News and notes from around #HLMBB.
Upcoming Games
• Horizon League teams will be featured on national games five times this week:
o Oakland at Indiana (12/10, ESPN 2)
o Milwaukee at Wisconsin (12/11, BTN)
o Youngstown State at Pittsburgh (12/14, FS1)
o Michigan State at Oakland -- Palace of Auburn Hills (12/14, ESPN2)
o Detroit at North Carolina State (12/14, ESPN3)
• The Horizon League and West Coast Conference will conclude its season series on Saturday, as Valparaiso hosts Loyola Marymount. Through the first four games of the non-conference meeting, each conference has won 2 games.
The Week That Was
• Green Bay led throughout most of the game, hanging on late to knock off Virginia, 75-72, on Saturday. The win helped boost Green Bay’s RPI up to 31, as the Phoenix have played the seventh-toughest non-conference schedule in the country.
• Detroit rallied from an eight-point deficit to tip Rhode Island, 70-68, at Calihan Hall. After a 15-point effort, Evan Bruinsma has scored in double digits in four-straight games and is averaging 20.7 points and 10.2 rebounds per game over that stretch.
• In 2012-13, there were a total of four games in which a player had 30 or more points. To this point in the season, Horizon League players have already eclipsed the mark 12 times.
League Notes
• Three Horizon League teams boast non-conference strength of schedules in the top 30 of the country, per RPIRatings.com. Leading the way is Green Bay at No. 7, while Oakland checks in at No. 10. Detroit rounds out the trio at No. 30. Overall, the Horizon League ranks 7th nationally in non-conference schedule strength.
• Oakland senior guard Travis Bader and Youngstown State senior guard Kendrick Perry are among the 30 men’s basketball nominees for the Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
• Both Bader and Perry were also tabbed as CollegeInsider.com Lou Henson Award nominees in the offseason.
• Perry and Green Bay guard Keifer Sykes were also named to the Bob Cousy Award watch list, which is given to the top point guard in the country.
• The Horizon League is building off a 2012-13 season that saw a record six teams earn postseason bids. Valparaiso represented the conference in the NCAA Tournament, while Detroit each went to the NIT. UIC, Youngstown State and Green Bay all played in the CIT, with the Flames and Penguins collecting the programs’ first postseason wins. Wright State reached the semifinals of the CBI.
Cleveland State Vikings (4-5) -- Western Carolina (12/16, HLN) -- Off this week for finals
• Junior Charlie Lee returned to the lineup on Saturday versus Akron after missing three games, scoring 14 points. Lee came off the bench for the first time since the NIT first round game at Stanford in the season finale his freshman year. He started all 32 games as a sophomore and the first five games this year.
• Senior Jon Harris came off the bench to score a career-high 27 points in CSU’s triple-overtime loss at Drexel. Harris’ 44 minutes played set a new Viking record for a player coming off the bench.
• Sophomore Bryn Forbes scored 23 points at Drexel and has reached 20 points in five of CSU’s 10 games this year.
• Effective field-goal percentage defense has been a telling stat during Waters’ tenure. When the Vikings have held opponents to a 47.7-percent mark or worse, they have finished with four 20-plus win seasons, going a combined 96-44. When the mark has been above 51.3 percent, the Vikings have gone 40-56. This year, the mark sits at 47.5 percent.
Detroit Titans (5-5) -- at N.C. State (12/14, ESPN3)
• Detroit has stepped up its defense this year, recording 56 blocks and 74 steals in 10 games.
• Senior Evan Bruinsma was nominated for the 2014 NABC Good Works Team. Bruinsma set a new Horizon League record by going 20-for-22 from the free-throw line in Detroit’s 104-102 loss to Stony Brook on Nov. 24. The 20 makes broke the previous record of 19, held by Wright State’s Julius Mays and Detroit’s Brandon Cotton.
• The win over Rhode Island is Detroit’s first against an Atlantic 10 opponent since beating St. Louis (62-57) on Nov. 29, 2008.
• Sophomore Carlton Brundidge posted a career-high 22 points in Detroit’s win at James Madison. Brundidge went 6-of-9 from the floor, including a 4-of-6 mark from 3-point range.
• In each of head coach Ray McCallum’s five seasons, Detroit’s adjusted offensive efficiency has increased, moving from 88.8 (324th nationally) in 2008-09 to 112.5 (23rd) last season.
• Ray McCallum is the fourth player from the Horizon League to be selected into the NBA Draft since 2010, joining Gordon Hayward (Utah), Norris Cole (Miami via Chicago) and Shelvin Mack (Washington).
Green Bay Phoenix (5-2) -- at Eastern Michigan (12/10), at South Dakota (12/14)
• Junior Greg Mays set a career high with 24 points against Virginia. He made 8-of-14 shots and his second career three-pointer.
• Sophomore Jordan Fouse broke the Green Bay school record on Saturday with eight steals against Virginia. Fouse leads the Horizon League and ranks second nationally in steals per game (3.4).
