Men's Basketball Notebook (Jan. 21)

Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Jan. 21)

On the Schedule [all times ET] 
Monday, Jan. 21
Wright State at Detroit^*, 7 p.m. – Horizon League Network

Wednesday, Jan. 23
Loyola at Cleveland State^*, 7 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Wright State at Youngstown State^*, 7:05 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Milwaukee at UIC^*, 8 p.m. – Horizon League Network
Green Bay at Valparaiso^*, 8:05 p.m. – ESPN3

Friday, Jan. 25
Green Bay at Milwaukee^*, 9 p.m. -- ESPNU

Saturday, Jan. 26
Cleveland State at Youngstown State^*, 2 p.m. – ESPN Full Court/ESPN3, Horizon League Network
Detroit at Loyola^*, 4 p.m. – ESPN3, Horizon League Network, CSN Chicago
UIC at Wright State^*, 7 p.m. – Horizon League Network

On the Horizon

·         At the Top: After three weeks of Horizon League play, Valparaiso holds a half-game lead on Wright State after knocking off the Raiders, 69-63, on Saturday night.

This week will see the first-place Crusaders hosting a Green Bay team tied for third place, one game behind Valparaiso.  The game will be on ESPN3 at 8:05 p.m. EST.

Monday night will have second-place Wright State traveling to Detroit, where the Titans sit a half-game behind the Raiders. The Horizon League Network will carry the game live at 7 p.m. EST.

·         Wrath of the Titans:Coming off an 89-88 home loss to Valparaiso in which it squandered a 22-point lead, Detroit took its frustration out on visiting UIC, to the tune of a 98-47 win on Saturday.

The 51-point margin of victory set a new Horizon League record, snapping the previous record of 46, set in Marquette’s 82-36 win over Loyola on Jan. 19, 1991.

Nine days earlier, Detroit became the first team to score 100 points in League play in 10 years with a 101-60 defeat of Youngstown State.

Averaging 83 points per game over its last eight games, Detroit’s 112.9 adjusted offensive efficiency ranks 19th nationally, while the Titans’ 79.4 ppg average is eighth in the country.

·         The Road:One of the most balanced conferences in the country, road wins have been hard to come by in Horizon League play. Through the first 25 conference games, road teams have won just eight games.

Valparaiso, which wrapped a three-game road tip at Detroit on Thursday, went 3-0 on the swing, while Youngstown State has collected two. Detroit, Loyola and Wright State have each notched one road win in conference play.

Upcoming Games

·         Second place is on the line on Monday night, where Detroit hosts Wright State (HLN, 7 p.m. EST). The matchup features two contrasting styles of play, as Detroit plays at an adjusted tempo of 71.2 (29^th-quickest nationally), while Wright State plays at a 63.7 tempo (287^th).

·         Trailing first-place Valparaiso by one game in the League standings, Green Bay will look to collect its first road win of the season on Wednesday when it travels to the ARC (ESPN3, 8:05 p.m. EST). Both teams will be putting winning streaks on the line, as the Phoenix take a four-game winning streak to Valparaiso, which owns a five-game streak.

·         Local rivalries will be spotlighted on Friday and Saturday, with Green Bay meeting Milwaukee on Friday (ESPNU, 9 p.m EST), and Cleveland State traveling to Youngstown State on Saturday (ESPN3/Full Court, 2 p.m. EST).

The Week That Was

·         Valparaiso overcame a 22-point deficit with 17:04 to play to shock Detroit, 89-88, on Thursday. The win snapped Detroit’s 17-game winning streak on Dick Vitale Court and the Titans’ 22-game winning streak when scoring 80 or more points.

·         Detroit rolled past UIC, 98-47, on Saturday, setting a new Horizon League record for margin of victory.

·         One the year, 10 Horizon League games have been within a single possession in the final minute of regulation, with four more coming last week. Gary Talton’s runner and Ryan Broekhoff free throws gave UIC and Valpo wins in the last minute, while Valparaiso and Youngstown State survived in the last minutes against Wright State and Milwaukee, respectively.

League Notes

·         As of Jan. 21, 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.

·         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 (10-10, 2-4 Horizon)

·         Sophomore Marlin Mason became just the 12th player in CSU history with at least 20 blocks, 20 assists and 20 steals in a season over the weekend. He enters the week with 23 blocks, 21 assists and 26 steals. Mason grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds against Milwaukee, besting his old career-high of 13 set against Bowling Green earlier this year.

·         Sophomore Charlie Lee dished out five assists at Milwaukee, his 11th game of at least five assists this season.

·         CSU is shooting .684 at the free throw line this year. The Vikings have shot 70-percent or better at the charity stripe every year since 1986-87.

·         Cleveland State head coach Gary Waters sits 10^th in career wins (132) among Horizon League coaches, while his 64 conference wins is 11^th, one shy of former Butler head coach Tod Lickliter.

