Thursday's Shootaround: Butler survives while Texas rolls

Butler 67, Northwestern 54: Playing without Kevin Coble and Jeff Ryan, the undermanned Wildcats just didn't have enough weapons to hand with the Bulldogs. After a three cut Butler's lead to 27-24 with just under two minutes left in the first half, the Bulldogs would outscore Northwestern 23-6 over the next 11 minutes of game time, eventually pushing their lead above 20.

The Bulldogs opened the second half with a big run to put the game away.
(photo credit: Examiner)

It was a struggle offensively for Northwestern after they opened the game with hot-shooting start. Michael Thompson led the Wildcats with 16 points, but he hit three threes in the first eight minutes, and didn't score again until there were under four minutes left. Sophomore John Shurna looked impressive as he will be counted on for an expanded role with Coble on the sideline. Shurna had 14 points and 9 boards.

For Butler, Shelvin Mack was the star. He led four double figure scorers with 15 points, and also added 8 assists. Gordon Hayward posted a double-double with 14 and 10. Matt Howard has still not shown up. He had just 9 points and 6 boards last night, and is averaging a measly 9.5 ppg and 5 rpg.


Texas 73, Western Carolina 41: To quote Dennis Green, Texas is who we thought they were. They are big inside and very good defensively, and nothing about their performance last night changed that sentiment. The 'Horns outrebounded the Catamounts 47-32 (although 13 offensive rebounds is too many to allow) while holding them to 26% shooting from the floor and 16% from deep.

Dexter Pittman and company were too big inside for the Catamounts.
(photo credit: AP)

But Texas, as expected, is still struggling to find an answer to their point guard problem. Freshman J'Covan Brown scored 10 points last night, knocking down two three balls and dishing out his first three assists of the season, but he also had six turnovers. Varez Ward had 10 points, but scoring is not his strong suit and he had just one assist to three turnovers. Dogus Balbay had the best assist-to-turnover ratio at the point (3 dimes, 3 t/o's), but he is completely inept when it comes to scoring the ball.


Other notable games:

• Florida State 80, Stetson 38: The Seminoles ran Stetson off the court. At halftime the score was 46-10, as the Hatters had just three field goals.
  
• Florida 69, Georgia Southern 49: Freshman Kenny Boynton had 22 and Chandler Parsons added 15 and 12 as the Gators overcame a sluggish first half to rout the Eagles.
• Cornell 74, UMass 61: The Big Red picked up another quality road win as they went into Amherst and knocked off the Minutemen less than a week after they beat Alabama on the road. Ryan Wittman struggled, going just 1-8 from the field, but Louis Dale picked him up as he went for 24 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists.
• Cincinnati 92, Toledo 68: The Bearcats need some defensive toughness. They allowed the Rockets to shoot 48% from the floor, and never could pull away, even after opening up the game with a 17-3 run. Lance Stephenson looked much better last night, scoring 16 points on 6-13 shootng after struggling to a five point, 2-10 performance in his opener.
• Wake Forest 83, High Point 60: Al-Farouq Aminu had 22 and 10 while Ish Smith added 13 points for the Demon Deacons, who trailed for most of the first half, and were down by as much as nine, before pulling away down the stretch.
  
• Utah 68, Utah State 67: Utah State missed two three pointers with under a minute left, and Kim Tillie of Utah hit a free throw with under 10 seconds left to ice the game. Carlon Brown had 22 points for Utah while Jared Quayle led the Aggies with 27 and 11.
• Wisconsin 58, Oakland 42: The Badgers may be expected to have a down year, but their defense is still there. They held Oakland to just 27% shooting. Trevon Hughes had 15 to lead Wisconsin.
  
• Oklahoma State 93, Southern 61: James Anderson had 30 points to lead six Cowboys in double figures.
• Oral Roberts 83, Stanford 81: Roderick Pearson hit a runner as time expired for the win. Dominique Morrison had 31 and 9 to lead ORU, while Landry Fields led the Cardinal, who are now 1-2 with a loss to San Diego, with 28, 6 boards, and 5 assists.
• UNLV 88, Nevada 75: The Rebels were down 54-42 with 14 minutes left, but proceeded to outscore the Wolfpack 46-21 the rest of the way. Oscar Bellfield led the way with 22 for UNLV.