State college roundup: UIC can't keep up with Butler; Loyola upsets Valpo

A.J. Graves' answer to a shooting slump is to keep shooting.

The Butler senior hit his first 4 shots Saturday and finished with 16 points, his most in more than a month, and the 15th-ranked Bulldogs beat visiting Illinois-Chicago 73-57.

"I'm not concerned about my shots," said Graves, who averaged 8.1 points and 27 percent shooting over the previous eight games. "I'm not concerned about anything but winning."

Graves finished 6 of 15 from the field, including 4 of 12 on 3-pointers. He also had 2 assists and a steal and matched his season high with 5 rebounds.

Matt Howard, a 6-foot-8 freshman, led Butler with 20 points, his 12th straight game in double figures.

Graves' fourth 3-pointer ended a brief second-half comeback by the Flames (10-10, 4-5 Horizon League), then Howard scored the next 6 points and the Bulldogs (19-2, 8-2) took their biggest lead at 61-44 with under eight minutes remaining.

"We gave it a good effort," UIC coach Jimmy Collins said. "Butler's a scrappy team. They're going to make you run; they're going to make you do what they want you to do, and they do it well."

Butler never trailed, took a 13-point lead at halftime and went up 46-30 with Graves' third 3-pointer at the start of the second half.

Josh Mayo, second in the conference in scoring, led Illinois-Chicago with 19 points, and 7-footer Scott VanderMeer added 12.

Loyola 65, Valparaiso 63: J.R. Blount scored 19 points, and Loyola made 7 of 14 3-pointers in an upset win over host Valparaiso.

Andy Polka added 11 points and 4 assists, and Justin Cerasoli had 10 points and 3 steals for the Ramblers (7-13, 3-7). Loyola totaled 10 steals as a team.

Brandon McPherson led Valparaiso (14-7, 5-4) with 13 points.

S. Illinois 48, Creighton 44: Matt Shaw scored 16 points and had 7 rebounds to lead Southern Illinois past Creighton at the SIU Arena.

Bryan Mullins, with 13 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, was the only other Saluki (10-10, 5-4 Missouri Valley) in double digits.

Creighton (14-5, 5-4 Missouri Valley) shot 36.8 percent from the field.

Bradley 63, Wichita State 54: Jeremy Crouch scored 16 points to lead Bradley to a victory over host Wichita State (8-12, 1-8 Missouri Valley).

After building a 42-21 lead at halftime, the Braves cruised to their third straight win. Bradley (11-10, 4-5 Missouri Valley) also got 12 points from Sam Maniscalco and 10 from Andrew Warren.

EIU 66, Morehead St. 65 (OT): Julio Anthony scored 16 points -- including the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left -- to lead Eastern Illinois past visiting Morehead State (9-10, 7-5 Ohio Valley) in overtime. Anthony led four Panthers (3-17, 2-10 Ohio Valley) in double digits, including Tyler Laser, who came off the bench to score 13 points.

Oakland, Michigan 85, WIU 71: David Jackson had 16 points for Western Illinois (9-11, 4-5 Summit) during a loss to visiting Oakland, Mich. (10-10, 5-4).