• Fouse extended his streak of consecutive games with a blocked shot to 30. Fouse has also grabbed 5 or more rebounds in 26 consecutive games.
• Sophomore Carrington Love made three 3-pointers his entire freshman season. Love made 3 three-pointers and had 10 points against Virginia. Love has 5 double-figure games this year.
• Senior Alec Brown became the first player in conference history to record a point-rebound-block triple-double on Nov. 23. on Saturday night, posting 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks against Minnesota-Duluth. Brown, who owns the Horizon League single-game blocks record with 11, became the first conference player to post a triple-double since Milwaukee’s Kaylon Williams pulled the feat on Jan. 3, 2011.
• Green Bay is the lone team returning multiple all-league honorees from the 2012-13 season. Sykes (first team) and Brown (second team) form the Phoenix’s potent inside-outside combination. The duo began this season with a combined 2,092 career points.
Milwaukee Panthers (9-2) -- at #4/6 Wisconsin (12/11, BTN)
• The last time Milwaukee started a season 9-2 was the 2002-03 campaign. Those are tied for the second-best 11-game starts in the school’s Division I history (1992-93 – 10-1).
• UWM’s totals of four true road wins and six road plus neutral wins are the best in the nation.
• The Panthers have had at least four players reach double figures in seven of 11 games this year.
• UWM has outscored its opponent in the second half of eight of its 11 games and has recovered from a halftime deficit to claim a win four times this season.
• Milwaukee has won five in a row for the first time since the tail end of the 2011-12 season. The last time UWM’s won more than five in a row was in 2010-12, when it had a seven-game streak.
• Milwaukee has already surpassed its win total from a year ago, when the Panthers went 8-24.
• With seven 3-pointers in Milwaukee’s 84-79 win at UMKC, Jordan Aaron matched the high in the Horizon League this season. Aaron’s 33 points were one shy of his career high.
• Milwaukee won an in-season tournament title for the first time since December of 2002, capturing the Northern Illinois Invitational. Matt Tiby and Jordan Aaron each made the all-tournament team.
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (2-7) -- at #rv/rv Indiana (12/10, ESPN2), #5/5 Michigan State (12/14, ESPN2)
• Oakland’s next two opponents hail from the Big Ten; The Grizzlies are 2-30 vs. the Big Ten all time.
• With 7 3-pointers versus Ohio, Oakland has made a 3-pointer in 778 consecutive games, the seventh-best streak in the country.
• OU is 61-9 over its last 70 games inside the O’rena, where Oakland will play its last four games of the month.
• The only time Oakland has started a season 0-7 was 2004-05. That season the Golden Grizzlies made the NCAA Tournament.
• Travis Bader extended his streak to 62 consecutive games with at least one triple. Bader is the 10th player in OU history to go past 1,700 career points.
• The Golden Grizzlies faced ranked teams in three of their first four games. Oakland has faced a ranked opponent in every season except one (2005-06), posting an overall record of 2-33.
• Oakland joins the Horizon League after 14 seasons in the Summit League. The Golden Grizzlies took three Summit League Tournament titles and have played in a postseason tournament in five consecutive seasons. Oakland is 22-47 all-time versus Horizon League opponents, going 1-1 against the conference last season.
• Oakland will play fast. In the past four years, the Golden Grizzlies have played at an adjusted tempo no slower than 69.7 possessions per game.
UIC Flames (3-6) -- at Southeast Missouri (12/14)
• Senior Kelsey Barlow has scored in double figures in eight of nine games this year. After a 31-point output against SMU, Barlow became the first UIC player to score 30 in back-to-back games since Feb. 1995, when Sherrell Ford achieved the feat.
• Barlow set a program record with the highest two-game made free throw total with 29. Barlow hit 17 free throws against Wagner before knocking down 12 versus SMU.
• In UIC’s 74-70 win over San Diego, Jake Wiegand notched his first double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.
• UIC’s nine opponents so far this season own a combined record of 54-31 (.635).
• In the last two years, UIC is 4-2 in its last four regular-season multi-team events. The Flames took fourth at the Paradise Jam last season, with the lone loss coming to New Mexico.
• UIC is coming off an 18-win season, the most victories for the program since the 2007-08 campaign. WIth its 10-win improvement from the previous year, the Flames had the 12th-largest turnaround in the country in 2012-13.
• One of the main reasons for UIC’s jump in wins? Improved defense. The Flames posted top-100 effective field-goal percentage (46.7 - 93rd) and two-point field-goal percentage (44.8 - 74th). The previous season saw UIC rank 279th (51.8 eFG%) and 241st (49.8 2P%) in 2011-12.
• The Flames return eight letterwinners from the 2012-13 season, including starters Hayden Humes and Brown. Eight newcomers (five scholarship players) join the ranks, including transfers Barlow and Jordan Harks (Central Arkansas). Barlow averaged 8.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 24.3 minutes per game during his junior year at Purdue, while Harks averaged 8.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting a team-best 58.6 percent from the field for Central Arkansas.
