Men's Basketball Release #4
Nov. 26, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Horizon League Player of the Week
Mike Green, Butler Other Top Performances for the Week Ending November 25 News From Around the League
Senior * Guard * Philadelphia, Pa.
(Franklin Learning Center / Towson Univ.)
Mike Green was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Great Alaska Shootout after leading the Bulldogs to the tournament title with victories over Michigan, Virginia Tech and Texas Tech. He averaged 20 points, 6.7 assists and four rebounds per game, including 23 points in each of BU's final two tourney contests. Green started the week with 14 points and eight assists against Michigan. The senior guard shot 53 percent (21-of-40) from the field, including seven-of-eight accuracy from three-point range. He posted a tournament-high 20 assists with only five turnovers in the three games.
Chris Moore, Cleveland State
Jr. * C * Lakewood, Ohio
Moore turned in a solid all-around effort in the Vikings' 67-57 victory over John Carroll on Saturday. He set career highs with nine rebounds, five blocked shots and four free throws made, finishing the game with six points and a pair of steals.
Chris Hayes, Detroit
Jr. * F * Chicago, Ill.
Hayes led the Titans to a 2-1 record last week, averaging 14 points per game. He had a career-best 16 points versus Chicago State on Wednesday and matched that total against Rochester on Saturday. Hayes shot 58 percent (17-of-29) from the field in the three games.
Terry Evans, Green Bay
Jr. * F * St. Louis, Mo.
Evans registered 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead the Phoenix past North Dakota State 85-77 on Saturday. His all-around performance also included three steals and two blocked shots. Evans hit six of 11 shots from the field and and three of four at the free-throw line.
J.R. Blount, Loyola
Jr. * G * Milwaukee, Wis.
Blount scored a team-high 17 points in Saturday's loss at Purdue, converting on six of 11 shots from the field and all four free-throw attempts. The junior guard has scored in double figures in all four games this season for the Ramblers and is averaging 18.5 points per contest.
Scott VanderMeer, UIC
Jr. * C * Dyer, Ind.
VanderMeer posted ten points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots Monday against Wichita State in the Flames' final game at the Paradise Jam. The seven caroms led the team, while he recorded five blocks for the fourth time this season.
Urule Igbavboa, Valparaiso
Jr. * F * Oakdale, Minn.
Igbavboa averaged 11.3 points and 9.7 rebounds in three games. He had a game-high 11 caroms against Vanderbilt on Tuesday and scored 15 points on six-of-eight shooting against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Friday before an 11-point effort against Austin Peay on Saturday.
Todd Brown, Wright State
So. * F * Canton, Ohio
Brown led the Raiders to a season-opening 71-48 victory over Coastal Carolina on Monday, scoring a game-high 20 points with four rebounds and four assists. He was four-of-seven from three-point range and perfect in four free-throw attempts.
John Barber, Youngstown State
Sr. * F * Detroit, Mich.
Barber notched the fifth double-double of his career with a career-best 19 points and 12 rebounds in an 87-75 loss at Notre Dame on Saturday. Barber canned three three-pointers among a 7-of-14 showing from the floor. The 12 boards also tied his career high.
Bulldogs duplicate tournament success
For the second year in a row, Butler captured the top prize in one of the nation's most prestigious early-season tournaments. After winning the NIT Season Tip-Off in 2006, the Bulldogs added the Great Alaska Shootout crown to their trophy case after defeating Michigan (79-65), Virginia Tech (84-78 in overtime) and Texas Tech (81-71) to improve to 6-0 on the season.
The Bulldogs climbed to No. 16 in both the Associated Press national poll and the ESPN/USA Today coaches' canvass this week.
Butler broke the tournament record with 49 three-pointers, shooting 53 percent from behind the arc. BU had a tournament single-game record 17 treys against Michigan.
Senior guard Mike Green was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, averaging 20 points, 6.7 assists and four rebounds per game. He had 23 against Virginia Tech and matched that total in the final versus TTU.
Senior forward Pete Campbell was 17-of-31 from three-point range in Alaska, averaging 18.7 points in the tournament. Campbell already has 26 treys this season, shooting 53 percent from behind the arc.
Campbell and senior guard A.J. Graves joined Green on the all-tournament team. Graves' 52 points in Alaska moved him into tenth place on BU's all-time scoring list with 1,455 carer points. His 18.5 points-per-game pace this season is fifth-best on the League charts.
