INDIANAPOLIS — Thad Matta had no immediate answers for the snowball effect that doomed his team on Saturday afternoon.
Butler was trailing Georgetown, 43-39 at halftime, but had some momentum after a late 7-0 run put the Bulldogs within striking distance.
There were spurts of momentum, including some timely dunks and a fight for a rebound that got Butler fans on their feet. It was an evenly matched game, on paper, and Butler had multiple opportunities to find a way to take the lead.
But not when Butler makes just five field goals in the second half.
“I don’t know, I really don’t,” Matta said of avoiding a snowball effect when his players can’t make shots. “You can’t shoot 15% in the second half of a Big East game and have a chance to win.”
Butler scored just 25 points in the second half on 5-of-33 shooting (15.2%), with over half of their points coming from a 13-of-14 mark at the free-throw line. It allowed Georgetown to capitalize on its early lead, coasting to a 77-64 win.
It was a far cry from the usual Butler stat line — the Bulldogs are near the top of the league in offensive production, ranking third in the conference with an average of 82 points per game.
“They didn’t have one of the better offensive games, being one of the better offensive teams in our league,” Georgetown coach Ed Cooley said. “You know, they missed some shots that they normally make. But I thought our guys were really good defensively. I thought we were connected defensively. I thought our men were able to communicate.”
The second half was a complete breakdown for the Bulldogs. They missed their last 14 shots to be held without a field goal for the final 7 minutes, 27 seconds.
They struggled with easy layup, shooting just 22% (4 of 18) from one of the easier shots in basketball.
That left at least 28 points on the table, not counting any potential and-1s that didn’t come about because the ball couldn’t make it into the basket.
“I thought we got the ball to the rim, and how many of them just rolled off?” Matta said. “You’re thinking like, ‘Whoo, I don’t know if this is going to be our day today,’ and they had a couple that just rolled in … we weren’t able to do that.”
That snowball effect seeped into their defensive play, too, as missed shots turned into blown coverages on the other end of the floor. Georgetown took 10 fewer shots in the second half, but made 12 for a 52% shooting clip in the final 20 minutes.
It was a bad day offensively that turned into a worse day defensively, compounding on itself until the Bulldogs found themselves on the wrong side of a 13-point game. Butler has lost two in a row too bookend the month with a four-game losing streak, separated by a three-game winning streak. Nearing the end of Big East play, the Bulldogs are just 4-7 in conference.
“That’s what we talked about after the game,” Matta said. “Obviously, you have to make shots. After a while I think it does wear you down a bit in terms of defensively, you’re thinking ‘Whoo, I just missed a layup’ or whatever it is, but I hadn’t seen anything like that before. Just the looks that we got, that we missed, and obviously they were at critical times.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Butler’s offense plummeted during abysmal second half, leading to another Big East loss
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
