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Green, Campbell pick up slack as Butler rolls

Feb 1, 2007 - 5:51 AM YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (Ticker) -- A.J. Graves picked a good night to have a bad game.

Graves struggled shooting the ball but his offense was hardly missed as 11th-ranked Butler won its seventh consecutive contest and continued the best start in school history with a 71-58 victory over Youngstown State in a Horizon League matchup.

Graves entered averaging 18.2 points and is a big reason that Butler (21-2, 9-1 Horizon) has surpassed the 20-win mark for the third time in school history. He scored 13 points against Youngstown State but was just 4-of-14 from the field.

The Bulldogs are now tied with No. 2 Wisconsin for the most wins in the country but they are still just one game clear of Wright State in the Horizon League standings.

Butler knocked off Wright State, 73-42, on January 6 and can take control of the conference race by winning the rematch on February 10 in Dayton.

Despite Graves' shooting woes, the Bulldogs put the Penguins away with a first-half run and the shooting of Mike Green and Pete Campbell. Green finished with 23 points and Campbell added 20 to help the Bulldogs complete a series sweep of the Penguins.

Butler held a slim 16-15 lead with 10:47 left in the first half but went on a decisive run to pull away.

The Bulldogs went into the break on a 23-8 run to open a 39-23 lead. Campbell started the surge with a 3-pointer and added another after a pair of free throws by Green. Campbell put Butler up 37-20 with a layup with 3:08 left in the half and Drew Streicher emphatically capped the run with a dunk just before the buzzer.

Green had 12 of his points in the first half and Campbell added 11. Graves had eight but shot just 3-of-11, including 2-of-7 from the arc. The rest of the Bulldogs made up for Graves' cold-shooting first half, hitting on 11-of-20, including 7-of-11 from the arc.

Green was 7-of-14 from the field and added seven rebounds and four assists. Campbell hit 8-of-10 shots, including 4-of-6 from the arc. Campbell is shooting 60 percent (33-of-55) from 3-point range in his last nine games.

Quin Humphrey and Keston Roberts each scored 17 points and Byron Davis had 14 for Youngstown State (9-14, 4-7), which has lost seven of its last nine contests.