Men's Basketball Release #7

Dec. 17, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

Horizon League Player of the Week

Samuel Haanpää, Valparaiso
Sophomore * Guard * Kerava, Finland (Cornerstone [Texas] Christian)
Samuel Haanpää averaged 26 points in leading the Crusaders to a pair of victories, extending Valpo's winning streak to eight games. He canned a school-record ten three-pointers in 12 attempts Saturday, finishing with 32 points to power Valpo past Chicago State, 90-61. The ten treys eclipsed the previous Valpo standard of nine, held by current associate coach Bryce Drew. Haanpää opened the week with 20 points on six-of-eight shooting with three treys in Tuesday's victory over Evansville. For the week, Haanpää shot 81 percent (17-of-21) from the floor and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) behind the arc.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending December 16

A.J. Graves, Butler
Sr. * G * Switz City, Ind.
Graves set a Wooden Tradition record with seven three-pointers, scoring an event-best 25 points to lead the Bulldogs past Florida State, 79-68 on Saturday. He was seven-of-16 behind the arc and added three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Cordero Barkley, Green Bay
Jr. * G-F * Racine, Wis.
Barkley led the Phoenix with 11 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 70-52 loss at Wisconsin. His eight rebounds were double his previous career best, while the 11 points were the second-highest total of Barkley's three-year career.

Leon Young, Loyola
Jr. * F * Long Beach, Calif.
Young scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds in the Ramblers' 76-72, overtime victory over Northern Illinois on Saturday. He was five-of-eight from the field and six-of-seven at the line in his sixth consecutive double-figure effort.

Robert Kreps, UIC
Fr. * G * Forsyth, Ill.
Kreps came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points in 25 minutes during Saturday's 85-80 victory over DePaul. The freshman hit seven of nine field-goal attempts, including four from behind the arc, as UIC beat its intra-city rival for the first time in school history.

Vaughn Duggins, Wright State
So. * G * Pendleton, Ind.
Duggins averaged 16 points in two games last week. He had a season-high 24 points Tuesday against Bradley, and helped lead Wright State back from a 16-point deficit in Saturday's victory over Miami (Ohio) with eight points, six rebounds and six assists.

News From Around the League

Crusaders keeps on winning
Valparaiso carries an eight-game winning streak into the week, defeating Evansville 75-67 on Tuesday and shooting past Chicago State 90-61 on Saturday to improve to 10-1 overall, the program's best start since joining Division I.
The Crusaders have also won 12 games in a row at the Athletics-Recreation Center and own a 208-92 (.693) record all-time in the facility, including a 154-27 (.851) standard during the last 15 years.

Sophomore guard Samuel Haanpaa netted ten three-pointers during a career-best 32-point effort against CSU. In the process, he became the first Crusader to reach the 30-point mark since Dan Oppland scored 35 at Western Illinois on Jan. 14, 2006. For the season, Haanpaa is averaging 11.3 points per game and shooting 47 percent behind the arc.

Senior guard Shawn Huff and junior forward Urule Igbavboa share the team scoring lead at 12.1 points per game, with Igbavboa also ranking third in the League at 6.8 rebounds per contest. Igbavboa has scored in double figures in eight consecutive games and has made 16 consecutive free-throw attempts after starting the year 24-of-46 at the stripe.

Valpo, which hit a season-high 16 three-pointers Saturday, puts its winning streak on the line Saturday at Wisconsin in the Crusaders' only game of the week.

Flames scorching the nets at home
UIC climbed to 6-4 on the season Saturday, defeating DePaul 85-80 at Allstate Arena. The victory was the Flames' first-ever over their cross-town rival. The Flames are 6-0 when leading at halftime this season.

Freshman guard Robert Kreps scored a team-high 19 points with four three-pointers among his seven-of-nine shooting performance. Kreps is averaging 14.3 points per game in his last four outings, shooting 63 percent (19-of-30) from the floor during that span. He ranks fourth in the League with a .564 field-goal mark for the season.

Junior guard Josh Mayo added 18 points, continuing his strong play in the early portion of the season. Mayo stands second on the League scoring charts at 18.8 points per game, with a .528 field-goal percentage to rank eighth in that department. He is shooting 59 percent (32-of-54) from three-point range, leading UIC to a League-best .451 clip as a team.

Junior center Scott VanderMeer anchors the middle for the Flames, averaging 6.2 rebounds per contest to rank eighth in the circuit. His rate of 3.50 blocked shots per game leads the League and is better than seven of the loop's nine other teams.

The Flames are home during the holiday week, hosting Toledo on Wednesday and Howard on Saturday.

Vikings attempt to sustain strong start
(Note: CSU was idle last week while concentrating on final exams.)
Cleveland State brings a three-game winning streak into the week, including a 77-54 triumph over Youngstown State in the Vikings' League debut on Dec. 8. CSU's 7-3 overall mark is the school's best ten-game start since 1991-92.Junior guard Cedric Jackson led the way with 21 points versus the Penguins, adding to his early-season stat line. Jackson ranks third in the League in scoring (17.9 points per game) and tops the circuit charts in both assists (5.40 per outing) and steals (3.10 per contest).

