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).