Published: November 28, 2009 01:38 am      

Men's hoops: Butler leads WVU to win; Temple defeats Va. Tech

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — De’Sean Butler stopped rushing his shot, stepped up his intensity and helped No. 8 West Virginia remain undefeated.

Butler scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half to lead the Mountaineers to a 73-66 victory over Texas A&M in the 76 Classic on Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Butler added five assists and five rebounds for West Virginia (4-0), which advanced to Sunday’s tournament final against either No. 22 Minnesota or Portland.

“Butler took over the game and made some big 3-point shots,” said Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon, who also praised the senior’s defense. “Their half-court defense was the difference in the game. It got real physical in the second half and we didn’t respond well. I thought Butler was the main reason for that.”

Butler said his performance reflected a changed attitude.

“In the first half, I played a little bit too fast,” he said. “In the second half, I slowed down and I was a little more enthusiastic on defense, which kind of made me more eager to play offense.”

With the score at 44-all, Butler scored 10 points during a 12-1 surge that gave West Virginia a 56-45 lead with 11:47 to play.

Texas A&M (5-1), which held a four-point lead in the first half, used a 6-0 run to narrow the deficit to 67-63 with 1:08 left.

But after Butler converted a free throw, West Virginia’s Devin Ebanks stole the ball, got fouled on a slam dunk and made the ensuing free throw to extend the lead to 71-63 with 42.9 seconds left.

West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said despite the win his team can play better.

“We’re not near where we need to be,” said Huggins. “When we made our run, we had five veterans on the floor. We’ve got to have five guys doing the same thing, which we didn’t have today.”

Ebanks came off the bench to get 14 points and nine rebounds, and Darryl Bryant scored 12 points.

B.J. Holmes and Donald Sloan each scored 18 points for the Aggies. Bryan Davis added a season-high 10 rebounds.

The Mountaineers shot 51.1 percent for the game, 61.9 percent in the second half.

The Aggies committed 16 turnovers and missed 13 of 31 free throws, including eight of 17 in the second half.

*****

TEXAS A&M (4-1)

Davis 2-6 2-8 6, Walkup 4-6 1-2 9, Roland 3-9 2-2 8, Harris 1-1 0-1 2, Sloan 6-11 6-8 18, Loubeau 1-5 1-3 3, Holmes 5-9 6-7 18, Middleton 0-0 0-0 0, Hibbert 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-50 18-31 66.

WEST VIRGINIA (4-0)

Butler 5-11 5-6 17, Jones 4-6 1-2 11, Smith 2-2 0-0 6, Bryant 4-8 4-5 12, Mitchell 1-9 0-0 2, Thoroughman 0-0 2-3 2, Ebanks 4-6 5-5 14, Mazzulla 1-1 0-1 2, Jennings 0-0 0-0 0, Pepper 2-3 0-0 5, Flowers 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-47 17-22 73.

Halftime—Texas A&M 34-32. 3-Point Goals—Texas A&M 2-8 (Holmes 2-3, Hibbert 0-1, Walkup 0-1, Roland 0-1, Sloan 0-2), West Virginia 8-20 (Smith 2-2, Jones 2-3, Butler 2-6, Pepper 1-2, Ebanks 1-2, Bryant 0-1, Mitchell 0-4). Fouled Out—Davis. Rebounds—Texas A&M 35 (Davis 10), West Virginia 29 (Ebanks 9). Assists—Texas A&M 6 (Harris, Sloan 2), West Virginia 17 (Butler 5). Total Fouls—Texas A&M 25, West Virginia 25. A—NA.

*****

Temple hands Va. Tech first loss of season

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Lavoy Allen scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Temple to a 61-50 win over Virginia Tech on Friday night in a matchup of unbeaten teams.

The Owls (4-1), who are off to their best start since the 2000-01 season, fell behind 13-8 with 9:46 left in the first half. Temple then outscored the Hokies 19-4 the rest of the half to take a 27-17 lead at the break in the Philly Hoop Group Classic.

Malcolm Delaney scored 28 of his 32 points in the second half, helping Virginia Tech (3-1) pull within 30-28 with 15:24 left. Temple used a 16-4 run to pull away and extended the lead to as many as 19 points with 5:04 left.

The Owls shot 42.9 percent (24-for-56) for the game while the Hokies shot 29.8 percent (17-for-57).

Allen was 8-for-9 from the floor and 2-for-3 from the free throw line for Temple, which leads the series against Virginia Tech 10-1.

*****

VIRGINIA TECH (3-1)

Allen 3-8 0-1 6, Davila 3-6 0-1 6, Bell 0-5 2-4 2, Hudson 1-6 0-0 2, Delaney 9-21 11-11 32, Green 0-3 0-0 0, Witcher 0-0 0-0 0, Boggs 0-0 0-0 0, Thompson 1-8 0-0 2. Totals 17-57 13-17 50.

TEMPLE (4-1)

Allen 8-9 2-3 18, Williams 2-9 0-0 6, Brooks 3-10 1-2 7, Fernandez 2-9 2-4 8, Guzman 4-7 0-2 8, DiLeo 2-7 0-0 4, Moore 2-3 1-2 5, Jefferson 1-2 3-4 5. Totals 24-56 9-17 61.

Halftime—Temple 27-17. 3-Point Goals—Virginia Tech 3-15 (Delaney 3-10, Green 0-1, Bell 0-1, Thompson 0-1, Hudson 0-2), Temple 4-18 (Fernandez 2-6, Williams 2-7, Brooks 0-1, Moore 0-1, DiLeo 0-3). Fouled Out—Allen. Rebounds—Virginia Tech 38 (Allen 9), Temple 39 (Allen 10). Assists—Virginia Tech 6 (Bell, Hudson 2), Temple 15 (Fernandez 6). Total Fouls—Virginia Tech 20, Temple 19. A—3,750.