By MICHAEL MAROT
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — Tom Crean spent the first hour after Saturday’s game contemplating what went wrong.
Indiana will spend the next three days fixing the problems Butler exposed.
Alex Barlow, a 5-foot-11 walk-on guard, backed his way into the lane and hit a spinning 6-foot jumper with 2.4 seconds left in overtime to give the Bulldogs an 88-86 win over the Hoosiers, likely ending their season-long reign as the nation’s top team.
“The thing that hurt us as much as anything in this game is the things that we saw,” Crean said after waiting more than 60 minutes to take questions. “It’s the lay-ups that get you. It’s the drives, it’s the lay-ups. It’s those types of things. Those things hurt us. The bottom line today is that we didn’t rebound the ball well enough today.”
Indiana didn’t resemble the nation’s top-ranked team against the surging Bulldogs (8-2), who have won five in a row overall, six straight at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and four of the last five when this series has been played in Indianapolis.
Crean groaned about the rebounding. Butler held just a 40-38 advantage, but it marked the first time this season the Hoosiers (9-1) have been beaten on the glass.
But there were far bigger problems.
Indiana committed 13 turnovers, a handful that allowed Butler to stay close and a big one when Barlow poked the ball away from Yogi Ferrell with 1:14 to go in overtime. That miscue led to a 3-pointer that gave Butler an 86-84 lead and allowed it to dictate the rest of the game. Ferrell, a freshman, finished with six turnovers.
And then there was the decisive play — Barlow’s strong back-down move.
Indiana immediately called timeout to set up a play but all the Hoosiers could muster was a long heave from Jordan Hulls that sailed to the left of the basket.
“For us to get back into the game, we played better defense. It’s that simple,” said Victor Oladipo, who scored 18 points. “They executed down the stretch, that’s why they won. It’s that simple.”
The Hoosiers were beaten by a kid who spurned college scholarship offers to play his best sport, baseball, and opted to come to Butler for only one reason — to learn how to coach basketball from Brad Stevens. He showed everyone he can hoop it up, too.
Stevens didn’t hesitate to constantly keep the ball in Barlow’s hands after three key Butler players had already fouled out. The sophomore, who had scored only 12 points in nine games this season and 18 in his college career, delivered with a series of key plays.
Barlow finished with a career-high six points, came up with a big steal that led to a go-ahead 3-pointer late in overtime and finally won it with a shot that bounced off the back of the rim, straight into the air and finally through the net for the school’s first win over a No. 1 team.
The sold-out arena roared as the game ended, and the Bulldogs rushed to midcourt to celebrate with Barlow.
“I thought he just rose up over Hulls and it looked good,” Stevens said. “Don’t use this as an excuse to get down on Indiana. I still think they’re the team to beat in April. Our guys just played really hard and when it really mattered, they figured out a way.”
Barlow overshadowed a supporting cast that put up stronger numbers.
Roosevelt Jones scored 16 points and matched his career highs with 12 rebounds and six assists before fouling out with 2:03 left in regulation.
Andrew Smith finished with 12 points and nine rebounds and held national player of the year candidate Cody Zeller in check until fouling out just 17 seconds after Jones.
Rotnei Clarke, who transferred to Butler from Arkansas, scored 13 of his 19 points and made three of his five 3-pointers in the second half.
In all, five Bulldogs players finished in double figures while the defense held one of America’s most proficient offenses to just 42.9 percent shooting from the field.
The Hoosiers were led by Zeller’s 18 points, including a layup to tie it at 86 with 19.3 seconds left in overtime. Reserve Will Sheehey added 13 points.
Clearly this was not the same Indiana team that won its first nine games by an average of nearly 32 points while shooting 51.5 percent from the field.
“There’s a lot of things (to work on),” said Zeller, who had only five rebounds and four baskets. “We got outrebounded. There’s a lot of little things that we have to figure, but we’ll get back to work and figure them out.”
