Men's Basketball Weekly Release #4

Nov. 28, 2005

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Horizon League Player of the Week

Brandon Crone, Butler
Junior Forward * Frankfort, Ind.
Crone helped spark the Bulldogs to a pair of strong performances against Big Ten competition. He finished with a career-high 27 points plus seven rebounds and six assists in a 79-69, overtime loss at Ohio State, and added 11 points, four boards and four assists versus Michigan. For the week, he shot 68 percent (13-of-19) from the field including six-of-ten from three-point range.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending November 27

Carlos English, Cleveland State
Junior Guard * Detroit, Mich.
English averaged 7.5 points and 5.5 assists per game for the week after joining the CSU starting line-up. He handed out a game-high six assists at North Carolina on Tuesday and came back with 12 points, five helpers and four steals in a victory over Rochester on Saturday.

Jon Goode, Detroit
Sophomore Guard * Flint, Mich.
Goode posted rates of 9.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in three contests last week. He scored the final eight points in UDM's 56-51 victory over Shawnee State, canning a three-pointer and hitting five of six free throws over the last 2:05 to finish with 16 points.

Justin Bowen, UIC
Senior Forward * Chicago, Ill.
Bowen shot 83 percent (15-of-18) from the field, averaging 15.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for the week. He hit all eight attempts in posting a 17-point, ten-rebound line versus St. Xavier, then led the Flames past Georgia Tech with 14 points, nine boards and four assists in Atlanta.

Majak Kou, Loyola
Junior Guard * Hamilton, Ontario
Kou averaged 16.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as Loyola won both of its contests last week. Kou tallied 15 points, five boards and three steals in a 99-86 victory over Evansville, and followed up with 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in the Ramblers' victory over Luther College.

Boo Davis, UW-Milwaukee
Senior Guard * Chicago, Ill.
Davis regained his shooting touch in the Panthers' victory over Upper Iowa, scoring a game-high 21 points on seven-of-15 shooting which included five three-pointers. He also added eight rebounds in just 19 minutes of action as the Panthers cruised to the 29-point triumph.

Quin Humphrey, Youngstown State
Junior Guard * Ellenwood, Ga.
Humphrey scored a total of 33 points as YSU split two games last week. He had 18 points and nine rebounds in a 95-53 victory over Slippery Rock, and posted his second career double-double with 15 points and ten rebounds in the Penguins' 67-62 loss at Akron.

The Week Ahead in the Horizon League

A total of 17 games are on the docket this week as the month of November draws to a close and December begins.

Monday's action includes a pair of defending league champions as 2004-05 Horizon League titlist UW-Milwaukee visits last season's Ohio Valley Conference kingpin Tennessee Tech. In addition, UIC completes its tour of Georgia with a stop at Georgia Southern, looking for a sweep of the state after a 73-51 victory at Georgia Tech on Friday.

On Tuesday night, Detroit makes the 40-mile trek to Ypsilanti, Mich., to face local rival Eastern Michigan while UW-Green Bay hosts North Dakota State. Brandon Cotton scored 27 points in his Titan debut as Detroit outlasted EMU 88-83 last season.

Wednesday's schedule features five of the League's nine teams, with Butler making its first appearance of 2005-06 at Hinkle Fieldhouse versus Tulane and Loyola hosting Bradley. Also on the slate for the final day of the month are a trio of Horizon League/Mid-American Conference contests as Cleveland State hosts Central Michigan, Youngstown State entertains Kent State and Wright State travels to Miami (Ohio).

The six-game schedule on Saturday has three more showdowns with the MAC as Cleveland State visits Kent State, Butler goes to Ball State and Detroit hosts Western Michigan. Two other contests feature Missouri Valley Conference competition as UW-Green Bay is at Illinois State and Loyola travels to face the MVC's preseason favorite, Northern Iowa. Rounding out the action is UW-Milwaukee hosting Saint Louis.

On Sunday, Youngstown State visits Marshall while UIC returns home to meet intra-city rival Chicago State.

Around the Horizon League

Bulldogs take pair of Big Ten foes to the wire
Butler dropped both of its games last week but found plenty of highlights along the way. BU hit 13 three-pointers and forced Big Ten power Ohio State to overtime before falling 79-69, and shot 51 percent from the field in a 78-74 loss at Michigan.

