Men's Basketball Teams Take 0-fer on Wednesday

Try as they might, it was a rare collective off night for Horizon League men's basketball teams, as all five teams in action on Wednesday lost.

IPFW 85, Valparaiso 76
It was a Sisyphian effort for Valparaiso at the Allen County War Memorial, as the Crusaders could not get over the hump in an 85-76 loss at IPFW.

Valparaiso (6-3) shot 51 percent in the game, but a 62-percent shooting effort from IPFW doomed the Crusaders. From early in the game, Valpo was playing catch up, as IPFW opened a 14-4 lead just over five minutes into the game.

The Crusaders would continue to fight back, briefly opening a 56-55 lead on a Ryan Broekhoff three, but IPFW responded with a 5-0 burst and held off Valpo's repeated rallies the rest of the way.

Broekhoff led Valpo with 20 points, while Will Bogan and Kevin Van Wijk each had 15. Matt Kenney finished with 13.

#14/16 Wisconsin 70, Green Bay 42
Green Bay was able to hang with host Wisconsin early, but cold shooting doomed the Phoenix to a 70-42 loss to their in-state foe.

Down just 12-11 midway through the first half, Green Bay (4-5) went cold and Wisconsin capitalized with a 14-1 burst that proved to be decisive. The Phoenix would rally once more, closing with 10 points as the half wound down, but a Badger jumper at the horn sent Wisconsin on a 14-4 run to open the second half.

Alec Brown was the lone Phoenix player to reach double figures, scoring 10 points. The road gets no easier for Green Bay, who returns to action when it faces another ranked opponent on the road Saturday. Green Bay plays at No. 11/11 Marquette in Milwaukee at 8 p.m.

DePaul 69, Loyola 58
A second half rally came up short for Loyola, as the Ramblers lost to visiting DePaul, 69-58, at Gentile Arena.

With a packed house, Loyola (1-7) was hosting DePaul for the first time since 1980, but quickly fell behind. DePaul scored 12 of the first 14 points of the game to dart out to a 12-2 lead that soon grew to 24-7 just six and a half minutes into the contest. The Blue Demons shot 56 percent (19 for 34) from the field in the opening period, while the Ramblers connected on only 5 of 26 (19 percent) attempts as DePaul took a 47-17 lead into the locker room.

Behind Walt Gibler, however, the Ramblers would rally in the second half, closing within nine points in the final minute of play. Gibler scored 21 of his career-high 29 points in the second half, while Joe Crisman matched a season high with 14 points, and added three rebounds and three steals.

Air Force 55, Wright State 34
Wright State could never get its offense on track, and the result was a 55-34 defeat at Air Force.

Hitting just 5-of-27 attempts in the opening half, Wright State (3-6) fell behind, 27-13, at the half and could never recover. The Raiders finished the night 2-of-19 from three-point range, thwarting any comeback efforts.

Cole Darling led the Raiders with seven points.

#8/8 Xavier 73, Butler 61
Butler battled to within four points midway through the second half, but could not come any closer in a 73-61 defeat to No. 8 Xavier at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Bulldogs led 6-4 early in the contest before a field goal drought of 9:43 turned the game around. By the time Chrishawn Hopkins hit a layup at the 6:10 mark of the first half, Butler (4-5) trailed, 27-12.

Butler would make a spirited run to open the second half behind Roosevelt Jones. Jones would finish with his first career double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds), scoring eight of his points in a four-minute stretch to bring the Bulldogs within 45-41 with 13 minutes to play, but a combination of Butler turnovers and Xavier free throws would push the Musketeers' advantage back into double figures, where it remained for most of the night.

Chase Stigall was the lone Bulldog to join Jones in double figures, helping spur the second half run with two threes on his way to 10 points.