BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Saint Louis junior forward Dwayne Evans scored a career-high 25 points as the top-seeded Saint Louis Billikens defeated No. 9 seed Charlotte 72-55 Friday in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Basketball Championship at Barclays Center.

With the win, the Billikens improve to 25-6 overall and advance to Saturday's A-10 semifinal, where they face No. 5 seed Butler at 12:30 p.m. (CT). The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

On Friday against Charlotte, Evans was 8-of-9 from the field and 9-of-9 from the free-throw line. He eclipsed his previous career best of 24, set earlier this year at Fordham. Evans was also one rebound shy of a double-double.

Cody Ellis scored 13 points, while Mike McCall Jr. registered nine points.

The Billikens led wire-to-wire for the seventh time this season. SLU built a double-digit lead midway through the first half, and a 10-0 run gave the Billikens a 32-16 advantage with 8:41 left. A late trey by Jake Barnett gave Saint Louis a 39-28 lead at halftime.

Charlotte's (21-11) Chris Braswell buried a trey at 13:03 to pull the 49ers within seven, but that is as close as they got to the lead. SLU responded with a 9-0 rally to regain command.

The Billikens, who shot 25-of-31 from the line for the game, hit their foul shots down the stretch to put the game out of reach. SLU was able to clear its bench at the end. Freshman Joey LePak buried a pair of free throws in the final seconds for his first career points.

Saturday's showdown against Butler will be the third game between the two teams this season. SLU won the first two - a 75-58 win at Chaifetz Arena Jan. 31 and a come-from-behind, 65-61 victory at Hinkle Fieldhouse Feb. 22.

Saint Louis will be looking for its first-ever appearance in the A-10 Championship game. This is the second straight season SLU has reached the semifinals, and third overall (the Billikens also reached the semifinals in 2007).