Men's Basketball Notebook (Dec. 17)

Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Dec. 17)

On the Schedule [all times ET]
Monday, Dec. 17
Detroit at #3/3 Syracuse⁹, 7 p.m. – ESPN2
Valparaiso at Oakland, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 18
Youngstown State at South Florida, 7 p.m. – ESPN3
UIC at Western Illinois, 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 19
Detroit at Alcorn State⁹, 2 p.m.
Notre Dame College at Cleveland State, 7 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Miami University at Wright State, 8 p.m. – Horizon League Network
#rv/-- Marquette at Green Bay, 8 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 20
IUPUI at Valparaiso, 8:05 p.m. – Horizon League Network

Friday, Dec. 21
Youngstown State at Bethune-Cookman, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 22
UIC at Miami University, 1:30 p.m.
Loyola at St. Peter’s, 2 p.m.
Purdue-Calumet at Valparaiso, 2:35 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Wright State at #11/11 Cincinnati, 4 p.m. – Fox Sports
South Dakota at Green Bay, 8 p.m.
Milwaukee at Wisconsin, 9:15 p.m. – BTN

On the Horizon

• Depth Charge: Picked seventh, eighth and ninth in the Horizon League preseason poll, Loyola, UIC and Wright State presently are a combined 23-7.
  UIC has improved 184 places in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings this year, from 289 to its present ranking of 105. The jump is the single-largest improvement of any team in the country.
  Loyola has already matched its win total from last season after Saturday’s 59-51 win over Mississippi State in the 50^th anniversary celebration of the Game of Change.
  Wright State leads the Horizon League with four road wins, including a 63-57 victory at Hofstra on Saturday.
• On Fire: UIC is off to a 9-1 start, the program’s best since the 1997-98 season.
  Saturday, the Flames knocked off an Eastern Michigan squad coming off a three-point defeat of Purdue, 74-48. UIC already owns notable wins over Colorado State (64-55), 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 six. UIC has also limited seven 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 11^th by Jeff Sagarin, while Basketball State joins Pomeroy with its ranking of 12.
  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.

• Detroit opens the Gotham Classic in one of the toughest road venues in which to win, traveling to #3/3 Syracuse (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim enters the game one win shy of 900 in his career. The Orange have won 51 straight regular season non-conference games, with the last loss coming to Cleveland State on Dec. 15, 2008.
• Youngstown State will play its second game against a Power 6 member on Tuesday, when the Penguins travel to South Florida (7 p.m. ET, ESPN3). The Penguins previously defeated Georgia, 68-56.
• Green Bay will host Marquette on Wednesday, the Golden Eagles’ first trip to the Resch Center in 12 meetings between the teams. Phoenix head coach Brian Wardle starred for Marquette, finishing his career with 1,690 points,  seventh all-time at Marquette.
• Wright State will meet its first ranked opponent of the season on Saturday, traveling to No. 11/11 Cincinnati.

• Loyola and Mississippi State celebrated the 50th anniversary of the “Game of Change,” played in the 1963 NCAA Tournament which helped forward the civil rights movement. Fifty years ago the teams played to a 61-51 score; on Saturday, Loyola won once again, this time by a 59-51 count. The event earned Seth Davis’ praise as the “Best Event” of the week in his weekly recap of college basketball on SI.com.
• UIC routed an Eastern Michigan team that had beaten Purdue a week earlier, routing the Eagles, 74-48. At 9-1, the Flames are matching the program’s best record since 1997-98.
• Detroit knocked off an Akron squad ranked No. 19 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25. The Titans have now won 14 straight games at Calihan Hall, tied for the 10^th-longest streak in the country.