The Bulldogs face another strong test in their only game of the week. BU hosts 2007 national runner-up Ohio State on Saturday evening.
Raiders win long-anticipated season debut
Defending League champion Wright State waited until Monday night to make its first appearance of the season, but didn't show much rust in a 71-48 victory over Coastal Carolina on Monday. WSU forced 24 turnovers by the Chanticleers and led by as many as 29 points in the second half.
Sophomore forward Todd Brown led the way with a game-high 20 points along with four reounds and four assists. He canned four of the Raiders' nine three-pointers.
Sophomore guard Vaughn Duggins added 16 points and six rebounds, while senior forward Scottie Wilson chipped in with 14 points.
Senior forward Jordan Pleiman collected six rebounds, pushing him past the 500 mark in his career. Pleiman starts the week with 503 caroms in a Raider uniform, becoming the 17th player in WSU history to reach the 500 plateau.
Sophomore guard John David Gardner tallied six points and four assists in 25 minutes in his Raider debut. Gardner transferred to WSU after a season at UNC Wilmington.
Wright State has two games this week, hosting Marshall on Wednesday before traveling to Marist on Saturday.
Crusaders keeping balance
Valparaiso won two of three games last week, improving to 4-1 on the year. The Crusaders started the week with an 87-78 loss at Vanderbilt on Tuesday but defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore (77-66) and Austin Peay (61-47) to finish with a 3-1 record in the South Padre Island Invitational.
Senior guard Shawn Huff earned a spot on the all-tournament squad, scoring seven points late in the victory over APSU. He averaged 11.3 points and 7.7 rebounds for the week. As a team, Valparaiso brought new meaning to the term "balance" as freshman forward Bryan Bouchie, junior forward Urule Igbavboa and senior guard Jarryd Loyd also averaged 11.3 ppg. apiece for the week.
Bouchie posted a season-high 23 points in the victory over UMES. He was seven-of-nine from the floor with nine caroms in that contest. He is 11th in the League with a .528 field-goal percentage.
Igbavboa is one spot better (tenth at .529) on that chart and is tied for second in the League at 7.8 rebounds per game.
The Crusaders have won at least four of their first five games for the first time since 1998-99.
Valpo attempts to continue its fast start with two home games this week. The Crusaders host Western Michigan on Wednesday and face in-state rival Ball State on Saturday.
Vikings maintain strong start
Cleveland State stands at 4-2 on the season following a 67-57 victory over John Carroll on Saturday.
The Vikings finished last in the League in rebounding margin (minus-3.5 per game) last year, but is second this year at plus-4.0 caroms per contest. Junior forward J'Nathan Bullock (6.7 per game) and junior center George Tandy (6.4) rank sixth and seventh in the League, respectively, on the individual charts.
Bullock also stands eighth in the League in scoring with his 16.8 points-per-game average. Bullock is fourth in free-throw percentage (.912) after making only 59.7 percent as a freshman. He was a 74.8 percent shooter at the line last year.
Sophomore guard Cedric Jackson has made an immediate impact on the Viking program, ranking third in the League at 19.2 points per game. He is also second in steals (3.00 per outing) and third in assists (4.50 per contest). Jackson has already attempted 42 free throws this season, an average of seven per game.
The Vikings average 11.3 turnovers in their four victories, compared to 20.5 in two losses.
CSU continues a three-game homestand this week, hosting Cal State Northridge on Wednesday and Geneva College on Saturday. The game with Cal State Northridge is a rematch of last year's BracketBusters contest.
Titans shooting for success
Detroit improved to 3-2 on the season with home-court victories over Chicago State (77-66 on Wednesday) and Rochester (67-51 on Saturday). The Titans started the week with a 60-59 loss to Western Michigan on Monday.
UDM shot at least 50 percent from the field in each of the three games last week. Wednesday's victory also included a season-high nine three-pointers.
Detroit posted 16 steals against Rochester, the team's highest total in more than three years. The last time UDM had that many thefts was Feb. 28, 2004, when Detroit posted 16 steals against Youngstown State.
Junior forward Chris Hayes posted his first career double-double against Chicago State, scoring a career-high 16 points on seven-of-11 shots from the field with two treys and collecting 12 rebounds. He also had six assists in that game. Hayes matched that scoring total versus Rochester.
