No. 14 Butler 59, George Washington 56: Rotnei Clarke overcame a poor shooting performance with 14 points as the Bulldogs rolled out to a large lead and held on late to defeat the host Colonials.

Clarke went 5-of-16 from the field in the first meeting between the schools. Roosevelt Jones scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half for Butler (20-4, 7-2 A-10), which snapped a two-game road losing streak.

Isaiah Armwood – the only non-freshman starter for George Washington – finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double for the Colonials (11-11, 5-4).

George Washington rode an early wave of emotion to build a four-point advantage early on, but consecutive 3-pointers from Kellen Dunham and Clarke sparked a 17-2 run that gave Butler a 23-12 lead with 8:25 left in the first half. The Bulldogs led by double figures for most of the second half, stretching the margin to 48-31 on a jumper by Clarke with 12:02 remaining.

The Colonials held Butler without a field goal over the final 7:34 and nearly completed a furious rally from a 15-point deficit, closing to within 57-56 on two free throws from Joe McDonald with 44 seconds remaining. But Dunham hit two foul shots 21 seconds later and the Bulldogs held on as McDonald was stripped as he went up for a game-tying 3-point attempt just before time expired.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Butler improved to 2-4 in games in which it fails to score at least 61 points. … George Washington shot 27.9 percent from the field, its second-worst effort this season. … The Bulldogs have won 17 of their last 19 contests.