Men's Basketball Notebook (Feb. 18)

Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Feb. 18)

On the Schedule [all times ET] 
Tuesday, Feb. 19
Valparaiso at Loyola^*, 8 p.m. – Horizon League Network

Wednesday, Feb. 20
Wright State at Cleveland State^*, 7 p.m. – Horizon League Network
UIC at Milwaukee^*, 8 p.m. – Horizon League Network

Saturday, Feb. 23 (Ramada BracketBusters)
Eastern Kentucky at Valparaiso, 1 p.m. -- ESPNU
Evansville at Wright State, 2 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Milwaukee at IUPUI, 3 p.m.
Kent State at Loyola, 3 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Detroit at #rv/rv Wichita State, 4 p.m. – ESPN2
Bradley at UIC, 4 p.m. – Horizon League Network/CSN Chicago
Central Michigan at Youngstown State, 7:05 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Green Bay at Drake, 8 p.m.
Cleveland State at Western Illinois, 8 p.m.

On the Horizon
·         Comebacks: Needing a win over Detroit to clinch a share of the conference regular-season title, Valparaiso instead was dealt a taste of its own medicine, 84-74, at the ARC on Saturday.

Valparaiso, which overcame a 24-point second half deficit to stun Detroit, 89-88, at Calihan Hall last month, instead saw the Titans erase a 15-point deficit with 9:26 to play at the ARC.

19-0 Detroit run put the Titans in control and brought Detroit to within a half-game in the standings with two League games remaining for Detroit and three for the Crusaders.

The top two teams in the Horizon League Tournament earn double byes to the semifinals, with the No. 1 seed hosting as long as it is alive. The No. 3 seed will earn a bye to the Second Round; presently, six teams are alive for one of the three spots.

·         To the Wire: Two years ago, the Horizon League produced the first three-way regular season championship in the conference’s history. Last season involved a three-way tie for third. And this year, the conference could be headed for another multi-way tie.

Entering the last two weeks of the regular season, four teams are separated by just two games, with Valparaiso controlling its destiny.

·         BracketBusters: One of the founding conferences of the Ramada BracketBusters, the Horizon League placed all nine of its teams in the event.

Detroit and Valparaiso were tabbed for the TV portion of the event on Feb. 23, with the Titans drawing Wichita State (4 p.m. EST, ESPN/ESPN2). The Crusaders will host Eastern Kentucky at 1 p.m. (ESPNU).

Seven non-TV games are Evansville at Wright State, Green Bay at Drake, Central Michigan at Youngstown State, Bradley at UIC, Cleveland State at Western Illinois, Kent State at Loyola and Milwaukee at IUPUI.

Upcoming Games
·         Valparaiso (20-7, 10-3 Horizon) will try and bounce back from a difficult loss to Detroit by traveling to Loyola (14-12, 4-9 Horizon) on Tuesday (8 p.m. EST, HLN). The Ramblers already handed the Crusaders one of their three conference losses this year, 63-54, on Jan. 2, at the ARC.
·         Wright State (17-9, 8-5 Horizon) will try to keep pace with the three teams in front of it on Wednesday, meeting Cleveland State (13-15, 5-9 Horizon). The Vikings are 9-4 at the Wolstein Center this season.
·         All nine Horizon League teams will take part in the final iteration of the Ramada BracketBusters on Saturday, highlighted by Detroit’s trip to Wichita State (4 p.m. EST, ESPN2) and Valparaiso hosting Eastern Kentucky (1 p.m. EST, ESPNU).

The Week That Was
·         Detroit closed within a half-game of the Horizon League lead, overcoming a 15-point deficit with 9:26 to play to stun Valparaiso, 84-74, at the ARC.
·         Green Bay swept its road trip through northeast Ohio fro the first time since 2006-07. The Phoenix improved to 4-9 away from the Resch Center this season.
·         For the first time in program history, Wright State swept the season series with both Green Bay and Milwaukee, winning on the road against both last week. The Raiders’ 15-point win at Milwaukee marked the first time in 14 years that WSU won at Milwaukee.
·         On the year, 18 Horizon League games have been within a single possession in the final minute of regulation, with Green Bay’s win at Cleveland State the latest such affair.

