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National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Butler 74, North Carolina 66
When: 12:00 PM ET, Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Where: Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort, Nassau
Officials: # Don Daily, # Jeb Hartness, # Mike Roberts
Attendance: 3136

Butler 74, No. 6 North Carolina 66: Alex Barlow and Kelan Martin scored 17 points apiece and the Bulldogs dominated on the boards to hold off the Tar Heels in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.

Kameron Woods grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for Butler (4-0), which will play Oklahoma in Thursday’s semifinals. Roosevelt Jones had 12 points and Kellen Dunham added 11 for the Bulldogs, who had a 57-40 edge on the boards – 29-14 on the offensive end.

Marcus Paige led the way with 18 points for North Carolina (3-1), which takes on UCLA in Thursday's consolation round. Brice Johnson had 11 points, Isaiah Hicks scored 10 and Kennedy Meeks grabbed 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who turned the ball over 19 times.

Barlow drained two 3-pointers and Dunham made another as Butler scored 11 of the first 14 in the second half to erase a three-point halftime deficit and take a 43-38 lead. Martin swished two 3-pointers and Andrew Chrabascz added a three-point play during a 10-1 run as the Bulldogs pushed the lead to 14 with 8:15 to go.

Nate Britt and Paige each made 3-pointers before Paige drove the lane for a three-point play to help the Tar Heels pull within 69-66 with 37.5 seconds left. Chrabascz made 1-of-2 free throws and Butler forced a backcourt violation on the next possession before Dunham sank two free throws to seal it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Bulldogs went 9-of-28 from 3-point range and are shooting 42.5 percent from behind the arc. … Paige, who made 87.7 percent of his free throws last season, was 5-of-9 on Wednesday. … Jones also had eight rebounds and six assists for Butler, which beat North Carolina in the previous meeting at the 2012 Maui Invitational and leads the all-time series 3-2.

Top Game Performances
 
North Carolina   Butler
Marcus Paige 18 Scoring Alex Barlow 17
J.P. Tokoto 4 Assists Roosevelt Jones 6
Kennedy Meeks 10 Rebounds Kameron Woods 13
Marcus Paige 5 Free Throws Made Roosevelt Jones 6
Joel Berry II 2 Steals Alex Barlow 3
Kennedy Meeks 5 Blocks Kameron Woods 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
North Carolina 66 38.6 4-16 18-32 14 35 10 9 19
Butler 74 30.6 9-28 21-29 11 48 1 8 19