With the first win of the Ronald Nored era in the books, Butler won’t have much time to reset before returning to the court on Wednesday night to host FDU in Indianapolis.
The Bulldogs trounced Lafayette 96-60 on opening night Monday, kicking off their new head coach’s tenure with a bang. The 36-year-old Nored, a star point guard on Butler’s consecutive NCAA title-game teams (2010, 2011), said his family and friends were more invested than he was in the personal achievement of his first win.
“I want to see us play well and do the things that our guys know to do,” Nored said, “and I think we did that for the most part (Monday), and there’s a lot of things we can do even better.”
Butler shot 47.8% from the floor, made 16 3-pointers and outrebounded Lafayette 51-28, but the Bulldogs also committed 20 turnovers.
Asim Djulovic (19 points) and Jalen Jackson (18 points, five rebounds, five assists) headlined the opening-night effort.
“We’ve got a quick turnaround,” Nored said. “Fairleigh Dickinson is coming in here, they’re gonna be ready to play, they’re gonna play a similar game as Lafayette, and we’ve got to be ready to come out here and execute again.”
FDU will be smarting from a 120-45 blowout loss to No. 3 Illinois on Monday. The Knights watched the Fighting Illini hit 19 3-pointers and were overpowered on the boards, 65-21.
David Jevtic, last year’s Northeast Conference rookie of the year and a native of Serbia, likely will be the focus of Butler’s game plan after he posted 13 points (5-of-9 shooting from the field) and six rebounds against Illinois.
For the Knights, the challenging non-conference slate serves to prepare them for what matters most: competing for the NEC title and trying to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since they shocked Purdue in a 16-over-1 upset in 2023.
“Our staff did a phenomenal job of putting together a group that can compete for a conference championship,” FDU coach Jack Castleberry said in a preseason news release. “We’ve improved our athleticism and shooting ability and added a bit more shot creation.”