Butler Comeback Highlights Three-Win Day for Horizon League

Horizon League teams collected three wins on Saturday, as Butler, Loyola and Milwaukee all notched victories.

Butler 67, #rv/- Purdue 65
Butler (5-6) trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and by eight with 6:40 to play, but the Bulldogs rallied to knock off Purdue, 67-65, when Andrew Smith put back a Roosevelt Jones layup with 1.0 second left in the Close the Gap Crossroads Classic at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The Bulldogs struggled in the first half, committing nine turnovers, allowing Purdue to outscore Butler, 16-0, off turnovers as the Boilermakers opened a 46-35 lead at the half. However, Butler locked down on both ends of the court, holding Purdue to just 19 second half points, fueling the comeback.

Trailing 63-54, Butler outscored Purdue, 13-2 down the stretch, using a Kameron Woods three as the shot clock was winding down to draw within a point before Chase Stigall gave the Bulldogs a 65-64 lead with 16.0 seconds left after a driving layup - a layup that was deflected, but still found its way off the backboard and in. 

Lewis Jackson split a pair of free throws to knot the game at 65, setting up Butler's last possession with 6.0 ticks left.

Inbounding from in front of the Butler bench, the Bulldogs lobbed the ball to Roosevelt Jones between the circles. Jones drove the right side of the lane, and while his layup came off the rim, Andrew Smith was in position for the putback, sending Butler to the comeback victory and snapping a three-game skid for the Bulldogs.

Smith's bucket tied him for the team lead with 12 points, eight of which came in the second half. Woods also had 12, while Stigall chipped in 11. For the game, Butler outscored Purdue, 36-9, off the bench.

Loyola 64, Chicago State 49
Loyola (3-7) shook off a sluggish start, using double-doubles from Ben Averkamp and Walt Gibler to tally a 64-49 win over visiting Chicago State.

Loyola was clinging to a 37-32 lead with 15:30 remaining in the contest when Christian Thomas threw down a dunk to spark a 20-6 run that helped the Ramblers seize control of the contest and open up a 57-38 advantage with 8:34 left to play. Chicago State would get no closer than 13 points the rest of the way.

Averkamp, who was coming off of a career-best 31-point performance at Toledo last Saturday, tallied 21 points, the second-highest total of his career, and added 10 rebounds for his third career double-double. Meanwhile Gibler, who was back in the lineup after missing the Toledo game with an injury, notched his first double-double since March 2, 2010, and just the second of his career, with 16 points and a career-high-tying 10 boards.

Denzel Brito added 10 points, while Thomas had eight points and eight boards for the victorious Ramblers.

Milwaukee 86, Nebraska-Omaha 50
Milwaukee (9-3) hit 15 three-pointers en route to an 86-50 win over visiting Nebraska-Omaha at the Klotsche Center.

The Panthers never trailed in the game, opening a 9-2 lead and leading by as many as 30 points in the first half in taking a 50-20 lead into the halftime locker room.

Making his second start of the year, Tony Meier hit five three-pointers, finishing with a game-high 19 points, while Kaylon Williams added 17. Williams collected six rebounds, chipping in eight assists. The Panthers had 21 assists on 31 buckets on the night.

Paris Gulley added 12 points for Milwaukee, going 4-of-5 from three-point range, helping the Panthers go 15-for-29 on the night from long range.

#17/16 Mississippi State 80, Detroit 75
Ray McCallum tied the game with 40 seconds left, but Detroit (5-8) could not get aother game-tying or go-ahead basket, falling to No. 17/16 Mississippi State, 80-76, at Calihan Hall.

Trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, Detroit used two runs to get back into the contest. Six straight points from Eli Holman helped the Titans close within 56-51, but after the Bulldogs rebuilt the advantage to 11, it was Detroit's turn to respond with a 12-2 spurt to draw within a point.

With 2:31 to play, Detroit tied the game on a three-point play from Chase Simon. Down two, McCallum's jumper knotted the game at 75, but Rodney Hood would hit a jumper to put Mississippi State ahead for good, 77-75, with 19 ticks left.

Detroit had a look to tie the game, but Arnett Moultrie stepped up with a block and Mississippi State hit free throws down the stretch to ice the game.

McCallum and Simon each had 17 to lead the Titans.

Toledo 86, Youngstown State 77
Down just one point midway through the second half, Youngstown State (6-4) was buried under a 12-0 Toledo run, resulting in an 86-77 loss for the Penguins at Savage Arena.

YSU, which shot 56.3 percent and outscored Toledo, 49-47, in the second half, trailed by as many as 17 in the first half, 11 at halftime and 13 with 18 minutes left in the game, but used an 18-6 run over a four-minute span to get within one, 49-48, with 13:50 left.

Two layups by Blake Allen and one by freshman Shawn Amiker brought the Guins within seven, 43-36, with 16:14 to go. The Rockets built the lead back to nine, 49-40, but a jumper by Eargle, an old-fashioned three-point play by Nate Perry and a 3-pointer by Kendrick Perry brought the Guins within one.

The Guins, who made 12 of their first 17 shots in the second half, were within one on two more occasions, 54-53, with 11:16 left and 56-55 at the 10:26 mark.

Toledo, though, capitalized on a technical foul called on YSU and scored 12 straight points to boost its lead back to 13, 68-55, with 7:46 remaining.

Allen led the Penguins with 22 points, while Perry added 19. Damian Eargle finished with 13 points, adding nine rebounds and five blocks on the night.

Ohio 82, Wright State 54
A 62-percent shooting effort sent visiting Ohio past Wright State (4-8), 82-54, at the Nutter Center on Saturday evening.

Ohio closed the first half with a 23-11 run, vaulting the Bobcats to a 43-22 lead over the Raiders at the half. Wright State would draw no closer than 18 points the remainder of the game.

Cole Darling led Wright State with 11 points, while Matt Vest and Tavares Sledge each had nine points.

Oakland 82, Valparaiso 80
Reggie Hamilton had 41 points, including the game-winning jumper as time expired, sending Oakland past Valparaiso (7-4), 82-80, at the ARC.

The jumper at the buzzer capped a 41-point performance from Hamilton.  Despite Hamilton’s scoring exploits, however, the Crusaders had a chance to run the clock down for the final shot, as Will Bogan created a tie-up with the arrow in Valpo’s favor with 32 seconds to play.  Valpo got called for a travel with 4.6 seconds remaining, however, turning possession back over to Oakland.  Following a timeout, Hamilton caught the inbounds pass and took it the length of the court himself, pulling up from 16 feet over a Crusader defender to win the game for the Grizzlies.

The final few minutes of the game were played mostly within one possession after both squads put together huge runs in the second half.  Coming out of the locker room ahead by just two points, Valpo out-scored Oakland 23-8 over the first 6:30 of the second half, thanks in large part to a barrage of 3-pointers. 

Ryan Broekhoff nailed three triples during the run, while Bogan and Richie Edwards each hit a 3-pointer as well. Kevin Van Wijk had three inside buckets as well in the opening stretch, which concluded with Broekhoff’s third triple of the half putting Valpo ahead 60-43 with 13:39 to play.

But Oakland countered right away, needing just two minutes to slice the lead down to just three points at 61-58.  Hamilton had 10 points during the Grizzlies’ 15-1 run.  Despite the onslaught, Valpo would hold on to the lead, not letting Oakland tie the score as the Crusaders’ advantage fluctuated between one and three points for the next five-plus minutes.