Thursday’s Top 25 Capsules
January 9th, 2009 Posted in NCAA basketball news, NCAA college basketballCINCINNATI -Derrick Brown didn’t miss a shot while scoring 20 points and C J Anderson added 13 as No 16 Xavier beat Saint Louis 70-44 on Thursday night in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams.
Brown was 6-for-6 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and made all five of his free throws.
Jason Love had 11 points for the Musketeers (12-2, 1-0), who have won three straight games after consecutive losses.
Kevin Lisch scored nine points to lead the Billikens (9-6, 0-1), who made a season-low one 3-pointer and saw their three-game winning streak snapped with their worst loss of the season.
No. 21 Butler 64, Wright St. 48
INDIANAPOLIS – Matt Howard scored 14 points and Gordon Hayward had 12 points and 11 rebounds to lead Butler to its fifth straight victory.
The Bulldogs (13-1, 4-0 Horizon League) connected on five of seven 3-point attempts in the first half, stifled Wright State’s post-up offense and put the game away by going inside and drawing fouls in the second half.
Butler has won 15 straight over conference opponents and 11 consecutive home games.
Todd Brown had 13 points for Wright State (8-8, 2-3), which was 5-for-19 from 3-point range and had a six-game winning streak snapped.
No. 22 Minnesota 52, Iowa 49
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Lawrence Westbrook and Travis Busch each scored 10 points and Minnesota rallied from a 13-point deficit then hung on to beat Iowa.
The Golden Gophers (14-1, 2-1 Big Ten) shot just 33.9 percent from the field and nearly let the game slip away in the closing seconds.
Minnesota led 50-44 with 24.5 seconds left. Jake Kelly of Iowa (11-5, 1-2) scored and Al Nolen of Minnesota missed two free throws. Jeff Peterson buried an open 3 from the corner with 5.3 seconds left to make it a one-point game, but Westbrook hit two free throws. Kelly’s shot from just inside halfcourt bounced off the rim.
Minnesota, which trailed 23-10, held Iowa to 23 points in the second half.
Peterson had 16 points for Iowa.
