The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Butler rallies for OT win against No. 8 Creighton
INDIANAPOLIS — Butler coach LaVall Jordan challenged Aaron Thompson on Saturday. The senior guard responded just as Jordan envisioned.
Thompson scored 17 points, found Bryce Nze for the go-ahead layup with 68 seconds left in overtime, and played shutdown defense late to help the Bulldogs overcome a 13-point deficit and upset No. 8 Creighton 70-66.
“It’s the one we won today, so it’s the most satisfying (win) we’ve gotten,” Thompson said. “It was just about our energy. Coach got on us about changing our attitude, and then we kind of flipped the script on them.“
Thompson played nearly 41 minutes in his third game back from a sprained knee. The Bulldogs (4-7, 3-5 Big East) needed every ounce of energy he had — especially after falling into a 58-45 deficit with 7:38 left in regulation.
But Thompson steadied the defense and his teammates took the cue.
After missing 14 consecutive shots, the Bulldogs answered with a 17-2 run to take a 62-60 lead on Thompson’s slicing layup with 57.4 seconds left in regulation. Denzel Mahoney, who scored 23 of his season-high 29 points in the second half, made two free throws for Creighton to tie the score with 36.6 seconds to go.
Butler had three chances on the final possession of regulation to win it but missed all three shots.
“Aaron Thompson was phenomenal,“Jordan said. “He did a great job of battling in the first half and we put him on Mahoney (in the second half) because he was in a good rhythm and Aaron did a good job on him. Guys just gave an effort, the proper effort.“
Creighton (10-3, 6-2) scored the first two baskets of overtime and looked like it might pull away for its seventh consecutive win.
Instead, Thompson righted the Bulldogs and when he found Nze open in the post with 50.9 seconds to play, the Bulldogs had the lead — and a critical win.
“I thought we understood what we had to take away from Butler, but obviously Thompson got us and Nze had a couple of back-breakers,” Bluejays coach Greg McDermott said. “Give Butler credit, they played a heck of a game.”
NO. 2 BAYLOR 68, NO. 15 TEXAS TECH 60
LUBBOCK, Texas — Davion Mitchell had 19 points and Jared Butler finally scored late as No. 2 Baylor overcame No. 15 Texas Tech to stay undefeated after their closest game this season.
Butler, the preseason AP All-American coming off a season-high 28 points in the last game, was 0-for-9 shooting with six turnovers before hitting consecutive 3pointers for the Bears (12-0, 5-0 Big 12) in the final five minutes.
Mitchell hit a 3-pointer with 5:38 left to stretch Baylor’s lead to 49-45 after the Red Raiders failed to score on a possession when they missed three consecutive putback chances. Butler scored all seven of his points after that.
Adam Flagler had 15 points and MaCio Teague 12 for the Bears, who had won each of their first 11 games by double digits — the closest had been an 11-point win at Iowa State on Jan. 2. It ended their schoolrecord streak of 11 consecutive wins by at least 10 points.
Mac McClung had 24 points for Texas Tech (11-4, 4-3), which was coming off a 79-77 win at No. 4 Texas on Wednesday night. Kevin McCullar had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Red Raiders.
NO. 23 MINNESOTA 75, NO. 7 MICHIGAN 57
MINNEAPOLIS — Liam Robbins had 22 points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes for Minnesota to hand Michigan its first loss.
Marcus Carr scored 17 points and Gabe Kalscheur added 10 points for the Gophers (11-4, 4-4 Big Ten), who played their seventh straight game against an opponent ranked in the Associated Press poll. Minnesota never trailed, holding the best shooting team in the conference to a season-low score and a season-high 20 turnovers.
Chaundee Brown Jr. scored 14 points and Isaiah Livers added 11 points for the Wolverines (11-1, 6-1), who played without senior guard Eli Brooks due to a foot injury suffered in a recent practice.
NO. 10 TENNESSEE 81, VANDERBILT 61
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Keon Johnson scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half, leading No. 10 Tennessee over Vanderbilt.
Johnson was one of three double-digit scorers for the Volunteers (10-1, 3-1 SEC). John Fulkerson had 15 points, and Victor Bailey scored 11.
Vanderbilt (4-6, 0-4) was led by Dylan Disu’s 19 points. Scotty Pippen, Jr. scored 18.
NO. 18 VIRGINIA 85, NO. 12 CLEMSON 50
CLEMSON, S.C. — Sam Hauser and Tomas Woldetensae had 14 points and four 3-pointers each as No. 18 Virginia won its 11th straight over 12th-ranked Clemson to stay perfect in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
The Cavaliers (9-2) improved to 5-0 in the league, their best start since opening the conference 12-0 in the 2017-18 season. They figured to have to work to penetrate Clemson’s league-leading defense, but instead took control from the start with their accurate shooting and own defensive grit.
Virginia, second in the ACC to Clemson in fewest points allowed this season, forced the Tigers to shoot from way outside, something they couldn’t do with success against the Cavaliers.
Aamir Simms hit Clemson’s first field goal less than a minute in, then went ice cold from the field as the Tigers missed their next 13 shots over a 10-minute span while Virginia opened a double-digit lead.
NO. 21 OHIO STATE 87, NO. 14 ILLINOIS 81
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — E.J. Liddell scored 26 points and Ohio State beat Illinois in a brutal Big Ten matchup.
The game was especially physical in the second half. One technical was called, on Ohio State’s Duane Washington Jr., and the officials had to step in many times to avoid fights.
Washington, Justin Ahrens and Seth Towns each added 11 for Ohio State (11-3, 5-3). The Buckeyes were missing injured guards C.J. Walker and Jimmy Sotos.
Ayo Dosunmu led Illinois (9-5, 5-3) with 22 points. Kofi Cockburn scored 15 and freshman Adam Miller added 14 points for the Illini.
NO. 17 MISSOURI 68, TEXAS A&M 52
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Dru Smith scored 15 points and Missouri shook off rust from an 11-day layoff due to COVID-19 protocols to beat Texas A&M.
Jeremiah Tilmon added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers (8-2, 2-2 SEC).
Andre Gordon paced the Aggies (7-5, 2-4) with 19 points.