Xavier responds to first loss by dismissing Butler
CINCINNATI — Remy Abell scored a career-high 21 points, and No. 6 Xavier recovered from its first loss of the season by beating No. 9 Butler 88-69 on Saturday.
The Musketeers (13-1, 1-1 Big East) were coming off a 95-64 defeat at No. 16 Villanova on Thursday, which ended the best start in school history. Xavier led most of the way Saturday, taking control with a 13-1 run in the second half.
Butler (11-3, 0-2) shook up its starting lineup after an 81-73 home loss to No. 12 Providence on Thursday, but the Bulldogs’ high-scoring offense couldn’t get much done against one of the league’s best defenses.
Roosevelt Jones led Butler with 14 points.
It was the most points Butler has allowed this season and the fewest it has scored.
James Farr added 13 points and eight rebounds for Xavier, which had five players scored 10 or more points and shot 56 percent from the field.
The Musketeers were missing point guard Edmond Sumner, who fell hard during the loss at Villanova and was examined at a hospital before accompanying Xavier home. It’s unclear how long he will be sidelined.
Butler was waiting for its leading scorer to regain his touch. Kellen Dunham averages 15 points per game, but he hadn’t made a three-pointer in his past four games since Dec. 12, going 0 for 21. In his past five games, he was 10 of 60 from the field.
Dunham wasn’t in the starting lineup as the Bulldogs tried something different. He came off the bench with 14:30 left in the first half, missed a layup and then hit his first three-point attempt to snap his slump. He picked up his second foul midway through the half and went back to the bench.
Dunham finished with 13 points on 4-for-12 shooting.
Xavier opened with a 23-15 run, led by 12 points from Remy Abell, who got open shots with Butler double-teaming inside. Forward Jalen Reynolds’ second career three-pointer pushed it to 29-17.
Dunham got back into the game and hit a long three, which cut the lead to three, but Trevon Bluiett had two fast-break layups and Myles Davis hit a three at the buzzer, which gave Xavier a 4535 halftime lead — the most points Butler has allowed in an opening half this season.
Xavier had four turnovers at the start of the second half, which helped Butler cut it to 49-45.
Farr had a followup dunk and a lay-in during a 13-1 run, which put Xavier in control at 68-53. The Musketeers led by as many as 24 points.
In other games involving Top 25 teams Saturday, Bryn Forbes scored 20 points, making 3 three-pointers in the second half, to help No. 1 Michigan State stave off Minnesota for a 69-61 victory in response to a loss at Iowa earlier in the week. Matt Costello contributed 17 points and 15 rebounds, both career-highs, for the Spartans (14-1, 1-1). … Wayne Selden scored 24 points, Perry Ellis added 17 and No. 2 Kansas used a big run over the first 10 minutes to swamp No. 23 Baylor 102-74 in their Big 12 opener. Devonte Graham added 15 points and Frank Mason III had 11 for the Jayhawks (12-1, 1-0), who charged out to a 22-4 lead, then turned back every attempt by the Bears (10-3, 0-1) to make it a game. … Anthony Gill scored seven of his 14 first-half points during a 21-4 run and No. 5 Virginia cruised to a 77-66 victory over Notre Dame for its 11th consecutive victory. Malcolm Brogdon led the Cavaliers (12-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) with 24 points, Gill had 21 and Mike Tobey had his second consecutive big game off the bench with 15 points and 6 rebounds. … Joel Berry II scored a career-high 19 points and hit the goahead three-pointer with 5:07 left to help No. 7 North Carolina beat Georgia Tech 86-78. Brice Johnson added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (13-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who had fits with the Yellow Jackets (10-4, 0-1) all game. … Kris Dunn had 26 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists to lead No. 12 Providence to an 83-65 victory over St. John’s, the Friars’ eighth consecutive victory. Dunn scored 12 consecutive points for the Friars in the second half after the Red Storm closed within 56-50 with 9:30 remaining. … Sheldon McClellan scored 22 points, Ja’Quan Newton made two big three-pointers in the second half and No. 13 Miami relied on defense to get past Syracuse 64-51. Newton finished with 14 points for Miami (12-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which blew it open with a 12-0 run in the final minutes to win its seventh consecutive. … Jarrod Uthoff scored 25 points, Peter Jok had 11 points and 9 rebounds and Iowa erased a 17-point halftime deficit in a 70-63 upset victory over No. 14 Purdue. Kendall Stephens led Purdue (13-2, 1-1) with 12 points, and A.J. Hammons had 11. The Boilermakers had won 15 consecutive at home. … Brandon Ingram had 25 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 15 Duke to an 81-64 victory over Boston College in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. Grayson Allen had 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists for the Blue Devils (12-2, 1-0), who beat the Eagles for the 10th consecutive time. … Jaysean Paige scored 18 of his 25 points after halftime, Tarik Phillip connected on a floater with 4.5 seconds left in the second overtime and West Virginia toughed out an 87-83 victory over Kansas State in the Big 12 opener for both teams. Phillip finished with 14 points and 5 assists for the Mountaineers (12-1, 1-0), and Daxter Miles Jr. had 10 points. … Farad Cobb had five three-pointers and finished with 21 points as No. 22 Cincinnati snapped a two-game losing streak by building a 24-point firsthalf lead and beating Tulsa 76-57. The pace of the first half was slow and choppy, but Cincinnati (11-4, 1-1 American Athletic Conference) steadily pulled away. … Buddy Hield scored 22 points and No. 3 Oklahoma beat No. 11 Iowa State 87-83 to match the second-best start in school history at 12-0. Ryan Spangler had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Isaiah Cousins scored all 15 of his points in the second half for the Sooners in the Big 12 opener for both teams. … Melo Trimble scored 24 points, Rasheed Sulaimon added 16 points and No. 4 Maryland beat Northwestern 72-59. Trimble scored 17 points in the second half. Sulaimon had 13 in the first, helping the Terrapins (13-1, 2-0 Big Ten) grab a 40-20 lead on the way to their seventh consecutive victory. … Nic Moore, Sterling Brown and Markus Kennedy each scored 13 points and No. 17 SMU beat South Florida 72-58. Ben Moore added 12 points for SMU, which shot a season-low 41.8 percent. The Mustangs went into the game averaging 83.8 points. … Josh Hart scored 25 points and Daniel Ochefu led 16th-ranked Villanova’s powerful inside game with 19 points in an 85-71 victory over Creighton. Hart made 10 of 14 shots and had five rebounds, three steals and a block for the Wildcats (12-2, 2-0 Big East).