The difference Saturday was that Butler never let the Hoosiers get away from them — even when Smith and Jones went to the bench with four fouls midway through the second half.
Stevens reinserted both players with 9 minutes to go in regulation, trailing 57-50, and the Bulldogs responded with a 12-0 run that gave them a 66-59 lead with 4:31 left.
Butler still led 71-64 when Jones fouled out, and the Hoosiers answered with five straight points from the free throw line. They finally tied the score on Ferrell’s 3-pointer from the right wing with 6.1 seconds to go, and Butler’s Chase Stigall missed a 3-pointer off the front of the rim as time expired.
In overtime, Indiana looked as though it would take control when Zeller’s layup made it 84-80 with 2:12 to play. But the Bulldogs again rallied, getting a 3 from Clarke, a steal from Barlow that led Stigall’s 3-pointer, and Barlow’s improbable winning shot.
“I just figured I would throw it up to the rim,” Barlow said. “If I missed it, I knew they wouldn’t get a shot off. Luckily, it bounced in.”
NO. 3 MICHIGAN 81, WEST VIRGINIA 66
NEW YORK — Tim Burke scored a season-best 27 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. matched his season high with 25 and Michigan remained unbeaten with a win over West Virginia at the Barclays Center.
The Wolverines (11-0) haven’t gotten off to this good a start since 1988-89 — the season they won the school’s only national championship.
Burke and Hardaway both had solid all-around games in the backcourt. Burke was 12 of 16 from the field and had eight assists, while Hardaway was 7 of 12 and made half of his eight 3-point attempts.
Freshman Terry Henderson had a season-high 23 points for the Mountaineers (4-5), who lost their second straight after a three-game winning streak.
NO. 4 SYRACUSE 85, CANISIUS 61
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — James Southerland broke out of a slump with 21 points and Brandon Triche had 19 to lead Syracuse over Canisius in the Gotham Classic.
Michael Carter-Williams added 12 points and 14 assists as Syracuse (9-0) extended its home winning streak to 29 games — the longest in the nation — and moved head coach Jim Boeheim within one victory of 900. Mike Krzyzewski (936) and Bob Knight (902) are the only Division I men’s coaches to reach that milestone. The Orange’s next game is at home against Detroit on Monday night.
Billy Baron and Isaac Sosa each scored 15 points to lead Canisius (6-2), which was off to its best start since 1973-74 and was riding a three-game winning streak on the road.
NO. 8 ARIZONA 65, NO. 5 FLORIDA 64
TUCSON, Ariz. — Mark Lyons hit a contested layup with 7 seconds left and Arizona rallied from a six-point deficit in the final minute to pull out an improbable win over Florida.
Arizona (8-0) fell behind by 11 in the second half before rallying. The Wildcats used their press to force consecutive turnovers on inbound plays, pulling to 64-63 after Grant Jerrett hit one of two free throws. Arizona fouled Kenny Boynton, who missed the front end of a 1-and-1, then raced to the other end for Lyons’ driving shot.
Florida (7-1) fumbled the ball away before taking a wild 3-pointer on its last possession.
Solomon Hill had 18 points, Nick Johnson added 15 and Lyons 14 for Arizona.
NO. 6 LOUISVILLE 87, MEMPHIS 78
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Chane Behanan scored 22 points and Louisville rallied from 16 points down in the first half to beat Memphis.
Louisville (9-1) trailed 25-9 in the first half before pulling out its fourth straight win in a rivalry against a team the Cardinals have played in three conferences. The Big East will be the fourth when Memphis joins in July.
Russ Smith scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half for Louisville. Peyton Siva added 19 points, and Luke Hancock had 11.
Joe Jackson led Memphis (6-3) with 23 points and eight assists, and Tarik Black scored 21.
NO. 7 OHIO ST. 90, UNC ASHEVILLE 72
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Sam Thompson scored a career-high 18 points and Ohio State made the most of an opportunity to get out and run to beat UNC Asheville.
