Men's Basketball Notebook (Dec. 10)

Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Dec. 10)

On the Schedule [all times ET]
Monday, Dec. 10
Alabama State at Detroit, 7 p.m. – Horizon League Network

Wednesday, Dec. 12
Milwaukee at Fairfield, 7 p.m.
Green Bay at Wisconsin, 9 p.m. – BTN

Saturday, Dec. 15
Akron at Detroit, 12 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Eastern Michigan at UIC, 2 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Cleveland State at St. Bonaventure, 2 p.m.
Wright State at Hofstra, 2 p.m.
Tennessee Tech at Milwaukee, 8 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Mississippi State at Loyola, 8 p.m. – ESPNU (tape-delay at 11 p.m. ET)
Southern Illinois at Green Bay, 8 p.m.
Valparaiso at Missouri State, 8:05 p.m.

On the Scoreboard
Sunday, Dec. 9
DePaul 84, Milwaukee 50

Saturday, Dec. 8
UIC 64, #rv/rv Colorado State 55
Wright State 92, VMI 59
Detroit 102, Rochester (Mich.) College 67
Youngstown State 71, Hiram 44
#25/24 N.C. State 80, Cleveland State 63
#19/17 Michigan State 73, Loyola 61
#18/20 New Mexico 65, Valparaiso 52

Friday, Dec. 7
Milwaukee 80, Northern Illinois 73 (ot)

Thursday, Dec. 6
Youngstown State 93, Geneva 50
Tennessee Tech 74, Green Bay 68

Wednesday, Dec. 5
Detroit 79, Toledo 73
UIC 81, Roosevelt 43
Valparaiso 63, IPFW 52
Buffalo 72, Milwaukee 52

Monday, Dec. 3
Bowling Green 54, Detroit 41

On the Horizon

• On Fire: UIC is off to a 8-1 start, the program’s best since the 1997-98 season. Saturday, the Flames knocked off a Colorado State team receiving votes in both polls, 64-55, adding the Rams to notable wins over Northwestern (50-44), Iona (86-81) and Mercer (62-36).The Flames have held six opponents under 35 percent shooting (seven under 40 percent), including each of the last five. UIC has also limited five individual opponents to fewer than 50 points for the first time in more than 60 years.
• Ranked: The Horizon League continues to sit 12^th among Division I conferences in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. The Horizon League is rated 12^th among conferences by Jeff Sagarin, Basketball State and Pomeroy.
  Pegged 15^th by Pomeroy at the beginning of the year, the Horizon League is one of the largest gainers to this point in the season. UIC owns the single biggest leap in rankings to this point in the year, up 164 spots in Pomeroy’s rankings.
  Full Pomeroy and Basketball State analysis of each team is on Page 7 of the Weekly Release.
• Swatted: Youngstown State senior Damian Eargle became the Horizon League’s all-time blocks leader on Nov. 28, recording four blocks to reach 230 in his career.
  Eargle achieved the feat in just 68 games played after transferring to YSU after his freshman year. The senior broke the record of Evansville’s Dan Godfread, who starred for the Purple Aces from 1985-90.
  With 243 career blocks, Eargle sits 78 blocks ahead of Green Bay junior Alec Brown, who may have another year to try and track down the record.

• With finals beginning across the Horizon League, teams will play just three games during the week before an eight-game slate on Saturday. Among the mid-week games, Green Bay will travel to Wisconsin on Wednesday (BTN, 9 p.m. ET).
• Horizon League teams will meet Power 6 conference members twice times this week, beginning with Green Bay’s trip to Wisconsin. Loyola will host Mississippi State on Saturday (8 p.m. ET), with ESPNU carrying the game at 11 p.m. ET. The matchup will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the “Game of Change” between Loyola and Mississippi State played in the NCAA Tournament in 1963.

• UIC knocked off #rv/rv Colorado State, 64-55, on Saturday afternoon, improving to 8-1, matching the Flames’ best record since 1997-98.
• Horizon League teams went 0-3 against nationally-ranked competition on Saturday, as Loyola fell at No. 19/17 Michigan State, 73-61, with head coach Porter Moser honoring Rick Majerus by wearing a black turtleneck during the game. Leading at the half, Loyola trailed by just 3 points late in the game.
• Additionally, Cleveland State lost at No. 25/24 North Carolina State, 80-63. Valparaiso dropped a 65-52 contest at No. 18/20 New Mexico.