Senior guard Jon Goode scored a season-high 24 points against Western Michigan, and leads the team at 15.6 points per game for the season.
The Titans will have played six of their first seven games in the state of Michigan after two contests this week. UDM travels to Eastern Michigan on Wednesday before a home date against Central Michigan on Saturday.
Phoenix uses big second half in victory
Green Bay climbed to 3-2 overall after posting an 85-77 victory over North Dakota State on Saturday. The Phoenix shot 51 percent from the field, including a torrid 62.5 percent (20-of-32) after intermission to score 51 points in the second half.
Junior forward Mike Schachtner leads the League in scoring at 20.4 points per game after a 24-point total versus NDSU. It was his third 20-point game of the season; he has at least 17 in every game this year. Schachtner is also fourth on the League charts with his .600 field-goal percentage.
Junior forward Terry Evans had a strong all-around effort Saturday with 15 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals. He is tied for second place on the League rebounding charts (7.8 per game) and ranks fifth with four assists per outing.
As a team, Green Bay leads the League in scoring offense (75.4 points per game).
Green Bay hosts Eastern Illinois on Wednesday before opening a four-game road swing Saturday at South Dakota State. The Phoenix has only one home game in the month of December.
Green Bay's next victory will be the school's 400th as a Division I program. The Phoenix is 399-354 since moving into Division I for the 1981-82 season.
Panthers split a pair at home
Milwaukee starts the week at 3-2 following an 80-59 home-court loss to Drake on Saturday. The Panthers began the week with an 89-80 victory over South Dakota State on Tuesday, behind 27 points from senior forward Paige Paulsen and 22 by senior senior forward Torre Johnson.
Paulsen, the former prep Mr. Basketball in South Dakota, tied his career-high against his home-state foe and added seven rebounds and five steals. He is averaging 15 points in five games this year, shooting 52 percent from the field. In his last four games, Paulsen's scoring pace climbs to 17 points per outing.
Johnson leads the League in rebounding (9.4 per game) and ranks fourth in scoring (19.0 per contest). The transfer from Oklahoma State has two double-doubles this year.
Milwaukee trailed 40-30 at intermission Saturday, the third time this year the Panthers have taken a double-digit deficit to the locker room. UWM rallied for victories over Ball State and South Dakota State but could not dig out of the hole Saturday. For the season, UWM is shooting 36.4 percent from the field and averaging 30.6 points in the first half compared to 44 percent and 41.2 points after the break.
Milwaukee hosts Sam Houston State to close a three-game homestand Tuesday and faces cross-town foe Milwaukee on Friday.
Ramblers try to get back to winning ways
Loyola fell to 2-2 on the season with an 84-53 loss at Purdue on Saturday. The 31-point loss was the Ramblers' worst defeat since a 90-57 setback at San Diego on Dec. 20, 2005.
Loyola has lost consecutive games for the first time in ten months. The Ramblers' last two-game skid came in late January in losses
to eventual regular-season League co-titlists Butler (70-66 in overtime on Jan. 25) and Wright State (59-47 on Jan. 27).
Junior guard J.R. Blount scored a team-best 17 points against the Boilermakers, hitting six of 11 shots from the field. He is the only Rambler to score in double figures in all five games this season and ranks fifth in the League with a rate of 18.5 points per contest. Blount is also fourth with his 2.50 steals-per-game norm.
Sophomore forward Ross Forman netted 11 points at Purdue, marking his third double-digit performance in his first four outings as a Rambler. Sophomore forward Andy Polka is fourth in the League with an average of seven rebounds per game.
Loyola committed 19 turnovers at Purdue after averaging only ten in its first three outings.
The Ramblers face a pair of Missouri Valley Conference foes this week, hosting Bradley on Wednesday ahead of a Saturday contest at Northern Iowa. Saturday's game is the only road trip in LU's next five outings.
Three the magic number for Penguins
Youngstown State fell to 2-2 overall with an 87-75 loss at Notre Dame on Saturday. Four Penguins scored in double figures, continuing a streak of sorts as YSU has had at least three players in twin digits in every game this year.
Senior forward John Barber posted his fifth career double-double, scoring a career-high 19 points and matching his collegiate-best with 12 rebounds. He was seven-of-14 from the field with three three-pointers, and also handed out three assists. Barber. who averaged 7.6 points per game last winter, is at 13.3 points and six rebounds per game so far in 2007-08.