Deshaun Thomas had 17 points, Lenzelle Smith Jr. 16 and Evan Ravenel tied a career best with 12 points in the first half for the Buckeyes (8-1), who tuned up for a big showdown next Saturday against No. 9 Kansas with their fourth game on an eight-game homestand.
Keith Hornsby, son of Grammy-winning singer and pianist Bruce Hornsby, had a career-high 26 points for Asheville (3-7), which had won two straight heading into a tough three-game road trip.
Hornsby’s father watched from behind the Asheville bench.
NO. 9 KANSAS 89, BELMONT 60
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Ben McLemore and Travis Releford scored 17 points each, Jeff Withey had 14 points and blocked five shots, and Kansas cruised to a victory over Belmont.
Andrew White III added 15 points off the bench for the Jayhawks (8-1), who used suffocating defense and peerless transition offense early in the second half to put away the Bruins (6-3), a mid-major darling that has been to the NCAA tournament five of the past seven years.
Kansas won its 27th straight game at Allen Fieldhouse and 60th against a non-conference opponent. Jayhawks coach Bill Self improved to 150-7 at the venerable on-campus arena.
Trevor Noack scored a career-high 19 points for the Bruins.
NO. 11 CINCINNATI 72, MARSHALL 56
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Cashmere Wright scored 14 points and Cincinnati overcame an off game from top scorer Sean Kilpatrick to beat Marshall.
Cincinnati improved to 10-0 for the second time in three seasons and 10th in school history.
Kilpatrick tied his season low with 13 points on 5-of-15 shooting, while Justin Jackson scored 10 for the Bearcats. Kilpatrick overcame a poor first half with nine points in the final eight minutes.
D.D. Scarver and Elijah Pittman scored 20 points apiece for Marshall (6-5).
Last year, Marshall overcame a nine-point deficit in the second half and beat the Bearcats 73-69 in overtime in Cincinnati.
NO. 14 GONZAGA 68, KANSAS STATE 52
SEATTLE — Kelly Olynyk dominated inside with 20 points and Gonzaga rebounded from its first loss of the season with an impressive win over Kansas State.
Making their annual trip to Seattle, the Bulldogs (10-1) controlled the interior and wore down the Wildcats in the second half. Olynyk’s highlight was a rattling, one-handed slam with about 9 minutes left that drew a technical foul for screaming, but also gave the Bulldogs a 14-point lead.
Gonzaga outscored Kansas State 38-12 in the paint.
Angel Rodriguez led Kansas State (7-2) with 14 points, but leading scorer Rodney McGruder had a miserable night. McGruder didn’t score for the first 30 minutes and finished with four points.
NO. 15 GEORGETOWN 81, WESTERN CAROLINA 68
WASHINGTON — Greg Whittington scored a career-high 25 points to lead Georgetown to a win over Western Carolina.
Jabril Trawick added a career-high 14 points, and Otto Porter had 12 for the Hoyas (9-1), who took control with a 13-3 run at the end of the first half against a school that fell to 0-38 against teams ranked in the AP poll.
Tom Tankelewicz made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points to lead the Catamounts (4-7).
Georgetown is among seven Big East schools without top-level football programs who announced after the game they plan to split from the conference.
NO. 16 CREIGHTON 74, CALIFORNIA 64
BERKELEY, Calif. — Doug McDermott had a season-high 34 points and nine rebounds to help Creighton run its winning streak to four games with a victory against California.
Gregory Echenique added 10 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Bluejays (10-1).
McDermott, averaging 22.7 points coming in, posted his seventh straight game with 20 or more points and became the first Creighton player with consecutive 30-point games since Bob Harstad in 1990. It was McDermott’s third 30-point effort this season.
Allen Crabbe, the Pac-12 scoring leader, was held to 14 points for Cal (6-3) after coming in with a 21.9 average.
NO. 17 NEW MEXICO 73, NEW MEXICO ST. 58
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Alex Kirk scored seven of his 15 points in an early New Mexico run to help the Lobos beat downstate rival New Mexico State.
