League Teams Win Six of Nine Non-Conference Games

Feb. 20, 2005

Butler 72, Valparaiso 69


INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Brandon Polk had 19 points and eight rebounds and Avery Sheets added 17 points as Butler held off Valparaiso in a 72-69 victory Saturday.


After trailing twice in the first three minutes, Butler (11-14) pulled ahead and led for the rest of the game, buoyed by four players in double-digit scoring.


But the Crusaders (14-13) stayed close, with both teams scoring 45 points in the second half after the Bulldogs led 27-24 at the half. Valparaiso rallied in the closing minutes after trailing by as many as 13 points in the second half.


In the final 14 seconds, Ron Howard made two 3-pointers -- one of them with three seconds left on the clock -- to pull the Crusaders within three, but it wasn't enough.


A.J. Graves added 15 points for Butler and Brandon Crone, 13.


The Crusaders, who were led by Howard's game-high 20 points, also got 16 points from Dan Oppland and 14 points from Kenny Harris.

Central Michigan 79, Cleveland State 70


MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (AP) -- Kevin Nelson and Sefton Barrett scored 24 points apiece to lead Central Michigan past Cleveland State 79-70 Saturday afternoon.


The Vikings (9-14) led by as many as 14 in the first half thanks to a 19-1 run and took a 10-point lead into halftime, but the Chippewas (9-15) hit nearly 54 percent from the field in the second half, while the Vikings struggled to hit just 33 percent.


Central Michigan took its first lead 53-50 with 9:56 remaining on a 3-pointer by Nelson and never trailed again.


The Vikings cut the lead to 60-59 with 5:23 left on an Omari Westley free throw, but the Chippewas quickly ran the lead back to five on the way to their second straight win.


Nelson and Barrett, who pulled down six rebounds, were the only Central Michigan players in double figures. Tom Pantlind scored nine and Tony Bowne added seven points and seven rebounds.


Westley led the Vikings with 21 points and eight rebounds, Mike Redell added 16 points and Steve Gansey chipped in 14.

Youngstown State 74, Eastern Michigan 60


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) -- Derrick Harris scored a career-high 23 points and hit 5-of-6 3-pointers to lead Youngstown State to a 74-60 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday.


The Penguins (5-20) went on a 30-9 run over a 10-minute span in the first half to build a 37-16 lead. Harris hit consecutive shots behind the arc to start an 11-0 run during the streak.


Khari McQueen added 11 points and Brian Radakovich added 10 for Youngstown State, which hit 9-of-15 3-point shots.


Markus Austin scored 12 points and Darryl Garrett had 11 for the Eagles (12-13), whose only lead of the game was at 3-2.


Harris hit 7-of-9 shots from the field and all four of his free throws.


Eastern Michigan scored the first seven points of the second half to cut the lead to 45-33 but never got closer than nine points again.

Ohio 66, Detroit 65


DETROIT (AP) -- Jeremy Fears' 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Ohio a 66-65 win over Detroit on Saturday afternoon.


The Bobcats (14-9) rallied from a 43-28 deficit with 15:42 left and never held the lead until Fears' game winner. Fears led Ohio with 17 points, Whitney Davis had 15 and Jeff Halbert chipped in 14.


Brandon Cotton's two free throws with 6.2 seconds left had given Detroit (10-15) a 65-63 lead. Cotton topped all scorers with 25 points for the Titans while James Thues added 14. Thues also had a career-high eight steals, seven of which came in the first half.


Detroit led 34-25 at halftime.


The Titans had their largest lead of the first half, 30-15, after a Cotton lay-in with 3:29 to go until halftime. Thues led the Titans with 11 points in the first, while Cotton had 8.

UIC 92, Georgia Southern 83


CHICAGO (AP) -- Cedrick Banks had 24 points Saturday as UIC beat Georgia Southern 92-83.


Banks also had four rebounds and two steals. Teammate Justin Bowen had 18 points and nine rebounds in only 22 minutes.


The Flames (13-12) led Georgia Southern (16-11) 45-36 at halftime after making 16-of-36 from the field.


UIC also made good use of its offensive rebounds, scoring 23 second-chance points to Georgia Southern's four.


