Men's Basketball Notebook (Dec. 31)

Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Dec. 31, 2012)

On the Schedule [all times ET] 
Wednesday, Jan. 2
Kent State at Cleveland State, 6 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Youngstown State at UIC^*, 8 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Loyola at Valparaiso^*, 8:05 p.m. – Horizon League Network

Thursday, Jan. 3
Milwaukee at Detroit^*, 7 p.m. – ESPN3
Green Bay at Wright State^*, 7 p.m. – Horizon League Network

Friday, Jan. 4
Cleveland State at Valparaiso^*, 7 p.m. – ESPNU

Satuday, Jan. 5
Green Bay at Detroit^*, 2 p.m. – Horizon League Network, ESPN3/Full Court
Youngstown State at Loyola^*, 4 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Milwaukee at Wright State^*, 7 p.m. – Horizon League Network

On the Horizon

• League Begins: Wednesday marks the start of Horizon League play after a successful non-conference slate.
  Horizon League teams went a combined 56-47 against Division I competition and 71-47 overall, with a handfull of non-conference games remaining. Last year, the conference was 52-59 against Division I competition.
  With 7 of 9 teams holding a .500 record or better, the Horizon League is one of 11 conferences with at least 75 percent of its members holding winning records.
  As of Dec. 31, the Horizon League is rated 11th by Jeff Sagarin, while sitting 12th in Ken Pomeroy, RPI and Basketball State indexes.
• Ramble On: After winning just seven games last year, Loyola is 9-3 on the season after a 69-61 win at DePaul on Saturday.
  The victory over the Blue Demons was the first for Loyola since the 1989 season. Head coach Porter Moser is engineering one of the nation’s biggest turnarounds.
  Loyola will open the Horizon League season at Valparaiso, pitting the two teams with the best non-conference records against one another on Wednesday night (8 p.m. ET, Horizon League Network).
• At the Point: Four Horizon League point guards were among the candidates named for the Bob Cousy Award, annually given to the nation’s top collegiate point guard by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
  Detroit’s Ray McCallum, Loyola’s Cully Payne, Youngstown State’s Kendrick Perry, and Green Bay’s Keifer Sykes were named to the list. McCallum reached the final 20 candidates last season.

• Conference play begins in the Horizon League on Wednesday, Jan. 2, as Youngstown State travels to UIC (8 p.m. ET, Horizon League Network) and Loyola heads to Valparaiso (8:05 p.m. ET, HLN). All four programs boast winning records heading into the games.
• Cleveland State wraps its non-conference slate on Wednesday, welcoming Kent State to the Wolstein Center. The Vikings are 7-0 at home this year.
• Valparaiso and Cleveland State will be featured on ESPNU on Friday night (7 p.m. ET), while Green Bay and Detroit will play in the first Horizon League Network Game of the Week (2 p.m. ET, ESPN3).

• Loyola collected its first win over DePaul in 23 years, knocking off the Blue Demons, 69-61. Cully Payne controlled the game with 24 points and 4 assists for the Ramblers.
• Valparaiso snapped Murray State’s 19-game home winning streak with a 66-64 victory at the CFSB Center. The Crusaders overcame an early 11-point deficit in rallying for the win.
• Detroit extended its home winning streak to 15 games with an 83-78 win over Canisius in the Chevrolet Gotham Classic.

• As of Dec. 31, the Horizon League is ranked 11^th by Jeff Sagarin. The conference checks in 12^th in the Ken Pomeroy (KenPom.com), Basketball State (BBState.com) and RPI (RPIRatings.com) indexes. Up from its preseason rank of 15^th in Pomeroy, the conference is one of the biggest climbers of the year.
• 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.

• With 11 points in CSU’s win over Rio Grande, freshman Bryn Forbes has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games.
• Cleveland State shot .518 (29-56) from the field vs. Rio Grande, improving to 5-0 this season when they shoot better than 50-percent from the floor.
• Devon Longmade his third career start vs. Rio Grande and hit both of his shots from the field. He is shooting .690 (20-29) from the floor this season.
• Senior Tim Kamczyc has not missed a game in his career. He played in his 115^th straight game in Friday’s win over Rio Grande, the ninth longest streak in CSU history.