League Notes
·         As of Feb. 18, the Horizon League is ranked 12^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.

Ken Pomeroy		Jeff Sagarin		Basketball State		RPI
1. Big Ten	.8675	1. Big Ten	85.20	1. Mountain West	70.099	1. Big Ten	.5875
2. Big East	.8296	2. Big East	83.41	2. Big East	68.668	2. Mountain West	.5870
3. ACC	.7935	3. Big 12	82.37	3. Big Ten	67.705	3. Big East	.5840
4. Mountain West	.7927	4. ACC	81.75	4. ACC	66.340	4. ACC	.5722
5. Pac-12	.7756	5. Pac-12	80.78	5. Big 12	65.101	5. Big 12	.5664
6. Big 12	.7576	6. Mountain West	80.77	6. Pac-12	62.663	6. Pac-12	.5613
7. SEC	.7440	7. SEC	80.22	7. SEC	61.999	7. Atlantic 10	.5512
8. Atlantic 10	.6942	8. Atlantic 10	78.69	8. Atlantic 10	61.736	8. SEC	.5486
9. Missouri Valley	.6835	9. Missouri Valley	76.76	9. Conference USA	58.889	9. Missouri Valley	.5325
10. West Coast	.6491	10. West Coast	75.38	10. Missouri Valley	58.809	10. West Coast	.5289
11. Conference USA	.5316	11. Conference USA	74.47	11. West Coast	57.041	11. Conference USA	.5184
12. Horizon League	.5151	12. Horizon League	73.34	12. Horizon League	54.800	12. Horizon League	.5029
13. WAC	.4950	13. WAC	72.24	13. MAC	50.951	13. WAC	.4957
14. MAC	.4434	14. MAAC	71.88	14. Sun Belt	50.585	14. Sun Belt	.4898
15. MAAC	.4432	15. Big West	71.44	15. Ohio Valley	50.491	15. Ohio Valley	.4866
16. Big West	.4367	16. MAC	71.32	16. WAC	50.158	16. MAAC	.4858
17. Patriot	.4163	17. Colonial	71.16	17. Ivy League	49.415	17. MAC	.4813
18. Ivy League	.4050	18. Ivy League	70.10	18. Patriot	49.389	18. Summit	.4792
19. Sun Belt	.4007	19. Sun Belt	69.57	19. Big West	49.143	19. Patriot	.4757
20. Colonial	.3944	20. Patriot	69.31	20. Southland	48.790	20. Northeast	.4745
21. Ohio Valley	.3576	21. Ohio Valley	68.65	21. MAAC	47.561	21. Big West	.4744

·         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.
·         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.

Cleveland State Vikings (13-15, 5-9 Horizon)
·         Sophomore Charlie Lee had six assists in the win over Milwaukee, his 15th game with at least five assists this season. On the year, Lee has 139 assists this year, the most ever by a CSU sophomore in a season seven short of breaking into the top-10 for a season in CSU history.
·         Freshman Bryn Forbes scored 24 points and Lee added 20 in the win over Milwaukee, the first time since Dec. 31, 2011 CSU had two players with 20 or more points in a game (Jeremy Montgomery, 21; D’Aundray Brown, 20).
·         CSU’s bench has scored at least 20 points in four of the last six games and had 19 in another.
·         Senior Tim Kamczyc played in his 131st straight game on Sunday, moving into third place on the all-time list in CSU history. He trails Norris Cole (140) and Jeremy Montgomery (139).
·         With Sunday’s win, Cleveland State head coach Gary Waters now is ninth in career wins (135) among Horizon League coaches, trailing Butler’s Brad Stevens by three (138). Waters’ 67 conference wins place him 10th, one shy of former Evansville head coach Jim Crews.

