COL BKB: Butler 77, St. Bonaventure 58

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INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Rotnei Clarke's 16 points helped No. 14 Butler break things open in the second half Wednesday en route to a 77-58 blasting of St. Bonaventure.

The Bulldogs expanded a 10-point halftime lead to 19 during the opening 7 minutes of the second period and moved into a tie with Virginia Commonwealth and St. Louis atop the Atlantic 10 Conference standings.

Charlotte missed a chance to make it a four-way for the lead when it fell to Temple on Wednesday.

Chase Stigall, Andrew Smith and Khyle Marshall all came off the bench to score a dozen points each and the Bulldogs limited St. Bonaventure to 19 rebounds for the entire game.

Butler reached 19-4 for the campaign and is 6-2 in conference action.

Demitrius Conger led the Bonnies (10-11, 3-5) with 20 points.