The Wright State men's basketball team fell behind early against nationally-ranked Butler on Thursday evening, falling 64-48 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler opened up an early 11-point advantage and the Green and Gold would get no closer than eight down the stretch as their six-game winning streak was snapped.

Butler raced out to an early 7-2 lead when Matt Howard converted a layup and a free throw at the 18:17 mark, but a Ronnie Thomas three pointer brought WSU within two just seconds later. The Bulldogs would use an 11-2 run over the next five minutes to open up an 11-point lead with 12:47 left in the opening frame.

After the Bulldogs lead swelled to twenty-points at the 3:35 mark, the Green and Gold would score the final seven points of the half to head to the locker room trailing 34-21. Each team made seven free throws in the opening frame, with Butler knocking down 11 shots from the field – including five three's – compared to only six field goals for WSU.

The Bulldog lead was slowly trimmed by the Raiders to start the second half, with Butler holding a 15-point edge at the 10:40 mark. Todd Brown knocked down a three pointer from the wing, followed by a Cory Cooperwood hook shot from the lane and a slashing lay-up by John David Gardner and the BU lead was only eight at 50-42.

The Bulldogs (13-1, 4-0 HL) would respond with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes and push their lead back to 17 points at the 4:31 mark. The Raiders would outscore BU 6-5 over the final minutes to account for the final score of 64-48.

The Raiders only had nine turnovers in the contest – two in the second half – but shot 33-percent from the field for the contest. Brown led the way for WSU with 13 points – one off the game high of 14 by Butler's Matt Howard - and seven rebounds. N'Gai Evans scored seven points, all in the first half, while Will Graham handed out three assists and scored six points.

Wright State falls to 8-8 overall on the season and drops to 2-3 in Horizon League play after the first game of their three-game road swing. The next game for WSU will be on Saturday, January 10 at Valparaiso starting at 8:00.