The Butler men’s basketball team pushed its winning streak to three games last night by defeating Loyola of Chicago 63-57.

The victory moved the Bulldogs (16-12, 10-6) past Detroit and into third place in the Horizon League.

Four Butler players finished in double-digits. Sophomore guard Chrishawn Hopkins led the way with 13 points and six
rebounds.

Loyola junior forward Ben Averkamp led all scorers with 23 points and six rebounds for the Ramblers (6-19, 1-14).

The Bulldogs started strong, shooting 58 percent from the field on their way to a 13-point lead— the largest of the game— with 2:27 left in the opening half.

Butler went cold from that point on, allowing the Ramblers to come back and tie the game at 44 with 7:52 to play.

“I thought [Loyola’s] 6-0 run at the end of the [first] half really hurt us,” coach Brad Stevens said. “Then I thought we were too passive the first 10 minutes of the second half.

“I think your aggression leads to better offensive play, and I didn’t think we were the more aggressive team at that moment.”

Foul shots made by junior center Andrew Smith and Hopkins gave Butler a 47-44 advantage.

Sophomore forward Khyle Marshall, who scored 12 points, added two key baskets that brought the momentum back to the Bulldogs, who held on to the lead for the remainder of the game.

“[Marshall] makes [passing to him] easy just because he’s ridiculously athletic,” senior guard Ronald Nored said. “So if you just throw it anywhere close to the rim, he’s probably going to dunk it.

“He also does a good job of finding spots where he can be open.”

Nored finished the contest with nine assists—a game-high.

Aside from Averkamp, the Ramblers struggled to score.

Loyola’s other four starters tallied 24 points combined and the team shot 22.2 percent from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs also shot nearly 10 percent better from the field than the Ramblers.

“I told our guys in the locker room that it’s hard to win a basketball game,” Stevens said, “and you always need to remember that, understand that and come into the game thinking that.”

Prior to taking on Loyola, Butler closed its two-game Ohio road trip with a key victory over then-Horizon League leading Cleveland State.

Freshman forward Roosevelt Jones’ career high 17 points led the way in the Bulldogs’ 52-49 victory over the Vikings (20-6, 10-4).

Cleveland State freshman forward Anton Grady led the Vikings with 18 points and 13 rebounds on his way to a double-double, but it was not enough to overcome stifling defense by the Bulldogs (15-12, 9-6).

Butler held a 28-18 lead at halftime, in large part to Cleveland State’s 24.1 percent shooting from the field.

The Vikings’ three-point shooting kept them in it, as the team shot 5-for-10 from beyond the arc in the second half after not making a single three-point field goal in the first half.

The Vikings tied the game at 34 with 12:55 remaining. The teams then exchanged the lead six times before the end of the contest.

With the game tied at 49 and with 1:39 remaining in the game, Hopkins hit a jump shot that would give Butler the lead for good.

Marshall returned for the Bulldogs after a two-game absence due to concussion-like symptoms. He scored 12 points and added eight rebounds off the bench.

On Thursday night, Butler defeated Youngstown State 68-59 to start its road trip on the right foot.

Hopkins led the Bulldogs with 19 points, scoring 13 in the second half to help suppress a comeback by the Penguins (14-11, 9-6).

Butler led by as many as 14 points early in the second half, only to have Youngstown State cut the lead to four points with about 12 minutes remaining in the game.

Freshman guard Jackson Aldridge tied his career high of 15 points while going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs will continue their schedule at home on Saturday against Indiana State at 2 p.m.

Cleveland State coach Gary Waters said his team needed an act of God to help it win in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Vikings entered Friday’s Horizon League showdown just 2-17 all-time on the home floor of Butler’s men’s basketball team.

Waters got what he wanted.

Behind 18 points from senior point guard Jeremy Montgomery, Cleveland State used strong defense and rebounding to hold off a late Bulldogs rally.

Cleveland State won 76-69.

