The Bulldogs could not overcome a cold shooting night, falling 64-52 at Saint Louis Saturday afternoon.

Sean McDermott led Butler with 12 points; Aaron Thompson added 11.

With the win, the host Billikens improve to 6-1 on the season. Butler falls to 5-2.

"It was good for us to experience a tough road environment," said Butler coach LaVall Jordan. "They were the tougher team tonight. After we took our early lead, they swung back. We didn't respond well. We held them to 64 points, and that usually gets you a win. Tonight, the game was at the rim. There will be nights when we make threes and nights that we don't, but we didn't convert the opportunities that we had at the rim."

Saint Louis took control of the game by scoring the final 12 points of the first half, taking a 30-24 halftime advantage. The Billikens' defense held Butler scoreless for the final 5:55 of the half.

Butler would never be able to get over the hump in the second half. A Jevon Bess three-pointer with six minutes to play pushed the SLU lead to 15 at 51-36.

The Bulldogs had one last run in them, scoring 11 of the next 14 points to trim the lead to 54-47 with 2:44 remaining. The final 10 points of the game for Saint Louis came from the free throw line, making 10 of 12 attempts down the stretch.

Butler shot 18-of-64 (28 percent), hitting only four of their 24 three-point attempts. McDermott hit all four of those, all coming in the first half.

Saint Louis shot 47 percent for the game. Bess led the Billikens with 18 points.

Butler had 11 turnovers in the first half alone, which was more than the Bulldogs averaged per game entering Saturday's contest.

For the Bulldogs, Henry Baddley set a new career-high with nine rebounds, tying Kamar Baldwin for the team lead. Baldwin had three steals to move into tenth place on Butler's career list (123).

The Bulldogs return to action Wednesday night, hosting Brown at 7 p.m. at Hinkle Fieldhouse.