Butler, Detroit, UIC Head Into Holiday on High Note

Butler, Detroit and UIC have reason to grab an extra helping at Thanksgiving dinner, after each survived challenges to pick up wins on Wednesday night. Milwaukee and Youngstown State both dropped road contests at Big Ten foes, while Wright State closed the Global Sports Shootout with a loss.

Butler 68, Gardner-Webb 66
Down 15 at the half, Butler allowed visiting Gardner-Webb just 16 points in the second half to mount a furious rally and take a 68-66 win in the team's third game of the Hoosier Invitational.

Butler (3-2) took its first lead of the game with just 5:51 remaining, after Chrishawn Hopkins came off a curl and rattled home a jumper from the elbow. Just 14 minutes earlier, the Bulldogs trailed by 17 points after Gardner-Webb hit the first basket of the second half.

Gardner-Webb built a 15-point lead in the first half by shooting 77 percent from the floor. The Runnin' Bulldogs were unconscious from beyond the three-point arc, hitting 8-of-10 threes to stifle any Bulldog rallies. However, Butler's defense stiffened in the second half, holding Gardner-Webb without a three in the final 20 minutes of play and just 6-of-22 shooting.

Andrew Smith and Hopkins led the comeback, each finishing with 11 points in the second half. Hopkins led the way with a game-high 22 points, while Chase Stigall had 14 points, 11 in the first half.

The Bulldogs will wrap up the Hoosier Invitational at Indiana on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET, live on BTN.

Detroit 94, Austin Peay 93 (ot)
Down to just eight available players and playing its third game in as many days, Detroit dug deep, holding on for a 94-93 win over Austin Peay to close the Progressive CBE Classic subregional.

With Nick Minnerath out for the year due to a knee injury suffered two minutes into Tuesday's game, Detroit (3-3) raced out to a 50-37 lead at the half and held off a furious Austin Peay rally to prevail in overtime.

Chase Simon would give Detroit a 17-point lead early in the second half, and Ray McCallum hit a circus shot, falling to the floor on an attempted alley-oop and bouncing the ball in the basket instead. However, Austin Peay battled back to force overtime in the closing minute, forcing a short-handed roster to five more minutes of basketball.

Simon still had his legs in the overtime, knocking down 5-of-6 free throws in the frame, the last two giving him 1,000 points in his Detroit career. Six Titans finished in double figures, with Simon leading the way with 20. Doug Anderson posted a career-high 18, while Evan Bruinsma had 15, earning All-Tournament honors. Ray McCallum had 12 points, with Jason Calliste and LaMarcus Lowe recording 11 and 10, respectively.

UIC 79, Evansville 75
A 16-2 run to end the first half put UIC out front to stay, and the Flames held off Evansville over the last 20 minutes to post a 79-75 victory at the UIC Pavilion.

Marc Brown and Hayden Humes led UIC (2-2), with Brown leading the way in the first half and Humes convering the final 20 minutes of play. Brown posted 14 of his career-high 24 in the game's first 20 minutes, helping fuel the decisive burst that put the Flames in front to stay. With Evansville trying to get back into the game in the second half, Humes led the way with 12 of his 18 points in the final frame.

Humes landed one of the game's biggest blows after Evansville had closed within 47-44, knocking down a three from the left corner to push the UIC advantage back to six points; the Purple Aces would get within four on one more occasion before a 9-3 Flames burst created an insurmountable gap.

Darrin Williams got the decisive spurt started with a layup on the low block; the big man had 10 points, serving as the third Flame in double figures.

Penn State 82, Youngstown State 71
Youngstown State knocked down 10 three-pointers in the second half, but was undone by a 31-percent shooting effort in the first half, sending the Penguins to an 82-71 defeat at Penn State. With 14 threes in the game, the Penguins matched the YSU record for the second time this season.

Youngstown State (3-1) tried to work its way back from the three-point arc, with Blake Allen and Kendrick Perry going a combined 9-of-12 from behind the arc in the second half. Allen scored 17 of his team-high 25 in the second half, with Perry posting 18 of his 23 in the final 20 minutes of play.

Trailing 44-26 at the half, the Penguins closed within nine points twice in the second half, but could draw no closer in suffering their first loss of the year.

#rv/rv Michigan State 68, Milwaukee 55
Milwaukee was outscored, 22-6, at the free-throw line and could not overcome a slow start to the second half in falling at Michigan State, 68-55, in the Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational.

Trailing by four at the half, Milwaukee (4-1) was slow out of the gate to start the second half as Michigan State scored the first nine points of the half to build a lead the Panthers could never overcome. Foul trouble played a role in the spurt, with four Milwaukee starters beginning the half with two fouls, Kaylon Williams and James Haarsma each collected third fouls in the opening minutes of the half.

When not in foul trouble, Milwaukee matched up well with Michigan State, as a Shaquille Boga layup knotted the game at 26 with 5:38 to go in the first half. However, fouls reared their ugly head in the final minutes of the half, with Haarsma's three in the final minute of the first half helping the Panthers go into the break down 34-30.

Haarsma joined Williams in double figures, finishing with 13 points to Williams' 14.

North Florida 69, Wright State 52
Tied at 28 at the half, Wright State struggled to hit jumpers in the second half, wrapping up the Global Sports Shootout with a 69-52 loss at North Florida.

Wright State (2-3) knocked down just 8-of-27 shots in the game's final 20 minutes, while North Florida went 17-for-29 from the floor to pull away as the half progressed.

Trailing 47-42, Julius Mays hit a jumper to bring the Raiders within a possession, but the Ospreys effectively ended the game, responding with a 16-4 run to build a 15-point lead with 3:34 remaining. Mays led Wright State in scoring for the second straight game, finishing with 15 points.

A.J. Pacher added 13 points off the bench for the Raiders.