Elton Nesbitt led the Eagles with 24 points. Teammate Jean Francois had 15 points and seven rebounds, while Louis Graham had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Wright State 72, Northern Illinois 66 (ot)


DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Drew Burleson scored 19 points, including the first four in overtime, to lead Wright State to a 72-66 victory over Northern Illinois on Saturday night.


Burleson later added two free throws as the Raiders (13-13) outscored the Huskies (9-15) 13-7 in the extra period.


Zakee Boyd added 17 points, Jaron Taylor had 13 -- including a 3-pointer in the overtime -- and DaShaun Wood totaled 12 points, four of them coming on foul shots in the overtime. Zach Williams had just three points but had 15 rebounds.


James Hughes led Northern Illinois with 18 points, with Cory Sims scoring 16 and Mike McKinney 11 to go with 11 rebounds.


It was Hughes who forced the overtime by hitting the first of two free throws with 16 seconds left in regulation.

UW-Milwaukee 87, Hawai'i 81


HONOLULU (AP) -- Ed McCants scored 20 points and Adrian Tigert added 19 as UW-Milwaukee defeated Hawaii 87-81 Saturday afternoon.


The game was one of 11 games played for ESPN's Bracket Buster Saturday.


The Panthers (21-5) used an early run in the second half to build a 13-point lead and then withstood a furious comeback by the Rainbow Warriors (14-8) midway through the half.


After McCants hit three straight 3-pointers for a 50-37 lead, Hawaii cut it down to six with a 10-3 run.


The Panthers extended their lead back out to 13, but the Rainbow Warriors made one last comeback with a 12-3 run that made it 69-66 on Julian Sensley's putback with 6:39 remaining.


UW-Milwaukee scored the next five points as Hawaii managed just four more field goals the rest of the game.


Matt Gibson scored 26 points to lead Hawaii, while Jeff Blackett added 12.


Hawaii led for most for the first half until Tigert's 3-pointer with five minutes remaining ignited a 12-2 run. Another 3 by Tigert gave the Panthers its first lead of the game at 26-25 with just under four minutes remaining, and UWM held the lead heading into halftime at 34-32.

Loyola 68, Evansville 64


EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) -- Blake Schilb had 25 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead Loyola to a 68-64 victory over Evansville in non-conference play Saturday night.


Loyola (10-16) won their third straight on the road in their first meeting with Evansville in 11 years.


The Purple Aces (11-13) led throughout the first half, but Majak Kou hit one of his four 3-pointers for the game late in the half to kick off a Loyola comeback.


Down 28-24 at the break, Loyola took their first lead of the game 34-33 with a fastbreak dunk by Tyrel Blair. The rest of the half was close throughout, with five ties and seven lead changes, but the Ramblers outshot the Purple Aces 53.6 percent to 41.9 percent for the half.


Loyola eventually took the lead for good 54-52 with 6:39 remaining.


Evansville was led by Matt Webster, who was 8-of-13 from the field and ended the night with 20 points. Eric Ottens had 11 points and Lucious Wagner had 10 points and six assists for the Purple Aces.

Illinois State 79, UW-Green Bay 69


GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Lorenzo Gordon scored 22 points and Gregg Alexander added 17 as Illinois State defeated UW-Green Bay 79-69 in an ESPN Bracket Buster game on Saturday.


Gordon scored eight of the Redbirds first 10 points as Illinois State (17-9) shot 58 percent from the field in the first half and led by as many as 10.


The Redbirds continued the hot shooting in the second half, making their first six shots and hitting 65 percent. They finished at 61 percent for the game, a season high.


The Redbirds stretched the lead to 46-29 on a 3-pointer by Alexander with 16 minutes left. Alexander finished 5-of-6 from 3-point range.


Green Bay (17-8) rallied behind Javier Mendiburu, Benito Flores and Matt Rohde, cutting the deficit to five points twice in the last seven minutes.


But the Phoenix could get no closer, and Alexander hit another big 3 with 5½ minutes left to make it 60-51. The Redbirds made seven of eight free throws in the final 1:06 to seal the game.


Mendiburu led Green Bay with 19 points Flores added 17 and Rohde 16. The trio scored all but 17 of the Phoenix's points.


Point guard Vince Greene had 14 points, eight assists and four steals for Illinois State. He also had just one turnover in 34 minutes.