Senior guard Byron Davis added 14 points at Notre Dame and leads the team with his 15.8 per-game norm. Sophomore guard Vance Cooksey is the third Penguin averaging double figures at 11.5 per game after his 13-point effort Saturday. Cooksey also handed out eight assists against the Fighting Irish and ranks fourth in the League at 4.75 set-ups per game.
YSU made 11 three-pointers against UND, marking the second time this year the Penguins have hit at least ten treys. Youngstown State has accomplished that feat ten times in Jerry Slocum's three-year tenure on the YSU bench.
The Penguins continue a three-game road swing this week, visiting St. Francis (Pa.) on Wednesday and traveling to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday in a BracketBusters rematch.
Flames return to action on the road again
UIC owns a 2-3 record and took time off for the Thanksgiving holiday after a 67-60 loss to Wichita State on Monday in the finale of the Paradise Jam.
Junior center Scott VanderMeer contributed ten points, a team-high seven rebounds and five blocked shots against the Shockers, marking the fourth time this year he has had five rejections. VanderMeer, who the League single-season record with 111 rejections last year (3.47 per game), already has 21 this season (4.2 per contest). The seven-footer also averages 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in 2007-08.
Junior guard Josh Mayo leads the team and ranks seventh in the League in scoring at 17.2 points per game. Mayo's 14 three-pointers also top the Flame charts in that category and pace UIC's long-range attack. As a team, the Flames are shoting better from three-point range (.456) than from the field as a whole (.452).
Senior guard Karl White Jr. and sophomore forward Jeremy Buttell each scored 13 points against WSU, with Buttell also collecting six rebounds. Buttell leads the team at 6.4 caroms per contest for the season.
The Flames return from an eight-day break Wednesday at Central Michigan before a Saturday contest at Illinois State. After Saturday, UIC will have played five consecutive games away from the Pavilion.
Butler Adds to Legacy With Great Alaska Shootout Title
Last season, Butler defeated Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee and Gonzaga to capture the NIT Season Tip-Off title and used that early-season run as a springboard toward a record-setting 29-7 campaign. The Bulldogs could be on the path toward repeating history after winning the championship of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout last weekend.
Tournament Most Outstanding Player Mike Green led the way for the Bulldogs, averaging 20 points and 6.7 assists per game. The senior guard scored 23 points and dished out seven assistst in the title match, and finished the tournament with 20 assists compared to only five turnovers.
Green shot 53 percent from the field including seven-of-eight from three-point range, while senior forward Pete Campbell's 18.7 points-per-game pace featured 17-of-31 shooting behind the arc.
As a team, Butler hit a tournament-record 47 three-pointers for the weekend, shooting 53 percent (47-of-89) from distance. The Bulldogs connected on 17 triples in Wednesday's 79-65, first-round victory over Michigan and added a championship-game standard 16 to defeat Texas Tech 81-71 on Saturday. Butler's weekend also featured an 84-78 overtime triumph over Virginia Tech on Friday.
Senior guard A.J. Graves, the MVP of last year's NIT Season Tip-Off, added 17.3 points and four assists per game in Alaska as Butler's third all-tournament selection.
Now in its 30th season, the Great Alaska Shootout is widely considered as one of the nation's most presitigious early-season tournaments, with this year's field also including Gonzaga (which finished third), Western Kentucky (fourth), Atlantic Coast Conference representative Virginia Tech (fifth), and Big Ten Conference entry Michigan (sixth).
In recent years the Shootout has served as a springboard to success for Final Four teams. The 2003 Final Four featured three of the past four Shootout champions (Kansas, 1999; Syracuse, 2000; Marquette, 2001), plus 2001 Shootout participant Texas.
Indiana, which placed third in the 2001 Shootout, went on to reach the NCAA title game later that season. Duke, the 1998 Shootout runner-up, began its run to the 1999 Final Four in Anchorage as did North Carolina in 1997-98 and Kentucky in 1996-97.
Butler became the sixth school from a non-BCS conference to win the Shootout title, joining Southwestern Louisiana [now Louisiana-Lafayette] (1981), UAB (1984), Massachusetts (1991), New Mexico State (1992) and College of Charleston (2002). North Carolina and North Carolina State have combined for five championships (three by UNC), with Kentucky, Marquette and Purdue each winning the crown twice.
