Butler shoots down SIU

Guard A.J. Graves sank a half-court shot at the buzzer to lift No. 16 Butler to a 57-55 win over Southern Illinois on Friday in Carbondale.

The teams were tied at 52-52 with a minute left when Southern Illinois guard Wesley Clemmons drilled a 3-pointer that appeared to clinch the game.

But after a layup by Butler guard Mike Green and a missed Southern Illinois free throw, Graves launched the ball to help the Bulldogs avoid the upset.

Mike Green led Butler (12-1) with 19 points. Matt Howard added 15 and Graves finished with 10.

Southern Illinois (5-6) guard Joshua Bone scored a career-high 19 points, including five 3-pointers.

Minnesota 77, Nicholls St. 32: Dan Coleman scored a game-high 14 points with 6 rebounds to lead Minnesota (9-1) over Nicholls State (4-9) in the first game of the Duel in the Desert three-game round-robin in Las Vegas.

Mississippi 78, Southern Miss 58: Chris Warren scored 17 points, Dwayne Curtis added 15, and No. 22 Mississippi (12-0) set a school record for consecutive wins to start the season with a victory over visiting Southern Miss (8-5).

Rhode Island 92, E. Michigan 75: Will Daniels and Jimmy Baron scored 18 points each to lead No. 25 Rhode Island (12-1) over Eastern Michigan (4-5) at the Islander Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Women

Purdue 65, Wisconsin 48: Danielle Campbell scored 19 points as Purdue (5-6) defeated visiting Wisconsin (7-4) in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Middle Tenn. 67, LSU 56: Amber Holt scored a career-high 41 points and added 9 rebounds to help host Middle Tennessee (7-5) upset No. 8 LSU (9-3).