring (21) matched Tech's point total for the game of 21. Sophomore Alexis Shannon scored 6 of her 12 in the 3rd, as Erin Wood dropped in 8 of her game-high 19 in the third frame.

During the 4th, head coach Donna Keck and staff got full use of every bit of their bench. All who dressed, saw at least 3-4 minutes of playing time, including 5'1 freshman guard Sam Salmon.

Outscoring Arsenal Tech 10-8 in the fourth, the Millers won going away in blowout fashion over the Titans, 62-29.

Noblesville's next two games keep them in Hamilton County. They'll get their first true road test of the season as they'll head north on SR 19 on Friday, November 15 to face the 3A #6 (1-0) Hamilton Heights Huskies. Last night, Heights edged Tri-Central 55-54 in Sharpsville.

The Millers will come back home to The Mill next Tuesday, November 19 and open up Hoosier Crossroads Conference play with 4A #6 Westfield (1-0). The Shamrocks opened up their season Tuesday night also and came away with a one-sided 72-21 win over visiting Frankton.

Arsenal Tech (29) - Ra'Shay Turentine 10, Brittany Reedy 7, Emoni Smith 6, Na'Jai Howard 2, Kali Wilburn 2, Kennedi Jackson 2, Jalise Beck 0, Stachia Austin 0, Chalis Gardner 0, Tessa Toney 0.

 Noblesville (62) - Erin Wood 19, Jessica Kiser 12, Alexis Shannon 12, Kayleigh Herron 6, Cori Cain 4, Audrey DeFoe 4, Katelyn O'Reilly 4, Brooke Herron 1, Erin Flynn 0, Rachel Shipman 0, Haley Conway 0, Sam Salmon 0.

Additional Noblesville Stats:
Rebounds 46 (19 offensive): Kiser 8, Shannon 7, Wood 5, O'Reilly 5, K. Herron 4, Shipman 4, B. Herron 4, Cain 3, Flynn 3, Conway.

Assists (15) - Shannon 5, Cain 4, K. Herron 3, DeFoe 2, B. Herron

Steals (17) - K. Herron 6, Shannon 3, Cain 2, Kiser 2, DeFoe 2, O'Reilly, Wood.

Butler cruises past Lamar in season opener

The atmosphere at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse was uncanny for all as the Butler Bulldogs opener their season in grand fashion, cruising past Lamar in the second half, thanks in great part to an electric home crowd. The Bulldogs won going away with a dominating 89-58 win over the Cardinals.

There were times in the first half when it was a wonder when Butler would get comfortable of being in front of a packed (9,617) home environment and used to being on national television (Fox Sports 2).

The Lamar Cardinals were a scrappy version of the Saint Louis Billikens that Butler faced twice last season in Atlantic 10 play. Guards that were all over the court on both ends and an midsized frontcourt that still caused trouble.

In the first 16:30 of the first half, there were seven lead changes and one tie on the scoreboard, before Butler brought things back down to size. Lamar's Donovan Ross nailed a jumper for the Cardinals' final lead of the game at 30-29. The next play down the court, junior guard Jackson Aldridge got the Bulldogs the lead, which they wouldn't relinquish the rest of the night. Aldridge's three came from the right corner and got that home court bounce off the front of the rim, hit the backboard and down through the net. That three put Butler up 32-30 with 3:34 that they would add six more onto and lead 38-32 at the half.

It became a tale of two halves for both squads, but it was Lamar that took a step backwards in second the half.

The Bulldogs took full advantage of Lamar being gassed by halftime and bolted off on a 23-8 run that gave Butler a commanding 61-40 lead with 11:30 left in the contest.

Butler kept building on this 20-plus point lead, bringing a majority of the bench in for playing time in the final five minutes of the game.

Lamar's Nimrod Hilliard brought it back to a 20-point deficit, but that wouldn't last long at all. During the final 3:31 of the game, it was all freshmen doing the scoring for Butler. The frosh Dawgs went on an 13-2 run during that span and put away the Cardinals for good. Rene Castro scored all of his six points, while Nolan Berry, Elijah Brown and Michael Volovic combined for seven in those final few minutes to put Lamar away, 89-58.

On opening night in the 2013-14 season, it wasn't about who was going to replace the prolific three-point shooting of Rotnei Clarke. It also wasn't focused on where frontcourt scoring would come from with Andrew Smith graduating with Clarke back in the spring and Roosevelt Jones out for the season with a left wrist injury.

Head coach Brandon Miller got the answer he probably knew people would be asking about. His three frontcourt starters did a superb job of producing when the knew they had to on Saturday night against a feisty defense of Lamar. Khyle Marshall, Kameron Woods and Erik Fromm combined for 40 points and 22 rebounds between the three of them to stifle the Cardinals' defense and throw them completely out of whack in the second half.

Nimrod Hilliard led all scorers with a game-high 23 points, while Donovan Ross snagged 18 points, 14 of which came in the first half.

