College Basketball Capsules: Monroe leads No. 15 Georgetown over No. 22 Butler

NEW YORK — Georgetown dominated inside because of Greg Monroe and the Hoyas had success from the perimeter because of him as well.

Monroe had 24 points and 15 rebounds — both career highs — to lead the 15th-ranked Hoyas to a 72-65 victory over No. 22 Butler on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

"You look at the stat sheet and obviously you see the numbers Greg put up," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. "But I thought that was a total team effort. It’s easy to talk about what Greg and Austin did, but our other guys were huge."

Austin Freeman was 4 of 5 from 3-point range and added 18 points for the Hoyas and he was quick to point out that he was able to do that because Monroe.

"I was just taking the first open shot I had and wasn’t forcing them," he said. "Greg gets everybody else open because they have to pay attention to him."

Monroe, last season’s Big East rookie of the year, recorded his third double-double of the season as the Hoyas (7-0) used their size advantage to control the paint at both ends.

Georgetown finished with a 43-30 rebound advantage, outscored the Bulldogs (6-3) 30-16 inside and held Butler forward Matt Howard to nine points on 1-of-9 shooting.

"Monroe was a real authoritative spirit inside," Butler coach Brad Stevens said. "To see how big an effect he had just look at our shooting percentages, we were higher on 3s than 2s."

The loss was the third in as many games against ranked teams for Butler, which hosts No. 13 Ohio State on Saturday. The Bulldogs, who lost to Minnesota and Clemson in the 76 Classic, have lost eight of their last nine games against teams in Top 25.

"We have to get better," Stevens said. "We’ve played a tough schedule and it’s not going to get easier. We have a ton of things to work on. We have to do a better job on the glass. There was a huge discrepancy there."

Gordon Hayward had 24 points for Butler.

The 6-foot-11 Monroe, who scored 21 points against Notre Dame as a freshman and had 13 rebounds against American last weekend, started slowly from the field, missing four of his first six shots. His defense against Howard was strong from the start as the 6-8 junior and reigning Horizon League player of the year missed his first eight shots from the field, many with Monroe having a hand in his face or leaning on him as he tried to establish position down low.

"We knew what they wanted to do coming in and we had to get position before they did," Monroe said. "We had to keep it out of the post and not let them get to opportunity to score."

Monroe finished 9 of 20 from the field and he was asked if taking that many shots was going to become the norm for him.

"Ask his coach," Thompson interrupted. "The number of shots is not important. The number of good shots is what matters. Greg is unselfish and that’s because we have a lot of players in that locker room who can score."

The Hoyas did go outside to take their biggest lead of the game as Freeman hits two 3-pointers and Hollis Thompson made another from long range to make it 52-35 with 13:35 to play.

The Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run — that included Howard’s first field goal, to get to 52-42. Monroe was all alone at the other end of the court for a monster dunk to end Georgetown’s 4:13 scoreless drought. But Howard made two free throws and Hayward hit a 3 to get the Bulldogs to 54-47 with 8:37 to go.

Butler was at 68-62 in the final minute when Monroe blocked a drive by Shelvin Mack and the Hoyas closed it from there.

Georgetown will play its first game in California since 2001 when it plays No. 17 Washington on Saturday in the Wooden Classic at Anaheim.

"This is a week that was put together by design, it wasn’t by accident" Thompson said. "In the Big East we will play a tough game on Tuesday or Wednesday and then another tough one on Saturday. I want our guys to be used to that emotional ride."

The Jimmy V Classic is held annually to raise money for the V Foundation, the cancer research organization founded in the name of the late Jim Valvano.

Top 25 Women

Bruszewski scores 18, Notre Dame beats IPFW 96-60

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw was probably the only thing that kept Becca Bruszewski from having a career night.

After scoring 14 points in the first half and matching her career high with four steals, Bruszewski played only seven minutes in the second to finish with 18 points and five assists as the No. 3 Fighting Irish cruised to a 96-60 victory over IPFW on Tuesday night.

Bruszewski, whose career high for points is 20, had been slowed by fouls in recent games.

