INDIANAPOLIS — Pierre Brooks scored 23 points as Butler beat Merrimack 78-39 on Friday night.
Brooks added 12 rebounds for the Bulldogs (4-1). Andre Screen scored 12 points while finishing 5 of 6 from the floor and added nine rebounds. Patrick McCaffery had 11 points and shot 3 of 8 from the field, including 2 for 5 from 3-point range, and went 3 for 4 from the line.
Adam Clark led the way for the Warriors (1-4) with eight points and four assists.
Butler led 37-31 at halftime, with Brooks racking up 15 points. Butler extended its lead to 65-33 during the second half, fueled by a 28-2 scoring run. Brooks scored a team-high eight points in the second half.
Box score
MERRIMACK (1-4)
Etumnu 1-4 2-2 4, Trumper 2-4 0-0 4, Becht 2-8 0-0 6, Clark 4-13 0-0 8, Savage 2-5 0-0 5, Plintauskas 1-4 0-0 2, Dorset 1-6 0-0 2, Murray 3-7 0-0 6, Edmead 1-4 0-2 2, Black 0-1 0-3 0, Foy 0-1 0-0 0, Price 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-57 2-7 39
BUTLER (4-1)
Brooks 9-14 1-2 23, Cassia 0-1 1-2 1, McCaffery 3-8 3-4 11, Telfort 3-10 5-6 11, Bizjack 1-4 0-2 3, Screen 5-6 2-2 12, Haywood 1-3 7-8 10, King 0-3 0-0 0, Moore 1-1 0-1 2, Kapke 1-1 1-2 3, McComb 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 24-51 22-31 78
Halftime: Butler 37-31
3-point goals: Merrimack 3-21 (Becht 2-7, Savage 1-4, Clark 0-1, Foy 0-1, Etumnu 0-2, Plintauskas 0-2, Dorset 0-4), Butler 8-20 (Brooks 4-5, McCaffery 2-5, Haywood 1-1, Bizjack 1-4, Cassia 0-1, King 0-2, Telfort 0-2)
Rebounds: Merrimack 21 (Trumper 5), Butler 44 (Brooks 12)
Assists: Merrimack 11 (Clark 4), Butler 17 (King 7)
Total fouls: Merrimack 22, Butler 12