• Detroit has won 15 straight games on Dick Vitale Court at Calihan Hall, tied for the ninth-longest streak in the country. The Titans have averaged 77.8 points per game over that stretch, while only allowing opponents to score 65.2 points on Dick Vitale Court.
• The Titans has started the same five players all season and now all five average in double figures in scoring. The five starters are also responsible for 85.2 percent of the Titan scoring. The five starters - Ray McCallum, Jason Calliste, Juwan Howard, Jr., Doug Anderson and Nick Minnerath - accounted for all of Detroit’s points in the 83-78 win over Canisius on Sunday.
• McCallum currently leads the Titans in three categories this season scoring (18.5 ppg), assists (4.8 apg) and steals (1.66 spg.) and is also climbing up the career record board in all three. McCallum has 1,245 points (23^rd), 369 assists (9^th) and 133 steals (13^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 357 points and seven steals to reach that plateau.
• 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 held Illinois-Springfield to 25.9-percent shooting, the lowest for a Phoenix opponent in the history of the Resch Center and a low for any opponent since Idaho shot 22.6 percent on Nov. 17, 2000.
• Junior Sultan Muhammad became the third Phoenix player to reach 20 or more points this year after a 21-point effort against UIS.
• Since hitting a late jumper in Green Bay’s 49-47 win over Marquette, Alec Brown has looked like the Preseason First Team All-League pick he was tabbed to be. Brown is averaging 17.5 points and 8 rebounds, going 15-for-20 from the floor.
• Brown is the only returning player in the country to have averaged 13+ points, 8+ rebounds and 3+ blocks per game last year.
• One week after shooting a season-high 55.3 percent from the field against South Dakota, the Phoenix bested it by shooting 59.3 percent (32-54) from the field and 57.1 percent from long range (8-14).              
• Green Bay defeated Marquette 49-47 in the Golden Eagles first visit to Green Bay. The 47 points allowed were the fewest since a 57-47 win over Loyola on Dec. 3, 2011.
• Sophomore Greg Mays became the 8^th different Phoenix player to reach double figures this season with a season-high 11 against Marquette.

• Loyola has posted winning months for the first time since November and December 2009.              
• Loyola’s 69-61 victory over DePaul was its first against the Blue Demons since 1989 and snapped an 11-game losing streak versus its city rival.
• The Ramblers have won seven of their last eight games with the only loss in that stretch being a 73-61 setback at #19/19 Michigan State. Loyola has defeated two BCS conference opponents in the last three weeks (Mississippi State and DePaul) marking the first time its has won multiple games versus BCS conference teams in the same season since 1991-92.  
• Sophomore forward Christian Thomas has come on in the last three games, and is averaging 12.3 ppg and 8.0 rpg in that stretch. In Saturday’s win at DePaul, he posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
• 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 1,177 points, 552 rebounds, 155 assists and 136 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.

• Milwaukee’s 95 points vs. Ohio Dominican marked its most since a 96-77 win over Texas State on Nov. 23, 2009. UWM’s 59 second-half points  marked its most in a half since scoring 61 in the second half against UIC on Jan. 9, 2003.
• Junior Jordan Aaron’s 34 points were the most by a Panther since Avery Smith scored 36 at Oakland on Dec. 2, 2006.
• Senior Demetrius Harris had 14 points, five rebounds and four blocks. Like Aaron, Harris was stranded at home because of weather and didn’t arrive back in Milwaukee until late Friday.
• After shooting below 40 percent in five-straight games, the Panthers have shot better than 44 percent in two straight outings.
• Senior Paris Gulley has now reached double figures in six of eight games since his return from injury, scoring 20 points versus Ohio Dominican.
• After making 34 three-pointers in the first three games of the season the Panthers have made 60 in their last 11 outings.
• Milwaukee is allowing opponents to grab offensive rebounds on 36.3 percent of its possessions, ranking 292^nd in the nation. The Panthers’ effective field goal percentage of 42.0 ranks 325^th.

