The Eagles allowed a whopping 48 points in the paint as Butler's Pierre Brooks and Jahmyl Telfort combined for 34 points to lead the Butler Bulldogs to an opening win over the Eagles, 94-55.
Early on, the Eagles were keeping it close midway through the first period, until the Bulldogs went on a 16-3 run expanding their lead to 15 before the Eagles went on a run on their own to cut the deficit to eight to end the half.
Tyson Acuff led the charge with 9 points on an efficient 4-6 shooting. This would change in the second half as he went to shoot only 1-10 the rest of the way and finished with 13 points.
The Eagles defense couldn't stop the Bulldogs from getting into the paint as they gave up 48 points in the box while scoring just 18 points themselves.
Brooks was a problem all night as he scored from all three levels while Telfort primarily did his damage in the paint and the charity stripe. Other leading scorers for the Bulldogs were Posh Alexander, Connor Turnbull, and Andre Screen, chipping in 13 points together.
A bright spot for the Eagles was newcomer Arne Osojnik, who chipped in 13 points, and Yusuf Jihad, who added nine points. Both pulled in three rebounds each.
Osojnik's first college game got off to a great start as he consistently made his presence felt. He shot 50% from the field, giving the Eagles the spark that they needed at the center position.
The Bulldogs ended the game on an 18-1 run while the Eagles went scoreless for the last five minutes of play. Butler took the win, 94-55.
Despite their best efforts, EMU allowed the Bulldogs to shoot a blistering 61% from the field en route to a 60-point second-half performance.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, their offense struggled shooting the ball as they shot only 32% from the field and 33% from deep.
In the second half alone, the Eagles turned the ball over 10 times compared to the Bulldogs’ one. For the game, the Eagles had 18 turnovers while the Bulldogs only had 10.
Next up, the Eagles will get their home opener as they return to action inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center and will host Georgia Southern University as part of the MAC-SBC Challenge. They will tip off at 12 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
For updates on the EMU men's basketball team, you can visit The Echo's website.
