Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

close
 

YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Henry leads Charlotte past No. 11 Butler 71-67

    INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Charlotte took advantage of every opportunity it was given by No. 11 Butler on Wednesday night.

    Pierria Henry scored 17 points, including two late free throws, and the 49ers hung on for a 71-67 victory that ended the Bulldogs' home winning streak.

    Chris Braswell and Willie Clayton each had 11 points for the 49ers, who ended a two-game skid.

    Rotnei Clarke scored 18 and Roosevelt Jones had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (20-5, 7-3 Atlantic 10), who hadn't lost at home in 12 games.

    ''I think the right team won,'' Butler coach Brad Stevens said. ''It probably would have been a disservice if Butler would have won.''

    The 49ers (18-6, 6-4) went on a 7-1 run late in the game and then withstood a late charge by the Bulldogs that got them within a point.

    ''Does anybody have a stretcher?'' Charlotte coach Alan Major said. ''I may need to be carried out of here after that one.''

    It was certainly a nice homecoming for the coach who grew up in Indianapolis and later attended Purdue, about an hour northwest of the city.

    After the 49ers built a 10-point lead, the Bulldogs went on an 8-2 run.

    Clarke hit a 3-pointer and the 49ers missed a shot. Kellen Dunham made two free throws to make it 60-55 with 2:20 left.

    E. Victor Nickerson hit a jumper and then Clarke made a 3-pointer to make it 62-58 with 1:31 left.

    Clarke hit a 3 with 22.6 seconds left to make it 66-61 and then Denzel Ingram made one of two from the line.

    ''They just hit tough shots,'' Nickerson said. ''It was a big win. That's a good team and we're a good team.''

    Clarke was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit all three free throws to make it 67-64, but Henry made one of two from the line.

    Clarke hit a deep 3 with 7 seconds left to pull Butler to 68-67. Henry made one of two from the line and the Bulldogs turned the ball over on an inbounds pass.

    ''It was going to Rotnei,'' Stevens said. ''But it didn't ever get to the point where he could get the ball.''

    At that point, the 49ers didn't know what Butler was going to do.

    ''I didn't know what to expect,'' Major said. ''I was expecting Clarke in some form or fashion, but sometimes when you're expecting that, as a coach, you think they're going the other direction.''

    Butler shot 39 percent and turned the ball over 11 times. At halftime, the Bulldogs were just 2 of 11 from 3-point range.

    Butler turned the ball over right away to start the second half and Ingram scored to give the 49ers a 31-27 lead.

    Butler's Erik Fromm, who made his first start of the season, scored on a putback and then Henry was fouled on a shot and converted the three-point play to give the 49ers a 34-29 lead.

    Jones scored for Butler and Clayton for Charlotte before Fromm hit a 3 to make it 36-34.

    Clayton scored again and Fromm hit another 3-pointer to make it 38-37 with 16:20 left, but Henry answered with a 3-pointer of his own to give the 49ers a 41-37 lead.

    Clark scored for the 49ers and Dunham hit a 3 to make it 43-40.

    Later, Braswell made two free throws to give the 49ers a five-point lead. Then the 49ers went on a 7-2 run.

    Fromm hit a 3-pointer to make it 51-47, but Nickerson made two free throws to extend the lead again.

    Butler played without Andrew Smith, who was out with an abdominal injury sustained in a 59-56 victory over George Washington last week. He will also miss Saturday's game at Fordham.

    Next Opponent

    Duquesne vs. Team Logo (cropped) 50x50cButler
    Tue, Feb 19, 2013 7:00 PM EST
    Temple vs. Team Logo (cropped) 50x50cCharlotte
    Sun, Feb 24, 2013 4:00 PM EST

    Team Comparison

    TeamRecordConfDivision/PlacePFPAFG%3 Pt%FT%Streak
    Butler21-58-33rd Atlantic 1070.663.745.735.769.4Won 1
    Charlotte18-76-56th Atlantic 1067.965.245.527.063.9Lost 1

    15 comments

    • Cards11  •  3 days ago
      ESPN has Butler as the only Tournament lock from the A10, guess they didn't watch Butler at ST.Louis, Butler is now in 3rd place and the A10 is wide open with at least 6 teams having a shot at winning it!
    • dan  •  3 days ago
      Bills, VCU, BUTLER...Wide open who's it gonna be??
    • A Yahoo! User  •  2 days 7 hours ago
      Charlotte won it without their leading scorer who is currently on suspension for what I hear is for smoking a little pot. Well at least he wasn't drinking under age which would have been bad for his health. I smoked pot for years one night every week with three Catholic priests who also thought that the laws on smoking pot were rediculous. Some states have found out the truth that it's harmless and have leagalized it. I never thought that I was breaking the law because I was doing something harmless in a country who told me that I was a free man and I took them at their word.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  3 days ago
      I'm susprised that Charlotte won at Butler without Charlotte's leading scorer Mayfield playing because of suspension. Mayfield has been suspended for the last three games and his absence cost them their last game against VCU. If coach Major does not let him play again this season then the NCAA will not even conssider Charlotte for an at large birth. Charlotte won have won by 20 had Mayfield been playing because he settles the team down getting the big rebounds and he hits the big free throws at the end of games beside being their best three point shooter. Without Mayfield all teams have to do is zone Charlotte to beat them, if they are smart.
    • Iowa  •  3 days ago
      Great win for UNCC. Hopefully someday they and other similar schools doing this go back to calling their team by its actual school name, instead of giving it a snappy nickname a PR firm tells them they should use, treating it like some minor league outfit not related to the university. Does not help one bit in the fight to get people to think D-I athletics actually has something to do with the schools their athletes are to be attending.
    • christian  •  2 days 14 hours ago
      if charlotte wins against st louis and temple , get your tap dancing shoes on .
    • Joe  •  3 days ago
      @ Butler?!? What the...
    • D Hitch  •  3 days ago
      I'd love to see the A-10 get 7 teams. Ain't gonna happen. Maybe 4.
    • Bill  •  3 days ago
      We missed Andrew Smith bad tonight. Oh well the Bulldogs will get it back together and be stronger down the stretch.
    • Diamond Dave  •  2 days 16 hours ago
      There will be at least 3 maybe 4 A-10 teams in the tournament this year. Butler will be one of them.