A gritty defensive effort and 18 second-half points from senior Kamar Baldwin led the Bulldogs to a 64-56 win over Minnesota in a Gavitt Tipoff Games contest Tuesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Butler's defense held the Golden Gophers to 33-percent shooting (17-51) and forced 18 turnovers. The Bulldogs converted those 18 turnovers into 25 points.

Baldwin, who had been limited in Butler's first two games of the regular season with a rib cartilage injury, returned to the starting line-up and scored a game-high 27 points.

"We had a great atmosphere in here tonight," said coach LaVall Jordan. "Our fans and students were great. We knew this was going to be a tough game. We talked pregame about staying the course. It is never a game of perfect, but we did a good job of moving on to the next play."

Butler, which shot 46 percent from behind the arc in its first two games of the season, hit only three of its 14 attempts from long range Tuesday night. But, the Bulldogs' defense helped to overcome an offensive performance that saw the Bulldogs shoot only 38 percent.

The Bulldogs were aided by a 19-of-26 performance at the free throw line and committed only nine turnovers.

Bryce Nze had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs, narrowly missing his third double-double in as many games. Jordan Tucker came off the bench to score 10 points.

Neither team was able to open to find breathing room until an 8-0 run by the Bulldogs turned a 39-38 deficit into a 46-39 lead with 7:40 to play. Baldwin had six of those points. After Minnesota trimmed the lead to four (48-44), a 6-0 spurt – all from Baldwin – gave Butler its largest lead of the night at 54-44. Minnesota could get no closer than six points down the stretch.

Daniel Oturu led the Golden Gophers with 24 points and 10 rebounds. He made nine of the team's 17 field goals. Minnesota's backcourt of Payton Willis and Marcus Carr finished with 22 points on 5-of-23 shooting. The duo entered the game averaging 33.0 points per game.

Butler improves to 3-0 with the win, while Minnesota falls to 1-2. The Bulldogs will host Wofford Saturday night at 8 p.m. Tickets for the contest are still available.