Contrasting Styles, Charter Member Matchup on Horizon

Horizon League Men's Basketball Schedule
Friday, Jan. 20:
Milwaukee at Youngstown State, 7 p.m. ET -- ESPN3
Green Bay at Cleveland State, 8 p.m. ET -- ESPNU | Watch ESPN

Saturday, Jan. 21:
Wright State at Detroit, 12 p.m. ET -- Horizon League Network | FS Detroit
Butler at Loyola, 2 p.m. ET -- Horizon League Network Game of the Week (check local listings) | Watch ESPN
Valparaiso at UIC, 4 p.m. ET -- Horizon League Network | Comcast SportsNet Chicago | ESPN3

Sunday, Jan. 22:
Milwaukee at Cleveland State, 2 p.m. ET -- Horizon League Network
Green Bay at Youngstown State, 2:05 p.m. ET -- Horizon League Network

As the Horizon League season nears the halfway mark, it once again is shaping up for another photo finish. Entering the weekend, five teams are within two games of each other at the top, and the weekend slate should provide continued excitement.

Friday night features a rematch of one of the games of the year in the Horizon League last season. On the final day of the 2010-11 regular season, Milwaukee needed a win over Youngstown State to capture the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Playing into double overtime, fans were huddled around laptops throughout the Midwest as Milwaukee emerged victorious.

The matchup this Friday night on ESPN3 brings a stark contrast in styles. Milwaukee (13-6, 6-1 Horizon) has clawed its way to the top of the League ladder with tenacious defense, holding opponents to 56.6 points per game, the 20^th-best mark in the country.

The Panthers are doing most of their damage on the perimeter, where opponents are shooting a scant 23.5 percent from three-point range. And when the opposition misses those shots, Milwaukee is the best team in the League at securing defensive rebounds, collecting 25.2 per contest.

As matchups go, Youngstown State (9-8, 4-3 Horizon) presents a fine contrast to Milwaukee. The Penguins are hitting 9.1 three-pointers per game, the eighth-best in the country. YSU’s 38.2-percent shooting clip from three-point range is 42^nd in the nation. Blake Allen, Ashen Ward and DuShawn Brooks are all shooting at better than 40 percent from three-point range for YSU.

So, as they say, something has to give at the Beeghly Center on Friday night.

Both teams may be firing away from long range, because lost in the hubbub of YSU’s proficiency from outside, Milwaukee is averaging 7.5 three-pointers of its own per game, with Tony Meier, Kaylon Williams and Paris Gulley leading the way from outside.

Williams and YSU’s Kendrick Perry are among the top point guards in the Horizon League, with Williams posting the fourth-best assist percentage in the country, while Perry is among the nation’s best guards at taking care of the ball. Williams, a preseason first team selection, is leading the conference with 6.6 assists per game, while Perry’s 2.2 assist:turnover ratio tops the League.

At the Wolstein Center, ESPNU will bring fans the Cleveland State-Green Bay contest at 8 p.m. ET on Friday. Cleveland State (15-4, 5-2 Horizon) will be looking to keep pace with Valparaiso and Milwaukee at the top of the standings, while Green Bay (7-10, 3-4 Horizon) is out for its first road win of the season.

The Vikings are coming off a 72-66 road loss to Valpo last Sunday, while the Phoenix have the confidence of overcoming a 17-point deficit to claim a thrilling 57-56 win in last Saturday’s Horizon League Network Game of the Week.

The game figures to be a physical one, and a test of young versus old. Cleveland State is willing to put body on body, evidenced by the 18^th-highest fouls per game average in the nation, but also by a League-best 8.9 steals per game. The Vikings’ defense has held opponents to just 59.3 ppg, 28^th-best in the country.

D’Aundray Brown leads the way for CSU, coming away with 2.6 steals per game, while the senior is pacing a balanced scoring attack with 11.8 ppg. Fellow seniors Trevon Harmon and Jeremy Montgomery combine with junior Tim Kamczyc and Brown to give the Vikings four players knocking down 36 percent or better on their long-range attempts.

With five upperclassmen in the starting lineup, CSU presents a stark contrast to Green Bay, who will likely roll out a freshman, two sophomores, a first-year junior and a senior in its starting five. Last weekend, it was the duo of point guard Keifer Sykes and center Alec Brown that lifted the Phoenix past Wright State.

