Jan. 12, 2008

Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Matt Howard had 17 points and Pete Campbell added 15 as 14th-ranked Butler claimed a 72-56 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Panthers (9-8, 4-3 Horizon) shot just 35.1 percent from the field in seeing their six-game winning streak snapped.

Paige Paulsen did have 14 points to lead Milwaukee, which also got 13 points from Deion James.

A.J. Graves added 11 points and Mike Green 10 for Butler (16-1, 5-1), which turned the ball over just five times.

Milwaukee trailed by 18 points at the half and by 20 early in the second half before mounting something of a rally, with the Panthers cutting the lead to 12 and again back to 13. But, Graves and Julian Betko countered with back-to-back threes to put Butler back in control with just under nine minutes to play.

The Panthers never really got on track offensively and found Marcus Skinner play just 13 minutes because of foul trouble, hurting their interior defense against Howard.

"Defensively, Butler is one of the best, if not the best, team we have seen as far as guarding us and guarding our motion stuff," UWM head coach Rob Jeter said. "The margin for error is slim when you play a team like Butler here, or anywhere for that matter, and Marcus is our best interior defender. Not having him out there hurts us."

Tbe key stretch of the game came midway through the first half. While UWM went without a field goal for 6:40, the Bulldogs strung together 14-straight points to turn a 14-11 lead into a 28-11 advantage with 4:47 to play. Milwaukee did end its drought on a James three 26 seconds later, but the Panthers would never get the lead back under double digits. UWM wound up shooting just 25.9 percent in the first half while Butler shot a solid 50 percent from the field.

Butler scored the first points of the second half to build a 20-point edge before the Panthers struck back. A James layin brought Milwaukee within 42-30 and a Deonte Roberts hoop had the Panthers still within 47-34 with 9:32 left. But, the back-to-back threes by Graves and Betko quickly eliminated any remaining doubt in the outcome.

"They did a very good job of keeping track of where I was, of where everyone was for that matter," Paulsen said. "They are a very good defensive team. You have to give them a lot of credit."

After playing five games in 10 days, the Panthers will get a full week off before returning to action next Saturday at Green Bay. The game tips off at 7 p.m. CST.