Junior forward J'Nathan Bullock adds 14.5 points per game (ninth-best in the League) while leading the League in free-throw percentage (.913) and ranking fifth in rebounding (6.4 per night).

Cleveland State shot 64.6 percent (31-of-48) versus Youngstown State, and is at 54.2 percent in its last three games---compared to a .424 clip in the first seven contests of the year. As a team, the Vikings lead the League in rebounding margin, out-working their foes by an average of 5.8 caroms per contest.

The Vikings return to the court Tuesday against Ohio State at Quicken Loans Arena. That game could mark the debut of freshman guard Eric Schiele, who averaged 39.6 points per game as a prep senior in 2005-06.

Bulldogs find shot, winning ways
Butler climbed to 9-1 on the season with a 79-68 victory over Florida State in the Wooden Tradition on Saturday. Butler moved up to 16th in this week's Associated Press national poll and 18th in the ESPN/USA Today canvass after winning in the event for the second year in a row. BU has gone 62 consecutive games without suffering back-to-back losses.

Senior guards A.J. Graves and Mike Green led the way, combining for 45 points. Green had 20 points, including a 10-of-11 showing at the line. He scored 11 of Butler's final 13 points. Green ranks second in the League at 4.80 assists per game while also scoring 14.3 points per contest.

Graves became the 39th player in League history to reach the 1,500-point mark. His 25 points against FSU give Graves 1,508 in his career. Graves is seventh in the League at 16.4 points per game and has 248 three-pointers in his career after hitting seven Saturday.

Freshman forward Matt Howard added 11 points and four rebounds. He is second in the League with a .606 field-goal percentage.

Butler has two games this week, hosting Bradley on Wednesday before a Saturday contest at Florida Gulf Coast. Sophomore forward Avery Jukes is expected to make his Butler debut this week after sitting out the first semester as a transfer from the University of Alabama.

Phoenix makes home appearance
Green Bay slipped to 6-4 on the season with a 70-52 loss at Wisconsin on Saturday, closing a four-game road swing with a 2-2 ledger.

Junior guard/forward Cordero Barkley led the Phoenix with 11 points and rebounds against the Badgers. It was the first time he had ever registered team honors in either category during his 72-game career. The eight rebounds were also double his previous career high.

Junior forward Mike Schachtner finished with eight points in Madison, becoming the 20th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Schachtner now has 1,002 markers in a Phoenix uniform and leads the League in scoring at 19 points per game.

Junior forward Terry Evans ranks fourth on the loop rebounding charts at 6.7 per contest. He is also sixth in assists (3.40 per game) and fourth in steals (1.70 per outing).

The Phoenix shot a season-low 33 percent from the field against UW, but hit 14 of 17 free-throw attempts (82.4 percent). Green Bay leads the League with a .774 mark at the line for the season.

The Phoenix hosts Northern Illinois on Saturday, the team's only stop at the Resch Center during the month of December. Green Bay has won 11 games in a row and 20 of the last 21 against its former Midwestern Collegiate Conference rivals.

Raiders keep going down to the wire
Wright State split a pair of games last week, moving to 4-3 on the year following a 72-65, overtime loss to Bradley on Tuesday and a 58-57 triumph over Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.

Both of last week's contests saw teams overcome last-minute deficits. Wright State held a 57-53 lead with 45 seconds left in regulation against Bradley but let the lead slip away despite 24 points from sophomore guard Vaughn Duggins. Four nights later, the Raiders returned the favor when Todd Brown's buzzer-beating three-pointer gave WSU its only lead of the night against Miami. It was the second year in a row the Raiders defeated the RedHawks on a last-possession shot.

WSU trailed 44-28 at intermission Saturday but outscored Miami 30-13 in the second half. It was the school's greatest comeback since joining Division I in 1987, while the 13 points allowed in a half tied a school record set in 1974.

Duggins ranks eighth in the League in scoring at 14.6 points per game, while senior forward Scottie Wilson tops the circuit in field-goal percentage (.629) and is sixth in rebounding (6.3). Wislon missed Saturday's game with an eye injury suffered in the team's shootaround.

WSU closes a five-game homestand Tuesday against St. Bonaventure before heading west for a Saturday game at Cal State Fullerton.

Ramblers work overtime again
Loyola defeated Northern Illinois 76-72 in overtime Saturday, climbing to 4-5 on the season after winning in extra time for the second game in a row. The back-to-back OT outings were Loyola's first in nearly five years.

Junior forward Leon Young and junior guard J.R. Blount each scored 16 points in the victory, with sophomore forward Andy Polka adding a season-high 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. Sophomore forward Ross Forman tallied 11 points off the bench to match senior forward Tracy Robinson's total.

Blount ranks fifth on the League scoring charts with his 17.6 points-per-game average, while his 1.89 steals per outing are second on that list. Young is second in the League at seven rebounds per contest, supplementing his 11.9 points-per-game norm. Young has 37 points and 20 boards in his last two games.

Loyola led the League in scoring last season (69.9 points per game) but is last this year, averaging only 63.1 points per contest. LU has scored 70 or more points in each of its four victories, but is averaging only 54.8 per outing in its five losses.

