Insider: Lessons learned as Butler bounces back, tops Cincinnati

• Butler vs. Indiana at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, 5 p.m. Saturday, BTN

INDIANAPOLIS — Did the Butler Bulldogs need this one?

Darn right, they did.

“This would be a long week if we had lost this one, I can tell you that much,” point guard Tyler Lewis said.

Lewis resembled a relief pitcher after the batting order supplied the necessary runs, saving a 75-65 victory over No. 23 Cincinnati on Saturday. And by batting order, that means everyone from Kelan Martin, the Big East’s top returning scorer, to Cincinnati native Nate Fowler, who never used to leave Butler’s bench during crunch time.

Lewis made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 2:32 while directing an offense that had one second-half turnover and six for the game. His three assists included one look-away bounce pass to Fowler for a layup. The outcome extended Butler's nonleague home winning streak to 34.

“I feel comfortable with the ball in my hands at the end of the game,” Lewis said.

The 15th-ranked Bulldogs (9-1) needed all of that, and more, to recover from Wednesday’s 72-71 loss at Indiana State. Lose to Cincinnati, and they would have faced the prospect of a three-game skid with No. 9 Indiana coming up next Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Not that the Hoosiers inevitably will win. Unranked Underdawgs memorably knocked off a No. 1 Indiana team four years ago in the Crossroads Classic. Coach Chris Holtmann said Butler would prepare to play “the best offensive team in the country.”

Butler is far from the best defensive team but continues to evolve. The Bearcats (7-2) were limited to 36 percent shooting in the second half.  Cincinnati guard Troy Caupain scored 22 points, all but seven in the first half.

“There wasn’t any halftime adjustment that we made,” Holtmann said. “I think these guys just kind of took it upon themselves to try not to give them anything easy.”

The Bearcats’ scoring leader, 6-9 Kyle Washington, was limited to seven points – 10 under his average — before fouling out.

“The game was extremely physical, and that’s not Kyle Washington’s style of play,” Bearcats coach Mick Cronin said. “He struggles when people are physical with him. I was extremely concerned with the way the game was being played. I knew the shooting wasn’t going to continue like that, and my fears came true. In the second half, their physicality took us completely out of our offense. We let it happen.”

Or Butler made it happen.

This early in college basketball, virtually each game is a referendum on the season. Butler is not as bad as it appeared at Terre Haute and perhaps not as good as what a Hinkle Fieldhouse sellout of 9,176 might believe.

Yet signs are favorable when Martin scores 20 points after being left out of the starting lineup, Fowler comes off the bench for nine points and four rebounds (in 13 minutes), and Andrew Chrabascz produces 12 points and five assists.

Holtmann said fans make too much out of decisions such as the one benching Martin and Avery Woodson and starting freshmen Kamar Baldwin and Sean McDermott. Or of one game.

“We tried not to make too much of the other night. I don’t know if I did a good job of that, to be quite honest with you,” Holtmann said of Indiana State. “I don’t want to make too much of today, either. This was just another step, hopefully, in our journey of growth and getting better.”

It was a step up the stairs without stumbling. For the Bulldogs’ resume and psyche, it should not be minimized.

Call IndyStar reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

Butler vs. Indiana at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, 5 p.m. Saturday, BTN