Kendall Williams added 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Lobos (11-0), while Chad Adams had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Kirk also equaled a career high with five blocks, part of a strong New Mexico defensive performance that limited the Aggies to 32.8 percent shooting from the field. New Mexico State shot 8 for 30 in the second half and made just four of 16 3-pointers.
Daniel Mullings scored 14 to lead New Mexico State (5-5).
NO. 18 SAN DIEGO ST. 72, SAN DIEGO 56
SAN DIEGO — Chase Tapley scored 15 points, including consecutive 3-pointers during a decisive 12-0 run, and Jamaal Franklin had 14 to lead San Diego State over its crosstown rival.
The Aztecs (8-1) won their eighth straight game since losing the season-opener to No. 4 Syracuse. SDSU beat USD (6-6) for the seventh straight time, the longest streak in the rivalry. Overall, SDSU has won 10 of 11 against the Toreros.
DeShawn Stephens scored 11 points for SDSU, which had an eight-day layoff for finals.
USD’s Ken Rancifer scored 16, while Chris Manresa and Chris Anderson had 11 each. Johnny Dee, who came in leading the Toreros with 15 points, was scoreless in the first half and finished with nine.
NO. 19 MICHIGAN ST. 92, TUSKEGEE 56
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Keith Appling scored 25 points to lead Michigan State to a win over Tuskegee at Jenison Field House, where the “Game of Change” was held during the 1963 NCAA tournament.
The Spartans (9-2) played their first game in their former home for hoops since 1989 to celebrate a historic event staged in the same venue nearly a half-century ago.
Mississippi State, whose team had only white players at the time, defied a state prohibition against playing integrated teams to face Loyola of Chicago, which had four black starters, in East Lansing during the 1963 NCAAs. Loyola won the game en route to winning the NCAA title that year.
Calvin Thomas scored 14 points and Javier McKinney had 12 for the Golden Tigers (1-5).
NO. 21 NO. CAROLINA 93, EAST CAROLINA 87
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — James Michael McAdoo scored 19 points to help North Carolina hold off East Carolina.
P.J. Hairston added 18 for the Tar Heels (8-2), who emerged from a weeklong break due to fall exams with their third straight victory. North Carolina shot 55 percent in the first half to build a 16-point lead at the break, but the Pirates — coached by former UNC guard Jeff Lebo — outplayed the Tar Heels through much of the second half and made it a tough run to the finish.
Akeem Richmond scored 17 points to lead East Carolina (6-2), which got as close as four points in the final minute, though they couldn’t overtake the Tar Heels on their home court.
NO. 22 NOTRE DAME 81, PURDUE 68
INDIANAPOLIS — Jack Cooley had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Notre Dame to its seventh straight victory with a win over Purdue in the Crossroads Classic.
Eric Atkins had 17 points and seven assists, Pat Connaughton scored 16 and Garrick Sherman 11 for the Fighting Irish (9-1), who have won every game during their win streak by double digits. Former Purdue player Scott Martin chipped in with five points for Notre Dame on 2-for-8 shooting.
Purdue freshman Rapheal Davis scored all 21 of his points in the second half, helping the Boilermakers trim a 23-point second-half deficit to single digits at one point. Ronnie Johnson scored 15 points and D.J. Byrd added 13 for Purdue (4-6).
NO. 25 NORTH CAROLINA ST. 84, NORFOLK ST. 62
RALEIGH, N.C. — Freshman forward T.J. Warren scored 21 points to lead North Carolina State past Norfolk State.
Lorenzo Brown scored 16 points and Richard Howell added 12 points and a career-high 19 rebounds for the Wolfpack (7-2).
They shot 57 percent and broke the game open with a transition-fueled run that bridged the halves, forcing 16 turnovers and turning them into 21 points while winning their third straight.
Malcolm Hawkins had 16 points for the Spartans (6-7), who lost their second straight — both against Top 25 opponents.