Kamar Baldwin scored 19 points and four others joined him in double figures as the Butler Bulldogs won their fifth straight game on Saturday. The ‘Dawgs handily defeated the Youngstown State Penguins 95-67 to move to 8-2 on the season.

Baldwin’s 19 points were a game-high for either side and a season-high for him as well. Baldwin has now scored in double figures in all but two of Butler’s 10 games. He did so on Saturday on an 8-12 mark from the field and was 2-3 from the free throw line.

The other four to join Baldwin in double figures were Paul Jorgensen, Kelan Martin, Christian David and Nate Fowler. Jorgensen and Martin each finished with 15 points, with the former being more efficient (5-9 FG) than the other (5-15 FG). David couldn’t miss a shot, going a perfect 5-5 from the field to finish with 10. Fowler, meanwhile, was 6-7 from the field en route to 12 points.

Butler held the Penguins to 39 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3-point land. By contrast, the ‘Dawgs shot 58.5 percent on the floor and 37.5 percent from long range.

WHAT WE LEARNED

A healthy balance is good

Butler got points from all but one player who went on the floor in the Saturday’s victory. That one player was walk-on Campbell Donovan, so it’s fair to say that the ‘Dawgs had one of their more complete efforts. That kind of performance boosts the confidence. It would obviously behoove Butler to get everyone involved going forward, and performances like this show that they can.

Christian David had his breakout performance

David mostly had limited play through the first nine games of the season. He logged his most minutes, 11, against SLU last weekend, which followed a 10-minute showing against OSU. But Saturday showed why he was regarded as such a good shooter coming out of high school. Look for him to build off this more, and hopefully gain more reps.

A big opportunity now awaits the ‘Dawgs

The Purdue Boilermakers loom next week in the annual Crossroads Classic. Purdue had their ups and downs this year, but still represents a stiff test for the Bulldogs early on. The win against OSU is looking better by the day, but earning a quality W against the Boilermakers would be their best case scenario before nonconference play. We’ll see how it shakes out.