Birmingham, AL -- (Sports Network) - Pete Campbell came off the bench to pour in 26 points, knocking down 8-of-10 from three-point range, as Butler routed South Alabama, 81-61, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

A.J. Graves added 18 points and six assists for the Bulldogs (30-3), who captured their first Horizon League Tournament title since 2001 with a 70-55 victory over Cleveland State on March 11, and won their fourth consecutive first-round game in the tourney.

Matt Howard chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds for seventh-seeded Butler, which will next face Tennessee on Sunday in the East Region's second round.

Daon Merritt finished with 14 points for the 10th-seeded Jaguars (26-7), who were coming off a loss in the Sun Belt Conference tournament semifinals to Middle Tennessee. Daniel Hayles netted nine points.

"We knew that they were a very experienced team that worked very hard to get the next guy an open shot," South Alabama coach Ron Arrow said. "Tonight was no exception. They do a very good job of finding the open man."

The game was tightly contested in the opening minutes and South Alabama actually led 23-22 after Domonic Tilford deposited a layup on the fastbreak with 7:32 left in the opening half.

Campbell responded by sandwiching a pair of Howard free throws with a jumper and a three to put the Bulldogs on top, 29-23, for good.

"It was really close and we made a few shots in succession and that kind of opened the game," Butler coach Brad Stevens said. "It's not an ideal situation, you don't want guys that are that talented to get going, but our guys really showed the poise and grit that they have showed all year."

Campbell continued to heat up from beyond the arc from there. He stroked a three before Drew Streicher nailed a jumper to give Butler a double-digit cushion, 36-26, with 3:02 remaining until intermission.

The Bulldogs continued to pull away from there. Campbell hit two more triples in the frame and the Bulldogs took a comfortable 47-30 edge into the locker room.

Campbell finished with 20 points on 6-of-8 from three-point range in the first half.

"I think we were doing an excellent job in the first half of running our offense," Campbell said. "A.J. (Graves) said 'I'm going to keep looking for you, because you've been open a few times.' So, then I think we got a few more and I kept saying the same thing, he just kept telling me to get open. So, we were just trying to run our offense and look for the best shot, and fortunately, some of them went down."

The Jags never seriously threatened in the second half. Tilford opened the frame with consecutive layups to make it 47-34, but the Bulldogs called timeout and quickly righted the ship when Graves buried a three coming out of the stoppage.

A few minutes later, Mike Green stuck another trey and Butler had its first 20-plus point cushion, 59-38, with 14:43 left.

Shawn Vanzant's layup with just 4:39 on the clock gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the game, 74-47, and Butler coasted to the finish line from there.

Game Notes

The Bulldogs' 30 wins on the season is a school record...Last year, Butler upset Maryland in the first round before falling to eventual national champion Florida. In 2003, the Bulldogs advanced to the regional semifinals with wins against Mississippi State and Louisville but were beaten by Oklahoma. In 2001, Butler knocked off Wake Forest before losing to Arizona...This is the Jaguars third straight trip to the postseason, including an NCAA tournament bid in 2006 and an NIT appearance last year...Butler finished 15-of-28 from three- point range. The Jaguars were just 6-of-20.