"Without foul trouble, that’s what Becca’s going to do for us every game. I think she’s been doing that for us every game, just in smaller pieces because of the foul trouble," McGraw said. "It’s probably frustrating for her we subbed so early because she was playing so well."

Bruszewski said she played smarter.

"I guess just getting around in the post without touching them at all, because that’s what I struggled with," she said.

Lindsay Schrader added 14 points and eight rebounds as the Irish (8-0) dominated inside, outscoring the Mastodons (2-5) 62-12 in the paint and outrebounding them 39-27. IPFW’s leading scorer Stephanie Rosado (14.7 points a game) was 1-of-12 shooting for eight points and Eva Inova (10 ppg) was 0 of 3.

"Our two posts go 1 for 15, it’s going to be tough for us to win a basketball game," IPFW coach Chris Paul said.

Anne Boese, making her first start, had a career-high 24 points for the Mastodons on 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. She said the Notre Dame defense was tough.

"Once somebody got the ball it was a matter of split seconds before they all swarmed us," she said. "It was tough to get open shots."

The Irish, playing with their highest ranking in five seasons, are off to their best start since going 23-0 and winning the national championship in 2000-01.

-- Tom Coyne

North Carolina beast Radford 74-48

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Cetera DeGraffenreid scored 15 points to help No. 11 North Carolina beat Radford 74-48 on Tuesday night.

Italee Lucas and Waltiea Rolle added 11 points apiece for the Tar Heels (7-1), who overcame a season-high 26 turnovers by shooting a season-high 56.6 percent from the floor.

Brooke McElroy scored 13 points to lead Radford (1-6), which totaled fewer than 52 points for the sixth time this season.

The Tar Heels opened with a 12-0 run in the game’s first five minutes, but the Highlanders answered with a 17-4 spurt to take a 17-16 lead midway through the first half. North Carolina responded with a 12-2 run, never again trailing on its way to a 34-29 halftime lead.

North Carolina began the second half with a 15-3 surge to take control of the game.

Mitchell has 17 points in Georgia’s 71-50

ATHENS, Ga. — Meredith Mitchell scored a career-high 17 points to help No. 13 Georgia overcome a sluggish start and beat Tennessee State 71-50 on Tuesday night.

Ashley Houts added 13 points and four assists while Anne Marie Armstrong had 10 points for Georgia (9-0).

Jasmine Smith scored a game-high 20 points and had a game-high 13 rebounds for Tennessee State (3-5). Oby Okafor also had 12 points.

Both teams played sloppily: Georgia committed 23 turnovers, Tennessee State 22. But Georgia out-shot Tennessee State from the field 50.9 percent to 28.3 percent.

Georgia turned the ball over six of its first eight possessions of the game and trailed 5-2 before going on a 16-0 run. Angel Robinson started the run with a layup and a pair of free throws. Jaleesa Rhoden and Candace Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 19-8 lead with 9:52 left in the half.

Harrison leads No. 15 Pittsburgh over Valpo 77-52

PITTSBURGH — Taneisha Harrison had a career-high 27 points and No. 15 Pittsburgh remained unbeaten with a 77-52 victory over Valparaiso on Tuesday night.

Harrison, who scored 17 in the second half, shot 11 for 22 from the field with three 3-pointers for the Panthers (8-0).

Shayla Scott added 13 points and Pepper Wilson 11. Chelsea Cole grabbed 15 rebounds for Pitt, which closed the first half on a 24-4 run to take a 36-15 lead and never looked back.

The Crusaders (3-4) have lost four straight after a strong start and were playing their first of three consecutive Big East opponents.

Betsy Adams made six 3-pointers for 18 points, and Lauren Kenney had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists for Valparaiso.

Wright scores 30 in Virginia’s win over Furman

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Monica Wright scored 30 points and sparked a first-half run of 22 straight points by No. 19 Virginia in a 74-43 win over Furman on Tuesday night.

Wright, who had nine steals, eight rebounds and seven assists, scored 20 points in the first half for the Cavaliers (7-2), including back-to-back 3-pointers that started the 22-0 run.

