Butler turns defense into offense for commanding exhibition win over Franklin College

INDIANAPOLIS -- In its final tune-up before the regular season, the Butler men's basketball team earned a 91-54 win over Franklin College.

The Bulldogs put five players in double figures, led by 16 points from Northeastern transfer Jahmyl Telfort. Posh Alexander scored 15 points, followed by Pierre Brooks (14 points), Connor Turnbull (12 points) and freshman guard Finley Bizjack (11 points).

Here are five takeaways from Wednesday's win:

Dawgs are getting to the basket

Playing against a Division III team with a significant disadvantage in height and athleticism, the ability to get to the basket should be expected. But on a night where Butler's 3-point shots weren't falling, seeing the Dawgs attack the basket at will is a welcome sight.

Posh Alexander showed his explosiveness, getting into the lane and finishing through traffic. Pierre Brooks II and Jamhyl Telfort bullied smaller guards with strong drives to the rim. Butler scored 54 of its 91 points in the paint.

The aggressive offensive approach earned Butler a 14-3 advantage in made free throws. Butler shot an impressive 14-for-16 (87.5%) from the stripe.

"I give (Franklin) credit tonight. They came in and did not back down, banged some shots early on us and knocked us on our heels," Butler coach Thad Matta said. "I thought we eventually got up, got our pressure going, some full-court stuff, and that kind of ignited us.

"We were able to get a great run going into halftime and going in the second half. We challenged shots better, we got rebounds, got out and got some easy ones, which is kind of how we got to play."

Butler gets busy in passing lanes

Getting offense from Alexander is a plus, but the Brooklyn native came to Butler with a reputation as a strong defender and playmaker. Alexander led an active Butler defense, helping the Dawgs get 13 steals leading to 17 points off turnovers. Alexander had a team-high five steals. Telfort had four steals. D.J Davis and Landon Moore had two steals each.

"(Defense) is something we pride ourselves on," Telfort said. "It's gonna happen in the Big East you might not make shots. It might be a tough game and you've got to win with your defense. I think we defended pretty well. Got a lot of steals, a lot of transition (baskets) and we were just active, so we've gotta keep building on that."

Pierre Brooks emerging as go-to scorer?

After shooting 1-for-4 from 3 in the exhibition opener against Ohio Northern, Pierre Brooks vowed to shoot better in Butler's next game. The Michigan State transfer is a man of his word, starting the Dawgs second exhibition going 3-for-4 from 3 in the first half. Brooks finished with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting with a team-high seven rebounds, three assists and one block.

That type of stat-stuffing effort will be needed on a squad that lost nearly all of its scoring from last season. Coming out of high school in Detroit, Brooks was a four-star guard and former Michigan Mr. Basketball. The well-built 6-6, 240-pound guard/forward never craved out a role at Michigan State, but he's making the most of his nice surroundings. The junior is playing with confidence, attacking the basket often and taking open shots when they're available. Brooks has the pedigree of a go-to Big East scorer. Now he has to translate the strong exhibition performances into regular season success.

"I think that's the thing we need. When Pierre is being aggressive it complements the other guys," Matta said. "I want Pierre to be aggressive, taking good shots and I thought he took good shots.

"When he's being aggressive that opens up a lot of different things for other guys and that's how this team has got to play. This is not going to be one guy on a given night. It's going to be everybody sort of doing their jobs."

Boden Kapke gets extended run with Jalen Thomas out

Starting center Jalen Thomas missed the exhibition against Franklin with a foot injury. Matta said the missed game was simply to rest his foot, and if it was a regular season game he'd most likely be playing.

With Thomas out, Bucknell transfer Andre Screen moved into the starting lineup. At 7-1, no one player on Franklin could keep him out of the paint. Screen scored nine points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field.

Screen is a great weapon to have against smaller teams, but Matta does not want to play him 25-plus minutes a game. Against Franklin, Screen split time with freshman Boden Kapke at center. Kapke, a 6-11, 255-pound Minnesota native has the frame of a true center with the skills of a modern big. He showed some youth in the paint, allowing players to get position on him down low and score, but the big man could develop into a key interior piece for the Dawgs as the season progressed. Kapke finished with six points.

Last season, Thomas missed time with a pulmonary embolism, and center Manny Bates missed games with various injuries leaving the Dawgs extremely undersized in the front court. Now Butler has the pieces to move Connor Turnbull to the perimeter while staying stout defensively.

"We wanted to get Boden as much run as we could tonight as well as Andre," Matta said. "We kept Andre out there maybe a minute or so longer than we typically would, but just trying to get him to play you through his fatigue a little bit."

Sharing the wealth

After running very few sets against Ohio Northern, Butler ran more plays in the halfcourt against Franklin.

The Dawgs moved well without the ball and found each other in positions to score. Seven players had at least two assists. Landon Moore led Butler with five assists and zero turnovers. Davis and Alexander had four assists each.

Matta used several combinations of guards, allowing multiple players to handle the ball and run the offense. Moore looks like the perfect player to run the second-unit offense. While his shot wasn't falling (1-for-5 from the field, 0-for-4 from 3), the sophomore still found a way to impact the game and get his teammates involved. That type of unselfish play is contagious and sorely needed after last year's Bulldogs held the ball too long leading to poor shots late in the shot clock.

"Landon comes in and I'm telling you, he just makes unbelievable reads," Matta said. "He sets guys up, got his hands on some balls defensively and that's what we need from him. He had a couple shots go in and out, but I know he can shoot the basketball."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Butler Bulldogs: 5 takeaways from exhibition win over Franklin College