• As of Dec. 9, the Horizon League is ranked 12^th by Ken Pomeroy (KenPom.com), up from its preseason prediction of 15^th. The conference is solidly 12^th, just behind Conference USA and ahead of the WAC. Basketball State (BBState.com) also ranks the Horizon League 12^th, as does Jeff Sagarin for USA Today.

League Rankings (Pomeroy)                                 League Rankings (Sagarin)                                     League Rankings (BB State)
1. Big Ten                         .8620                                  1. Big Ten                         84.77                                   1. Big Ten                         85.433
2. Big East                        .8310                                  2. Big East                       82.39                                   2. Big East                        85.399
3. ACC                               .7817                                  3. ACC                              81.86                                   3. Mountain West            84.173
4. Big 12                            .7740                                  4. Big 12                          81.56                                   4. ACC                               81.818
5. SEC                               .7410                                  5. Pac 12                          80.44                                  5. Pac 12                           81.536
6. Mountain West            .7400                                  6. Mountain West            80.20                                  6. Big 12                            79.910
7. Pac 12                           .7393                                 7. SEC                               79.77                                  7. SEC                                78.647
8. Atlantic 10                     .6948                                 8. Atlantic 10                    78.42                                   8. Atlantic 10                     77.404
9. Missouri Valley            .6671                                 9. Missouri Valley            76.13                                  9. Missouri Valley             77.372
10. West Coast                .6250                               10. West Coast                 75.35                                10. Conference USA          76.403
11. Conference USA       .5675                               11. Conference USA        74.05                                11. West Coast                   76.010
12. Horizon League        .5204                               12. Horizon League        73.48                                12. Horizon League           72.031
13. WAC                            .4829                               13. WAC                              72.14                                13. Sun Belt                         70.476
14. MAAC                           .4600                              14. Big West                       71.20                                14. WAC                               68.826
15. MAC                             .4378                              15. MAC                               71.09                                15. MAC                                68.684
16. Colonial                      .4260                              16. MAAC                             70.85                                16. Ohio Valley                    68.444
17. Patriot League           .4245                              17. Sun Belt                        70.11                                17. Patriot                             66.520
18. Ivy League                  .4186                              18. Colonial                        69.99                                18. Southland                      66.044
19. Sun Belt                      .4123                              19. Ohio Valley                   68.82                                19. MAAC                              65.563
20. Big West                     .4119                              20. Patriot                            68.62                                20. America East                65.409
21. Ohio Valley             .3866                                   21. Summit                     68.41                                   21. Northeast                65.255

• For the first time since joining the Horizon League, Valparaiso was tabbed the preseason favorite in the Horizon League.  The defending regular-season champions, Valparaiso earned three points in the Associated Press preseason poll.
• The Horizon League is the lone conference in the country returning its entire All-League First Team from a year ago.
• The Horizon League is building off a 2011-12 season that saw a record five teams earn postseason bids.  Detroit represented the conference in the NCAA Tournament, while Valparaiso and Cleveland State each went to the NIT. Butler and Milwaukee participated in the CBI.

• Head coach Gary Waters will get his second attempt at career victory 300 on Saturday at St. Bonaventure.
• Senior Tim Kamczyc has played in all 111 games in his career. If he plays every game the rest of the season, he would become the 12^th player in program history to play every game during a four-year career.
• Sophomore Charlie Lee leads the Horizon League in assists (5.4) and has dished out at least five assists in six of CSU’s nine games.
• Throughout Waters’ tenure with the Vikings, Cleveland State has hung its hat on defense. The Vikings has forced turnovers on 23.0 percent of opponents’ possessions, ranking 85^th nationally.

• 0-4 on the road this season, Detroit is in the midst of a four-game homestand at Calihan Hall. The Titans own a 12-game home winning streak heading into Monday’s game versus Alabama State.
• Some of Detroit’s issues stem from the defensive end of the court, where the Titans are allowing opponents a 53.8 effective field-goal percentage, ranking 312^th in the nation.
• Freshman Anton Wilson posted back-to-back career-highs with nine points against Toledo and 14 points against Rochester.
• The Titans have won 17-straight games when scoring 80 or more points, dating back to the 2010-11 season.                                                                                               
• Junior Ray McCallum was named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list. The list recognizes the top-returning players in all of college basketball. McCallum, the Horizon League preseason Player of the Year and first team selection for the second-straight season, was named the Horizon League Tournament MVP last year.

