The Horizon League captured both television matchups of the 2011 Sears BracketBusters in which it participated on Saturday, part of a three-win day for the League in the event. In conference play, Butler won its sixth straight game, collecting a League victory over UIC.
The day got started early in Dayton, where Wright State (18-12, 10-7 Horizon) shook off a slow start to rout Hofstra (18-10, 12-4 Colonial), 82-56, at the WSU Nutter Center in front of a national television audience on ESPNU. In a showdown between two of the country's top senior scorers, it was the Raiders Vaughn Duggins who took top honors against Charles Jenkins, outscoring the nation's fourth-leading scorer, 31-18.
Leading 33-26 at the half, Duggins helped spur a 23-9 burst to open the second half, blowing the game wide open as the Pride came no closer than 18 points following Matt Vest's three with just over 13 minutes left that made the score 56-35.
Duggins' effort was the first 30-point game by a Wright State player since DaShaun Wood finished with 32 against Loyola on Jan. 10, 2007. While nine of 10 Raiders tallied points in the game, N'Gai Evans was only other WSU player in double figures, adding 12 points while chipping in seven assists.
The Wright State defensive effort held Hofstra to a 14-of-42 effort from the floor and 1-of-17 from three-point range. The Pride, who sit tied for second place in the Colonial Athletic Association, picked up 27 of its 56 points from the free-throw line.
In the League's second television game of the day, Valparaiso (20-8, 11-4 Horizon) picked up where Wright State left off, racing out to a double-digit lead on Missouri State (21-7, 13-3 MVC) and cruising to an 80-67 victory in front of over 5,300 at the ARC. With fans in a frenzy due to Dick Vitale and Dave O'Brien's presence at the game, the Crusaders raced out to an 8-2 start and never looked back, shooting 58 percent in the win.
Scoring seven of his game-high 24 points in the first half while dishing out five assists, Brandon Wood helped stake the Crusaders to a 15-point halftime lead, adding 17 points in the second half as the Crusaders never led by less than nine in the second half. Three other Valpo starters finished in double figures, with Cory Johnson adding 13, while Howard Little went 5-for-5 from the floor in finishing with 11 points. Ryan Broekhoff chipped in with 10 while contributing a team-high seven boards.
The Crusaders will have to turn around for a key conference game against Green Bay (12-16, 6-9 Horizon), who suffered another heart-breaking loss in the last seconds, surrendering a late layup to fall, 61-60, at Souther Illinois (12-16, 5-11 MVC). Rahmon Fletcher moved into sixth place on the Phoenix scoring list with a game-high 22 points, but a Mamadou Seck layup with 1.0 tick left spoiled the afternoon.
A Bryquis Perine layup with 24 seconds left put Green Bay ahead 60-59, but the Phoenix could not capitalize after a defensive stop led to a 1-and-1 opportunity, missing the front end. Seck then drove the length of the court for the game-wining points. A length of the court pass from Seth Evans found Alec Brown, but the freshman's turnaround jumper was in and out.
Fletcher keyed a 15-5 run midway through the final stanza that put Green Bay in front, 54-44, with 7:44 to go, but the Salukis would rally from there, setting the stage for the frantic final minute.
Youngstown State (9-18, 2-14 Horizon) snapped a four-game skid with an 83-76 win over in-state foe Bowling Green (12-15, 7-5 MAC), its first over the Falcons since 1943. The triumph moved the Penguins to 7-0 at home in non-conference play for the season.
Ashen Ward exploded for 23 points to carry YSU, while Vytas Sulskis added 17 and Damian Eargle 15 as the Penguins hit 50.8 percent of their attempts from the field. Trailing by three at the break, Youngstown State knocked down 14-of-25 attempts from the floor in the final 20 minutes, scoring 40 points.
Ward's jumper put YSU up, 66-65, with 8:31 to play, and following a defensive stop, Ward drained a triple to expand the lead to four. Kendrick Perry recorded three of his 10 points on a banked in three with 5:28 remaining, extended the Penguins' advantage to 72-65.
In the League's other three BracketBusters contests, Milwaukee (16-12, 11-5 Horizon) saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end as Buffalo (16-9) outshot the Panthers, 80-65. Anthony Hill led the way with 19 points for the Panthers, but Zach Filzen recorded 30 points to lead four Bulls in double figures.
Buffalo shot 59.2 percent from the floor from the game, knocking down 8-of-14 three point attempts to hold Milwaukee at bay. With two League games remaining, the Panthers will look to get healthy as Kaylon Williams had to be helped off the floor for the second straight game, while Ryan Allen sat out the contest after a nasty spill on Wednesday night. Tone Boyle and Ja'Rob McCallum each finished in double figures, recording 16 and 15 points apiece.
At the Gentile Center, Geoff McCammon set the Loyola (15-13, 6-10 Horizon) single season record for three-pointers made, but the Ramblers comeback efforts fell short in a 71-67 loss to fellow Jesuit institution St. Peter's (17-11). McCammon snapped the previous mark held by Derek Molis, finishing the afternoon with 78 treys on the year.
Still, slow starts to each half doomed the Ramblers, as after taking a 22-21 lead into the half, Loyola suffered through a 14-6 Peacocks run to open the second half. Playing from behind the rest of the way, Loyola trailed 65-56 before Ben Averkamp converted his first bucket of the day to get the Ramblers started. Forcing three straight turnovers, Loyola closed to a single points, 65-64, with 1:13 on the clock.
A defensive stand gave the Ramblers a chance at the lead and win, but a three-point attempt rattled in and out, and the Peacocks were able to extend its lead and convert free throws down the stretch to pull of the victory.
In Des Moines, Detroit (15-15, 9-8 Horizon) led late, but an 11-0 Drake (12-16) run in the closing minutes led the Bulldogs to an 84-76 win at the Knapp Center, sending the Horizon League to a 3-4 evening in the Sears BracketBusters.
The Titans played from behind much of the night, as Drake knocked down 10-of-14 shots to open the game in assuming a 26-14 lead midway through the half. However, Detroit battled back behind Chase Simon's 11 first-half points to go into the locker room down just five points at the half.
After the break, it was Detroit who started hot, knocking down 8-of-11 shots to take a 52-50 lead on Ray McCallum's three. However, Eli Holman's fifth foul with just over four munutes to play served as the catalyst for Drake's closing run, sealing the game on a triple from Ben Simons with 1:53 remaining.
In the lone League contest of the day, Butler (20-9, 12-5 Horizon) collected its sixth straight 20-win season by breezing past UIC (7-22, 2-15 Horizon), 79-52, at the Pavilion in the Horizon League Game of the Week.
The Bulldogs closed the first half on a 21-5 run to assume control of the game, taking a 40-27 advantage into the locker room as Butler turned three UIC turnovers into immediate points, with Shelvin Mack scoring the last six points of the half. Lock-down defense and rebounding fueled the run, as Butler out-rebounded, UIC, 39-32, for the game. The Flames entered the contest as the top rebounding team in the League.
Matt Howard led four Butler players in double figures with 19 points and nine caroms, while Andrew Smith added 16 points and matching Howard's rebounding total. Shawn Vanzant chipped in11 and Mack 10 for the Bulldogs, who had 19 assists on 32 baskets.
Playing the final home games of their careers, Paul Carter led UIC with 15 points while Robo Kreps had 10.
