INDIANAPOLIS -- High-percentage field goal shooting (56.9), including 9-of-18 from 3-point range, laid the victory foundation for No. 5 Xavier on Saturday at Butler, but it was the Musketeers' smothering defense that finished the project.

Xavier used a 25-6 first-half closing run as the springboard to a 74-57 Big East victory in Hinkle Fieldhouse, where the Bulldogs made only 22-of-66 shots (33.3 percent), including a collective 11-of-39 (28.2 percent) from primary weapons Kellen Dunham, Kelan Martin and Roosevelt Jones.

The Musketeers got 13 points from reserve guard J.P Macura and 12 points each from starting guard Remy Abell and reserve guard Edmond Sumner. Indianapolis native Trevon Bluiett added 11 points, and power forward James Farr had 12 rebounds.

Xavier (22-3, 10-3 in the Big East) remains in sole possession of second place in the conference, right behind No. 1-ranked Villanova.

Butler (17-8, 6-7) was led by forward Martin with 15 points, and center Andrew Chrabascz had 12.

"When we are getting stops, we can get almost anything we want on offense," Abell said when asked about the game-changing 25-6 run. "We have so much talent on offense.

"I take individual defensive challenges personally, and I knew what I had to do against Dunham, who is a very good player."

Farr said the outcome centered on defense.

"We pride ourselves on defense, which caused us problems Tuesday at Creighton," Farr said. "Tonight, we came back and played very well on the defensive end."

Xavier coach Chris Mack was eager to learn how his team would respond after a 70-56 loss at Creighton.

"I feel very fortunate to come in here and win in Hinkle," Mack said. "Our ability to defend was the difference in the game, along with the fact the shots we took were really good ones, and we got good bench play.

"Our zone defense kind of took Jones out of what he likes to do, we made shots difficult for Dunham, and Martin just did not shoot it very well today (6-of-20)."

Sumner's layup with 6:38 left extended the Musketeers' advantage to 62-46. Another Sumner basket gave Xavier a 66-48 lead with 3:38 remaining.

Butler closed to within eight early in the second half, but Xavier responded to take a 56-40 lead with 11:36 remaining on Macura's 3-pointer and Abell's dunk.

"You don't want to take a bunch of jump shots early in the game on the road, but when you make a 3-pointer or two, it can take the crowd out of it and really get your team going," Macura said.

After two Martin free throws gave Butler a 23-18 lead with 10:27 remaining in the first half, Xavier finished the opening 20 minutes on a 25-6 run, which included four 3-pointers and a three-point play by Abell, to lead 43-27 at intermission.

"We were not very good today," Butler coach Chris Holtmann said. "We did not play well in any aspect of the game. We're disappointed that we did not play purposely defensively the whole game. Xavier is very good athletically and very good around the rim."

Butler starters Tyler Wideman, Chrabascz, Dunham and Jones did not score during the final 11:23 of the first half, when Xavier turned an eight-point deficit into a 14-point halftime lead.

"As bad as it may sound, offensive woes affected our defense in the last 11 minutes of the first half," Dunham said of Xavier's 25-6 burst.

Xavier made 17-of-26 first-half shots (65.4 percent), including 8-of-11 from 3-point range (72.7 percent). Abell, who began his college career at Indiana, had nine first-half points for the Musketeers, while guard Myles Davis had nine on 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Martin led Butler with 11 first-half points to go with seven rebounds, but was only 4-of-13 from the field. The Bulldogs were 12-of- 35 in the opening 20 minutes (34.3 percent), including only 2-of-7 from 3-point range.

Xavier out rebounded Butler 17-15 in the first half, although the Bulldogs did get seven offensive rebounds before intermission.

NOTES: Brad Stevens, the Boston Celtics coach and former Butler coach, attended Saturday's game and was given a standing ovation by the Hinkle Fieldhouse crowd. ... Butler opened February with consecutive victories against Georgetown, St. John's and Seton Hall before running into Xavier. ... The Musketeers won five in a row before losing Tuesday night at Creighton. ... The sellout crowd of 9,344 was the largest to watch a game in Hinkle Fieldhouse since the venue was renovated several years ago. ... The Bulldogs fell to 3-3 in Big East home games.