A strong first half and a season-high 28 points from Kamar Baldwin led Butler to an 84-69 win over Creighton Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The win by the Bulldogs stopped a two-game losing skid and has the team at 10-5 on the season.
 
The Bulldogs shot 58 percent in the first half to take a 48-29 halftime advantage. Eighteen of those points came from Baldwin, which was more than he had scored since Butler's Nov. 23 win over Florida. An 11-0 run gave Butler an early 19-7 lead and the Bulldogs never looked back in the first half.
 
"Today we caught a vision of what this group can become," said Butler coach LaVall Jordan. "Now, we need to find consistency. I'll give our leadership credit. They owned it (referring to the team's two-game losing streak). They talked about it and they decided who they wanted to be. And we showed that today."
 
Butler's 48 points in the first half were the second-most for the Bulldogs in a half this season (the Bulldogs scored 51 points in the first half against Northern Illinois Dec. 8). Creighton responded by scoring the first 11 points of the second half (making all four attempts from the field) to pull within 48-40 with 16:12 to play. But, the next nine points belonged to the Bulldogs to push the margin back to 17. Creighton would get no closer than 13 the rest of the way.
 
The Bulldogs shot 51 percent for the game. Butler used 12 steals to turn 15 Creighton turnovers into 25 points.
 
Baldwin went 11-of-18 from the field, hitting three from behind the arc. He added seven assists and five rebounds. The seven assists tied Baldwin's career-high.
 
Nate Fowler, coming off the bench for the first time this season, had a season-best 11 points. That included the first three three-pointers of the season for the 6-10 center. Entering the season, Fowler was a 42-percent shooter from long range, but had missed his first nine attempts of the season entering Saturday's contest.
 
Butler's defense limited Creighton (10-5) to seven three-pointers on 26-percent shooting from long range. The Bluejays entered the contest third nationally in three-point percentage (.448) and fourth nationally in three-pointers made per game (12.1).
 
Joey Brunk and Henry Baddley made the first starts of their respective Butler careers Saturday. Brunk had 13 points and five rebounds. Baddley added five points and six boards. Sean McDermott pulled down a season-high eight rebounds to go along with eight points.
 
Martin Krampelj led Creighton with 15 points. Both Butler and Creighton are now 1-1 in BIG EAST play. 
 
The Bulldogs embark on a three-game road swing, beginning with a Wednesday night game at Seton Hall. That game will air on FS1. Butler's next home game is Saturday, Jan. 19 when St. John's visits Hinkle Fieldhouse.