No. 11 Butler cruises past Northwestern 67-54

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Shelvin Mack had 15 points, Gordon Hayward added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 11 Butler showed off its depth with a 67-54 victory over Northwestern on Wednesday night.

Five players had nine points or better for the Bulldogs (2-0), who never trailed in beating Northwestern (1-1) for a second straight year. Mack also dished out eight assists.

Michael Thompson scored 16 and John Shurna 14 for short-handed Northwestern. This was the Wildcats' first game since announcing that both Kevin Coble, their leading scorer and rebounder the last three seasons, and Jeff Ryan will miss the rest of the season.

Coble broke a bone in his left foot during practice Nov. 10, and Ryan tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee three days later during Northwestern's season opener.

Butler had to rally from 12 points down to beat Northwestern last year at Hinkle Fieldhouse, but there was no such scare this time around.

The Bulldogs return everyone from the team that made its third straight trip to the NCAA tournament last season, and they were just too deep for Northwestern to handle.

Hayward made a layup that broke a 15-all tie midway through the first half and sparked a 12-4 run, and the Wildcats never really threatened again.

The Bulldogs put the game away with a flurry of 3-pointers in the second half, getting a surprising spark from Willie Veasley.

Shawn Vanzant appeared to get poked in the eye by Jeremy Nash with 16:51 left in the game. Vanzant backed away from the foul line several times and had the eye looked at by Butler's trainer, but couldn't see clearly enough to take the shots. Northwestern coach Bill Carmody chose Veasley to replace him and, after making one of two, Veasley stole the ball at the other end to set up Matt Howard's tip-in.

Just like that, Butler was up 36-26. Mack made a fallaway jumper and then came back with a 3, the first of four straight that gave the Bulldogs a 50-30 lead with 11:42 to play.