3 reasons Butler basketball beat Tennessee Tech: Chuck Harris' career-high carries Dawgs

Butler entered Saturday's game against Tennessee Tech as a heavy favorite. The shorthanded Bulldogs didn't dominate the Golden Eagles, but they took care of business earning an 80-66 victory.

Butler's won 69 of 71 non-conference home games. The Dawgs are 5-0 at home this season.

Here's three reasons Butler (6-3) defeated Tennessee Tech (3-6).

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Chuck Harris returns to form

Junior guard Chuck Harris led Butler in scoring each of the past two seasons. Eight games into the 2022-23 season, sophomore guard Jayden Taylor emerged as the Dawgs' top scorer and 3-point shooter. Against the Golden Eagles, Harris showed why he's such a prolific scorer, recording new career highs with 32 points and six 3-pointers on 6-for-8 shooting.

Harris let the deep ball fly with confidence, sinking 3s in transition, in the halfcourt off screens and in catch-and-shoot situations. Once Harris caught fire from deep, the lane to the basket opened up, and the shifty junior used his quickness to get all the way to the rim for layups. Harris said he felt good pregame and that confidence carried over once the game began.

"I was going through my routine before the game and everything just felt like perfect almost," Harris said. "So coming into the game, I ain't expect it to happen, but I knew when open shots came I was gonna hit them."

Harris added that the transition 3s came in the flow of the game, but he did feel they were rushing shots at times.

In his past two games, Harris has 47 points on an efficient 15-for-24 (62.5%) shooting. With Harris and Taylor playing under control and finding shots within the rhythm of the offense without forcing the issue, a potential All-Big East backcourt is rounding into form. In Harris and Taylor, Butler has two go-to scorers with Manny Bates (17 points) anchoring the middle.

Pierce Thomas makes contribution off bench

Butler's taking Pierce Thomas' sixth-man of the year candidacy very seriously by basically playing only six players the entire game. Thomas logged significant minutes against the Golden Eagles, defending at a high level, moving well without the ball, rebounding and distributing the ball to open teammates.

Thomas and Myles Tate were the only subs to enter the game. Tate played four minutes in the first half and did not re-enter the game. It's clear the redshirt freshman from Brownsburg has earned the trust of coach Thad Matta. Thomas is a weapon in transition and seems to produce a highlight-reel dunk every game. Thomas finished with four points, five rebounds and two assists.

On a night where Harris set two new career highs, it was Thomas who earned the game ball from Matta after the game.

"He saved us today," Matta said. "He came in and he wasn't concerned about anything, but giving energy to the team. A couple of those rebounds, some of the things he did off the ball defensively. ... I thought he was tremendous and that's what he needs to do."

Thomas' athleticism is his best trait, but he's also a superb passer. He unleashed a perfect bounce pass in The Bahamas against NC State. Against Tech, Thomas dropped another bounce-pass dime in the paint to Bates, leading to a dunk.

Bulldogs withstand run

Throughout the season, Butler has been susceptible to long runs from opposing teams. Tech cut Butler's lead to one with 8:38 left in the second half. Butler finished on a 20-7 run, but it may be time to wonder if its starters' heavy workload is catching up to them.

Butler was clearly the better team, but the Golden Eagles never backed down. They hit tough shots throughout the game. Was it just great shooting from the visitors, or were they able to exploit a tired Butler side until the talent gap between them played out in the end?

Matta said it was the former, but the Dawgs need to do a better job of dictating the type of shots opposing teams can take.

"You have to make them miss and we didn't do that," Matta said. "I told these guys I said look, 'they're making difficult shots, but we have to make them miss.'

"We weren't as active as we needed to be, we ball watched, we didn't move when the ball was moving and that's got to be who we are. We can't play one defense one night and we play another defense another, we're not good enough to do that."

Against better teams, prolonged runs will lead to losses. Butler has to find a way to prevent them in the future.

Matta said Tech wasn't doing anything strategically to take and make tough shots. He said the Dawgs have to apply more pressure on the ball in the full court and play more actively in the half court.

"Tonight I'll give it to Tennessee," Matta said. "They spread us out and they took advantage of us, but that can't be who we are. We have to play smarter, we have to play harder and it's gotta be more important to us."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Butler basketball vs. Tennessee Tech: Chuck Harris hits six 3s in win