March Madness: Defense, Woodson's shooting help Butler beat Winthrop 76-64 in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE — Avery Woodson scored 18 points and tied a career high with six 3-pointers in his NCAA Tournament debut to lead Butler to a 76-64 win over Winthrop on Thursday, March 16th.

Woodson, a graduate transfer from Memphis, hit five 3s in the first half to help the fourth-seeded Bulldogs build a 14-point halftime lead.

A 12-2 run in the middle of the second half gave Butler a 60-43 lead with less than 8 minutes left and put the game out of reach for the 13th-seeded Eagles.

Xavier Cooks had 23 points to lead Big South champion Winthrop (26-7).

Butler (24-8) looked comfortable all afternoon at the Bradley Center, the home of Big East rival Marquette. The last time the Bulldogs played in Milwaukee, Woodson scored 17 points in a 68-65 victory over Marquette last month.

One more win in Milwaukee and Butler could advance to their fifth Sweet 16 since 2003.

Tyler Wideman's dunk on an alley-oop pass from Tyler Lewis made the crowd swoon and gave Butler a 62-43 lead with 7:22 left.

Defense, though, carried the Bulldogs during their second-half run after Winthrop went more than 3 minutes without a field goal.

Winthrop star Keon Johnson finished with 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting. The 5-foot-7 guard scored seven straight points during one stretch of the second half to get the Eagles within seven with 13:28 to go.

Otherwise, Butler's Kamar Baldwin, a 6-foot guard, did an admirable job sticking with Johnson, the Big South Conference Player of the Year.