Detroit Titans (18-9, 10-4 Horizon)
·         Junior Ray McCallum finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals against Cleveland State. The effort was the first-such game in regulation since Ben Gordon in Dec. 2003 (17/16/11/5 vs. Iona).
·         After scoring 15 points at Valparaiso, McCallum became just the 12th Titan to join the 1,500 point club and now has 1,505 in his career.
·         The Titans are 14-1 when scoring 80 or more points and are 28-1 in their last 29 games when doing so.
·         Senior Doug Anderson has recorded a dunk on 63 of his 140 field goals this season.
·         Junior Evan Bruinsma came off the bench to post a double-double on Saturday with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
·         The Titans have started the same five players all season and all five average in double figures in scoring.The five starters - The five starters - McCallum, Jason Calliste, Juwan Howard, Jr., Anderson and Nick Minnerath - have accounted for 86.8 percent of the team’s points this season.
·         McCallum currently leads the Titans in in three categories this season scoring (18.7 ppg), assists (4.7 apg), and steals (2.0 spg.) and is also climbing up the career record board in all three. McCallum has 1,505 points (12th), 430 assists (8th) and 164 steals (4th) 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 (1st), 548 assists (4th) and 190 steals (2nd).
·         Calliste became the 38th player in Detroit history to reach 1,000 for his career and 145th in League history. Matching Minnerath for game-high honors at Valpo, Calliste now has 1,022 in his career.

Green Bay Phoenix (15-12, 9-5 Horizon)
·         For the first time since 2006-07, Green Bay went 2-0 on its road trip through Cleveland State and Youngstown State.
·         Junior Alec Brown has 1,098 career points and 208 career blocks. Brown is now third all-time in Horizon League history in blocked shots.
·         With 585 career rebounds, Brown is one of two players in Horizon League history with 1,000 career points, 500 career rebounds and 200 blocked shots, joining Evansville’s Dan Godfread (1,386/737/226) in the club. Youngstown State’s Damian Eargle (979/575/289) sits 21 points shy of making the group a trio.
·         Freshman Jordan Fouse is only four rebounds shy of breaking the program freshman record for rebounds in a season (set in 1969-70).
·         Fouse has 45 steals, the third-most all-time by a Phoenix freshman, and with 6 more would break the all-time freshman record.
·         In his past 8 games healthy, Keifer Sykes has averaged 12.6 points in the second half. Sykes has scored 101 second-half points in that stretch.
·         Green Bay’s 133 blocked shots rank second in program history, just 9 shy of program record of 142 last season.

Loyola Ramblers (14-12, 4-9 Horizon)
·         Loyola snapped a four-game losing skid and doubled its win total from last season (7) when it picked up a 69-60 victory over UIC on Feb. 16, despite playing without injured starters Ben Averkamp and Cully Payne. The Ramblers’ seven-game improvement from a year ago under Porter Moser is the best improvement by a Loyola head coach from his first year to his second.
·         Averkamp, who has missed the last three games due to injury, needs three more blocked shots to become the first player in Loyola history to rack up 1,300 points, 600 rebounds, 150 assists, and 150 blocks.
·         Much like his freshman campaign in 2008-09, the last time he was healthy for a full season, fifth-year senior Jordan Hicks is finishing the season with a flourish. Over the last half dozen games, Hicks is posting 12.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.8 apg, and 1.5 spg, while shooting 61 percent (28-for-46 from the field and 53% (8-for-15) from three-point range. He closed out his freshman year by contributing 13.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, and 1.4 spg, while shooting 54 percent (34 for 63) from the field and 55 percent (12-for-22) from beyond the arc.
·         Averkamp was selected to the Capital One Academic All-District V Team. Averkamp will now appear on the national ballot for the Capital One Academic All-America teams, which are scheduled for announcement in late February. The 6-foot-8 forward and team captain is joined on the Capital One Academic All-District V Team by Aaron Craft (Ohio State), Cody Zeller (Indiana), Jordan Hulls (Indiana), and Andrew Smith (Butler).
·         With a three-pointer against Wright State on Feb. 4, guard Devon Turk broke Brian Wolf’s school record for three-pointers by a freshman set in 1989-90, with his 43rd of the year. With 54 on the year, Turk has hit at least one trey in 24 of the Ramblers’ 26 games.
·         Sophomore forward Christian Thomas would be the odds-on favorite for Horizon League Most Improved Player honors if such an award existed. After contributing just 4.5 ppg and 3.7 rpg in Horizon League play a year ago, leads the team with 14.6 ppg and 6.9 rpg in conference action this season. Thomas has scored in double digits in each of Loyola’s last 11 contests.