Raegan Thompson paced the Lady Paladins (2-8) with nine points and Kali Holtfreter added eight.

The game was tied at 8 in the opening half before Wright made the two 3s and Virginia kept Furman scoreless for almost 13 minutes.

Virginia, which shot 45 percent from the field (27 of 60), held a 47-28 rebounding advantage. The Cavaliers led 38-15 at halftime.

Furman shot 33.3 percent from the field, connecting on 16-of-48 attempts.

Whitny Edwards joined Wright in double figures, scoring a career-best 17 points for the Cavaliers.

Men’s Features

Latinos no longer rare in college basketball

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Traveling across South America, John Chaney heard plenty of claims. Most turned out to be untrue, the player not quite as tall, fast or talented as advertised.

"They’d say almost anything to get a chance to come to the United States," the former Temple coach recalls.

One did live up to the billing: Pepe Sanchez, a dynamic point guard from Bahia Blanca, Argentina, who followed Chaney to Philadelphia, became an All-American and took the Owls within a game of the 1999 Final Four.

Little did this unlikely pairing know that they would help open college basketball’s door to Latin America — a door that soon could be kicked wide open.

"You just didn’t see many kids from Latin America then," Chaney said. "There were a few around — I think (N.C. State’s Jim) Valvano had one — but there just weren’t many Latino kids around. Now, you see them popping up all over."

The globalization of basketball was sparked in large part by the 1992 U.S. Dream Team. It has led kids to take up the sport in countries where soccer has ruled and baseball or even boxing were higher on the sports chain.

In the nearly two decades since Michael Jordan led the Americans to gold, many of those kids have grown up, honed their skills and headed to America to play college basketball.

Maryland star point guard Greivis Vasquez is from Venezuela, as is Gregory Echenique, Rutgers’ second-leading scorer. Cal sophomore guard Jorge Gutierrez was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and Dominican Republic native Edgar Sosa will be counted on heavily with all the injuries at Louisville.

Argentine Juan Fernandez, who Chaney helped recruit, is Temple’s third-leading scorer and Brazilian Jonathan Tavernari is third in scoring at BYU.

Kansas State seems to have a direct pipeline for Latino players.

Point guard Denis Clemente and center Luis Colon moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico in high school and their coach, Frank Martin, was born in Cuba. The Wildcats have another Latino on the way, too: recently signed forward/center Freddy Asprilla is Colombian.

Once an afterthought in the recruiting wars, Latin America has become a hotbed of talent that can no longer be ignored.

"We’re all looking for players who can help us win games," Martin said. "If there’s somebody from Puerto Rico, Venezuela, maybe one day Cuba, who can help us win games and represent our universities the right way, we’d be fools not to take advantage and bring those guys to our universities."

It’s been 20 years since Seton Hall, whose international players included Puerto Rican forward Ramon Ramos, lost in overtime in the NCAA final to Michigan. But the seeds of this Latin American infusion started a few years later with the Dream Team.

The 1992 U.S. Olympic team, the first with NBA players, captivated the world by dunking and dominating its way to gold in Barcelona. The players on that team were known, of course, but the Olympics turned them into larger-than-life figures, sparking the dreams of kids around the world who hoped they too could be like Bird, Magic and Michael.

"Everybody loved the Dream Team," said Colon, who was into kickboxing and wrestling before taking up basketball. "When Michael Jordan and Larry Bird and all those players did that, we followed the NBA 100 percent in Puerto Rico."

Latin American professional leagues are now filled with talented players and teams. The national teams are no longer patsies for American and European teams; Argentina shocked the world by winning Olympic gold in 2004, the same year Puerto Rico knocked off a U.S. team filled with NBA players in the opening round. The Americans finished third.

Now the NBA is filled with Latino players, too, including San Antonio Spurs All-Star Manu Ginobili (Argentina), Miami Heat point guard Carlos Arroyo (Puerto Rico) and Phoenix guard Leandro Barbosa (Brazil) — just to name a few.

