INDEPENDENCE, Kan. - Road struggles continued to plague the Butler men, who dropped out of first place in the Jayhawk East standings with an 87-65 loss at Independence on Wednesday.

Butler (17-6 overall, 3-2 Jayhawk East) is now 2-6 in contests away from the Power Plant and has lost four straight road games. The loss knocked the Grizzlies into second place, just a half-game behind Independence (12-10, 3-1).

The Grizzlies started off the game with a 4-0 lead, helped by a Larry Fitzgerald three-pointer. The advantage didn't last long, as the Pirates responded with a 15-4 run. Butler quickly rallied back with a 6-0 run to pull within one, 15-14.

However, Independence refused to relinquish the lead, as the Pirates led by as many as 13 points in the first half. Butler trailed 45-35 at the break.

Butler never managed to get the deficit under double digits, as the Pirates opened the second half with a 14-5 run while building a 59-40 lead. The struggles continued after that for the Grizzlies, as they hit just two field goals over an eight-minute stretch, while the Pirates increased the lead to 29 points, 79-50, at the five-minute mark.

Shomari Triggs led Butler with 25 points, while Larry Fitzgerald added 12 in the loss. Independence's Tarik Phillip finished with 20 to lead the Pirates, who shot 31-of-52 (59.6 percent) from the field.

Butler will host Neosho County (18-4, 2-2) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Panthers are coming off an 89-64 road win at Cowley.