Green leads Butler to 7th straight win

Mike Green scored 17 points, and No. 9 Butler beat Youngstown State 89-73 Thursday night for its seventh straight win.

A.J. Graves scored 15 points and Matt Howard added 12 for Butler (12-2 Horizon League), which is a school-best 23-2 for the second consecutive season.

Byron Davis led Youngstown State with 20 points and Vance Cooksey added 15 for the Penguins (8-17, 4-11), who have lost eight of nine.

Butler set season highs for points and field goal percentage (.623). The Bulldogs made 13 of 20 3-pointers.

Youngstown State shot 58 percent, but its 13 turnovers led to 21 points for the Bulldogs.

Butler shot 69 percent from the field to lead 50-34 at halftime, the most points the Bulldogs have scored in a half this season. Youngstown State shot 59 percent before the break, but couldn't overcome Butler's eight 3-pointers.

Butler's outside shooting opened up the post, and Howard scored his team's first three baskets of the second half from in close as the Bulldogs took a 56-36 lead. The game never was close after that.

The Bulldogs led 23-21 before a going on a 7-0 flurry, highlighted by a 3-pointer by Julian Betko, to take a 30-21 lead. Minutes later, Green stole the ball, drove and executed a 360-degree spin and layup to make it 39-27.

Graves shot well after struggling with accuracy for much of the season. He shot 6-for-9, including 3-for-5 on 3-pointers, before leaving the game with 11:26 to go. Graves hadn't shot better than 50 percent in a game since the Bulldogs beat Texas Tech on Nov. 24.

It was Butler's first home game since a 3-0 road trip. The Bulldogs will play four of their final five games at home.