Bevy of Men's Basketball Over Weekend

With finals week wrapping up, Horizon League teams return to the court en masse this weekend, with UIC opening the weekend on Friday night before seven Saturday games feature Horizon League men's basketball programs.

Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Dec. 15, 2011)

Friday, Dec. 16
UIC at Central Michigan, 7 p.m. -- Live Stats | Live Video

Saturday, Dec. 17
#17/16 Mississippi State at Detroit, 12 p.m. -- HLN | HLN Live | Live Stats
Butler vs. #rv/- Purdue, 2 p.m. -- CBS | Live Stats
Chicago State at Loyola, 4 p.m. -- HLN | HLN Live | Live Stats
Ohio at Wright State, 7 p.m. -- HLN | HLN Live | Live Stats
Youngstown State at Toledo, 7 p.m. -- Live Stats | Live Video
Nebraska-Omaha at Milwaukee, 8 p.m. -- HLN | HLN Live | Live Stats
Oakland at Valparaiso, 8:05 p.m. -- HLN | HLN Live | Live Stats

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UIC (3-6) kicks off the weekend, continuing its road trip in Mount Pleasant, Mich., with a 7 p.m. ET tip at Central Michigan on Friday. The Flames will be out for their first road win of the season, coming on the heels of a 95-53 setback at Oregon State on Wednesday.

Against Central Michigan, UIC will be looking to even its season record against the Mid-American Conference's West Division. The Flames knocked off Northern Illinois, 62-55, last Saturday, improving to 1-2 against the MAC West this year. Saturday's game will be the final contest for UIC against the MAC's West Division.

UIC enters Friday's game at Central Michigan as the Horizon League's leader in offensive rebounding (15.3), while ranking second in rebounding margin (+4.8).  Seniors Darrin Williams (6.4 rpg; 7th) and Paris Carter (6.1 rpg; 9th), and sophomore Hayden Humes (6.0 rpg; t-10th), all rank in the top-10 of the Horizon League in rebounding.  The Flames have out-rebounded seven-of their nine opponents this season.

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For the second straight game, Detroit (5-7) meets a nationally ranked opponent from the SEC; however, this one will be played at Calihan Hall as No. 17/16 Mississippi State returns to the Motor City for a 12 p.m. ET tip. The game can be seen on the Horizon League Network, FS Detroit and ESPN3.

A brutal first-half of shooting doomed the Titans at No. 16/15 Alabama last Sunday, as a 20-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome in a 62-54 defeat in Tuscaloosa. In its last four games, Detroit will have faced opponents from the Big East and two from the SEC as it gears up for Horizon League play.

The return of Eli Holman has restored some depth to the Detroit lineup, as Holman has come off the bench to average 15.0 ppg and 8.0 rpg in his two games back. Meanwhile, the presence of Holman allowed LaMarcus Lowe to grab 10 boards at Alabama, his best total of the year.

Trying to play a high-possession game, Detroit racked up 92 points on Dec. 8, marking the fourth time the Titans have surpassed the 90-point plateau this year. The Titans have won 46 straight games when reaching 90 or more points, dating back to the 1988-89 season.

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With a national television audience tuning in on CBS, Butler (4-6) will look to snap a three-game skid in the Close the Gap Crossroads Classic, meeting Purdue at 2 p.m. ET. The Bulldogs will enter Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday owning a four-game winning streak in the home of the NBA's Indiana Pacers, including a 68-65 win over Purdue in the 2006 Wooden Tradition.

Butler is in the midst of a difficult non-conference schedule; the Bulldogs current five-game, pre-Christmas schedule includes four team are either nationally ranked or receiving votes in the national polls. Having played No. 8 Xavier on Dec. 7, Butler meets Purdue (rv), Gonzaga (rv, Dec. 20) and Stanford (rv, Dec. 22) before Christmas.

The Bulldogs will try to get another stellar performance from Khyle Marshall on Saturday; last week at Ball State, the sophomore erupted for 21 points and 16 rebounds, both career highs for the Davie, Fla.-native. It was the fourth straight game in which a Bulldog has recorded a double-double, after Roosevelt Jones (Xavier), Kameron Woods (Valparaiso) and Andrew Smith (Oakland City) did the honors in previous games.

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After a thrilling 57-55 win at buzzer in its last game, Loyola (2-7) will look to make it two wins in a row when Chicago State heads to the north side of the city for a 4 p.m. ET tip. Fans can catch the game on the Horizon League Network.