Senior guard Bruce Horan needs two three-point field goals to tie Butler's all-time record of 217, set by Darnell Archey (1999-2003). Horan's triple at Michigan extended his personal streak to 52 consecutive games with at least one tri-lighter.

Sophomore guard A.J. Graves led the Bulldogs with 24 points at Michigan while senior guard Brandon Polk added 23 versus the Wolverines to give BU a pair of 20-point scorers in the same game for the first time since Feb. 26, 2005, when Polk had 27 and Brandon Crone tallied 20 versus UIC.

After playing their first five games of the season on the road, the Bulldogs (2-3 overall) finally take the Hinkle Fieldhouse floor for the first time Wednesday, hosting Tulane. The game was originally scheduled for Nov. 28, but was switched in order to accommodate Tulane's travel schedule following Hurricane Katrina and the team's move to its temporary home in College Station, Texas.

Flames post historic victory at Georgia Tech
Most casual observers would have expected UIC to split its two games last week, hosting NAIA entry St. Xavier (Ill.) and visiting perennial Atlantic Coast Conference power Georgia Tech. But most wouldn't have predicted the order of UIC's results, which pushed the Flames to 3-2 overall.

UIC shot a season-best 51 percent from the field but fell victim to SXU's eight three-pointers in a 74-73 homecourt loss, but rebounded (literally) with a 49-35 effort on the boards and 22-4 advantage at the free-throw line in a 73-51 victory over Georgia Tech, the school's first ever over an ACC school. UIC had been 0-4 all-time versus the conference before last Wednesday.

Freshman guard Josh Mayo made the most of his first collegiate start in Atlanta, pacing the Flames to victory with 21 points and four assists. He was nine-of-ten at the line and is shooting 95 percent (19-of-20) at the charity stripe for the year.

Junior forward Jovan Stefanov overcame a broken nose to grab 11 rebounds against the Yellow Jackets, becoming the third different UIC player to reach twin digits off the glass already this season. Senior forward Justin Bowen has two outings with ten or more caroms and sophomore forward Othyus Jeffers collected ten caroms earlier in the season. As a team, UIC has outrebounded each of its first five opponents and holds a League-leading plus-10.8 rebounds-per-game margin.

Titans look for balanced attack entering mini-series versus in-state MAC foes
Detroit enters the week at 2-3 after dropping three of four games in the Las Vegas Holiday Invitational. The Titans' nine-day road trip ended with a 66-60 loss to Mid-American Conference representative Buffalo on Saturday.

The Titans continue a swing through the MAC this week, visiting Eastern Michigan on Tuesday and hosting Western Michigan on Saturday. UDM also plays at Ohio on Dec. 22.

Junior guard Brandon Cotton saw a streak of 25 consecutive double-figure scoring games come to an end with two points in the team's 56-51 victory over Shawnee State on Friday. Sophomore guard Jon Goode picked up the slack with 16 points---one off his career high---while sophomore guard Zach Everingham reached double figures for the first time in his Titan career with 12 points on his first four three-pointers of the year.

Senior guard Ben Green re-joined the starting lineup for the final three games of the tournament, averaging 5.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game as a starter. He has recorded exactly four rebounds in each of the team's first five outings this season.

Vikings keep 19-year win streak intact
Cleveland State's 76-43 victory over Rochester extended the Vikings' streak of 19 consecutive winning seasons in historic Woodling Gym. The gym served as home for CSU basketball from 1973-91 when the Vikings posted a 123-21 (.854) record there. CSU returned to Woodling for one game as part of its season-long tribute celebrating the 75th year of men's basketball at the school.

Freshman forward J'Nathan Bullock came off the bench to lead CSU with a career-high 15 points, six rebounds and three steals at North Carolina earlier in the week. That earned his first career start versus Rochester, and Bullock responded with eight points and three boards.

Cleveland State (1-2) recorded seven blocks in the victory over Rochester, the most by a Viking team since a school-record 12 rejections on Nov. 22, 2003. The Vikings average a League-high 4.3 blocks per game so far in 2005-06. CSU also tops the League charts with 13.0 steals per game.

Ramblers stay hot, face MVC challenges
Loyola is off to its best start in six years, carrying a 3-0 record into this week's meetings with Bradley and Northern Iowa. The Ramblers have not won four in a row to start a season since opening the 1996-97 campaign at 5-0.

Junior guard Blake Schilb has scored in double figures in 27 consecutive games, posting 22 in a 99-86 victory over Evansville and adding 18 versus Luther College last week.

