Butler overwhelms Loyola of Chicago

January 16, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Freshman Shelvin Mack scored 20 points Thursday to help No. 17 Butler beat Loyola of Chicago, 78-55.

Matt Howard had 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks as the Bulldogs (15-1, 6-0 Horizon League) won their seventh straight. Freshman Gordon Hayward had 11 points and eight rebounds and Ronald Nored added six assists for Butler, which improved to 7-1 on the road.

Ross Forman scored 13, Marcus Thomas had 12 and Leon Young added eight for Loyola (10-8, 2-4).

Butler took control early by hitting six straight shots on a 22-0 run for a 24-4 lead with 10:25 left in the first half. The Bulldogs opened the second half with 12 straight points to take a 51-24 lead with 16:13 remaining.

Illinois-Chicago 77, Valparaiso 52

CHICAGO — Robo Kreps had a game-high 23 points to lead Illinois-Chicago.

Tori Boyd scored 14 points, Rob Eppinger had 13 points and Josh Mayo added 10 points for Illinois-Chicago (9-7, 2-4 Horizon), which led 35-27 at halftime.

A 3-pointer by Michael Rogers boosted Valparaiso (5-13, 2-5) to a 22-15 lead with 8:44 left in the first half. But Valparaiso couldn’t keep up with the Flames, who went on a 20-5 run to close out the period.