Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Dec. 7)
Men's Basketball Weekend Schedule [All times Eastern]
Friday, Dec. 7
Northern Illinois at Milwaukee 8 p.m., HLN
Saturday, Dec. 8
Cleveland State at #25/24 N.C. State 1 p.m., ESPN3
Loyola at #19/17 Michigan State 2 p.m., Big Ten Network
#rv/rv Colorado State at UIC 4 p.m., HLN
VMI at Wright State 7 p.m., HLN
Hiram at Youngstown State 7:05 p.m., HLN
Valparaiso at #18/20 New Mexico 9 p.m., Root Sports
Sunday, Dec. 9
Milwaukee at DePaul 5 p.m.
INDIANAPOLIS -- A tough weekend lies ahead for the Horizon League as Cleveland State, Loyola and Valparaiso each visit a Top-25 opponent while UIC hosts a team that received votes in the national polls.
Friday night's lone game could set the tone for the entire weekend as an embattled Milwaukee team hosts Northern Illinois, trying to extend the Horizon League's success against the Huskies -- three teams have already picked up wins against NIU this season. In a weird trend, each team has held the Huskies to exactly 46 points: Valparaiso 69, Northern Illinois 46; Loyola 53, Northern Illinois 46; and UIC 58, NIU 46.
Saturday's six-game slate features three ranked foes and an opponent which received national votes.
At 1 p.m., Cleveland State travels to #25/24 N.C. State. After the Vikings picked up wins against Toledo and Ball State last week, head coach Gary Waters enters this first-ever matchup with 299 wins. Of the six wins against ranked opponents in Cleveland State history, Waters has overseen five.
In the 2 p.m. game, Loyola faces the Horizon League's highest-ranked opponent of the weekend in #19/17 Michigan State. There's a bit of serendipity in the matchup for Ramblers coach Porter Moser -- he spent four years as an associate head coach under the legendary Rick Majerus, who passed away last Saturday. As Moser pointed out earlier in the week, the last game his mentor coached was against the Spartans.
"For me, it’s very sentimental. I was very close to Coach Majerus," Moser said. "The last game was he coached was against my next opponent. Obviously, it’s a huge mountain to climb, but we want to see where we’re at against a team like this. This is only going to help us. To be put in a position like this, on the road, at Michigan State, against one of the top teams and just see how our young guys handle it."
Loyola announced on Friday that Moser will wear all black while coaching the Ramblers on Saturday, the day Majerus will be laid to rest.
Moser said that Majerus called him 15 times last season -- Moser's first with the Ramblers -- with the same message: long term goals. Moser has no doubt taken that advice to heart and, along with UIC, his Loyola team is making Horizon League basketball relevant in the Chicago market.
And speaking of the Flames, UIC hosts Colorado State at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The Rams received votes in the national polls but were "punked" by in-state rival Colorado on Wednesday and fell, 70-61. UIC, meanwhile, cruised to an 81-43 win over NAIA Roosevelt, the fifth time this season the Flames have held an opponent under 50 points.
Head coach Howard Moore said on Thursday that he is not worried about the possibility of Rams heading into Chicago with a chip on their collective shoulder.
“We don’t have anything to do with what happened in Colorado. I think our [mindset] is they have to come to our place, they have to play us and we just have to do what we do," Moore said. "I think it’s going to be a great game and I think we’re going to have a great atmosphere in the Pavilion. Our guys have earned the respect of a lot of people now, so I think we just have to validate what we’ve been doing.”
With a 7-1 record, UIC is in first place in the Horizon League after being picked to finish eighth in the preseason poll.
At 7 p.m., Wright State hosts VMI in a primetime matchup. The Raiders will be looking for a bounce-back win over the Keydets after falling to Bowling Green on Monday.
Five minutes after that game starts, Youngstown State will tip off against D-III Hiram. The Penguins improved to 4-4 on the year as 12 players scored in YSU's 93-50 win over Geneva on Thursday.
In the night's final contest, Valparaiso visits #18/20 New Mexico. It's a matchup of coaches who were stars as college players: Valpo's Bryce Drew starred for the Crusaders and is known for "The Shot" in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament and New Mexico's Steve Alford led Indiana University to the 1987 National Championship. Drew, who last year took over the Valparaiso program from his dad, Homer, was this week featured in ESPN the Magazine.
While the Lobos handed UIC its only loss of the season before eventually winning the Paradise Jam tournament championship and Valparaiso has struggled to find a signature win this season, the stars may align for the Crusaders on Saturday night. Last weekend, another mid-major team from the Hoosier State gave New Mexico a run for its money as Indiana State forced overtime before eventually being defeated.
After opening the weekend against Northern Illinois, Milwaukee will close the weekend with the lone Sunday game at DePaul. The Blue Devils have won three straight and are 5-3 on the season.