• Green Bay is in the midst of a 35-day stretch with just one of eight games at home. The final game is at Wisconsin next Wednesday. The Phoenix are 0-4 in true road games this year.
• Sophomore Keifer Sykes leads the Phoenix in scoring and after an 18-point outing at Tennessee Tech has scored in double figures in 22 of his last 25 games.
• Freshman Jordan Fouse has started all 8 games for the Phoenix and leads the team in rebounds, blocks and steals.
• Alec Brown ended his sophomore year with a Green Bay single-season record 89 blocks, including at least one block in 27 of 30 games.
• Brown is the only returning player in the country to have averaged 13+ points, 8+ rebounds and 3+ blocks per game last year.
• With Brown and burly forward Brennan Cougill up front, Green Bay poses a sizeable advantage on the boards. Green Bay is allowing an offensive board in just 28.9 percent of its defensive stands, ranking 76^th.
• Despite the presence of Brown and Cougill on the interior, Green Bay owns an effective field-goal percentage of just 44.8 percent, ranking 271^st nationally. However, the Phoenix own a free-throws attempted to field-goals attempted rate of 42.9, cashing in those free throws 75.9 percent of the time.

• Saturday’s 73-61 loss at #19/17 Michigan State was Loyola’s second in the last 26 games in which it has held the lead at halftime.
• Senior Ben Averkamp scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds against Michigan State. His 25-point performance is the fourth-highest output of his career and moved him into 27^th place on Loyola’s all-time scoring chart with 1,146 points.
• Freshman guard Devon Turk tossed in 10 points off the bench at Michigan State and is averaging 14.5 ppg and shooting 58 percent (7 for 12) from three-point range in the last two games. Turk has hit a three-pointer in each of Loyola’s nine games this year.
• Junior guard Cully Payne has doled out 16 assists and committed just three turnovers (5.3 ratio) in the Ramblers’ last two contests.
• Saturday, Loyola and Mississippi State meet for the first time since March 15, 1963, in what has become known as The Game of Change. Loyola’s roster featured four African-American starters and an unwritten Mississippi law prevented MSU from playing integrated teams, but the Maroons escaped town under cover of darkness to make it to East Lansing, Mich., to face the Ramblers in the NCAA Regional Semifinal Round.
• Averkamp is one of 15 players in NCAA Division I who entered the season with a legitimate chance of topping 1,000 points, 750 rebounds, 100 assists and 100 blocks for his career. Averkamp has recorded 1,146 points, 534 rebounds, 151 assists and 133 blocks. Two other Horizon League players are closing in on those figures - Valparaiso’s Ryan Broekhoff and Green Bay’s Alec Brown.
• Averkamp has been named as one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. The Germantown, Wis.-native was voted Second Team All-League after his junior season, becoming Loyola’s first all-league pick since 2006-07.
• With 16 years of experience spread among 16 players, Loyola ranks as the seventh-youngest team in the nation. Averkamp and Jordan Hicks provide the bulk of experience with seven total years entering the 2012-13 season.

• After snapping a five-game losing streak with an 80-73 win over Northern Illinois, Milwaukee shot just 26 percent in an 84-50 loss at DePaul.
• Since returning to the Milwaukee lineup on Dec. 1, senior guard Paris Gulley (hand) has averaged 18.8 points per game.
• Junior Jordan Aaron was held to six points at DePaul. Aaron has been in double figures in nine of his first 10 games in a Milwaukee uniform.
• After its 80-73 overtime win versus Northern Illinois, Milwaukee is now 21-2 in its last 23 games at the Klotsche Center.
• Senior Kyle Kelm made his first start of the season on Dec. 1 at Northern Iowa and responded with 16 points. He also made three 3-pointers in tallying his third double-figure offensive outing of the season.
• Milwaukee is allowing opponents to grab offensive rebounds on 30.3 percent of its possessions, ranking 303^rd in the nation.

• UIC’s 8-1 start is the program’s best since the 1997-98 season, when the Flames jumped out of the gate with a 10-1 record and eventually advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The last time UIC won seven-consecutive games was also during the 1997-98 campaign, when the Flames tallied one seven-game winning streak, and one eight-game spree.   
• With its 64-55 win over Colorado State, UIC collected its eighth win of the season, matching its entire victory total from the 2011-12 campaign (8-22, 3-15 Horizon League). 
• The Flames have held six opponents under 35 percent shooting (seven under 40 percent), including each of the last five. UIC has also limited five individual opponents to fewer than 50 points for the first time in more than 60 years.
• Senior guard Daniel Barnes, who went over the career 400-point plateau last Saturday against Colorado State (14 points), has scored in double figures in each of the last six games.  Meanwhile, senior point guard Gary Talton has handed out at least four assists in six games, and dished out three or more helpers in 8-of-9 contests
• UIC’s stingy defensive effort has been notable early this season. The Flames are holding their opponents to just a 40.3 effective field-goal percentage, the 8^th-best mark, nationally. percent effort from the field, and a 26.5 percent output from three-point range. The Flames are turning the ball over at a 16.5 clip on the offensive end, ranking 15^th nationally.
• A year after bringing in nine newcomers to the roster, UIC adds eight newcomers to its ranks.   Overall, UIC returns 65 percent of its scoring from the 2011-12 campaign.