Detroit Titans (12-7, 4-2 Horizon)

·         The Titans are 9-1 when scoring 80 or more points and are 23-1 in their last 24 games when doing so.

·         Detroit’s 17 game winning streak on Dick Vitale Court at Calihan Hall came to an end in Thursday’s 89-88 loss to Valparaiso.

·         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 - Ray McCallum, Jason Calliste, Juwan Howard, Jr., Doug Anderson and Nick Minnerath - have accounted for 84.7 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 (1.7 spg.) and is also climbing up the career record board in all three. McCallum has 1,356 points (19^th), 394 assists (9^th) and 143 steals (9^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 246 points to reach that plateau.

·         McCallum was named one of 20 finalists for the Bob Cousy Awardto the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list. The annual honor, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes the top point guards in college basketball. An original list of 60-plus candidates was trimmed by a Hall of Fame appointed, nationally based committee to the below list of 20 student-athletes.

Green Bay Phoenix (10-9, 4-2 Horizon)

·         Green Bay has held four different opponents in the forties this season, the most by any Phoenix team since 2000-01.

·         Green Bay has the top rebounding margin in Horizon League play and has outrebounded its opponents in seven of the last eight games.

·         Junior Alec Brown has 963 career points and 187 career blocked shots. His season-high six blocks on Saturday led a 10-block effort for the Phoenix, which tied for the second-most in GB history.

·         Brown is the only returning player in the country to have averaged 13+ points, 8+ rebounds and 3+ blocks per game last year.

·         Green Bay has won seven consecutive home games at the Resch Center and went 4-0 on its recent four-game homestand. The Phoenix allowed just 50 points per game and 32.6% shooting during homestand.

·         The Phoenix is 9-1 this season at the Resch Center, 21-3 in the past two seasons and 31-7 under head coach Brian Wardle.

·         Freshman Jordan Fouse leads all Horizon League freshmen in rebounding (6.9 rpg), blocks (1.3 bpg) and steals (1.6 spg). He is the only freshman in the Horizon League to have started all of his teams’ games.

Loyola Ramblers (11-7, 1-4 Horizon)

·         With Sunday’s 66-63 overtime win at Chicago State, Loyola earned its 10^th regular-season non-conference win of the year. Only four previous times in school history, and not since the 2006-07 campaign, have the Ramblers won 10 or more games outside League play.

·         Although freshman guard Devon Turk was held without a three-point field goal for just the second time this season in Loyola’s win at Chicago State on Sunday, he is making quite an impact in 2012-13. The Houston native’s 36 treys are the most by a Rambler true freshman since Chris WIlliams (41 in 1998-99) and he has a chance to break the single-season school record for threes by a freshman set by Brian Wolf in 1989-90 (42).

·         Senior forward Ben Averkamp needs just two points to tie Gerald Hayward and move into the top 20 on Loyola’s career scoring chart with 1,264 points. Averkamp has scored in double digits in three straight games.

·         Through the first 13 games of the season just one of Loyola’s games (vs. Tennessee Tech) was decided by three or fewers points, but four of the Ramblers’ last five games have been decided by three points or less.

·         Following Wednesday’s game at Cleveland State, Loyola will open up a three-game homestand with a Jan. 26 contest vs. Detroit. The Ramblers are just 10-29 at home in League play since the start of the 2008-09 season.

·         Sophomore forward Christian Thomas has started to assert himself over the last month and is pitching in 11.4 ppg and 7.5 rpg over the last seven outings. He notched his third double-double of the season, as well as the third of his career, with 12 points and 13 rebounds at Chicago State on Sunday.

·         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 1,264 points, 586 rebounds, 162 assists and 143 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 Panthers (5-14, 1-4 Horizon)

·         After doing it both games this weekend, Milwaukee has now been in double figures in offensive rebounds in 13 of the first 19 games of the season. Opponents have also hit double-digits 13 times.

·         Freshman J.J. Panoske is now averaging 8.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in his last seven outings. The freshman started both games this weekend and had 15 points and five rebounds Saturday.

·         The Panthers have now had 11 double-figure efforts off the bench this season. UWM had three this weekend, with Austin Arians doing it twice and Ryan Haggerty once. Thursday also marked the third time this year the Panthers had two players reach double figures off the bench in the same game.

·         Milwaukee had 34 assists in two games over the weekend after collecting just 18 in its first three games combined. Jordan Aaron averaged 9.5 assists per contest in the two games.

·         Aaron and Paris Gulley each played all 40 minutes Saturday after Gulley also played all 40 minutes Thursday.

·         Milwaukee is allowing opponents to grab offensive rebounds on 35.9 percent of its possessions, ranking 304^th in the nation. The Panthers’ effective field goal percentage of 42.9 ranks 324^th.

