HLN, ESPN3 Carry Key Conference Clashes on Wednesday Night

Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Feb. 16, 2011)

Setting new records for viewership this season, the Horizon League Network carries three important conference matchups on Wednesday night, while ESPN3 streams the Chicago rivalry game between Loyola and UIC.

With the League standings tighter than ever, teams separated by 1.5 games will meet in two different games on Wednesday, beginning with Cleveland State's (22-5, 11-4 Horizon) trip to Wright State (17-11, 10-6 Horizon).  HLN has the coverage, beginning at 7 p.m. ET, as the Raiders look to snap a two-game skid that dropped them into fifth in the current standings.

The Vikings are led by Norris Cole, who posted one of the most dominant performances of the last 20 years in collegiate basketball, dropping 41 points, 20 rebound and nine assists in an 86-76 victory last Saturday. The four-time League Player of the Week leads the conference with 21.1 points, 5.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game, while ranking seventh in rebounding with 6.1 rpg.

12-1 at the WSU Nutter Center, the Raiders will counter with their own All-League guard in Vaughn Duggins.  The Penleton, Ind.-native is right behind Cole with 17.1 ppg, teaming with point guard N'Gai Evans to average 31 points for the backcourt.  Duggins has climbed to fifth in the Wright State career scoring ranks, posting 1,664 points in his career.

The second matchup of teams bunched in the standings comes at 8 p.m. ET on HLN, as League-leader Valparaiso (19-7, 11-3 Horizon) heads to Milwaukee (15-11, 10-5 Horizon) in search of its 20th victory of the season.  The Crusaders took possession the League lead with two home wins last week, knocking off Detroit and Wright State at the ARC.

The Crusaders have been getting contributions from nearly everyone, as Howard Little took high-scorer honors in Saturday's two-point win over Wright State. Still, the majority of the Valpo offense runs through Brandon Wood, who leads the Crusaders with 16.0 ppg and 3.4 apg.  Cory Johnson and Ryan Broekhoff have formed a solid inside-outside tandem, with Johnson adding 15.0 ppg, while Broekhoff has become a master at the pick-and-pop, leading the League with a 49.0-percent mark from three-point range.

Milwaukee brings the League's longest winning streak into U.S. Cellular Arena on Wednesday, where the Panthers hold an 8-4 mark.  UWM's six-game League winning streak is the best for the Panthers since their championship season of 2004-05.  Anthony Hill has been a load down low, scoring a career high 32 points in Milwaukee's 70-59 victory last Saturday.  The senior's effort helped Kaylon Williams set a new school record with 14 assists in the contest, as the junior point guard is in the running for League Newcomer of the Year honors.

A Panther win would draw them even with the Crusaders in the win column while sitting just one game back in the loss column; should Valpo emerge with its seventh road victory of the season, they would own a 2.5-game lead on Milwaukee and head into the 2011 Sears BracketBusters with control of the Horizon League.

Separated by just 11 miles, fans can catch the second game of the season in the rivalry series between Loyola (14-12, 5-10 Horizon) and UIC (7-20, 2-13) on ESPN3.  For the 46th time since 1986 the teams will be getting together, with the Flames holding a 29-16 series edge.  However, the Ramblers will look to tie their longest winning streak in the series with their fourth straight victory and a two-year sweep of the series.

Geoff McCammon has shone for Loyola against Chicagoland schools, averaging 25.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg and shooting 58 percent from the field and 56 percent from three-point range in his last four contests versus DePaul and UIC.  The Sixth Man of the Year candidate leads Loyola in scoring while coming off the bench for the majority of the season, though he moved into the starting lineup for Saturday's victory over Green Bay.

UIC brings its own scoring star into the contest, as Robo Kreps has recorded five straight games with 20 or more points.  The output has helped Kreps climb into eighth on the Flames' all-time scoring list, where he sits just 33 points shy of taking over seventh place.  The senior ranks fourth in the Horizon League with a 16.3 ppg average, while chipping in 2.2 three-pointers per game, just behind McCammon's 2.7 average.

Both Detroit (14-14, 8-8 Horizon) and Youngstown State (8-17, 2-13 Horizon) will look to snap losing streaks when they get together at Calihan Hall at 7 p.m. ET on HLN.  Both squads went on the road last week and dropped contests, with the Titans falling at Valparaiso and Butler, while the Penguins narrowly lost at Wright State before Cole's effort pushed Cleveland State past Youngstown State.

The Penguins have not won a road contest this season, but are playing their best basketball of the season despite going 1-3 against teams in the upper half of the conference standings.  YSU knocked off Butler before falling in overtime to Valpo, by four to the Raiders and going back-and-forth with the Vikings.  Three-pointers have keyed Youngstown State throughout the year, as the Penguins have already tied the school mark for triples in a season with 199 with at least five games left in the season.

Calihan Hall has been kind to the Titans, as they hold a 9-4 mark, including an 81-78 victory over Cleveland State last Monday.  With Eli Holman and LaMarcus Lowe on the inside and Ray McCallum and Chase Simon on the outside, Detroit has the combinations to give teams fits all over the court.  Holman is among the nation's leaders with 11 double-doubles on the year, while McCallum is second among the nation's freshmen with 4.9 assists per contest.