Butler notebook: Freshmen delivering on defense - Indianapolis Star

The coach is coming off back-to-back trips to the national championship game. He wants you two -- that's you, Kameron Woods and Roosevelt Jones -- to guard more positions than any freshmen he has coached at Butler, including two NBA draft picks and a league defender of the year.

Uh, OK, coach.

Brad Stevens said he is asking more defensively from Woods and Jones in 2012 than he did of Gordon Hayward, Shelvin Mack and Ronald Nored in 2009.

"We weren't as complex as we are now," Stevens said. "These guys have really done a good job. They're really bright."

Woods, Jones and classmate Jackson Aldridge were all bright lights in the Bulldogs' 71-55 victory over Youngstown State on Sunday.

Woods and Aldridge had 10 points each for a bench that outscored Youngstown's bench 26-4. Woods had 10 rebounds, converting three into first-half baskets that "set the tone for the game," according to Stevens.

Jones started and contributed six points, six rebounds, three assists and relentless defense.

"He's a very good player in a lot of ways. But he can really guard," Stevens said.

Woods said he spoke to Stevens recently and that the coach told him he would be hard to guard if he rebounded aggressively. So the 6-8 forward from Louisville, Ky., has resolved to do that.

Woods leads Butler in rebounds per game (5.8), and in rebounds per 40 minutes (12.0).

"It feels like every game I attack the glass hard, better things happen," he said. "I feel like I've been practicing pretty hard. I feel like in the beginning of the season, sometimes I was working through the motions a little bit."

Hard Hoosier trip

After winning at Butler 76-69 Friday, Cleveland State lost at Valparaiso 72-66 Sunday.

According to the Horizon League, 32 teams have played both Indiana opponents on the same weekend trip, and none has ever swept.

Etc.

Youngstown State is 0-12 at Butler and 2-20 in the series since joining the Horizon. . . . Butler's 16-point margin of victory equaled the total margin of its previous five wins. . . . Ronald Nored had a 14-to-3 ratio of assists to turnovers in two weekend games.

Call Star reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195.