Box Score

Behind four Bulldogs scoring at least 16 points, host Butler sprinted by Furman, 82-65, Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The game was an early-round, on-campus match-up as part of the PK80: Phil Knight Invitational, which continues next week in Portland, Ore.

Tyler Wideman, celebrating his 22^nd birthday, led the Bulldogs with 19 points and seven rebounds. Seventeen of those points came in the first half as Butler improves to 3-1 on the season.

"That was more like it for us," said Butler coach LaVall Jordan. "We emphasized sharing the ball and we might have even overshared a little bit to end up with 18 turnovers. But 19 assists on 31 makes is a really good line for us. It's tough to simulate the speed that Furman runs their offense. It took us a while to get accustomed to it, but once we did, we were able to take away some things. We have some growing to do, but I'm really happy with this win."

After seven early lead changes, but was able to put together seven points in 1:06 to take a 32-26 lead on a Wideman basket with 3:50 remaining in the first half. That run would extend to 11-0. Two Furman free throws ended that spurt, which was also the last time that Butler's lead fell below 10 (36-28). Butler's run to end the first half was 16-3 as Furman was forced into misses on 14 of their final 15 shots of the half as Butler took a 41-29 halftime lead.

The lead would grow to 20 points in the second half as Butler shot 64 percent after the break. The Bulldogs ended the afternoon making 57.4 percent of their attempts.
Kamar Baldwin had 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals for Butler, while also got 17 points from Sean McDermott for the second game in a row. McDermott's output tied his career-high and included 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc.

Paul Jorgensen, coming off the bench for the first time this season, added 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting. That is a season-high and ties his career-high from his George Washington days.

Kelan Martin, McDermott, and freshman Aaron Thompson – who made the first start of his Butler career – each had four assists as Butler's 31 field goals included 19 assists. Martin added eight points.

Furman, which attempted 73 three-pointers over its first two games this season, went 10-of-27 from deep Saturday afternoon. Butler also made 10 three-pointers.  

Daniel Fowler led Furman (2-1) with 19 points. The Paladins tied for the regular season championship a season ago in the Southern Conference.

The Bulldogs now travel to Portland for Nike's signature event, the PK80 Invitational that celebrates Phil Knight's 80^th birthday. Butler will open play on Thanksgiving Day against Texas. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. (Eastern, 4 p.m. Portland/Pacific). Butler will play three games in four days as part of the event. The ESPN family of networks will air the tournament with ESPN2 showing the Butler-Texas contest.