GREEN BAY, Wis. -- No, A.J. Graves is not wearing down. The Butler Bulldogs say everyone else is stepping up.
Graves scored 20 points, Brandon Crone added 17 and No. 15 Butler beat Wisconsin-Green Bay 68-58 Monday night after Pete Campbell helped erase a five-point second-half deficit with three straight 3-pointers.
Campbell's 3s changed the momentum as the Bulldogs (25-4, 12-2 Horizon League) battled through a physical game after losing two of their previous three with setbacks at Wright State on Feb. 10 and No. 13 Southern Illinois on Saturday.
"Anyone can do what (Graves) does, not to take anything away from him, but I think anyone on our team at any moment can do that," Crone said.
It turned out to be Campbell, who erased Green Bay's modest lead for good in less than two minutes as part of a personal 9-1 run. Mike Green added 13 points and five assists for the Bulldogs.
"Fortunately I was able to start hitting because in the first half my shot didn't feel real good," Campbell said. "They were big (shots), but also Mike did a great job of getting me the ball. We did a great job executing our offense in that stretch because it was pretty tight at that point."
Green Bay, which last beat a ranked team in 1998, took a five-point lead in the second half before the Bulldogs changed tactics and tried to speed up the game by pushing the tempo off missed shots.
A quick run by Butler erased the deficit, and Campbell hit his only shots from the field to give the Bulldogs a 47-40 lead midway through the half.
"Campbell hit two 3s in a matter of ... seconds," said Phoenix coach Tod Kowalczyk, now 0-9 against teams ranked in the Top 25. "One should have been a switch and the other was a lack of communication in transition. Those were huge 3s."
Green Bay had won four of its previous five, but lost its 11th straight game against a Top 25 opponent. The Phoenix made only one field goal in the final 5:47.
Ryan Evanochko, who finished with 10 points, hit two free throws to cut Butler's lead to 58-56 with 2:19 to play, but Graves answered with a 3-pointer and Crone grabbed a rebound off Mike Schachtner's missed 3-point shot and was fouled.
Crone hit both of the ensuing free throws to make it 63-56 and Green Bay never came back within striking distance, missing six of its final seven shots.
"I thought it would be a national stage for us to take advantage of an opportunity," Kowalczyk said. "We let an opportunity slip away."
Schachtner finished with 13 points for the Phoenix, which also got 11 each from Terry Evans and Ryan Tillema.
Graves, who went 6 of 17 from the field and 3 of 11 from beyond the arc, never stopped shooting.
"That's what A.J. does," Campbell said. "Even if he's missing at times all of us have all the confidence in the world he's going to make his next one."
Generously listed at 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds, Graves had suffered from a stomach illness against Southern Illinois. He said he felt better, even though he wasn't sharp from the field.
"I'm doing fine," Graves said. "I've still got my legs, I'm keeping my weight up. It's fine."
He slashed through the lane and hit a layup to make it 54-46 with just under 6 minutes to play, and Green Bay's drought began after Troy Cotton's 3-pointer made it 55-51. A three-point play by Tillema cut Butler's lead to 56-54 with 2:47 left, but the Phoenix could get no closer.
Graves got Butler back on track during its last road game of the year after the Bulldogs easily handled the Phoenix in January by hitting 14-of-23 3-pointers in an 80-59 victory.
It wasn't nearly as easy Monday night after a 10-of-25 performance behind the arc even though the Phoenix got off to a slow start.
Schachtner finally scored the first field goal for Green Bay more than 6 minutes into the game after Butler opened an early seven-point lead and scored 18 of its first 20 points off 3-point shots. Schachtner didn't let the Bulldogs get too far out in front, hitting back-to-back field goals as the Phoenix took a 30-28 lead at halftime.
"We played good against a ranked opponent, but the fact is it's still a loss," Evanochko said.
