Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

Butler guard Shelvin Mack (1) celebrates in front of teammates on the bench during the second half of the Bulldogs’ 77-59 victory over UTEP on Thursday. Mack scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half.

Butler, which hit 10 of its 13 3-pointers after halftime, has the longest winning streak in Division I this season. The Bulldogs made a perfect run through the Horizon League, winning every conference game before also winning the tournament to capture a No. 5 seed in the NCAAs, matching the highest in school history.

UTEP was nearly as impressive during its run through Conference USA, with Caracter and league player of the year Culpepper largely dominating. But the Miners lost the tournament title game last Saturday, and Barbee acknowledged being mystified by their low seed.

While the Miners talked about respect, Butler went out and claimed it — just as these Bulldogs have been doing for decades.

Butler immediately took control after halftime, with Mack hitting two 3-pointers in the first 90 seconds. The Bulldogs took the lead on a 3-pointer by Willie Veasley, and after UTEP briefly went back ahead 37-36, Veasley’s free throw started Butler on its decisive 13-0 run.

“We were in the same position last year (in the NCAA tournament), down at halftime,” Bulldogs guard Ronald Nored said. “We didn’t make tough plays down the stretch. This year we actually came out and guarded in the second half and made tough plays down the stretch, which is different than last year.”

Butler didn’t repeat the mistakes of last year’s trip to the tournament, in which the Bulldogs fell behind 9-0 in a first-round loss to LSU, but UTEP still went ahead 17-10 midway through the first half. Butler, which has all five starters back from last season’s tournament team, reclaimed the lead with nine consecutive points, but the Miners went back ahead with strong inside play from Caracter.

The 275-pound Louisville transfer with a bushy mohawk scored 12 points — including a layup that dropped in just before the halftime buzzer. He had eight points after halftime, but just three rebounds.

“I was frustrated (because) I felt that we should have been winning,” Caracter said. “We weren’t executing as well as we could have defensively. (That) was mostly my fault, just me not coming out. I was just frustrated, because I know we were better than we showed today.”

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