After taking care of business in their opener on Monday, the Butler Bulldogs wrap up their first week of the season as they welcome in the visiting Southeast Missouri State Redhawks on Friday night.
The Bulldogs took down Eastern Michigan 94-55 on Monday night at home. After leading by just eight at halftime, a 60-29 second half put the game well out of reach.
Six Bulldogs scored in double figures, led by 18 from Jahmyl Telfort and 16 by Pierre Brooks II. They got a game-high eight assists from transfer Posh Alexander, who comes to Butler from conference foe St. John’s.
“I liked the fact that we had to slug it out a bit in the first half. I wanted to see how we would react,” Butler coach Thad Matta said. “In the second half, we were able to clean up our turnovers and rebound better. There are a lot of areas that we can improve and I’m excited about that.”
Southeast Missouri State will be playing a second consecutive road game to start the season after falling to Grand Canyon 88-67 in the opener Monday. Adam Larson led the Redhawks with 13 points while Josh Earley added 10.
“I was encouraged with how we played the second half,” SEMO coach Brad Korn said after his team won the half by three points. “But it was a tale of two halves. We had way too many turnovers; you can’t have that many.”
On the injury front, Butler will be without freshman Augusto Cassia for multiple weeks due to a strained muscle in his right leg. SEMO will be without starting guard Dylan Branson indefinitely due to a foot injury, and forward Mason Hanback’s status has not been announced after he missed the opener with a knee injury.
These programs have never faced each other, but SEMO, the reigning champion of the Ohio Valley conference tournament, is 0-4 all-time against Big East opponents.
–Field Level Media