Detroit, Butler Advance to Men's Basketball Semifinals

Men's Basketball Bracket

Men's Basketball Scoreboard:
(3) Detroit 93, (6) Youngstown State 76
(5) Butler 71, (4) Milwaukee 49

Detroit and Butler both displayed offensive efficiencies en route to wins in the second round of the Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship. For the Titans, it came in the form of 60 percent shooting; for the Bulldogs, in a dominant effort in the interior.

(3) Detroit 93, (6) Youngstown State 76
No. 3 seed Detroit used 60-percent shooting to race past No. 6 Youngstown State, 93-76, in the second round of the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship. The Titans advance to Saturday’s semifinal versus No. 2 Cleveland State (6 p.m. ET, ESPNU).

Detroit (20-13) led by as much as 24 points in the first half, as the Titans scored 16 of the game’s first 19 points and never looked back. While it would take 8:39 before Ray McCallum scored his first points of the game, the sophomore led Detroit with 22 as the Titans had to fend off a Penguin rally to start the second half.

Youngstown State (16-15) was able to close within 10 points on three separate occasions in the second half, but could draw no closer, despite Damian Eargle’s 25 points. The junior matched his career high in points, going 10-for-14 from the floor. However, the junior lamented the slow start that had the Penguins playing catch up from the start.

"We came out a little slow. They got a huge lead on us, and by the time we could play, it got out of control. We did our best coming out of the second half, but it just didn’t work out."

The second half featured a spirited duel between two of the sophomores voted to the All-Horizon League First Team, McCallum and YSU’s Kendrick Perry. Each player recorded 15 points in the final 20 minutes, with Perry finishing with 15.

McCallum felt the Titans delivered a message that they would be ready for Saturday's semifinal, as Cleveland State's team took in the first game. "I think we sent a statement on the defensive end for Cleveland State," McCallum said.

"We really came into the tournament with momentum. This is a rematch game for us. We lost twice, and are ready to get after it and get a win."

McCallum was joined in double figures by a quartet of Titans, as Chase Simon had 14, LaMarcus Lowe 13, and Doug Anderson and Eli Holman each chipped in 11. Detroit’s 93 points were the most by a team in the Horizon League Tournament since 2005.

Despite a short bench, Lowe was unconvinced that fatigue could be a factor for Detroit against a physical Cleveland State bunch, remarking, "I’m not worried, we’re hungry, and trying to make it to the NCAA tournament.

(5) Butler 71, (4) Milwaukee 49
Butler controlled the paint on Friday night, scoring 52 of its 71 points in the paint, as the Bulldogs advanced to the semifinals of the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship with a 71-49 win over Milwaukee. Butler will face top-seed and host Valparaiso on Saturday in the semifinals.

The Bulldogs (20-13), who were outrebounded by Milwaukee (20-13) in both of the teams meetings in the regular season, turned the tables on the Panthers in the conference tournament, owning a 46-25 advantage on the boards and outscoring UWM 52-16 in the paint.

For Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter, the game was simple:

"That was just a good old fashioned butt kicking. Points in the paint, second chance points, and rebounds really jump out at me. It wasn’t that our guys weren’t playing hard, they battled, Butler was just smarter at some things."

Butler forwards Roosevelt Jones and Khyle Marshall tied for game-high honors with 17 points each, shooting a combined 16-of-24 from the field. Marshall, who was on the receiving end of four alley oop dunks, also led the team with 10 rebounds as he compiled his second double-double of the season.

Butler started the game by scoring the first six points and Milwaukee did not get on the board until Kaylon Williams banked in a three-pointer with 13:52 remaining in the half. The Bulldogs would extend its first half lead to 14-6, but Milwaukee continued to chip away, cutting the lead to 18-17 before the Bulldogs took a 22-18 advantaged into halftime.

The Bulldogs did their damage close to the basket in the first half, scoring all 22 of their points in the paint.

Butler opened the second half on a 9-0 run to open up a 31-18 lead, and after Milwaukee cut the lead to 33-26, the Bulldogs went on an 11-0 streak to push the lead to 44-26 with 11:47 remaining in the game. Milwaukee would get no closer than 14 the rest of the way.

James Haarsma led the Panthers with nine points as no Milwaukee player reach double figures. Milwaukee’s shooting percentage of 31.9 percent was its third-lowest total of the season as the Panthers finished the season with a 20-14 record.

Butler head coach Brad Stevens was pleased with the defensive intensity, saying, "This was one of our best collective defensive efforts. Milwaukee has Tony Meier who shoots as good as anyone we’ve played, Kaylon Williams always makinig plays, it’s just a really solid lineup and I thought we did a good job taking away their tendencies. When we limit them to one shot, it allowed us to get down in transition and score."