MT. LEBANON — Starting with a stretch of five road contests in its first six games provided the Butler boys basketball team with a myriad of different experiences.

Turnovers led to the Golden Tornado's test against Mt. Lebanon turning sour. Butler gave the ball away 12 times in the first quarter and 28 times total during an 87-60 loss Tuesday night on the road.

“I can't even imagine the amount of turnovers we had,” Clement said. “We were still turning it over in the last two minutes. I feel like we have the guard play where that shouldn't happen. I'll take the blame by not being able to simulate what we are going to see and maybe underestimating how good it would be or how we'd respond to it.”

Mt. Lebanon also put the clamps on Butler leading scorer Ethan Morton. The Golden Tornado junior guard was limited to a season-low 12 points on 4-of 6 shooting.

“We did what we do,” Blue Devils coach Joe David said. “I didn't see them being a speed-up type team. Our goal was to speed them up a little bit.”

Finding a response was a constant search for the Golden Tornado (5-1). Mt. Lebanon surged to a 16-6 advantage in the first four minutes. Sean Loughran, who finished with 23 points, provided 10 points during the Blue Devils' run.

Thanks to the barrage of turnovers, the Blue Devils (4-1) had a lot of open looks.

As a team, Mt. Lebanon shot 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from beyond the arc.

“We haven't seen a whole lot of zone,” David said. “When you are up like that, you can afford to be patient. I thought my guys did a good job of passing up a good shot and getting a great shot.”

Mt. Lebanon, which led 41-34 at halftime, used a 3-point barrage late in the third quarter to take over the game.

The Golden Tornado had cut the lead to 45-39 in the third quarter following a basket from Mason Montag, who finished with 10 points.

Blue Devils' guard Hayden Mitchell then extended the lead with a lay-up.

Jake Hoffman, who scored a game-high 27 points, then buried Butler from the outside. Four times in five possessions, Hoffman converted triples. It was part of a 14-0 run that didn't stop until Montag made a three with 1:09 left in the frame.

Butler was aggressive defensively during the fourth quarter, but couldn't generate the stops to turn the game around. Clement wanted to go down swinging.

“We tried to scramble and get back in it,” Clement said. “That was one of those spots, where I was going to get back in the game or lose by 30. We tried to get back in the game and ran out of gas. They looked more energetic.”

Devin Carney led the Golden Tornado with 14 points, but didn't score after the half.

Butler wants to be able to quickly move past this game.

More challenges await, with section play opening Friday against North Allegheny.

“We're going to see adversity this year,” Clement said. “I have to be a good enough coach to push us through the adversity. They have to be good enough players to handle the adversity and stay together through it.”

BUTLER 60

Ethan Morton 4 4-5 12, Luke Patten 1 0-0 3, Mattix Clement 3 0-0 9, Devin Carney 4 1-1 14, Isaiah Scribner 3 0-0 6, Charles Kreinbacher 1 0-2 2, Mason Montag 4 0-0 10, Colby Anderson 0 0-0 0, Dominick McCowan 2 0-0 4, Zachary Slomers 0 0-0 0, Kevin King 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 5-7 60.

MT. LEBANON 87

Hayden Mitchell 5 2-2 14, Blaine Gartley 6 0-0 14, Michael Palmer 3 0-0 6, Sean Loughran 10 0-0 23, Jake Hoffman 11 1-2 27, Andy Sapp 0 1-2 1, Tim Walters 1 0-0 2, Evan Jones 0 0-0 0, Will Ehland 0 0-0 0. Totals: 35 4-6 87.

Butler 17 17 13 13 — 60

Mt. Lebanon28 13 21 25 — 87

3-point goals: Butler 9 (Clement 3, Carney 3, Montag 2, Patten); Mt. Lebanon 11 (Hoffman 4, Loughran 3, Mitchell 2, Gartley 2)

Friday: North Allegheny at Butler