Freshman forward Leon Young became the first LU freshman since Kenny Miller (1987) to record consecutive double-doubles to open his career. Young debuted with 12 points and 13 rebounds versus IPFW and added 16 points plus 12 boards against Evansville.

Junior guard Majak Kou is averaging 16.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game off the bench in his last two contests, while freshman guard J.R. Blount's pace of 16.0 points per game over the same span includes a perfect 12-of-12 mark at the free-throw line.

Panthers hit the court running in battle of league champions
UW-Milwaukee's roller-coaster schedule takes a sharp upswing this week when the Panthers visit defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Tennessee Tech on Monday. The Panthers (1-1) opened the season with a 79-52 loss at Memphis in the NIT Season Tip-Off, then routed (Division II) Upper Iowa 93-64 before heading home for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Senior forward Adrian Tigert collected the eighth double-double of his career with 15 points and 12 rebounds versus UIU. The Second-Team Preseason All-Horizon League choice needed only 19 minutes for that production, and needs 29 more boards to pass Clay Tucker (592 from 1999-2003) for the top spot on UWM's Division I career rebounding list.

Panther coach Rob Jeter continues to stress the need for his team to get to the free-throw line. After making 26 of 34 tries at the charity stripe in Memphis, UWM hit 22 of 35 attempts against Upper Iowa and owns a composite 48-25 advantage at the line this season.

Fourteen different Panthers scored in the victory over UIU, led by senior guard Boo Davis with 21 points, including five three-pointers. Tigert added 15 while senior forward Joah Tucker and sophomore guard Avery Smith each had 11.

Phoenix returns to action after week layoff
UW-Green Bay hosts North Dakota State on Tuesday, marking the first action in nine days for the Phoenix. UWGB (1-3 overall) has been idle since a 67-62 loss at Central Michigan on Nov. 21.

Freshman forward Ryan Tillema has made a dramatic impact on the team's three-point shooting so far this season. Twelve of Tillema's 13 field goals have come from behind the arc, with the Randolph, Wis., native shooting nearly 55 percent (12-of-22) behind the arc.

As a team, UW-Green Bay leads the Horizon League with a .500 mark (24-of-48) from the tri-light zone. At the other end of the spectrum, the Phoenix is shooting just 37.3 percent (58-for-156) inside the arc for a .402 overall rate.

Tuesday's contest marks the home opener for the Phoenix, which is 28-8 all-time in home debuts, including 2-1 under coach Tod Kowalczyk.

Penguins get first victory of Slocum era
Youngstown carries a 1-2 record into the week following a 95-53 victory over Slippery Rock and a 67-62 loss at Akron last week. The triumph over SRU was the first for new YSU coach Jerry Slocum, who joined the program after a successful 30-year tenure in Divisions II and III where he posted a 580-325 ledger.

Junior guard Keston Roberts scored 27 points on nine-of-15 shooting versus Slippery Rock, hitting half of his ten attempts from three-point range. As a team, YSU hit 11 three-pointers, one short of the school record. The Penguins have already attempted 70 three-pointers this season (23.3 per game), making 25.

Senior guard Domonique Crawford added 18 points, nearly half of his total from all of last season (32 points in 20 games during the 2004-05 campaign). Junior guard Quin Humphrey also tallied 18 points, while sophomore forward John Barber had 11.

Senior guard Derrick Harris handed out 13 assists in the victory, easily the most by a Horizon League player this season. Harris, who also had eight helpers versus Akron, leads the League with his rate of 8.33 assists per game this season.

Raiders keep shooting for first win of 2005-06
Wright State saw its season-opening losing streak reach three games in a row with two losses against Mid-American Conference foes last week. The Raiders dropped a 64-53 decision at Toledo last Wednesday and fell 71-50 to Ball State in their home-opener on Saturday.

Junior guard DaShaun Wood leads the team with a 17.7 points-per-game scoring average, which ranks second in the Horizon League. Wood's 13 points topped a trio of double-figure scorers against Toledo.

Wright State outrebounded UT 44-33 but could not overcome 34 percent (18-of-52) shooting and 22 turnovers in that contest. For the season, WSU is shooting 35.4 percent (56-of-158) from the field, including 24 percent (eight-of-33) from three-point range.

Junior forward Drew Burleson ranks second on the team at 12.3 points per game, hitting double figures in each of his three outings thus far. He also tops the Raider charts with 6.7 rebounds per contest.