GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Butler Bulldogs (17-4, 10-0 HL) remained undefeated in Horizon League play by pulling away from second-place Green Bay (15-8, 7-4) by a 75-57 count Friday night in front of 6,237 fans at the Resch Center. The game was televised nationally on ESPNU.
Green Bay trailed by just four, 33-29, at intermission, but the Bulldogs went on a 13-3 run in the first 4:15 of the second half to take command. Green Bay was never able to get the deficit under double digits the rest of the way.
The Phoenix had won 16 consecutive conference home games dating back to 2008. Its last loss came at the hands of Butler on Feb. 9, 2008.
Matt Howard, who was limited to just four points in the opening stanza, finished with 18 to lead three Butler players in double figures.
Game-high honors went to Green Bay's Rahmon Fletcher (Kansas City, Mo.), who scored 24 points. His 15th point made him the 24th member of the school's 1,000-point club. He was the only Phoenix player in double figures.
Green Bay shot just 39.1 percent for the game (18 of 46), while Butler went 29 for 53 (54.7 percent). The Bulldogs made better than 70 percent of its attempts in the second half and had 19 assists for the contest.
Both teams' coaching staffs wore sneakers as part of the national Coaches vs. Cancer Weekend and GreenBay head coach Tod Kowalczyk and Butler head coach Brad Stevens participated in a cancer benefit breakfast in the morning. In addition, in the school's Dash for Cash promotion, $1,455 for the Compete to Beat program was raised in 2 minutes and 15 seconds as members of the Preble High School Sting Cancer Team raced through the aisles collecting donations.
The Phoenix returns to action Sunday afternoon when it hosts Valparaiso at 1 p.m.
--www.GreenBayPhoenix.com--
