Butler's defense suffocated visiting Louisiana-Monroe, holding the Warhawks to 23-percent shooting as the No. 12/11 Bulldogs posted a 67-36 win Saturday afternoon at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
 
With the win, Butler concludes the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 12-1 record. The Bulldogs extended the nation's longest non-conference home winning streak to 58 games in doing so.
 
Graduate student Derrik Smits led the Bulldogs with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and a 6-of-7 performance at the line. He did his damage in 12 minutes, finding double figures for the first time in his three games as a Bulldog after missing the first 10 games of the season with a knee injury.
 
"It was good to be back at Hinkle," said Butler coach LaVall Jordan. "We had 17 assists on 27 field goals on a night that wasn't our best offensive night. I thought we shared the ball, played how we wanted to play, and didn't let the missed shots impact our defensive effort. We've talked a lot about finishing this first half of the season strong (the non-conference portion) and then starting over 0-0 as everyone shifts to BIG EAST play."
 
The 36 points allowed by Butler are the fewest by a Bulldogs opponent since IU-South Bend scored 33 in an 87-33 decision Nov. 22, 2008. ULM's backcourt of Michael Ertel and JD Williams, which entered the match-up averaging a combined 32.7 points, was held to 4-of-27 shooting and 10 total points.
 
Only four of Butler's 13 non-conference opponents have made it to 60 points this season as the Bulldogs are allowing only 53.6 points per game.
 
Smits was joined in double figures by Bryce Nze and Sean McDermott, who each had 10 points. Kamar Baldwin had an off-shooting night, but paced the Bulldogs in both rebounds (eight) and assists (six). Butler shot 46 percent from the field, and had a 34-14 advantage in points in the paint.
 
ULM falls to 4-7 with the result.
 
The Bulldogs open BIG EAST play Tuesday night with a New Year's Eve tip at St. John's. The game will air on FS1 at 7:30 p.m.