Milwaukee Panthers (6-22, 2-12 Horizon)
·         Milwaukee’s 12 League losses match the program’s most since the 1996-97 season, when the Panthers went 4-12 in conference play. The worst Horizon League record in UWM history was a 3-13 mark in 1994-95, the program’s first year as a member of the conference.
·         UWM has struggled in the second half of League games this season, being outscored in 11 of its 13 League games.
·         Freshman J.J. Panoske set a school record with seven blocked shots against Loyola while the Panthers tied a school record with 11 as a team.
·         Senior Paris Gulley has been in double figures in points in 18 of the first 22 games he has played in this season, including five 20-point performances. He missed the first six games of the year with a broken hand.
·         After playing a stellar first half and leading 42-25, the Panthers were outscored 35-8 in the second half at UIC. UWM did not score over the final 9:32 of the game, missing its final 11 shots. And, the eight points in the second half set a new school record.
·         Senior Ryan Haggerty made his 100th appearance at UIC. To put his experience in perspective relative to the inexperience of the rest of the roster, UWM’s four leading scorers on Jan. 19 versus Youngstown State (Jordan Aaron, Austin Arians, J.J. Panoske, Gulley) had a combined 98 collegiate appearances entering Haggerty’s 100th game.
·         Milwaukee is allowing opponents to grab offensive rebounds on 35.2-percent of its possessions, ranking 296th in the nation. The Panthers’ effective field goal percentage of 44.5 ranks 310th.

UIC Flames (15-11, 6-7 Horizon)
·         This Saturday’s Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters game between in-state rivals UIC and Bradley will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet Chicago.  The Flames and Braves will meet for the fifth time in school history on Saturday,.
·         The Flames tallied winning records in each of the first three months of the season, going 5-1 in November, 4-3 in December and 5-4 in January. The last time UIC collected winning records in each of the first three months of the season was during the 2003-04 campaign, when the Flames tallied winning marks in November (5-1), December (4-3), January (6-3) and February (7-0). UIC is 1-3 thus far in the month of February.
·         Senior point guard Gary Talton, who hit the go-ahead field goal with 1:35 remaining against Milwaukee on Jan. 23, enters Wednesday’s game with 694 career points for his two-year career. The Dallas native handed out his 200th career assist and grabbed his 200th career rebound last Saturday at Loyola, and has dished out a combined 17 assists against just two turnovers (8:5 assist/turnover ratio) in the past two Horizon League games.
·         UIC’s 88-83 triple-overtime win over Youngstown State marked the longest game played by the Flames since joining the Horizon League in 1994.
·         In UIC’s six Horizon League wins, after the final media timeout, senior point guard Gary Talton is shooting 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from floor, 100 percent (3-3) from three-point range and 88.2 percent (15-17) from free throw line. That includes the game-winning basket against Loyola with 1.7 seconds remaining, and the go-ahead field goal against Milwaukee with just 1:35 left. Most recently, Talton hit the game-tying jumper with 0.8 second left to lift UIC into overtime at Youngstown State.
·         UIC’s turnaround this season has been notable. The Flames enter Wednesday’s game with 15 wins, seven more than the 2011-12 campaign, including six victories in Horizon League play (double its entire HL win total from last season). The Flames’ seven-game improvement over last year equals the sixth-best turnaround in the country.

