Angel Rodriguez stood on the court, wearing both a big smile and the flag of his native Puerto Rico around his shoulders as he celebrated with Miami teammates. It had all ended perfectly, from the Hurricanes wrapping up an impressive three-game show to claim the Puerto Rico Tipoff championship to Rodriguez being named the most outstanding player in his return to his hometown. Rodriguez scored 19 points and Miami took down its second straight ranked opponent, beating No. 22 Butler 85-75 Sunday night — capping a week that made these Hurricanes look like a potential force in the Atlantic Coast Conference title chase. When it was over, Miami — picked to finish fifth in the ACC — had shot at least 52 percent and won each game by double figures while averaging 93 points. Ja'Quan Newton added a career-high 17 points for the Hurricanes (5-0), who followed their romp against No. 16 Utah by building a big lead again, and then protecting that advantage against a surge from Kellen Dunham and the Bulldogs. Dunham scored 20 of his 23 after halftime, helping Butler (3-1) trim a 19-point gap to four with about 3-1/2 minutes left. But the Hurricanes hit enough free throws late to hang on, earning their second Tipoff title and first since beating Providence to win the inaugural event in 2007. No. 16 Utah tops Temple Jakob Poeltl had a huge performance and Brandon Taylor hit the go-ahead shot with 28.4 seconds left, lifting No. 16 Utah past Temple 74-68 in Sunday's third-place game at the Puerto Rico Tipoff. Poeltl finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds, tied for the No. 2 single-game scoring total in Tipoff history and the most since 2011. He also went 4 for 4 at the foul line in the final 4.6 seconds, giving Utah (4-1) a tough win against Temple (1-3) after Friday's blowout loss to Miami. Texas Tech beats Minnesota Devaugntah Williams scored 21 points to help Texas Tech beat Minnesota 81-68 in the fifth-place game at the Puerto Rico Tipoff. Zach Smith added 15 points for the Red Raiders (3-1), who gave coach Tubby Smith a victory against the program he led for six seasons. Mississippi State beats Missouri State Gavin Ware scored 25 points to help Mississippi State beat Missouri State 84-70 on Sunday in the seventh-place game at the Puerto Rico Tipoff. Freshman Malik Newman added 14 points to lead the Bulldogs (2-3), who salvaged a win out of the trip to San Juan by shooting 70 percent in the opening half and leading by 20 early in the second half — an unusually fast start for a team that had trailed at half in each of its first four games. — AP