The Vikings (15-3, 5-1) won for the 10^th time in their last 12 games.  Using four seniors in the starting lineup, Cleveland State knocked off a younger version of the Bulldogs, who had won five straight in the series.

“They’re very old,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said. “That maturity played out well.”

Butler (9-9, 3-3) lost its second consecutive game, still struggling to find answers with a new-look roster.

“You don’t have Matt Howard, it’s a whole different ballgame,” Waters said, referring to the former Butler star who graduated last May.

Junior center Andrew Smith scored 13 points for the Bulldogs, with senior point guard Ronald Nored and junior guard Chase Stigall each contributing 12.

A season-long ailment, foul shooting, troubled Butler once again.  The Bulldogs missed 17 free throws despite attempting a season-high 42.  They entered the night ranked 325^th in free-throw percentage (60.8) out of 344 Division I teams.

“Everybody’s talking to them about it,” Stevens said. “You’ve got to dig deep, take a deep breath. It’s just you and the basket.”

Butler trailed 64-54 with 4:31 remaining.  The closest the Bulldogs came to evening the score was a banked-in 3 by Nored that made it 72-69 with 20 seconds to go.

Senior guard Trevon Harmon, who finished with 12 points, subsequently connected on two foul shots to give the Vikings a five-point lead and put the game out of reach.

Butler struggled from the field (40.5 percent), was outrebounded 31-24 and was outscored 28-12 in the paint.

“They physically outdid us inside the 3-point line,” Stevens said.

The Vikings put Butler in a big hole early. Freshman forward Anton Grady’s putback gave Cleveland State a 20-4 lead with just more than seven minutes gone by in the first half.

The Bulldogs gradually fought back by hitting six 3’s. Smith nailed the last of those, a shot from the top of the key to bring Butler within 35-33 at halftime.

Much of the Bulldogs’ early offense centered upon jump shots, perhaps a result of Waters’ defensive plan to stop Smith in the post.

“We were swarming that basketball, making them kick it out,” Waters said.

Cleveland State played a physical brand of defense.  The Vikings were whistled for 15 fouls in the first half, then committed nine more fouls in the first nine minutes of the second.

Peeved at the disparity, however, Waters yelled at an official standing at his side, earning a technical foul.

“Those guys will try to punch and fight and scratch,” Montgomery said. “We wanted to punch back.”

Butler felt the brunt of two fouls labeled Flagrant 1’s.  The second was particularly rough and sent sophomore forward Kyle Marshall sprawling to the floor with 7:04 to play after a midair collision with Harmon.

Stevens started Marshall for the first time since Nov. 23. Marshall added 11 points and blocked two shots.

The Vikings frequently made use of the dribble in this one, driving past Butler’s defenders to shoot 48.1 percent.

Cleveland State’s bigs did much of the damage.  Junior forward Tim Kamczyc had 17 points, senior center Aaron Pogue had eight, and Grady finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

But it was Montgomery who carried the day, scoring 16 points after halftime.

“We did a great job in the first half,” Nored said. “If you let your guard down for just a second, he’s that kind of player.”

Butler recovered from a 16-point deficit to lead 41-40 with 16:27 to play.  The Bulldogs lost that lead on the next possession and trailed the rest of the way as Montgomery got hot.

“We’ve got to play better,” Nored said. “We have to start [games] better. It’s obvious how good this league is.”

One positive for the Bulldogs was their improved ball movement.  Butler assisted on 14 of its 17 field goals, including a pretty lob from sophomore guard Chrishawn Hopkins to Marshall for a soaring dunk.

But another loss, coupled with the sounds of a red-hot Cleveland State team joyously shouting through the hallways of Hinkle, have left doubt as to whether Butler can win the league tournament for a third consecutive season.

“That was an unbelievable two years,” Waters said. “The intensity and how hard [the 2011-’12 team] played [Friday] was similar. Brad’s going to get them going, no question in my mind.”

Butler next plays Sunday at home against Youngstown State.  Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.