Butler 68, Evansville 59: Alex Barlow and Kellen Dunham combined for 31 points and six steals to lead the visiting Bulldogs to a comeback win over the Purple Aces.

Barlow had a career-high 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals while Dunham finished with 15 points as Butler (9-2) won its fourth in a row. Khyle Marshall added 12 points and seven rebounds with Kameron Woods collecting a career-high 13 rebounds — 10 on the defensive end — to go with two blocked shots and eight points.

Sophomore D.J. Balentine, the Missouri Valley Conference's leading scorer, led Evansville (6-6) with 26 points, five assists and three steals. Blake Simmons added eight points and 6-10 sophomore Egidijus Mockevicius had a game-high 15 rebounds for the Purple Aces, who dropped their third straight.

Trailing 41-40 midway through the second half, Butler opened the biggest lead of the game with an 8-0 run that featured 3-pointers from Barlow and Dunham, along with a pair of Barlow steals, to take a 48-41 advantage. The Bulldogs steadily stretched their lead from there, outrebounding the Purple Aces, 49-31, including 16-6 on the offensive glass.

Butler was limited to shooting just over 35 percent from the floor in a tight first half where neither team ever led by more than four points. The Bulldogs hit only 3-of-14 3-point attempts in the first 20 minutes, but Balentine hit a trey just before the break to give Evansville a 32-29 lead at the intermission.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Butler beat Evansville for the 13th time in 16 games dating to 1996. ... Balentine played the entire game, giving him 199 minutes of court time out of 200 game minutes for Evansville over its last five games. ... The game featured 15 lead changes and 10 ties.