Sykes, who has started all 17 games as a freshman, posted 16 points in the game, including the game-winning free throws with 3.0 ticks left. Meanwhile, Brown was a force on both ends of the court, finishing with a Horizon League-record 11 blocks, nine points and eight rebounds.

Green Bay will likely return to Brown and Brennan Cougill to try and attack Cleveland State’s front line, where Aaron Pogue and Anton Grady will give up height to the pair.

Saturday opens with Wright State (9-11, 4-4 Horizon) trying to overcome a disappointing 0-2 road trip at Detroit (9-11, 3-5 Horizon). The two teams could not operate more differently offensively.

Head coach Ray McCallum has encouraged Detroit to run at virtually every chance, with the Titans averaging 73.4 ppg through 20 games. However, teams have been able to slow Detroit in conference play, with the team putting up 68.4 ppg.

Still, Detroit’s 1.07 points per possession average is second-best in the Horizon League, second only to Valparaiso’s 1.08 average. With preseason player of the year Ray McCallum asserting himself offensively last weekend with 16 points at Green Bay and 23 against Milwaukee, Detroit bested the 70-point mark in both games, going 1-1.

At 3-5 in League play, the Titans still hold hope of making a second-half surge, while Wright State holds similar hope despite a key injury.

Julius Mays, who spurred Wright State’s turnaround over the last three weeks, is currently battling an Achilles’ tendon strain, which limited the junior last Saturday. With Mays slowed, Wright State’s offense struggled down the stretch, helping Green Bay’s comeback. On the year, the Raiders are averaging 0.91 points per possession.

Freshman Reggie Arceneaux will be looking to pick up the slack if Mays continues to be hobbled. The point guard continues to be Wright State’s second-leading scorer at 9.1 ppg, adding 2.4 apg.

The Horizon League Network Game of the Week features two of the League’s charter members, with Butler (11-9, 5-3 Horizon) traveling to Chicago’s North Side to meet Loyola (5-13, 0-8 Horizon).

While the Ramblers have struggled of late, they have had a knack for playing Butler tough in the Gentile Arena, with the last two games in Rogers Park coming down to the wire. Overall, seven of the last 11 meetings between the schools have been decided by seven points or less.

As it has done throughout League play, Butler will be looking to utilize its depth to wear down a thin Loyola squad. The Bulldogs are capable of a variety of combinations, whether it be going long with Andrew Smith, Kameron Woods and Khyle Marshall up front, or playing a smaller three-guard lineup with Jackson Aldridge, Ronald Nored and Chrishawn Hopkins in the backcourt.

What has been noticeable about the Bulldogs of late is their intensity on the glass. Woods notched his third career double-double last week with 10 points and 10 boards against YSU, with six of those rebounds coming on the offensive glass. Marshall had just two points in Butler’s 57-49 win at UIC on Thursday, but collected seven of his 10 caroms on the offensive end.

Just as Valparaiso was able to do on Thursday, Butler will turn its defensive attention to the duo of Ben Averkamp and Walt Gibler. Entering the weekend averaging over half of Loyola’s points, Averkamp and Gibler were held to a combined 10 points and 12 rebounds.

With the duo limited, Jordan Hicks enjoyed his best game since returning from a foot injury suffered just before last year’s home game against Butler. Hicks recorded 13 points for the Ramblers on Thursday, and his continued contributions would take pressure off of the pre-med majors.

Just about the time the game on the North Side wraps, UIC (5-13, 2-6 Horizon) will look to bottle up the conference’s top offense when Valparaiso (13-7, 6-2 Horizon) visits the South Side.

In four of its five conference home games, the Flames have held the opposition under 40-percent shooting; the lone team to eclipse that mark was Loyola, who reached 40.5 percent last Saturday. UIC will be challenged, as Valparaiso holds a 48.4 field-goal percentage on the year, including a 57.8 percent mark inside the three-point arc.

Kevin Van Wijk leads the charge in the paint, where the junior has gone to work throughout the year, finishing 103-of-163 attempts to lead the League in scoring at 15.8 ppg. Meanwhile, Ryan Broekhoff has flourished in his junior year, putting up 15.1 ppg and leading the Horizon League with 9.1 rebounds per game.

UIC will counter by hoping its backcourt of Gary Talton and Daniel Barnes are able to get back on track after an off-shooting night against Butler. While Talton and Barnes combined for 21 points, they were a combined 7-for-24 from the field, hitting just two three-pointers.

Coming into the night, Talton was averaging 19.3 ppg in conference home games, while Barnes had 18 points on six three-pointers the game prior.