• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Three-point barrage leads Butler past Michigan

Nov 22, 2007 - 8:45 AM ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Ticker) -- In a battle of 3-point shooting, Michigan ended up being no match for Butler.

Behind 17 3-point field goals, No. 23 Butler bombed its way past Michigan, 79-65, in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout on Wednesday.

Butler - which never trailed in the game - will play Virginia Tech in the semifinals on Friday.

Pete Campbell scored 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the arc and A.J. Graves added 15 - also all on 3-pointers for the Bulldogs, who snapped a six-game losing streak against Michigan and beat the Wolverines for the first time since 1965.

Butler (4-0) came into the game making 40 percent of its 3-pointers, converting 10 shots from the arc per game. At one point, the Bulldogs scored eight straight baskets from long distance as they opened up a 22-point second-half lead.

The Bulldogs made nine of its first 13 3-pointers to begin the second half and finished 17-of-32 from the arc.

The barrage from the arc also set the tournament record for most 3-pointers in a game, breaking Indiana's 16 that was set against Alaska-Anchorage in 2001.

DeShawn Sims scored 14 points for the Wolverines (2-2), who had kept it close with strong 3-point shooting of their own in the first half.

Both teams came out firing from long-range early, as Michigan went 8-of-16 in the first half and Butler made 7-of-13 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs went on an 18-3 run to take a 28-11 lead with 8:46 left in the first half before the Wolverines answered with a 13-3 spurt to cut the deficit to seven.

Michigan opened the second half on a 7-0 run to cut its deficit to 40-39 with 18:45 remaining, but that would be as close as the Wolverines got.

Butler made three straight 3-pointers to take a 60-48 lead with under 13 minutes to go before continuing its 21-2 run to stretch the advantage to 72-50 with 7:25 remaining.