INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Matt Howard and Ronald Nored combined for all 10 points in a decisive run that led No. 12 Butler past Wisconsin-Milwaukee 68-59 in the Horizon League tournament semifinals Saturday night.

   Top-seeded Butler (27-4) extended the nation's longest winning streak to 19 games and earned a ticket to Tuesday night's title game against second-seeded Wright State.

   Howard finished with 18 points, while Nored had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs.

   The Panthers (20-14) were led by Anthony Hill with 15 points and James Eayrs with 10.

   For Butler, it was an odd game.

   Gordon Hayward, the conference player of the year, scored 10 points -- just one in the second half -- and had 13 rebounds. Howard, last season's league player of the year, had a game-high 18 points but managed only four rebounds. And Nored delivered the kind of all-around performance Butler typically gets from the more high-profile guys.

   The Bulldogs' trademark 3-point shooting also was off the mark. They finished 4 of 18.

   Still, Butler had just enough to get past an old nemesis that provided for one of the conference's best rivalries in the last decade.

   Milwaukee tried to push around the Bulldogs. The physical style worked for a while, but it also got the Panthers in foul trouble.

   The fouls, and the two-man tandem of Howard and Nored, eventually snuffed out Milwaukee's comeback hopes.

   Butler looked rusty after an eight-day layoff but closed to 29-28 at halftime.

   Early in the second half, the Bulldogs finally got in sync.

   Willie Veasley's 3 started a 6-0 mini-run that gave the Bulldogs a 38-31 lead with 15:53 left, and with Milwaukee making just four baskets in a span of nearly 16 minutes, Butler built a 44-35 lead with 11:56 to go.

   That's when the Panthers rallied -- and Butler came up with an answer for every challenge.

   When Milwaukee closed to 44-40, Veasley hit a 3. When the Panthers closed to 48-47, Howard laid in an alley-oop that hung on the rim and dropped in. And when the Panthers got within 50-49, Howard drew a foul in the post, made two free throws and Nored completed a three-point play on the ensuing possession to make it 55-49.