Michael Ajayi's 24-point, 12-rebound effort leads Butler past Southern Indiana

Michael Ajayi had 24 points with 12 rebounds, and Butler used a strong first half to roll toward an 88-58 victory over visiting Southern Indiana on Wednesday night in Indianapolis.

Jamie Kaiser Jr. also posted a double-double, recording 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. They opened this season by scoring the first 17 points of the game, highlighted by nine for Ajayi, who threw down a dunk and netted a three during that surge. It marked the first time since February 2021 that Butler had multiple double-doubles in the same contest.

Ajayi, who played the previous two seasons at Pepperdine and Gonzaga, totaled 18 points, nine rebounds and four of his five assists in the first half. He finished 6-of-11 from the field and 11-of-14 at the free-throw line in his debut for Butler, which shot 46.2 percent overall, 8-of-18 from 3-point range and owned a 56-35 rebounding advantage.

Southern Indiana, which missed its first 10 field-goal attempts, didn't score until Ismail Habib's free throw with 13:27 remaining in the first half.

However, the Screaming Eagles, who shot 8-of-33 from the field in the first half, eventually found a rhythm, and Trey Thomas' 3-pointer got his team within 27-20. But the Bulldogs regained the momentum by scoring 25 of the final 31 points of the first half to lead 52-26 at the break.

That final first-half push included an 11-0 run, which featured back-to-back threes from Kaiser, who also recorded a dunk during that spurt for Butler. The Bulldogs shot 56.3 percent from the field, 5-of-8 from distance and held a 16-0 advantage on transition points in the first half.

Kaiser was making his Butler debut after missing all of last season with an ankle injury.

The Bulldogs also got 15 points and six rebounds from reserve Yohan Traore.

Kaden Brown scored 13 to lead Southern Indiana, which shot 29.2 percent for the game and 8-of-27 from beyond the arc.

--Field Level Media