INDIANAPOLIS -- Northwestern battled toe-to-toe with No. 23 Butler Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse but a late run by the hosts helped the Bulldogs secure a 65-56 victory.
Freshman Bryant McIntosh came off the bench to lead the Wildcats with 12 points and 5 assists while Alex Olah had 11 points and Vic Law added 10. Kellan Dunham paced Butler with a game-high 19 points.
Both teams scored on each of their first two possessions before Butler scored six straight points to jump out to an early advantage. McIntosh, an Indiana native, entered the game and scored three baskets to trim the deficit to two before a leaner by JerShon Cobb tied the game 14-14 with 10:30 to go in the opening half.
The Bulldogs would push their lead back up to five, 25-20, but three free throws by Dave Sobolewski got the 'Cats back within two. Northwestern had six consecutive trips down the court with a chance to tie the game but couldn't convert before a transition layup by Kelan Martin increased Butler's lead to four.
However, baskets by Nathan Taphorn and McIntosh (his fourth of the half) helped NU tie the game 28-28. Butler got a pair of three-point plays in the last minute of the half, though, by Andrew Chrabascz and Alex Barlow to give the hosts a 34-28 lead at the break.
Cobb started the second half with a 3-pointer to get the Wildcats back within three, but a 9-2 run by Butler put the Bulldogs up 43-33 with 15 minutes remaining and forced NU to burn a timeout.
The lead would grow to 11 before Northwestern was able to string a few baskets together to get back in the game. Buckets by Olah and Law down low preceded a slam by Taphorn that made it a 6-0 run and trimmed the Butler lead to 44-39 with 12 minutes left.
The Wildcats trailed 49-44 when Law drilled a 3-pointer, bringing Northwestern within two with 7:06 left.
Northwestern had a chance to tie it with just under 5 minutes to go, but the 'Cats couldn't convert and two free throws by Roosevelt Jones and a tough baseline jumper by Dunham made it a six-point lead for Butler as the clock ticked under 4 minutes remaining.
Law knocked down another triple with the shot clock about to expire, making it 57-54 with 3:10 left. However, Dunham got another friendly bounce of the rim for a basket, Barlow had a steal and a lay-in and Chrabascz made one free throw and within a minute the deficit was eight and the 'Cats couldn't recover.
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