As Second Half Begins, Expect Chaos

Men’s Basketball Schedule (All times EST)
Friday, Feb. 1
Milwaukee at Valparaiso, 8:05 p.m. – HLN
Youngstown State at Detroit, 9 p.m. – ESPNU

Saturday, Feb. 2
Green Bay at Loyola, 2 p.m. – HLN/ESPN3/Midwest syndication
Cleveland State at UIC, 8 p.m. – HLN

College football prides itself on saying “every game matters.” As the second half of the Horizon League men’s basketball conference season begins this weekend, no phrase seems more appropriate.

Entering Friday night’s games, six teams – Valparaiso, Detroit, Youngstown State, Wright State, UIC and Green Bay, respectively – sit within 1.5 games of each other. Two years after the first three-way tie for the regular season championship and a season removed from a three-way tie for third place, every game truly does matter in the Horizon League.

Friday night begins with Valparaiso (16-6, 6-2 Horizon) looking to bounce back from a loss on Wednesday, returning home to the ARC to host Milwaukee (1-7, 5-17 Horizon). Thirteen days ago, the Crusaders rolled into the Klotsche Center and handed the Panthers a 76-52 defeat, and UWM would like to return the favor at Valpo’s home court.

Valparaiso will be looking to get Ryan Broekhoff on track, as the senior has gone 5-of-17 from the floor over his last two games, resulting in a drop from 22^nd to 41^st in the nation’s offensive rating rankings. Broekhoff starred two weeks ago versus the Panthers, knocking down seven three-pointers en route to a 26-point, 10-rebound tour de force.

In the game, Valpo hit 12-of-31 three-pointers.

Milwaukee will try to reassert its defensive prowess on the perimeter tonight, where the Panthers allow teams to shoot 28.7 percent from three-point range. The Panthers will try to get back on track offensively, coming into tonight’s game with an adjusted offensive efficiency of 90.9 and an effective field-goal percentage of 43.0.

On ESPNU, the teams currently slotted second and third in the League standings will square off on Dick Vitale Court at Calihan Hall when Detroit (14-8, 6-3 Horizon) hosts Youngstown State (13-8, 5-3 Horizon).

The game promises to be played at a quick pace, with Detroit’s adjusted tempo of 71.3 ranking 20^th nationally and Youngstown State’s 70.0 adjusted tempo placing 42^nd.

Tempo – and a lack of defense – certainly hurt Youngstown State on Jan. 10, when Detroit strolled into the Beeghly Center and asserted itself with a 101-60 blitzing of the Penguins.

Kendrick Perry was hampered by foul trouble in that game, but the Preseason First Team All-League selection will once again match up with Preseason Player of the Year Ray McCallum in what promises to be the top backcourt pairing of the evening.

McCallum enters Friday first in the Horizon League in scoring (18.4 ppg), second in assists (4.6 apg) and third in steals (1.7 spg); Perry ranks third (16.3 ppg), fourth (4.2 ppg) and first (1.9) in those same categories, respectively.

Meanwhile, Damian Eargle will look to protect the rim against high-flying Doug Anderson. Anderson comes into the game with 56 dunks on the year, while Eargle checks in with 70 blocks.

Saturday will see Green Bay (11-11, 5-4 Horizon) take its troop of Chicago recruits to the city’s North Side, where Loyola (13-8, 3-5 Horizon) awaits in the HLN Game of the Week.

Oddly, one team will win a game that statistically, they might otherwise not. Green Bay enters the Gentile Arena 1-9 this year on the road, while Loyola is 11-30 in its last 41 Horizon League games at home.

Still, this game figures to come down to who can survive on the offensive glass for second-chance points. Neither team allows its opposition much leeway on the glass, with Green Bay securing 71.7 percent of its possible defensive rebounds. Meanwhile, Loyola is grabbing 72.7 of its opportunities on the defensive end.

Loyola will be looking to even the season series after Green Bay throttle the Ramblers early before cruising to a 58-45 win that had Loyola questioning its toughness after. While the Ramblers are 3-3 since that loss, two of those defeats have come by a single possession.

For the second straight game, Keifer Sykes and Greg Mays will look to light up the scoreboard in front of family and friends as they return to their hometown. Sykes had 18 points in Thursday’s loss at UIC, while Mays came off the bench to add 10, six coming on high-flying dunks.

Across the city, UIC (14-8, 5-4 Horizon) will look to continue its surge of late, welcoming a Cleveland State (10-12, 2-6 Horizon) team that is after its first conference road win.

The Flames have won three straight games and four of five after a stretch from mid-December to mid-January in which UIC went 1-6. However, since a humbling 98-47 defeat at the hands of Detroit, the Flames have not lost, rediscovering their defensive intensity in wins over Milwaukee, Wright State and Green Bay.

In those three wins, UIC has held the opposition to 52.0 points per game and 38.0 percent shooting. They have also had to win in the waning moments of each game, rallying late to beat Milwaukee, holding off Wright State in the final minute and scoring the last six points of the game to get past Green Bay on Thursday.

Cleveland State comes to Chicago on a four-game losing streak and holding a 1-10 road record. However, the Vikings can take solace knowing that one of their two conference wins came against UIC, on Jan. 7.

The Vikings will try to follow the script of that win, in which Bryn Forbes scored 14 points and Tim Kamczyc tallied all 13 of his points in the second half. Forbes, in his freshman year, has been a revelation for the Vikings, averaging 16.4 ppg in League play to rank fourth.

With 13 consecutive games with 10 or more points, Forbes is attempting to become the seventh freshman in CSU history to lead team in scoring and the first since J’Nathan Bullock averaged 11.3 points in 2005-06.