No. 22 Butler 74, No. 15 Ohio State 66: Top 25 Breakthrough For Bulldogs

December 12, 2009 – Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) – Gordon Hayward scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds, as 22nd-ranked Butler held on for 74-66 win over 13th-ranked Ohio State at Hinkle Fieldhouse.Willie Veasley finished with 15 points and 10 boards, while Matt Howard chipped in with 13 points and six rebounds before fouling out for Butler (7-3), which had dropped three of its last six coming in, including a 72-65 loss at Georgetown on Tuesday. Shelvin Mack ended with 12 points and five assists.

William Buford went for a team-best 20 points to go along with seven boards for Ohio State (7-2), which hammered Eastern Michigan 111-60 last Saturday, but the win proved to be costly as the Buckeyes lost start swingman Evan Turner for up to eight weeks because of a back injury. David Lighty had a solid game with 16 points and seven rebounds. Dallas Lauderdale ended with 12 points.

With nearly 6 1/2 minutes into the second half and the score tied at 48, Hayward bookended a 19-2 run with a dunk and a layup to put the Bulldogs in front by a seemingly comfortable 67-50 margin with 4 1/2 minutes remaining.

That would be as close as the visitors would get as Veasley made four free throws in the closing seconds and the Bulldogs prevailed.

Butler jumped out to the early lead and went up by 10, 24-14, near the midway point of the first half when Veasley knocked down a three-pointer.

Lauderdale got the Buckeyes going with a dunk with just under seven minutes to play and Ohio State would outscore the Bulldogs 18-6 for the remainder of the opening 20 minutes and grab a 36-34 at the break.

Despite the loss Ohio State is 31-10 in the all-time series against Butler…Diebler finished with seven points and five rebounds.