The Ramblers are opening a stretch in which they will play four of five games at Gentile Arena after playing seven of their first nine games away from Chicago. The last of those road games came at Toledo last Saturday, in which Loyola overcame a 14-point deficit and won on a baseline jumper from Ben Averkamp as the horn sounded.

Averkamp's game-winner gave the junior 31 points on the night, setting a new career high and becoming the highest single-game output in the Horizon League this year, besting the 29 by teammate Walt Gibler put up just three nights prior. Over the last five games, Averkamp is averaging 15.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.0 bpg and 1.2 spg, reaching double figures four times during that stretch. The last nine times Averkamp has failed to reach 10 points, Loyola owns a 1-8 mark.

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After being shot down by Cincinnati on Wednesday night, Wright State (4-7) will look to bounce back in an intrastate showdown with Ohio University at the Nutter Center on Saturday night. The Horizon League Network will have live coverage of the game, beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

The Raiders have proven to be a resilient bunch in December, following up losses with wins in their next game twice this month. Most recently, Wright State rebounded from a night to forget at Air Force with a two-point win at Miami University last Saturday.

One of the keys for Wright State has been its defense; in their four wins, the Raiders have held opponents to 51.5 points per game. In defeats, opponents are scoring 15 more points per game, averaging 66.9.

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After seven meetings between the Horizon League and MAC last Saturday, Youngstown State (6-3) will meet Toledo in the third contest between the teams this weekend.

The Penguins continue to rise and fire from the three-point arc, averaging 24.9 attempts from three-point range per game. More importantly, Youngstown State is knocking down 39.8 percent of those attempts, an average of 9.8 per game. Blake Allen has been the leader of a four-man group that has taken 192 of YSU's 224 three's, hitting 31-of-67 attempts from distance.

Last Saturday, Youngstown State hit 14 three-pointers for the third time this season, equaling the school record, but fell at Buffalo, 80-72. Kendrick Perry recorded his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 assists; it was just the second point-assist double-double in the Horizon League this season.

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Overcoming adversity to tie No. 14/15 Wisconsin before dropping a 60-54 contest, Milwaukee (8-3) returns to the on-campus Klotsche Center to host Nebraska-Omaha at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.

UWM continues to battle injury troubles early in the season. Kyle Kelm added his name to the injured list Tuesday, missing the contest with a sprained shoulder he suffered during the second half of last Saturday's game at Northern Iowa. Ja'Rob McCallum and Lonnie Boga also missed Tuesday's game with injuries, meaning 58 starts and 172 games of experience were in street clothes against the Badgers.

After what has been a pretty busy schedule over the first month of the regular season, the Panthers will be getting some down time over the next two weeks. After Saturday's game with Nebraska Omaha, Milwaukee will play just once before Dec. 29, with that game being a crosstown clash with Marquette. The Panthers have already squared off with Michigan State, Northern Iowa and Wisconsin and have a game at Marquette next Thursday. In all, Milwaukee is playing 13 games against teams that played in the postseason a year ago and a total of 16 contests against teams that won at least 19 games last season. UWM's three losses have come to teams that are either currently ranked or receiving votes in both national polls, while the combined record of those three teams is 26-5.

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In the return game from one of 2010-11's hidden gems, Valparaiso (7-3) looks to stay perfect at the ARC when two-time defending Summit League champion Oakland visits northwest Indiana. Tip is slated for 8:05 p.m. ET, with coverage on the Horizon League Network.

Former Mid-Continent Conference rivals, Valparaiso and Oakland staged an epic 103-102 contest at the O'Rena in Rochester, Mich., last season, with the Crusaders emerging victorious.

A key to that victory, along with Valparaiso's success in 2010-11 and the first two months of this season, has been the Crusaders' proficiency inside the three-point arc. Last season, the Crusaders finished the year hitting 55.3% of their 2-point attempts, good for third nationally. So far this year, Valpo has connected at an even better clip from inside, knocking down 59.8% of its tries from inside the arc, and leads the nation in the category. The Crusaders had one of their best efforts of the season from inside in last Saturday’s win over Bowling Green, hitting 19-of-25 (76%) from inside the arc.

Junior Kevin Van Wijk has been a key to that success, ranking sixth in the league in scoring (14.4 ppg) and tied for fifth in rebounding (6.8 rpg).  The native of the Netherlands has connected on 41 of his 64 field goal attempts, good for a league-best .641 shooting percentage.  He also is currently the best player nationally at getting to the free throw line, as Van Wijk has attempeted seven more free throws (71) than field goals (64), giving him a free throw rate of 110.9 to lead the nation.