Butler upends No. 9 Tar Heels
BY Associated Press
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
11/21/12 at 4:25 AM
Maybe North Carolina should have just gone to the beach. Butler is the team to beat in Maui.
Former Verdigris standout Rotnei Clarke and Kellen Dunham each scored 17 points Tuesday night to lead the unranked Bulldogs past No. 9 UNC, jumping out to a 17-point halftime lead and holding back several second-half surges from the Tar Heels in the second round of the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii.
The Tar Heels (4-1) missed their first three shots and never led.
One day after Clarke's buzzer-beater beat Marquette, Butler (3-1) held North Carolina to 18 points in the first half.
P.J. Hairston led UNC with 15 points.
Butler got out to a 10-2 lead in just over four minutes then built it to 14 points with a 9-0 run capped by a layup from Erik Fromm with 9:36 left in the first half.
Meanwhile, Marcus Paige and James McAdoo combined for just nine points in the opening 20 minutes as UNC made only a combined eight shots.
No. 7 Florida 58, Savannah State 40: In Gainesville, Fla., Mike Rosario scored 13 points, Patric Young added a double-double and Florida overwhelmed Savannah State.
Young finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high six blocks. It was his second double-double in four games. Erik Murphy chipped in 10 points for the Gators (4-0).
Leading scorer Kenny Boynton sprained his left ankle when he landed on an opponent's foot while driving to the basket.
Rashad Hassan and Cedric Smith led Savannah State with 11 points apiece. Arnold Louis added nine points and 11 boards for the Tigers (3-3).
No. 11 UCLA 60, Georgia 56: In New York, Shabazz Muhammad scored 21 points and the Bruins made enough free throws late to hold off the Bulldogs in the consolation game of the Legends Classic tournament.
In the final minutes of a mostly dreary game, UCLA (4-1) took the lead with Muhammad on the bench, on baskets by Travis Wear and Jordan Adams, but the hyped freshman made two free throws with 1:15 left, then scooped up a loose ball on the other end with a minute remaining and fed Norman Powell, who was fouled attempting a layup.
Wear finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for UCLA, and Kyle Anderson had nine rebounds and nine points.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Bulldogs (1-4) with 16 points and had eight rebounds.
No. 12 Kansas 73, Saint Louis 59: In Kansas City, Mo., Jeff Withey matched a career high with 25 points, Travis Releford added 23 and No. 12 Kansas held off Saint Louis to win the CBE Classic.
Releford had 21 points in the first half and Withey had 15 in the second, the inside-outside duo carrying the Jayhawks (4-1) despite every effort by the Billikens (2-2) and senior forward Cody Ellis to get back into the game in the waning minutes of the second half.
The Jayhawks improved to 16-4 all-time at the Sprint Center.
Ellis finished with 19 points for the Billikens.
No. 14 Creighton 105, Longwood 57: In Omaha, Neb., Doug McDermott and Gregory Echenique scored 17 points apiece to lead four Creighton players in double figures, and the 14th-ranked Bluejays defeated Longwood.
Ethan Wragge and Will Artino each added 13 points for the Bluejays (4-0), who have won all their games this season by at least 20 points.
Jeylani Dublin had 19 points and Tristan Carey 14 for Longwood (0-4).
No. 15 Michigan State 74, Boise State 70: In East Lansing, Mich., Keith Appling scored 22 points while Branden Dawson and Denzel Valentine made key contributions to help slow-starting Michigan State rally twice to beat the Broncos.
Appling was 8-for-14 from the field and delivered the critical three-point play in the final minute. Valentine had 12 points in his first career start, while Dawson added 10 points, five rebounds and three steals for the No. 15 Spartans (3-1), who suffered a major blow when high-scoring freshman Gary Harris suffered a shoulder injury in the opening minute.
Derrick Marks scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half before fouling out with 2:37 left for the Broncos (3-1).
No. 22 Cincinnati 91, Campbell 72: In Cincinnati, Cashmere Wright scored a career-high 28 points and the Bearcats remained undefeated with a win over Campbell in the Global Sports Invitational.
Jaquon Parker set a season high with 21 points, and Sean Kilpatrick added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bearcats (4-0), who never trailed and led by as many as 25.
Darren White bounced back from scoring just three in the first half to finish with 22 for Campbell (2-3).
