Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Jan. 25)
Men's Basketball Weekend Schedule (all times EST)
Friday, Jan. 25
Green Bay at Milwaukee -- 9 p.m., ESPNU
Saturday, Jan. 26
Cleveland State at Youngstown State -- 2 p.m., HLN Game of the Week/ESPN3/ESPN Full Court/Regional
Detroit at Loyola -- 4 p.m., HLN/ESPN3/ESPN Full Court/CSN Chicago
UIC at Wright State -- 7 p.m., HLN
INDIANAPOLIS -- A pair of regional rivalries highlight the Horizon League men's basketball action this weekend.
Kicking off the weekend is tonight's matchup between Green Bay and Milwaukee on ESPNU. Just a 115-mile stretch of Interstate 43 separates the two campuses, and the game has already been announced as a sell out.
The Panthers defended their homecourt last season, feriously coming back to pick up a 64-63 win over their in-state rivals. Milwaukee also won at Green Bay last year, 81-75, to sweep the season series. The Phoenix holds a 26-21 advantage all-time in the series, but Milwaukee has won 17 of the last 26 meetings.
Milwaukee is trying to recover from a tough loss to UIC in which the Panthers shot just 3-of-25 from the field in the second half and went scoreless for the final 9:50 of the of the game after hitting 8-of-18 3-pointers in the first half. Green Bay is also coming off a loss after being unable to complete a comeback at Valparaiso and the Phoenix is still looking for its first true road win of the season.
Even closer together that Green Bay and Milwaukee are Cleveland State and Youngstown State. The two schools, separated by about 75 miles, kick off Saturday's action with the HLN Game of the Week.
The Penguins will be looking to avenge last year's 20-loss to the Vikings at home. Cleveland State has won nine of the last 11 matchups and holds a 40-37 advantage in the series, which dates back to 1930.
Youngstown State has won two straight Horizon League games, including a home win over now second-place Wright State. The Vikings, meanwhile, are coming off a loss to Loyola despite freshman guard Bryn Forbes' career-high 22 points.
Having previously beaten non-conference, in-city rival Chicago State, Loyola will look for a third-straight win in Saturday's second game, hosting Detroit. The two schools aren't exactly regional rivals, but the game is a matchup of Jesuit institutions.
The Titans, surprisingly, are coming off a second Horizon League home loss after falling to Wright State on Monday. After losing to Valpo earlier this year, Detroit recovered the beat UIC 98-47. In games immediately following a Horizon League loss this season, the Titans are averaging 93 points per game -- but have gone just 1-1 in those contests; the 89-88 loss to Valpo followed a loss at Cleveland State.
The weekend's final matchup pits UIC against Wright State. Looking to gain ground on the idle Crusaders, Wright State is hosting a blackout event. The Raiders went 2-2 during a four-game Horizon League roadtrip, 1-2 during this week's portion, and return to the Nutter Center on Saturday for the first time since starting the conference season off with three straight home wins.
It has been an interesting last couple of weeks for the Flames: after earning a home conference win over in-city rival Loyola, UIC was blown out in Detroit and then had to recover in the second half to pick up a home win over Milwaukee. The defensive adjustment in the win over the Panthers showed UIC's true strength as the Flames went into a zone defense and held Milwaukee to 12 percent shooting in the second half and outscored the Panthers 35-8 in the period.
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