League Rankings (Pomeroy)                              League Rankings (Sagarin)                                  League Rankings (Basketball State)
1              Big Ten                   .8602                      1            Big Ten                   84.10                      1              Big East                   86.016
2              Big East                  .8363                      2            Mountain West     82.31                       2              Big Ten                    84.543
3              ACC                         .7839                      3            Big East                 81.78                      3               Mountain West       84.051
4              Big 12                      .7655                      4            ACC                        80.94                      4              ACC                          82.048
5              Mountain West      .7483                      5             Pac-12                    80.40                     5              Pac-12                     81.158
6              Pac-12                    .7474                      6             Big 12                      80.03                    6              Big 12                       79.147
7              SEC                         .7439                      7             SEC                        78.74                     7              SEC                          77.789
8              Atlantic 10               .7054                      8             Atlantic 10              78.41                    8              Atlantic 10                77.438
9              Missouri Valley      .6678                      9             Missouri Valley     77.62                     9              Missouri Valley       76.659
10           West Coast             .6354                      10          West Coast           76.58                     10            West Coast             75.654
11           Conference USA    .5552                      11          Horizon League   74.18                     11            Conference USA    73.870
12           Horizon League     .5211                     12           Conference USA   73.67                     12           Horizon League    71.426
13           WAC                         .4849                      13           WAC                        72.97                     13           Sun Belt                   68.786
14           MAAC                       .4734                      14           Big West                 72.38                     14           Ohio Valley              68.153
15           Patriot League       .4353                      15           MAAC                      72.15                      15           MAC                          68.116
16           MAC                         .4345                      16            MAC                         71.98                     16          WAC                          68.007
17           Colonial                  .4182                      17            Sun Belt                  71.10                     17          Patriot                       66.710
18           Ivy League              .4058                      18            Ohio Valley             70.85                     18          MAAC                        66.155
19           Big West                 .4021                      19            Patriot                      70.73                     19          Southland                65.162  
20           Sun Belt                  .3974                      20            America East         69.67                     20          Northeast                 64.520
21           Ohio Valley             .3883                      21            Northeast               69.89                     21          Big West                   64.233

• 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 attempt to pick up his 300^th career win on Wednesday, when the Vikings host Notre Dame (Ohio).
• The Vikings were without two starters because of injuries on Saturday at St. Bonaventure. Anton Grady (knee) and Sebastian Douglas (concussion) both missed the game. Grady had surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Grady was averaging 13.7 ppg. Grady had been used on 30.7 percent of the Vikings’ possessions, the 43^rd-highest rate in the country.
• CSU travels to Akron on Sunday (Dec. 23) for its fourth game against a MAC school this year. The Vikings have won 11 straight contests vs. teams from the MAC.
• Josh Ivory hit both of CSU’s three-pointers at St. Bonaventure late in the second half, extending the Vikings streak of hitting at least one three-pointer to 444 straight games.

• This season the Titans are a perfect 5-0 when scoring 80 or more points and have extended their winning streak to 19 games when doing so. Last year, Detroit finished undefeated (9-0) when reaching the 80-point mark.
• Ray McCallum currently leads the Titans in three categories this season scoring (19.4 ppg), assists (4.8 apg) and steals (1.7 spg) and is also climbing up the career record board in all three. McCallum has 1,195 points (24^th), 353 assist (9^th) and 128 steals (14^th) in his career. The last Titan to rank among the top-10 in all three of those categories was Rashad Phillips. Phillips finished his career with 2,319 points (1^st), 548 assists (4^th) and 190 steals (2^nd). McCallum needs 407 points and 12 steals to catch Phillips.
• 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.

• Sophomore Keifer Sykes leads the Phoenix in scoring and after a 22-point performance against Southern Illinois, has scored in double figures in 24 of his last 27 games. In three games at the Resch Center, Sykes is averaging 24.7 points per game.
• Freshman Jordan Fouse has started all 10 games for the Phoenix and leads the team in rebounds, blocks and steals.
• Alec Brownended 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 28.5 percent of its defensive stands, ranking 58^th.
• Despite the presence of Brown and Cougill on the interior, Green Bay owns an effective field-goal percentage of just 44.5 percent, ranking 276^th nationally. However, the Phoenix own a free-throws attempted to field-goals attempted rate of 42.7 (54^th), cashing in those free throws 76.9 percent of the time.

• Saturday’s win over Mississippi State matched Loyola’s win total (7) from the 2011-12 season.
• Freshman Devon Turk came off the bench to spark a rally in the first half, scoring 18 of his career-best 21 points in the opening half of a 59-51 victory over Mississippi State on Dec. 15. Over the last three games, Turk in pitching in 16.7 ppg and 4.0 threes per game off the bench.
• Sophomore Christian Thomas had arguably the best game of his collegiate career on Saturday against Mississippi State. The 6-foot-5 forward, who had notched 14 total points in the previous three games, tallied a career-best 16 points and hauled in six rebounds.             
• Over the last four games, junior point guard Cully Payne has dished out 19 assists to only four turnovers (4.75 ratio) and is shooting 42 percent (5-for-12) from long distance after making just 6 of his first 23 (.261) treys this year.
• Senior Ben 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 1,151 points, 543 rebounds, 152 assists and 134 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.

