De'Sean Butler stopped rushing his shot, stepped up his intensity and helped No. 8 West Virginia remain undefeated.

Butler scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half to lead the Mountaineers to a 73-66 victory against Texas A&M in the 76 Classic yesterday at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Butler added five assists and five rebounds for West Virginia (4-0), which advanced to the tournament final tomorrow against No. 22 Minnesota or Portland.

"Butler took over the game and made some big 3-point shots," said Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon.

Butler said his performance reflected a changed attitude.

"In the first half, I played a little bit too fast," he said. "In the second half, I slowed down and I was a little more enthusiastic on defense, which kind of made me more eager to play offense."

With the score, 44-44, Butler scored 10 points during a 12-1 surge that gave West Virginia a 56-45 lead with 11:47 to play. Texas A&M (5-1), which held a four-point lead in the first half, used a 6-0 run to narrow the deficit to 67-63 with 1:08 left.

But after Butler converted a free throw, West Virginia's Devin Ebanks stole the ball, got fouled on a slam dunk and made the ensuing free throw to extend the lead to 71-63 with 42.9 seconds left.

• Duke 68, Connecticut 59: The winningest matchup of Division I coaches was definitely one-sided. Seventh-ranked Duke and Mike Krzyzewski won another NIT Season Tip-Off with a victory against No. 13 Connecticut and Jim Calhoun at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Hall of Fame coaches set the record for total career wins in a game. Krzyzewski has 839, fourth on the all-time list, and Calhoun still has 809, good for sixth place. The Blue Devils (6-0) dominated the Huskies (4-1) in every category in extending its winning streak in the tournament to 12 games with their fourth title overall (1985, 2000, 2005).

• Northwestern 72, Notre Dame 58: John Shurna scored a career-high 25 points and freshman Alex Marcotullio made two key 3-pointers in the second half as Northwestern stunned No. 23 Notre Dame in the Chicago Challenge.

• Marquette 79, Michigan 65: Lazar Hayward scored 22 points and Jimmy Butler had 17 to lead Marquette past No. 15 Michigan (3-1) at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. Darius Johnson-Odom added 14 points for Marquette (6-0), which will play in the tournament title game tomorrow.

• Syracuse 85, Columbia 60: Wes Johnson had a career-high 26 points, Arinze Onuaku added 12 points, and No. 10 Syracuse (6-0) beat visiting Columbia (2-2). It was the 805th career win for Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, seventh all-time in Division I and one more than Eddie Sutton.

• South Florida 78, Florida Atlantic 58: Augustus Gilchrist scored a career-high 27 points and had seven rebounds, leading South Florida (6-1) past Florida Atlantic (2-3).

• Rutgers 83, Massachusetts 75: Mike Rosario scored 22 points and Hamady Ndiaye added 14 to lead Rutgers (3-1) to a victory Massachusetts (2-3) at the Legends Classic in Atlantic City, N.J.

• St. John's 77, Siena 68: D.J. Kennedy scored 23 points to lead St. John's (4-0) to a victory against Siena (3-2) in the Philly Hoop Group Classic in Philadelphia.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

West Virginia forward Da'Sean Butler shoots over Texas A&M forward Bryan Davis in the second half yesterday of the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif.

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