"You see that they can do it, you believe anyone can do it," Cal’s Gutierrez said.

The fraternity of Latino players in college basketball is still small, but it’s tight-knit. The players have a camaraderie from knowing they’re on the ground floor of something that could become huge.

"It’s a pride thing. I’m very proud of Latin American players making it to this level, even to the NBA," Colon said. "There’s so many more Latin Americans here than there used to be. I feel really good that we have this opportunity and maybe the new generation will do good things."

The next wave should be coming soon.

Thousands of Latino players already fill high school rosters across the country and youth programs in Latin American countries are sure to get better as interest grows and better coaching is available.

One of the greatest untapped basketball resources is about to be blown open.

"There’s a lot of young dudes in South America that you don’t even know (about)," Kansas State’s Clemente said. "They have a chance to go practice and come to NBA rookie camps, so you can tell they’ve got talent. I think they’re going to keep coming."

The door’s already open.

-- John Marshall

Pearl challenges Vols to be more in charge of game

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl says his Volunteers have been letting their opponents set the game tempo a little too much lately.

"It’s not been as up as I’d like," he said. "The one good thing is we’ve been able to win games playing slower as well as playing faster."

That could change as the schedule gets tougher for the ninth-ranked Vols (6-1). So Pearl wants his players to be more in charge, starting Friday when they face Middle Tennessee State (3-4) on a neutral Nashville Arena court in the Sun Belt Classic.

Pearl isn’t sure if his team is playing to the level of their early season opponents like College of Charleston and East Tennessee State, two surprisingly close games. He does know travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament, a busy game schedule and exams haven’t helped.

"I did feel like prior going to the Virgin Islands we had great practices, very intense practices, knowing what was ahead," Pearl said.

Even though the Vols suffered their only loss of the season to Purdue while in the Virgin Islands, the coach is challenging his players to practice as if the fifth-ranked Boilermakers were still their next opponent.

That shouldn’t be too tough considering Tennessee has games against Southern California, Memphis and Kansas looming in the next month.

Pearl met with the Tennessee’s four seniors before Monday’s practice, cautioning them that it’s their job to push their teammates to play hard and fast, regardless of who their next opponent is.

"Your senior season is important, it’s your last season, and we all realize that," said senior point guard Bobby Maze said. "But coach was making sure to remind us of that, that we need to lay everything on the line. He let us know that we need to show that leadership on and off the floor."

Pearl is also looking for his players to do a better job finishing around the basket. The Vols are shooting well, but they’re not getting to the foul line as often as their opponents.

Tennessee leads the Southeastern Conference in points (86.4), shooting percentage (50.8) and 3-point shooting percentage (43.8). The Vols have attempted 142 free throws compared to their opponents’ 153 attempts.

"Even though we are shooting those percentages, I feel like we’re missing more than our share of really good looks," Pearl said. "They’re not easy shots, but you’ve got to finish the play, take the contact, keep your head up."

To be sure it’s not a matter of physical toughness that’s keeping them from pushing tempo and finishing their plays, Pearl also supervised his players during a 6:30 a.m. weightlifting session.

Senior Tyler Smith says it’s not about conditioning or physical toughness, though.

"It’s mental, to us," Smith said. "We did everything to be prepared (physically) for this. We’re ready for it, but we’ve just got to get through it mentally."

-- Beth Rucker

Iowa coach home after surgery to repair artery

DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa coach Todd Lickliter has been released from an Iowa City hospital after undergoing a procedure to repair a tear in his carotid artery.

Lickliter spoke about the operation to stent his carotid artery for the first time on a radio show Tuesday. He had been hospitalized Friday.

Lickliter says he was having headaches when the Hawkeyes were in Kansas City in late November. Doctors discovered the beginning of a tear in his carotid artery — which is a vessel that supplies blood to the brain — and performed the procedure Saturday.

Lickliter says doctors have advised him to rest for the remainder of the week.

Lickliter has missed two games, including Tuesday’s date at Northern Iowa. He will likely be out Friday when Iowa faces Iowa State.