{"id":3973,"date":"2021-02-07T23:08:11","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T04:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/?p=3973"},"modified":"2021-02-08T15:22:14","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T20:22:14","slug":"key-offensive-performances-fuel-butler-mens-basketball-to-win-over-depaul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.butler.edu\/butler360\/2021\/02\/07\/key-offensive-performances-fuel-butler-mens-basketball-to-win-over-depaul\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Offensive Performances Fuel Butler Men’s Basketball to Win Over DePaul"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dawgs proved at least one thing on Saturday afternoon \u2014 they can still win games they are expected to win.<\/p>\n

Butler Men’s Basketball shined key moments during their 68-58 home win<\/a> against the DePaul Blue Demons in historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. Scoring came from both ends of Butler’s age range, with both redshirt senior Bryce Nze<\/a> and freshman Chuck Harris<\/a>, scoring 22 points each.<\/p>\n

Junior transfer Bo Hodges<\/a> also added seven points in just his third game this season but struggled from the field for much of Saturday’s contest.<\/p>\n

Early in the first half, the Bulldogs played staunch defense but missed shots close to the basket that led to DePaul breaking out to an 18-6 lead. From that point forward, Butler would go on to outscore the Blue Demons 62-40, playing superb defense for much of the second half.<\/p>\n

Harris led the way for Butler early, converting on three deep 3-pt field goals and stretching out the Blue Demons defense. He went on to finish just 5 for 12 from the floor and was 4 of 8 from behind the arc.<\/p>\n

Nze, meanwhile, was far more efficient scoring, starting the game 5 for 5 from the field. The biggest surprise was the forward’s 3-point shooting \u2014 Nze went 3 out of 4 on Saturday to raise his percentage to 44% from three on the year.<\/p>\n

On the opposing side, Javon Freeman-Liberty<\/a>, a transfer from Valparaiso, was nearly a one-man scoring machine. Freeman-Liberty ended with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.<\/p>\n

In all, Butler went 24 out of 36 from the line, a welcome departure from the struggles the team has had with free throws this season. The Bulldogs converted on two-thirds of these, including their 24 attempted free throws in the second half alone.<\/p>\n

With the win, Butler moves to 6-10 (5-8) on the season, good enough for a three-way tie for seventh place in the Big East. DePaul sinks to 3-8 (1-8) with the loss \u2014 last place in the conference.<\/p>\n

Butler also snaps a three-game losing skid and picks up their first win in the month of February. Six more games remain on the Bulldogs’ schedule.<\/p>\n

The Dawgs’ next contest will be a home matchup against the St. John’s Red Storm (13-7 (7-6)) on Tuesday in Indianapolis. Tip-off is set for 9 pm from Hinkle Fieldhouse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dawgs proved at least one thing on Saturday afternoon \u2014 they can still win games they are expected to win. Butler Men’s Basketball shined key moments during their 68-58 home win against the DePaul Blue Demons in historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. Scoring came from both ends of Butler’s age range, with both redshirt senior Bryce […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9196043,"featured_media":3974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[380324,11974,11891,380329],"tags":[255641,442383,442381,380410,11568,11571,202888,442382,442385,442384],"class_list":["post-3973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mens-bb","category-news","category-sports","category-winter-sports","tag-big-east","tag-bo-hodges","tag-bryce-nze","tag-butler-360-sports","tag-butler-basketball","tag-butler-bulldogs","tag-butler-mens-basketball","tag-chuck-harris","tag-depaul-basketball","tag-javon-freeman-liberty"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t