College Basketball: Butler celebrates run with win

Butler celebrated last season's accomplishments before Saturday's opener. Then the Bulldogs opened a new chapter in historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

After unveiling the school's first Final Four banner in Indiana's oldest college basketball arena, Shelvin Mack scored 20 points and Andrew Smith had a career-high 10 to lead No. 17 Butler past Marian, 83-54.

"This is a historic event," said Marian coach John Grimes. "Everybody respects what Butler did last year." Grimes' players were so impressed they applauded during the pregame ceremony that featured radio calls from Butler's NCAA tournament upsets over Syracuse, Kansas State, and Michigan State.

Fans clapped in unison, rekindling the image of a locker-room scene from the movie Hoosiers, a scene that was said to have taken place in Hinkle.

Otherwise, it was largely business as usual for the Bulldogs. What was different?

Gordon Hayward wasn't around after becoming the first Butler player ever selected in the first round of the NBA draft. But Butler didn't miss him Saturday.

Butler shot 61.3 percent from the field, finished 8 of 24 from beyond the arc, committed only six turnovers, and forced Marian into 16 turnovers.

Pittsburgh 95, North Florida 49 - Roman Catholic graduate Brad Wanamaker scored 17 points and the No. 5 Panthers (3-0) pulled away from the 0-2 Ospreys with a 26-6 run in the first half of Pitt's 50th straight victory at home against a nonconference opponent. J.J. Moore, a freshman seeing his most extensive playing time so far this season, led Pitt with 19 points and had eight rebounds.

Illinois 85, Southern Illinois 63 - Demetri McCamey had 18 points and nine assists and D.J. Richardson added 16 points as the No. 13 Illini (3-0) handily beat the 0-1 Salukis. Richardson finished 4 for 5 from three-point range.

Washington 118, McNeese State 64 - Matthew Bryan-Amaning finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds, and the 18th-ranked Huskies routed the Cowboys in Seattle in both teams' opener.

Aziz N'Diaye had 13 points and 15 boards for the Huskies (1-0), who went 26-10 last season and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament before losing to West Virginia.

San Diego State 81, Long Beach State 65 - In the Aztecs' first-ever game as a ranked team, Kawhi Leonard had 21 points and D.J. Gay added 20 to lead No. 25 San Diego to a victory over the 49ers. The Aztecs returned all five starters from last season's 25-9 team.

LOCAL: Behind freshman Nick Christian's 18 points, Philadelphia University defeated visiting Kutztown, 67-60. . . . Four Cheyney players recorded double figures as the Wolves overcame a two point deficit at halftime to win at home, 73-57, over the University of the Sciences. Caitlin Shaw led the Devils with 23 points, and USP took the women's game, 69-62. . . . Chestnut Hill fell to Southern Connecticut at Bridgeport, 77-57. Brandon Williams was high man for the Griffins with 15 points.