Butler’s hot start chills the Penguins

The Bulldogs surged to a 23-point halftime edge in the 91-61 romp.

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

INDIANAPOLIS — Shelvin Mack scored 22 of his 24 points in Saturday’s first half to lead Butler to a 91-61 victory over Youngstown State at Hinkle Field House.

Matt Howard scored 22 points, Willie Veasley had 13 points and Zach Hahn had 12 for the Bulldogs (14-4, 7-0 Horizon).

Butler scored the game’s first eight points and led 49-26 at halftime as Mack was 8-for-10 from the field, leading the way for the Bulldogs’ 60-percent shooting success in the half.

Butler finished the game shooting 57 percent compared to 46 percent for Youngstown State.

Sirlester Martin led Youngstown State (7-10, 2-6) with a career-high 23 points. Kelvin Bright, who scored 10, was the only other player in double figures for the Penguins.

The Bulldogs shot an impressive 56.6 percent from the from the field for the game. Butler also connected on 12-off-22 3-pointers, including five from Mack.

Butler scored the first eight points of the game before DeAndre Mays hit a 3-pointer at the 17:20 mark of the first half.

The Bulldogs scored 12 of the next 14 points to take a 15-point lead, 20-5, with 12:20 remaining, built their lead to as many as 26 points, 47-21, with 2:26 left and took a 49-26 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

The Penguins were able to whittle the deficit down to 16, 54-38, after jumper and 3-pointer by Martin, jumper by Dallas Blocker, a 3-pointer by Vytas Sulskis and a jumper by Bright at the 16:06 mark.

Butler quick responded and pushed its lead back to 22, 64-42, midway through the half and never looked back.

Youngstown State returns home to host Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Friday at Beeghly Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.