• UIC is 9-4 on the season, the first time the Flames have entered Horizon League play with at least nine wins since the 2003-04 campaign..
• Senior guards Daniel Barnes and Gary Talton have carried the offensive load  - Barnes is scoring a team-high 12.7 points per game, while Talton is averaging 12.2 points per contest.  Talton ranks third in the Horizon League in both assists per game (4.7) and assist/turnover ratio (2.3), and paces the League in steals (22). 
• Barnes enters Wednesday’s game tied for the League lead in three-point field goals (38), alongside YSU’s Blake Allen.  He cracked the top-10 of UIC’s career three-point field goals list last Saturday, after drilling a career-best six threes at Toledo.
• After holding seven of its first 10 opponents under 35 percent shooting, UIC had not done so in its last three games. UIC has also limited six individual opponents to fewer than 50 points for the first time in more than 60 years.
• UIC has started the same five all year - Gary Talton, Barnes, Hayden Humes, Marc Brown and Josh Crittle. That group is currently occupying 77.4 percent of UIC’s minutes played.  Talton (34.2) and Humes (33.9) both rank in the top-6 of the Horizon League in minutes.
• UIC’s stingy defensive effort has been notable early this season. The Flames are holding their opponents to just a 43.7 effective field-goal percentage, the 42^nd-best mark, nationally. The Flames are turning the ball over at a 17.6 clip on the offensive end, ranking 36^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.

• Valparaiso collected a 66-64 win at Murray State, snapping the Racers’ 19-game non-conference homecourt winning streak.
• Senior Ryan Broekhoff scored 18 at Murray State and has scored at least 15 in 8 of Valpo’s last 9 games. Broekhoff sat out his first career game on Saturday to rest an ankle injury.
• Valparaiso’s 53.3 effective field-goal percentage ranks 37^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 46.0 FGA/FTA rate. The mark is 21^st nationally.
• Broekhoff’s 126.8 offensive rating ranks 22^nd among players used on at least 20 percent of the team’s possessions and is 70^th overall.  Broekhoff ranks directly behind Indiana’s Victor Oladipo among players used on at least 20-percent of the teams’ possessions.
• Senior Kevin Van Wijk serves as the focal point of the Valparaiso offense, being used on 30.7 percent of the team’s possessions. Van Wijk’s 7.7 fouls drawn per 40 minutes is the sixth-best rate nationally.
• Broekhoff’s 24.8 defensive rebounding percentage ranks 46^st in the country, while the Crusaders are allowing offensive rebounds on just 25.1 of possessions, 13^th nationally.
• Crusaders lead the Horizon League in rebounding margin and were +16 on the glass versus Murray State,
• On Dec. 15, Valparaiso finally saw its full lineup come together in its win over Missouri State. LaVonte Dority scored 20 points in his first game after transferring. Broekhoff (mono) and junior Bobby Capobianco (hernia) were less than full strength through the first month of the year.      
• With a turnover percentage of 24.2 on its possessions, Valparaiso ranks 310^th in the country.

• Wright State’s 9-4 start is the program’s best under head coach Billy Donlon and the best since the 2007-08 season.
• Junior Jerran Young’s 24-point outburst against Mount St. Joseph marked the second time in three games the newcomer set a career high. Young’s 14-point, 10-rebound double-double at Cincinnati was the first by a Wright State player since Cory Cooperwood had 19 points and 12 rebounds against Loyola on January 30, 2010.
• The Raiders’ 25.0 defensive turnover rate ranks 17^st nationally, while Wright State is holds a defensive efficiency of 93.7, ranking 71^st.
• Led by point guard Reggie Arceneaux, Wright State has given up a steal on just 8.3 percent of its possessions, ranking 49^th.
• In his two years as Wright State’s head coach, 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 point guard Reggie Arceneaux.

• Junior Kendrick Perry became the 33^rd player in Youngstown State men’s basketball history to score 1,000 career points. Perry became the first Penguin to reach 1,000 career points since Vytas Sulskis reached the milestone as a senior at home on Nov. 27, 2010. Quin Humphrey was the last YSU junior to score his 1,000^th point in the 2005-06 season.
• 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 252 after 2 versus Marygrove. Eargle eclipsed 800 career points against Hiram; with 843 points as a Penguin, the center needs 157 to reach 1,000 in his YSU career.
• Senior Blake Allen needs 23 more 3-pointers to become the YSU all-time leader. He has 176 in his career.
• The Penguins’ 17.6 turnover rate is one of the tops in the nation, checking in at 38^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 27.4 percent of its points from long range and holding a 30.8 percent 3PA/FGA rate.