• Senior Hayden Humes and assistant coach Donnie Kirksey took part in the Global Sports Academy’s tour of Belgium, England and Holland in August. The traveling team played five games on an exhibition tour. In Belgium, the squad competed in Antwerp, Brussels, Bruges and Ghent, while also playing one contest in Amsterdam. In addition, the group took a tour of London along the way. Detroit’s Juwan Howard, Jr., was also on the team.
Valparaiso Crusaders (6-5) -- Loyola Marymount (12/14, HLN)
• After playing 10 games in the first 30 days of the season, the Crusaders will play just one in a 13-day stretch.
• Valparaiso collected its first road win of the season in Muncie, Ind., rolling past Ball State, 69-50. The victory was Valpo’s first in Muncie since 1967.
• Over the weekend, 6 different Crusaders set new career highs in scoring Friday and Saturday: LaVonte Dority (31), Bobby Capobianco (23) and Lexus Williams (15) versus Mercer. Moussa Gueye (10), Nick Davidson (7) and David Chadwick (14) against Cincinnati Christian.
• The Crusaders’ 85-70 win over UCF was the program’s first over a power-conference team since winning in the first round of CBI at Washington in March of 2008.
• Valpo has ranked among the top-5 teams in nation in 2-point field goal perceantage in each of the last three years, besting 55 percent in all three seasons. Thus far, Valpo has connected on 54.9-percent of its attempts inside the arc.
• In the 81-49 win over James Madison, the Crusaders started three freshmen in the same game (Alec Peters, Lexus Williams, Jubril Adekoya) for the first time since Dec. 9, 2009 at Purdue.
• Two days after returning to his hometown of Washington, Ill., Alec Peters dedicated his effort on Nov. 20 to its residents, scoring a career-high 30 points at Evansville.
• A year after returning all five starters, Valparaiso does not bring back a single starter from last season’s Horizon League championship team. Among the seniors who have moved on are a pair who have signed professional contracts: Ryan Broekhoff (Besiktas JK, Turkey) and Kevin Van Wijk (Oviedo CB, Spain).
• Of the 6,825 minutes played last year, the Crusaders return 1,649, 24.1 percent of available minutes. Among Valpo’s four returning letterwinners, LaVonte Dority, Bobby Capobianco and Jordan Coleman occupied 88.1 percent of those minutes. In all, only 22.8% of the scoring, 27.3% of the rebounding from last year’s squad return in 2013-2014.
• Valparaiso is breaking in seven newcomers onto its roster, including Saint Louis transfer Keith Carter, who will join the program at the semester.
Wright State Raiders (5-6) -- at Miami-Ohio (12/15)
• Wright State is off until Sunday due to exams. They play at Miami at 2 pm. Transfer Chrishawn Hopkins could make his debut following exams. Hopkins played at Butler University for two seasons, averaging 9.1 points in 37 games for the Bulldogs his sophomore year.
• Wright State will not play a home game again until Dec. 19, embarking this week on a three-game road swing ahead of its annual southwest Ohio showdown against Miami. The Raiders are 0-6 in true road games this season.
• Preseason First Team All-League pick Cole Darling moved back into the Wright State starting lineup against Alcorn State, posting a season-high 18 points.
• Allowing just 33 points in an 83-33 win over Manchester, Wright State set marks under Billy Donlon for the fewest points allowed and largest margin of victory.
• A year ago, Wright State returned just 36.9 percent of its scoring; this season, the team brings back 97.2 of its points from a year ago (2,171 out of 2,233). The Raiders also return 91.7 percent of its minutes from last season, turning what was one of the youngest teams in the nation a year ago into one of the most experienced squads in the country.
• Wright State is not going to play fast, typically, as its adjusted tempo have never been quicker than 63.2 possessions per game. But what the Raiders will do under Billy Donlon is force turnovers. In each of Donlon’s three years, Wright State has ranked in the top 15 nationally for defensive turnover percentage, per KenPom.com. Last year’s rate of 24.3 percent was 15th in the country.
Youngstown State Penguins (7-4) -- at #rv/rv Pittsburgh (12/14)
• Senior Kendrick Perry is YSU’s career leader in steals with 202 and became the first player in school history with 200 career steals.
• Perry ranks 10th all-time with 1,537 career points and also moved into the top 50 on the Horizon League all-time scoring list. Perry is the only player in school history with 1,500 points, 400 assists, 400 rebounds and 200 steals in a career.
• DJ Cole (ankle) returned to the YSU lineup on Wednesday, scoring a career-high 19 points.
• Senior Kamren Belin scored a career-high 32 points against Kent State. He made 14-of-15 free throws, matching the second-most made in a single-game.
• After scoring 14 points against Austin Peay, Belin reached 500 points in just 43 career games.
• In its 108-57 win over Westminster, Youngstown State set a new program record for rebounds with 66. The total was one shy of the Horizon League record, set by Xavier.
Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release #6 -- Dec. 9, 2013