The Ramblers hit the road for two games this week, visiting Saint Louis on Wednesday before heading across the state for a Saturday contest at UMKC.

Penguins return to court after layoff
(Note: YSU was idle last week while concentrating on final exams.)
Youngstown State slipped to 3-5 overall with a 77-54 setback at Cleveland State in the Penguins' League-opener on Dec. 8. YSU has lost three consecutive games, and is now winless in seven Horizon League openers since joining the circuit in 2001.

Youngstown State shot 36 percent versus the Vikings. Youngstown State is shooting only 34.8 percent during its three-game skid---including a 21.1-percent rate from three-point range---while averaging 52 points per game. Opponents are shooting 52.7 percent from the field during that span.

Senior forward John Barber leads the Penguins in scoring (14.1 points per game) and rebounding (six per outing). Barber scored 18 points against Cleveland State and has finished in double figures seven times in eight appearances this year.

Senior guard Byron Davis adds 14 points per contest, with junior forward Jack Liles' 11.4 points-per-game norm featuring a 54.3 percent touch from the field (seventh-best in the League). Sophomore guard Vance Cooksey ranks third at 4.38 assists per game.

The Penguins return to the court Monday at home against Robert Morris (Pa.) prior to a Friday match-up at Akron.

Titans also come back to court
(Note: UDM was idle last week while concentrating on final exams.)
Detroit dropped to 4-5 overall with two losses to open the League schedule. The Titans fell 53-46 to Butler on Dec. 6 before an 81-68 defeat at the hands of Valparaiso on Dec. 8.

Senior guard Jon Goode scored 21 points in each contest, adding ten assists and five steals in the two games. He has hit the 20-point mark five times already this season, matching Green Bay's Mike Schachtner and Cleveland State's Cedric Jackson for League honors in that department. Goode's season-best last winter was 18 points. His current 16.4 points-per-game average ranks sixth on the League scoring charts.

Goode has hit the 20-point mark in each of his last three games (averaging 22 per game during that span), and could become the first Titan with four in a row since Brandon Cotton had five such outings during the 2005-06 campaign.

Senior guard Zach Everingham ranks fifth in the League at 3.63 assists per game with a 4.83 assists-to-turnover ratio that is fifth-best in the nation.

Junior forward Chris Hayes stands third on the League field-goal percentage charts (.597) and tops the Titans at 5.6 rebounds per game.

The Titans return to the hardwood at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday, two days before visiting #14/11 Texas A&M.

Panthers lose game, top scorer
Milwaukee saw its losing streak reach six games with a 61-39 loss to Wisconsin on Wednesday.

The Panthers, 3-7 overall, suffered another setback Saturday when head coach Rob Jeter suspended senior forward Torre Johnson following an off-court incident. Johnson leads the league in rebounding (eight per game) and is fourth in scoring at 17.8 points per outing.

Wednesday's game drew a UWM regular-season record 10,017 fans at the U.S. Cellular Arena. It was also just the fourth time Milwaukee has hosted a BCS school since joining Division I in 1990.

The Panthers rank last in the League with a .411 field-goal percentage. Without Johnson's .504 clip, the rest of the roster is at 38.5 percent. Milwaukee has shot better than 44 percent from the floor only twice this season. Opponents, menawhile, are shooting a combined 51.3 percent during UWM's current six-game skid.

Senior forward Paige Paulsen is the only other Panther averaging in double figures (12.8 points per game). Paulsen is shooting nearly 45 percent (21-of-47) from three-point range.

Milwaukee's 39-point total marked the Panthers' lowest output since a 66-37 loss---also to Wisconsin---in 2004.

UWM hosts Central Michigan on Wednesday in the Panthers' only game of the week.

League teams return to action after finals
Basketball fans looking for a break from the Christmas shopping rush get a present this week as Horizon League teams return to action after taking time off for final exams. A total of 17 games are on tap this week, with many contests available for viewing online through the Horizon League Network.

The schedule begins Monday night when Youngstown State hosts Robert Morris (Pa.) on HLN, while Detroit is at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Titans' first action since Dec. 8.

Both of Tuesday's contests are on HLN, with Cleveland State facing 2007 national runner-up Ohio State at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena. Wright State takes on St. Bonaventure, as well, in the finale of the Raiders' five-game homestand.

Three of Wednesday's five games can be viewed on the Horizon League Network, including a key early showdown as Butler hosts Bradley at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Milwaukee's home date with Central Michigan and UIC's encounter versus Toledo are also available online, with Detroit visiting Texas A&M and Loyola at Saint Louis to complete the day's schedule.

Youngstown State travels to Akron on Friday before a seven-game slate on Saturday. The HLN schedule features a pair of matinees with Northern Illinois at Green Bay and UIC hosting Howard, while Cleveland State's match-up against Central Michigan completes the Network's programming for the day. Other Saturday contests feature Loyola at UMKC, Butler at Florida Gulf Coast, Valparaiso at Wisconsin and Wright State at Cal State Fullerton.

The Horizon League's ten teams have combined for a 47-29 (.618) ledger against non-League competition so far this season.