No. 4 Butler men win at Colby to improve to 18-0 on the season

COLBY, Kan. – The Butler men remain undefeated after a 74-64 win at Colby on Wednesday at the Colby Community Building. The Grizzlies, ranked fourth nationally, are now 18-0 on the season and 4-0 in conference play.

Butler jumped to a 10-2 lead early on behind eight points from Kyle Steward. Colby made a run to take a 16-15 lead midway through the half and still led 21-20 with seven minutes to go in the period. After a Steward free throw, Butler got a 3-pointer from Travis House to take a 24-21 lead. It would be Butler's only made 3-pointer of the game.

That was the start of an 11-0 run by the Grizzlies that put them ahead 31-21. Butler would lead by as many as 11 in the first half. A tip-in on an offensive rebound by Jacolby Harris at the buzzer gave Butler a 37-29 lead at the half.

Colby would mount another charge at Butler early in the second half, getting as close as four points at 39-35. Butler would respond and eventually built the lead to as many as 14 points when Adrion Williams made two free throws to make it a 58-44 game with 8:47 to go.

From that point, Butler would lead by at least eight points the rest of the way, getting its second conference road win by double digits.

Kyle Steward led the way with a season-high 24 points. He has now scored 19, 20 and 24 in his last three games. He also had seven rebounds. Chris Howell had 12 points and eight rebounds and Lamar Wofford was in double digits with 10 points. Bruce Watkins led Colby with 20 points.

Butler now returns to its home court for a 4 p.m. tipoff on Saturday against Pratt. The Beavers are 3-1 in conference play, 12-6 overall, just a half-game behind Barton for second place in the conference standings.