No. 14 Butler storms to eighth straight win against Panthers

The Bulldogs improved to
5-1 in the Horizon League.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Matt Howard wasn’t afraid to go strong to the basket, or to flip the ball back outside to an open teammate.

The high-scoring freshman had nine of his 17 points during a 14-0 first-half run that carried No. 14 Butler to its eighth straight victory, 72-56 over Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Saturday.

“If I feel a little opening one way or another, I’m going to attack that way,” Howard said. “I just got a couple plays, made some baskets.”

He was 6-of-10 from the field and scored in double figures for the eighth straight game and the ninth time in the 10 games since he became a starter. He also had seven rebounds, three blocked shots and a steal.

“Matt does a great job getting the angles [to the basket],” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “He’s a hard guy to keep from going where he wants to go, and he’s a hard guy to stop from fouling.”

The Bulldogs (16-1, 5-1 Horizon League), off to the best start in school history, took a 20-point lead early in the second half, held off a brief comeback that brought the Panthers (9-8, 4-3) within 12 and put the game away midway through the final period with three straight 3-pointers, two of them by A.J. Graves.

“That’s how we play. It’s been more of an inside-out this year,” Howard said. “They help me by giving me more room, and if they come to double I’m going to find them. It’s a good one-two punch there.”

Pete Campbell added 15 points for Butler, while Graves finished with 11 and Mike Green 10.

Paige Paulsen had 14 points and Deion James added 13 for Milwaukee, which had a six-game winning streak snapped.

“Butler’s just a team that is very good,” Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter said. “Defensively, they’re one of the best I’ve seen. They really seemed to keep us off balance most of the game.”

Cleveland St. 65, Wright St. 63

FAIRBORN — Kevin Francis’ 3-pointer with 12 seconds left propelled Cleveland State past Wright State.

Francis’ shot capped a Vikings comeback from a 13-point first-half deficit.

J’Nathan Bullock led Cleveland State (12-5, 5-0 Horizon League) with 12 points, with Joe Davis adding 10.

Vaughn Duggins had 18 points and Jordan Pleiman and Todd Brown had 15 apiece for Wright State (9-6, 2-4), which led all the way until Davis hit a 3-pointer at the 10:46 mark of the second half.

The teams then traded baskets and the lead down the stretch. With the game tied at 62-all, the Raiders took their final lead when Duggins hit the second of two free throws with 25 seconds left.

The Vikings then hurried the ball down, with Francis hitting the shot behind the arc just to the right of the top of the key.

Wright State called a timeout before bringing the ball down the floor, but fumbled it and had to call another timeout with 4.6 seconds left. A pass was knocked out of bounds as time expired, but the officials put another .5 second on the clock.