Seton Hall locked down on defense to pick up a 63-56 win over Butler Sunday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
 
The Pirates limited Butler to 30-percent shooting on the evening.
 
With the result, Seton Hall is now 18-8 on the season and 8-7 in BIG EAST play. Butler falls to 13-13 (4-11 BIG EAST).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• A 13-2 Butler run gave the Bulldogs a 24-18 lead with 2:35 remaining in the first half.
• Despite shooting only 7-for-25 from the field in the first half, Butler led 24-23 after 20 minutes.
• Butler scored the first six points of the second half to take their largest lead of the game at 30-23.
• With the game tied at 53-53 with 4:49 to play, Butler missed eight of their final nine attempts from the field.

 
TIP-INS:

• Seton Hall shot 49 percent from the field, including 58 percent in the second half.
• Michael Ajayi had a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds for his 16^th double-double of the season.
• A.J. Staton-McCray was one of two Pirates in double figures with 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting.
• Butler shot only 5-for-21 from three-point range.
• Butler had only nine turnovers and assisted on 16 of the team's 19 makes.
• Seton Hall held a slight 41-38 rebounding advantage. 
• Butler was without leading scorer Finley Bizjack, who sustained a left wrist injury Wednesday against UConn.
• This was the second meeting between the two teams after Butler picked up a 77-66 road win over (then) No. 25 Seton Hall Jan. 17 in Newark, N.J.
• The Pirates' defense entered the game ranked in the Top 25 nationally in several statistics: points allowed (65.4 per game; 17th), steals (9.6 per game, 11th), blocks (5.4 per game, 13th), and turnovers forced per game (15.1; 19th).

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs travel to the nation's capital for a Wednesday night tip at Georgetown before returning to Hinkle to host Xavier Saturday (Feb. 21).