State Basketball Roundup: Bucks cold from three-point range in loss to Charlotte

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CHARLOTTE - The Milwaukee Bucks lost at Charlotte last night, 102-98. The Bucks had an 11-point lead with 6:51 left, but the Bobcats outscored Milwaukee 21-6 the rest of the way.

Former Buck Ramon Sessions tied the game at 96 by hitting a three-pointer with 2:25 to go. Milwaukee was down by two with five-point-nine-seconds to play, when Monta Ellis missed an open three-pointer that would have given the Bucks the lead. Sessions then made two clutch free throws with four-point-two-seconds left to seal the victory for the Bobcats – who made 27-of-30 free throw attempts on the night. The Bucks shot only 2-of-14 from three-point range – but they did out-shoot the Bobcats from the total floor, 47-to-44 percent. Ellis scored 31 points for Milwaukee, which blew a chance to go 4-and-0 on the road for the first time in 11 years. Sessions led Charlotte with 23 points off the bench – and he made all 10 of his foul shots. The Bobcats are 5-4, and they need just two victories to match their total from all of last season.

The Bucks are now 6-3 overall, and their next game is tomorrow night at Miami.

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Rotnei Clarke hit a three-pointer at the buzzer yesterday to give Butler a 72-71 victory over the Marquette men in the first game of the Maui Invitational in Hawaii. The Bulldogs drove the length of the court with eight seconds left before Clarke hit his running shot from the right side. He was mobbed by his teammates after it went in. Marquette coach Buzz Williams said the shot was impossible to defend. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 12-2 lead, which quickly disappeared. Butler led by one at the half, but Marquette was in front for most of the second half. Clarke only made four-of-his 14 three-point attempts for the game, but he ended up with 20. Kyhle Marshall led Butler with 24 points and nine rebounds. Vander Blue scored 21 for the Eagles, who lost their first game after winning their first two. Butler is also 2-and-1. Marquette will play its second Maui contest this afternoon against Mississippi State.

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The UW-Milwaukee men collapsed at the end last night, in losing at Arkansas-Little Rock 59-43. The Trojans ended the game with a 15-to-2 run. It was tied at 32 early in the second half, and the Panthers were up by three with five minutes to play. But Will Neighbour of Little Rock scored five straight points during the final run, as he pushed the Trojans’ lead to beyond 10. Neighbour scored 17 points, and Little Rock shot 51-percent from the floor as it improved to 2-and-2. Milwaukee only shot 33-percent and made 4-of-10 free throws. They also committed 19 turnovers. Demetrius Harris led the Panthers with 15 points. Milwaukee fell to 2-2, in what was its opening game in the Hoops-for-Hope Classic. The Panthers will continue the tournament at its host site in Puerto Villarta, Mexico on Saturday against Jacksonville.

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The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team dropped out of the AP Top-25 after its loss at Florida last week. The Badgers did get enough media votes to be two spots away from being ranked. Wisconsin is 2-and-1, and will host Presbyterian tonight before playing in a Thanksgiving weekend tournament in Las Vegas. Bo Ryan’s team is still ranked in the coaches’ poll from USA Today and ESPN. Wisconsin is 24th in that survey, down four spots from a week ago. Marquette is nine places away from the Top-25 in the AP poll, and 12 spots away in the coaches’ poll. In the women’s AP poll, UW-Green Bay is nine spots away from its Top-25, with a 2-0 start.

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Sam Barber of UW-Stevens Point made the season’s first Division III women’s basketball Team-of-the-Week from D3hoops.com. Barber, a senior guard, averaged 26-and-a-half points during her team’s opening weekend. She shot 71-percent from the floor – and 80-percent from three-point range – while leading the seventh-ranked Pointers to victories over Millikin and Number-One Calvin. Barber was recently named by D3hoops.com as a pre-season first-team All American.

Tags: wisconsin sports, bucks, basketball, proam, marquette, badgers