Butler opened the 2024-25 regular season with a hard-fought 72-65 win over Missouri State Monday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
 
Jahmyl Telfort led the Bulldogs with 29 points, the most during his time at Butler and just two points shy of his career-high from playing at Northeastern. He went 7-for-12 from the field, hit four three-pointers, and made 11 of his 16 free throw attempts.
 
KEY MOMENT:

• With the Bulldogs clinging to a 65-62 lead with just under 3:00 on the clock and only two seconds on the shot clock, Butler in-bounded the ball to Telfort, who pulled up and hit a three-pointer from five feet behind the arc at the top of the key. That pushed the lead to six and gave the Bulldogs enough breathing room down the stretch.

 
HOW IT TRANSPIRED:

• After a slow start, the Bulldogs pushed the lead to 29-17 at the 6:25 mark of the first half, which was Butler's largest lead of the contest and capped an 18-3 run.
• Missouri State dug in and was able to tie the game at 36-36 with 15 seconds remaining in the half; Butler led 39-36 at the break.
• The teams went back and forth for much of the second half, with neither team leading by more than four through the first 15 minutes of play.
• Telfort's three-pointer at the 2:56 mark gave Butler a six-point lead, the largest of the second half.
• Butler hit four free throws in the final 25 seconds to seal the win.

 
NOTEWORTHY:

• Butler has now won 26 consecutive home openers, dating back to a 1998 loss against Missouri State (then referred to as Southwest Missouri State).
• Butler is now 78-3 in their last 81 games at Hinkle Fieldhouse against non-conference opponents.
• Finley Bizjack, who started Butler's exhibition win Wednesday, sat out the game with an ankle injury suffered in practice Friday. He is day-to-day and his status for the Bulldogs' upcoming game Friday will be determined later this week.
• Butler committed 19 turnovers, which led to 27 Missouri State points.
• The Bulldogs went 21-for-28 from the free throw line; Missouri State attempted only 10 free throws.
• In addition to Telfort's 29, Pierre Brooks II scored 13 points and Patrick McCaffery added 11.
• Butler held a 37-32 rebounding advantage, led by eight from Andre Screen and six from Kolby King. 

 
UP NEXT: The Bulldogs continue a stretch of home games to open the season, hosting Austin Peay Friday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Tickets are still available for the game, which will also air on FS2.