Valparaiso Crusaders (20-7, 10-3 Horizon)
·         Valparaiso has reached 20 wins for the 13th time in the last 20 years.
·         The Crusaders had a streak of 152 minutes 16 seconds without trailing snapped when Detroit took lead with 4:16 to play, dating back to the first half of Valpo’s win over UIC on Feb. 5.
·         Senior Ryan Broekhoff continues to show the form that nearly put him on the Australian Olympic Team, sitting 49th in the country with an offensive rating of 123.1. Broekhoff’s 63.9-percent true-shooting mark is 30th in the country, while his 58.5-percent effective field goal percentage is 83rd. Offensive rating measures an individual player’s efficiency at producing points for the offense, while true-shooting takes into account field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws. Effective field-goal percentage adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.
·         Broekhoff was named the Lou Henson Mid-Major Midseason Player of the Year by CollegeInsider.com. The award is presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division I basketball.
·         Broekhoff’s 24.7 defensive rebounding percentage ranks 37th in the country, while the Crusaders are allowing offensive rebounds on just 27.4 percent of possessions, 30th nationally.
·         Senior Kevin Van Wijk serves as the battering ram down low. Van Wijk’s 6.9 fouls drawn per 40 minutes is the 13th-best rate nationally.
·         Valparaiso’s 54.6 effective field-goal percentage ranks 15st in the country. The Crusaders have been one of the best teams in the nation at getting to the free-throw line, holding a 41.9 FGA/FTA rate. The mark is 35th nationally.
·         With a turnover percentage of 22.2 of its possessions, Valparaiso ranks 279rd in the country.

Wright State Raiders (17-9, 8-5 Horizon)
·         Junior A.J. Pacher had a career-high 23 points in WSU’s loss to Valparaiso. Pacher led an effort off the bench that saw the Raiders get 45 of their 61 points from the bench.
·         Wright State’s win at Milwaukee was the first for the Raiders in Milwaukee since defeating the Panthers 75-65 on February 21, 1998, snapping a 14-game losing streak. WSU had also dropped two Horizon League Tournament games in Milwaukee during that time, falling to Detroit in the 2005 tournament and to Cleveland State in 2011.
·         The victory also gave Wright State a sweep of Green Bay and Milwaukee on the road for the first time ever.  The three schools have been in the same conference together since the 1993-94 season.
·         Wright State did not lead in either of the overtime sessions at Green Bay until J.T. Yoho’s three with 9.2 seconds left in double overtime. Miles Dixon’s three with 1.7 left in the first overtime tied the game.
·         The Raiders’ 25.5 defensive turnover rate ranks eighth nationally.
·         Junior Jerran Young came off the bench to score 18 points at Milwaukee, the eighth time this season he has come off the bench to post 10 or more points. Young’s career-high 24 points versus Mount St. Joseph came in his only career start.
·         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.

Youngstown State Penguins (15-12, 7-7 Horizon)
·         Junior Kendrick Perry is just the second player in YSU history to record 100 or more assists in each of his three seasons.  Perry is the only player at YSU with 1,000 points, 300 assists and 150 steals. Perry has 1,247 points, 355 assists and 167 steals.
·         Senior Damian Eargle needs just 21 more points to become the 34th player in YSU history to score 1,000 points. For his entire career, Eargle has 1,247 points.
·         Senior Blake Allen became YSU’s career leader in three-pointers made after making five against UIC on Feb. 9. With six threes in two games this week, Allen has 208 made 3’s and is the first YSU player to reach 200 in a career.
·         Without Eargle this weekend, Youngstown State tallied four blocks. Eargle has led the Penguins to a 13.1 percent block percentage, 34th nationally.
·         Freshman Bobby Hain made two starts last week and averaged 10 points and five boards per game. Hain had a team-high 14 points and eight rebounds against Green Bay.
·        Junior Kamren Belin Belin continues to score well for the Penguins posting 15 points against Milwaukee and 12 against Green Bay last week. Belin has scored double figures in 10 straight games and in 12 of the last 14.