COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Butler Upsets Indiana to End Drought

It was Butler’s home game, but the majority of the capacity crowd wore the colors of visiting Indiana.

The folks in the red shirts went home stunned.

Butler didn’t give up a field goal in the final nine minutes Saturday as it upset 11th-ranked Indiana, 75-71, at Indianapolis--its first victory over the Hoosiers since 1958.

“Our players really believed that they could win,” Butler Coach Barry Collier said. “Without question, Travis Trice’s leadership and determination was evident throughout the Fieldhouse.”

Trice, playing his first season with the Bulldogs after sitting out a season after his transfer from Purdue, made a three-point shot and three free throws in the final 2:13 to hold off the Hoosiers. He had 24 points to lead all scorers.

“When we started believing, and our pressure picked up on defense, that made all the difference in the world,” said Trice. “We got a couple of steals, a couple of easy baskets. Once you start believing, there’s nothing you can’t do.”

Said Indiana Coach Bob Knight: “Butler came right out and played better than we did, played harder than we did. They just carried that through the entire ballgame.

“They played excellently defensively. I think they took us out of a lot of things.”

Indiana (0-1) took a 60-59 lead on a three-point shot by Brian Evans with 9:07 to play, but the Hoosiers then missed their final 12 shots.

A tip-in by T.J. Perry put Butler (1-1) ahead to stay, 66-65, with four minutes remaining. Indiana’s Alan Henderson then missed two of the six free throws he attempted in the final 11:05. Jermaine Guice’s three-point basket gave Butler a 69-65 lead with 2:43 left.

Damon Bailey, who scored 23 points, got Indiana within two by making two free throws with 2:30 left, but a three-point basket and a free throw by Trice gave the Bulldogs a 73-67 lead.

Guice scored 19 points for Butler, which made 11 of 21 three-point shots.

Trice made seven.

Evans scored 19 points for Indiana. Henderson had 13 points and 14 rebounds, but was five of 12 from the free-throw line.

No. 2 Kentucky 78, No. 7 Louisville 70--Tony Delk scored 19 points and Andre Riddick added 15 as the Wildcats staked their claim to No. 1 with a season-opening victory at Lexington, Ky.

“I don’t think we are No. 1,” Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino said. “I think we showed a national (television) audience that we are a hard-working, inexperienced team with a lot of potential, but I think Kansas deserves the No. 1 ranking . . . and they can have it. We don’t want it.”

North Carolina, ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll, was defeated by Massachusetts, 91-86, last Wednesday in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT. Kansas defeated Massachusetts in the final.

Kentucky, defeating its instate rival for the fourth consecutive time, went on a 10-3 run in the opening 3:22 of the second half to take a 49-31 lead.

Clifford Rozier led Louisville with 29 points and 13 rebounds, making 11 of 15 shots, Morton scored 14 points and Greg Minor 13.

No. 4 Duke 86, Northeastern 72--Grant Hill scored 18 points and played point guard down the stretch for the Blue Devils, who broke open a close game with a late first-half run en route to the victory at Durham, N.C.

Duke won its 81st consecutive home game against nonconference competition and 12th straight season opener.

But the Blue Devils were sloppy in their first game without all-time NCAA assist leader Bobby Hurley.

“The difference is that Hurley has a point guard mind set,” Northeastern Coach Karl Fogel said when comparing this Duke team to last year’s. “He blows it up the court. Playing against Duke last year I never saw guys run up and down so fast. But (Grant) Hill isn’t a point guard. He grew up playing other positions.”

Cherokee Parks added 15 points for the Blue Devils.

Anthony Brown led Northeastern with 22 points.

No. 15 Georgetown 84, Virginia State 64--Eric Micoud scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the first half as the Hoyas rolled over their Division II opponents at Landover, Md.

Georgetown (1-1) took a 7-0 lead and led, 17-3, with 14:53 to play in the half.

Robert Churchwell added 17 points, Duane Spencer 11 and Don Reid 10 for the Hoyas.

Kevin Holeman led Virginia State (1-3) with 18 points.

Georgetown played the game without point guard Joey Brown, who suffered a strained shoulder in Friday’s 84-83 loss to Maryland. Brown, a 5-foot-10 senior from Morgan City, La., is expected to be ready when the Hoyas play host to Villanova in their Big East Conference opener on Saturday.

No. 25 Wisconsin 106, Wisconsin Milwaukee 84--Freshman center Rashard Griffith made an impressive debut, scoring 27 points to lead the Badgers at Madison, Wis.

Griffith, 6 feet 11, also had 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals.

No. 21 Purdue 97, Weber State 78--Glenn Robinson scored 28 points and had 17 rebounds to lead the Boilermakers in the semifinals of the Great Alaska Shootout late Friday night at Anchorage.

Arizona State 106, Brigham Young 95--Isaac Burton scored 28 points at Tempe, Ariz., to lead the Sun Devils, who played the last 29 minutes without junior guard Marcell Capers.

Capers suffered a broken left foot and is expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery on Monday.

Washinton State 76, Michigan State 71--Isaac Fontaine scored 33 points, made five of six three-point shots and four free throws in the last 35 seconds to lead the Cougars (2-0) over the Spartans (1-1) in the San Juan Shootout.

Utah 105, Southern California College 64--Ma Jian scored 18 points to lead the Utes over the Vanguards at Salt Lake City.

Boston College 90, Hartford 65--Bill Curley had 24 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Eagles at Boston.