Howard leads No. 18 Butler over Loyola

INDIANAPOLIS -- Matt Howard scored 20 points to lead No. 18 Butler past Loyola of Chicago 62-47 on Monday night for the Bulldogs' 13th straight win as they clinched at least a share of their fourth straight Horizon League regular season title.

Willie Veasley added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs (21-4, 14-0), who matched the second-longest winning streak in school history.

Walt Gibler and Geoff McCammon each scored nine points for the Ramblers (13-11, 4-10), who have lost six of their past seven games against Butler.

Despite shooting 22 percent from the field in the first half, the Bulldogs trailed only 26-24 at halftime. Butler started the game shooting 2 of 18 as the Ramblers took a 15-6 lead 9 minutes in.

Veasley's five straight points early in the second half broke a 29-29 tie and gave the Bulldogs their first lead since they scored the first two points of the game. Butler used a 15-8 run over the next 8 minutes to open a 49-37 lead. Shelvin Mack's 3-pointer capped the spurt.

Butler finished at 36 percent from the field one game after shooting nearly 68 percent in Saturday's victory over Wright State.