• Over its last three games, Milwaukee is shooting a combined 48-for-168 from the field, a 28.6 percent clip. The Panthers were at 32.2 percent in a 69-58 loss to Tennessee Tech on Saturday night.
• Senior Kyle Kelm had his first career double-double in a loss at Fairfield on Dec. 12, leading the Panthers with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
• Since returning to the Milwaukee lineup on Dec. 1, senior guard Paris Gulley (hand) has averaged 14.2 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. Aaron was limited to eight at Fairfield before rebounding with 15 against Tennessee Tech.
• Milwaukee is allowing opponents to grab offensive rebounds on 36.3 percent of its possessions, ranking 284^th in the nation. The Panthers’ effective field goal percentage of 41.2 ranks 326^th.

• UIC’s 9-1 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 eight consecutive games was also during the 1997-98 campaign.   
• The Flames have held seven opponents under 35 percent shooting (eight under 40 percent), including each of the last six. UIC has also limited six individual opponents to fewer than 50 points for the first time in more than 60 years.
• 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). 
• 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 seven games.  Meanwhile, senior point guard Gary Talton has handed out at least four assists in seven games, and dished out three or more helpers in 9-of-10 contests.
• Barnes’ 30-point explosion against Eastern Michigan was the first such effort by a UIC player since Jan. 7, 2010, when Jeremy Buttell eclipsed 30 versus Youngstown State. Buttell had a front-row seat for Barnes’ game - he is currently UIC’s video coordinator.
• UIC’s stingy defensive effort has been notable early this season. The Flames are holding their opponents to just a 39.6 effective field-goal percentage, the 8^th-best mark, nationally. The Flames hold a 92.0 defensive efficiency, 45^th in the country, holding opponents to  a 25.4 percent output from three-point range. The Flames are turning the ball over at a 16.7 clip on the offensive end, ranking 24^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.

• Crusaders lead the Horizon League in rebounding margin and were +18 on the glass at Missouri State, Valpo’s highest margin since going +23 in a win over YSU on Jan. 7, 2011.
• Senior Ryan Broekhoff scored 15 at Missouri State and has scored at least 15 in 6 of Valpo’s last 7 games.
• Saturday’s win over Missouri State marked the first game Valparaiso had its full complement of players. LaVonte Dority scored 20 points in his first game after transferring. Broekhoff (mono) and junior Bobby Capobianco (hernia) were less than full strength in the first month of the year.               
• In its three 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 52.8 effective field-goal percentage ranks 43^rd in the country. The Crusaders have been one of the best teams in the nation at getting to the free-throw line, holding a 49.9 FGA/FTA rate. The mark is 13^th nationally.
• Ryan Broekhoff’s125.9 offensive rating ranks 8^th among players used on at least 24 percent of the team’s possessions and is 85^th overall.
• Senior Kevin Van Wijk serves as the focal point of the Valparaiso offense, being used on 28.5 percent of the team’s possessions. Van Wijk’s 8.3 fouls drawn per 40 minutes is the sixth-best rate nationally.
• Broekhoff’s 25.0 defensive rebounding percentage ranks 41^st in the country, while the Crusaders are allowing offensive rebounds on just 26.7 of possessions, 22^nd nationally.
• With a turnover percentage of 25.1 on its possessions, Valparaiso ranks 312^th in the country.

• Wright State’s 7-3 start is the program’s best since the 2007-08 season. After playing 7-of-10 games on the road, the Raiders now have 5-of-6 at the Nutter Center.
• 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.
• The Raiders’ 25.6 defensive turnover rate ranks 19^th nationally, while Wright State is allowing offensive rebounds on just 29.0 percent of its defensive possessions, ranking 79^th.
• Led by point guard Reggie Arceneaux, Wright State has given up a steal on just 7.7 percent of its possessions, ranking 25^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.
• 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 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 20^th.
• 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.