Marshall led Butler with 19 points and 13 boards and he was followed in scoring by Kellen Dunham with 13 (11 in 2nd half), Woods with 11 (7 rebounds) and Fromm with 10. Jackson Aldridge had a nice night off the bench with nine points, while also grabbing two boards and dishing out a pair of assists in 13 minutes.

Following the press conference after the game, I had the chance to take a minute with Khyle Marshall. I noticed that he had more energy in this season opener of his senior season that I noticed of any other Bulldog. Khyle was the only Butler player that had already peeled his warm-up shirt off prior to the National Anthem. This guy was read to play and showed it with his leadership on the court.

"It's a new year and we've got a whole different mindset. When that warm-up clock hits 0:00, it's time to start playing, time to get going and start rolling. It's just something that's me as a player and I feel like I've matured. As a senior, it's your last go around, so it's now or never," said a confident Marshall following last night's win over Lamar.

Size and bench depth when it came to determining the final outcome of this ballgame. Butler was able to manhandle Lamar 62-22 in the paint. They scored 20 points off the Cardinals 13 turnovers, while only committing 5 turnovers themselves. The Bulldogs were also able to manage 24 second chance points (14 offensive rebounds) and outscored Lamar's bench 34-4.

Lamar (0-1) gets to head home to Beaumont, Texas and hosts George Mason on Tuesday, November 12 for their next game.

The Butler Bulldogs (1-0) will continue their three-game home stint next Saturday, November 16th, as the Princeton Tigers (0-0) come to Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for an 8 p.m. tipoff on Fox Sports 2. Princeton opens its season on Sunday, November 10, hosting the Florida A&M Rattlers (0-1).  

Andrew Smeathers to leave Butler basketball program

It is probably one of his toughest decisions yet in life, but it had to be done. 6'6 junior forward Andrew Smeathers, a product of Bargersville, IN and Center Grove High School, has decided to leave the Butler Bulldog basketball program in pursuit of a setting where he'll see more playing time.

Smeathers will finish out the 2013 fall semester in Indianapolis at Butler University, but will transfer to another school in time to start the spring semester in January of 2014.

At this time, it's undisclosed as to where Smeathers will continue the final two seasons of his college basketball eligibility.

He was a 2011 Indiana All-Star at Center Grove High School, the first time in the school's history that they've had someone named to the All-Star squad.

As a Bulldog freshman in 2011-12, Andrew saw action in 23 games, including a 17-point outburst against Oakland City, knocking down five three-pointers.

His sophomore campaign in 2012-13, Smeathers made it off the bench in just 20 of Butler's 36 contests.

He scored a eight points in a total of nine minutes in Butler's first two exhibition games to start this 2013-14 season.

Injuries have been a slight issue with Smeathers, but a player like Andrew Smeathers needs to be able to display his talents and spread his wings. Butler may not have been the perfect place for Smeathers to show the college basketball world what he's got, but he'll catch on somewhere and excel to the best of his abilities.

Best of luck in your future, Andrew Smeathers.

Bulldogs' shooting overpowers DePauw in final exhibition tuneup

On Saturday, the Butler Bulldogs entertained their second and final exhibition opponent. They did so in a fashion that delighted the 6,000-plus in attendance for the matinee affair at Hinkle Fieldhouse, as the Bulldogs cruised to a 93-68 win.

The visiting Tigers gave Butler all it could handle in the first half. Keeping things honest, DePauw trailed by no more than nine, which eventually became their halftime deficit of 42-33.

Adams Botts led the way for DePauw in the first half, as he scored 14 of his team-high 17 points before the break. Tommy Fernitz pitched in 10 by the halftime break.

Kellen Dunham paced Butler in the first 20 minutes with 11, while Erik Fromm kept the Tigers honest down low with 10.

DePauw had no idea how much of a second half time Butler could be. The Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 51-35.

Freshman guard Elijah Brown was quite impressive, as he scored 8 by the half and 10 after to finish with 18 points. Brown shot 6-of-11 from the floor and connected on all five of his free throw attempts in just 22 minutes of action.

Dunham led all scorers with 23 points and shot pretty well, knocking down 7-for-11 of his field goals and also sank all six from the charity stripe.

The second half was all about getting the Bulldogs' bench involved to see who will wind up being key contributors as the regular season starts this week.

DePauw got three into double-figure scoring. They were led by Adams Botts and Pat Haggin both scoring a team-high 17, with Tommy Fernitz adding 10.

With Dunham leading all with 23, Elijah Brown was instrumental off the bench with 18, while Erik Fromm was the third Bulldog to reach double-digits with 11 and six rebounds. Alex Barlow had 9 and three steals, with fellow starters Kameron Woods (6 points, 6 boards) and Khyle Marshall (8 points, 3 rebounds) did their part, before giving way to the Bulldog bench.

Two other freshmen got some quality minutes, as Nolan Berry and Andrew Chrabascz each pitched in 5 points.

The Bulldogs shot well overall by making 53% of his shots and 47 % (7-15) from outside the three-point arc. Butler got back to its old ways of drilling 30-of-39 from the free throw line.

Butler begins regular season play this Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse with the Lamar Cardinals coming to Indianapolis for an 8 p.m. tipoff and can be seen on Fox Sports 2.