UIC Flames (11-8, 2-4 Horizon)

·         UIC will be looking to snap a pair of losing streaks this week. The Flames are in the midst of a 10-game losing streak to Milwaukee, and when UIC travels to meets Wright State, it will be looking to break a six-game streak against the Raiders.

·         Senior Gary Talton has taken his game to another level since the outset of Horizon League play. Talton enters this week’s slate of games tied for eighth in the League in scoring at 15.0 points per conference game. He is also shooting 46.8 percent from both the field and 50.0 percent from three-point range in Horizon League play. Talton has continued to maintain his success from the free throw line, shooting nearly 87.5 percent (21-24) from the charity stripe in conference games.

·         Senior center Josh Crittle isn’t new to Division I college basketball, but he is new to the Horizon League, and should receive considerable Newcomer of the Year recognition. The first-year transfer from UCF is averaging 10.7 ppg and 6.2 rpg in Horizon League play, while shooting 51.9 percent (27-52) from the floor. His scoring output ranks second among all Horizon League newcomers (behind only Cleveland State’s Bryn Forbes’ 15.0 ppg), while his rebounding numbers rank first among all newcomers in the League. Crittle, who is enrolled in UIC’s graduate school, is currently satisfying his lone year of eligibility with the Flames.

·         When UIC holds its opponent between 30-39 percent shooting, the Flames are 8-1 on the season. UIC is also 6-1 when leading at halftime, and 4-1 when out-rebounding its opponents.

·         The Flames have dropped 30 straight regular season Horizon League road games, dating back to Feb. 27, 2009.

·         The Flames are turning the ball over at a 18.1 clip on the offensive end, ranking 53^rd 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 Crusaders (15-5, 4-1 Horizon)

·         Valparaiso’s 89-88 comeback win at Detroit was the program’s largest in at least 20 season. The Crusaders trailed by 22 points with 17 minutes to play and had just a 0.5-percent chance of winning, down 11 points with three minutes to play, per Ken Pomeroy.

·         Leading for just the final 17 seconds, Valparaiso joined St. Mary’s (led 1 second versus Harvard) and Arizona (led for 7 seconds versus Florida) as candidates for “comeback of the year” honors.

·         Senior Ryan Broekhoff gave the Crusaders the go-ahead points in both games, hitting two free throws versus Detroit and the go-ahead layup against Wright State. Broekhoff averaged 18.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg and 4.5 apg on the week.

·         Broekhoff continues to climb the tempo-free offensive rankings, sitting 21^st in the country with an offensive rating of 129.0.  Broekhoff’s 67.1-percent true-shooting mark is 14^th in the country, while his 62.1-percent effective field goal percentage is 41^st.  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.

·         Valparaiso’s 53.2 effective field-goal percentage ranks 31^st in the country. The Crusaders have been one of the best teams in the nation at getting to the free-throw line, holding a 42.4 FGA/FTA rate. The mark is 36^th nationally.

·         Senior Kevin Van Wijk serves as the focal point of the Valparaiso offense, being used on 26.8 percent of the team’s possessions. Van Wijk’s 7.2 fouls drawn per 40 minutes is the 12^th-best rate nationally.

·         Broekhoff’s 26.1 defensive rebounding percentage ranks 18^th in the country, while the Crusaders are allowing offensive rebounds on just 24.9 percent of possessions, fifth nationally.

·         With a turnover percentage of 22.8 on its possessions, Valparaiso ranks 284^th in the country.

Wright State Raiders (13-5, 4-1 Horizon)

·         Wright State’s 13-4 start is the program’s best under head coach Billy Donlon and the best since the 1989-90 season, prior to Wright State joining a Division I conference and the opening of the Nutter Center.

·         Led by Reggie Arceneaux, Wright State has given up a steal on just 7.9 percent of its possessions, ranking 22^nd.

·         The Raiders’ 24.2 defensive turnover rate ranks 27^th nationally, while Wright State is holds a defensive effective field-goal percentage of 45.5, 76^th nationally.

·         Junior Jerran Young came off the bench to score 23 points against Cleveland State, the second time he has given the Raiders 20-plus points off the bench this year. The junior had a 24-point outburst against Mount St. Joseph.

·         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.

·         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 12^th 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.

Youngstown State Penguins (10-8, 2-3 Horizon)

·         Junior Kendrick Perry has moved into 25^th place on the YSU all-time scoring list with 1,073 career points. Perry sits 1 point shy of Desmond Harrison for 23^rd.

·         Senior Damian Eargle sits 96 points from becoming the 34^th player in YSU history to reach 1,000 points. The senior increased his Horizon League blocks records to 267 overall and 137 in League play.

·         Senior Blake Allen needs 10 more 3-pointers to become the YSU all-time leader. He has 188 in his career.

·         The Penguins’ 17.8 turnover rate is one of the tops in the nation, checking in at 40^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 27.0 percent of its points from long range and holding a 31.1 percent 3PA/FGA rate.