5 Takeaways: DuPont Manual Loses in OT at Butler
Wednesday afternoon I made the drive down I-64 to Butler to watch the 6th region school take on 7th region foe DuPont Manual. Manual limped into the game with an 8-12 record while Butler sits at 16-6 and presumed heavy…
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Continue ReadingWednesday afternoon I made the drive down I-64 to Butler to watch the 6th region school take on 7th region foe DuPont Manual. Manual limped into the game with an 8-12 record while Butler sits at 16-6 and presumed heavy favorite to win easily. But Manual played well and should have won the game but free throws cost them in the end and Butler took the game 69-68 in overtime. Here’s what I took away from the hotly contested game in Louisville.
- Butler had no answer for Manual’s Eli Roberts. Coach Goodin warned me before the game that his team had no one to match up with Eli and he was right. The 6’7 Junior showed great hands and polish around the rim en route to a 20 and 12 performance. Roberts also had at least 5 blocked shots and altered several others. In three years of seeing Roberts play, this was by far the best I have seen him play.
- Butler should have won the game in regulation. The Bears were in control for most of the game and gave up a three point play late to Junior Zach Recktenwald who tied the game with 8.6 seconds left. Butler Senior Reese Tolley got a wide open look to end the game and Butler missed a chance at a put-back to end it. You couldn’t get a much cleaner look than Tolley did and he just missed it.
- Manual should have won the game in OT. The Crimsons led 66-62 with 1:12 left in OT when Zach Recktenwald missed 4 straight free throws on two possessions and Butler tied it at 66 before trading free throws. With 25.8 seconds left in OT, Butler trailed 68-67 and took timeout. Eli Roberts blocked a Butler drive then a scrum ensued and a very questionable foul was called with .7 seconds left in OT. Junior Yusef Chandler-Westbrooks calmly sank two free throws to take the lead and Butler’s miracle pass hit the ceiling (called out of bounds) to win the game.
- Butler may win the 6th but they aren’t the most talented team. This is possibly the least talented team that KC Goodin has had in the last several years. Only Reese Tolley and Tre Minter are even averaging double figures this season and they’re not blowing anyone out this season. But this Butler team plays very hard and guards well. They gang rebound and run good sets. Looking at the 6th region as a whole, Butler may only have the 5th or 6th most pure talent in the region but they play very hard. Having said that, there is more talent coming soon for Manual and Butler.
- Both teams have very good young talent in the pipeline. I got to the gym early to watch the two schools’ freshman teams play. It was a fun game and both schools have some nice young players. Butler has a very talented freshman group but got outworked by Manual’s team. Manual’s JuWuan Northington is a nice prospect who played very well in the varsity game after starring in the freshman game. Butler has a good looking core of freshmen and Chance Garner and Turrell Cleaves Jr have the chance to be really good but it was Julion Beard who was the star, hitting at least 5 threes. All 4 of those mentioned already and Butler’s ChaVez Woods will be good once he’s all the way back from a broken wrist.