• Saturday’s game at New Mexico was the first-ever meeting between two former Indiana Mr. Basketball honorees as D1 head coaches (Steve Alford, New Castle H.S. - 1983; Bryce Drew, Valparaiso - 1994).
• The Crusaders are still waiting for its full roster to be available, with transfer guard LaVonte Dority eligible on Dec. 15. Senior Ryan Broekhoff (mono) and junior Bobby Capobianco (hernia) have also been less than full strength in the first month of the year. 
• In its two losses, Valparaiso is a combined 15-for-54 (27.8 percent) from three-point range. The Crusaders were just 8-for-18 in their 65-52 loss at No. 18/20 New Mexico.
• Valparaiso’s 53.1 effective field-goal percentage ranks 39^th in the country. The Crusaders have been one of the best teams in the nation at getting to the free-throw line, holding a 45.8 FGA/FTA rate. The mark is 34^th nationally.
• Ryan Broekhoff’s124.3 offensive rating ranks 12^th among players used on at least 24 percent of the team’s possessions.
• Senior Kevin Van Wijk serves as the focal point of the Valparaiso offense, being used on 29.4 percent of the team’s possessions. Van Wijk’s 8.4 fouls drawn per 40 minutes is the fourth-best rate nationally.
• With a turnover percentage of 24.3 on its possessions, Valparaiso ranks 303^rd in the country.

• Wright State’s 92-point effort against VMI was the most scored by a Raiders team since Feb. 27, 2005, when they scored 94 versus Green Bay.
• VMI averaged 85 points per game entering Saturday’s game, but were held to just 59 by Wright State.
• The Raiders’ 25.7 defensive turnover rate ranks 19^th nationally, while Wright State is allowing offensive rebounds on just 29.1 percent of its defensive possessions, ranking 76^th.
• In his two years as Wright State’s head coach, Billy Donlon has hung his hat on defense. Last year, the Raiders were fourth in the country at defensive turnover rate, turning opponents over 25.6-percent of the time. In 2010-11, the team ranked 12th at 24.3-percent, per KenPom.com. Wright State has not been outside the top 20 in the category in each of the last four seasons.
• Junior Cole Darling’s 29 point effort versus Morehead State was the most by a Raider since Julius Mays had 33 on Jan. 25.
• A season after opening the year as the sixth-youngest team in the country, the Raiders are once again the sixth-youngest team in the nation. Wright State has 15 players with a total of 14 years of collegiate experience. The Raiders are one of a handful of teams to open the year without a senior on their roster.
• Wright State returns just 36.9 percent of its scoring from a year ago; the Raiders return six letterwinners from last year, led by point guard Reggie Arceneaux.

• Senior Damian Eargle set a new Horizon League career blocks record with 4 against Kent State, breaking the old mark of 226. Eargle sits at 243 after 4 versus Hiram.
• Eargle eclipsed 800 career points against Hiram; with 812 points as a Penguin, the center needs 188 to reach 1,000 in his YSU career.
• Junior Kendrick Perry needs just 47 points to reach 1,000 for his career. He also ranks eighth all-time with 288 assists.
• Senior Blake Allen needs 34 more 3-pointers to become the YSU all-time leader. He has 165 and the record is 198.
• In Youngstown State’s 93-50 win over Geneva, all 12 Penguins who appeared in the game scored, led by freshman Bobby Hain’s 16 points.
• The Penguins’ 16.5 turnover rate is one of the tops in the nation, checking in at 23^rd.
• Last year, Youngstown State was among the nation’s most reliant teams on the three-pointer. 38.1 percent of YSU’s total points came via the three, the eighth-highest mark in the nation. 40.8 percent of the Penguins’ attempts were three-pointers, ranking 28^th nationally. To this point in the year, the Penguins are displaying more balance, getting just 26.3 percent of its points from long range and holding a 31.6 percent 3PA/FGA rate.