Andrew Smith's 24 lifts Butler to road victory at Northwestern

Butler notched its fourth consecutive victory on Saturday night and it was a tough one at times, but they held off a feisty Big 10 opponent on the road, 74-65. Senior center Andrew Smith led four Bulldogs in double-figures with a 24-point, 10 rebound outing.

Welsh-Ryan Arena is much smaller than Hinkle Fieldhouse and has the feel of a small high school gym. It puts the fans close to the floor and creates a much tougher environment for opponents, but that didn’t rattle Butler in the least bit.
Saturday’s trip to Evanston, Illinois was just the second true road game for the Bulldogs. Their first was a 15-point loss at the hands of the Xavier Musketeers and they also went 2-1 on a neutral court at the Maui Invitational.

Leading early on, Butler clung to a 6-4 advantage before Northwestern sharp-shooter Dave Sobolewski nailed a three for a 7-6 Wildcat edge. The Dawgs jumped back out in front with an Erik Fromm layup. The lead changed on the next possession with two from NU’s Alex Olah. The Wildcats kept the lead for just about the next five minutes of the first half. Andrew Smith snuck out beyond the three-point arc and tied things at 20-20 with 8:05 left until intermission.
A Roosevelt Jones layup with 6:07 gave Butler a 25-24 lead which they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the game. The closest Northwestern got was 31-29 just before trailing 34-31 at halftime.
An Alex Barlow layup and Rotnei Clarke three bumped Butler out to a 39-31 margin at the start of the second half. The Wildcats were forced to play from behind for the rest of the game, which proved to be something of a very good thing for the Bulldogs.
The second half belonged to Andrew Smith though. Scoring 18 of his game-high 24, Smith was simply in a zone. He also snagged seven of his 10 rebounds in the second and became a catalyst on both ends of the court as Butler outlasted Northwestern 40-34 in the second half for a 74-65 win.

Northwestern got three into double-digits, led by Dave Sobelewski with 21 (6-for-11 FG's), Tre Demps with 15 and Reggie Hearn with 13 in 39 minutes.
Smith was joined by three other Bulldogs in double-figures by Clarke with 13 (4-of-6 on 3’s), 11 from Kellen Dunham (6-of-6 free throws) off the bench and 10 from Roosevelt Jones.
Butler (7-2) proved it could win on the road for sure by dominating the second half at Northwestern (7-3). The road gets tougher as December rolls on for the Bulldogs. This Saturday, December 15th, they’ll make the short trip to downtown Indianapolis as a part of the Close the Gap: Crossroads Classic in a matchup with #1 Indiana at 2 p.m. It will be their toughest test of the season yet.