Takeaways from Butler's overtime loss to Columbia

Butler fell 74-69 to Columbia on Friday evening in overtime, but it was a promising outing for the Bulldogs. Here are a couple key takeaways from the game:

For a brand-new team, the chemistry looked promising

Butler brought in nine new players this offseason and in just their second game of the year, nearly took down an NCAA Tournament team. While they fell just short, the result is something to learn from and grow upon as they continue their non-conference slate. 

The Bulldogs’ 29 turnovers were costly – and that’ll be a big focus in the coming days. 

“When we got shots on goal, we shot 50%,” head coach Austin Parkinson said. “Clearly, it was 29 turnovers and 19 offensive rebounds? That’s just a wild stat to overcome.”

But their defensive effort kept them alive. 

“The encouraging part was that I actually thought we defended really well, considering we had to play so much defense,” Parkinson said. “Nine of their 12 players are returners. Nine of our 12 are new and they just hadn’t been in that situation.” 

The Jackson twins have been a significant bright spot

Parkinson added a pair of twins via the transfer portal in Saniya and Nevaeh Jackson and they’ve been key in Butler’s first two outings. In their first game, Saniya had 12 points, five rebounds and six steals. Last night, it was Nevaeh who shined with 14 points and seven boards. 

“Both her and her sister are excellent defensively,” he said. “They can really get after it. They can guard multiple positions, they make great cuts and they hustle off the ball….When they’re both on the floor, a lot of good things happen.”

Additionally, freshman Anna Wypych is someone expected to get more minutes in the future after an impressive performance off the bench. 

Looking forward

For just their second game as a unit, this was a significant step towards success. Parkinson noted that taking care of the ball will be crucial, but they’ll use this result as a learning moment. 

“[I told them in the locker room], how we respond and what we can do to learn from this will be determined in the next several weeks,” Parkinson said. “I was really proud that we actually got it to overtime, because when we had that turnover, it was a devastating turnover. We bounced back and we got two stops. It was two hard-fought teams and I wish we could have got a win for our league, but it was a great learning experience.”