Men’s Basketball Schedule:
Detroit at Cleveland State, 7 p.m. ET – Horizon League Network
Wright State at Youngstown State, 7:05 p.m. ET – Horizon League Network
Milwaukee at UIC, 8 p.m. ET – Horizon League Network
Green Bay at Loyola, 8 p.m. ET – Horizon League Network
Three days’ worth of games are left in the Horizon League men’s basketball regular season. And with five teams within two games of one another, plenty is left to be decided as to whom will be playing where come Tuesday, Feb. 28 when the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship begins.
Thursday’s first game features teams that appear to be ships passing in the night. Detroit (17-12, 10-6 Horizon) has won five straight games, four in League play, to climb into third place on the ladder. If the Titans win out, they will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
The other ship would be Cleveland State (20-9, 10-6 Horizon), who has dropped five straight games to fall into a tie for third with Detroit. The Vikings need a win to stay in contention for the No. 2 seed and a much-needed bye.
Playing without D’Aundray Brown over the last two weeks, Cleveland State has scuffled on both ends of the court, with its offense stagnating and defense struggling to get stops at key opportunities. The Vikings will be playing their fourth game in nine days after splitting their road trip to Wisconsin to take part in the BracketBusters.
With the offense hurting, Trey Harmon has done his best to shoulder the load, averaging 21.0 points per game over his last three. While Harmon had 13 in Tuesday’s 71-67 loss at Green Bay, it was freshman Anton Grady serving notice of All-Newcomer Team credentials, recording a career-best 23 points.
Detroit enters the game as the hottest team in the Horizon League, winning at Butler and Wright State during its five-game streak. The Titans have featured a balanced attack of late, as eight players had at least six points in Detroit’s 82-70 win over James Madison last Saturday.Jason Calliste led the Titans with 19 points, making Detroit 13-4 when he reaches 10 points. SeniorsDonavan Foster and LaMarcus Lowe each had 10, along with Evan Bruinsma and Doug Anderson. Chase Simon added eight points and five assists while Ray McCallum handed-out seven assists with seven points and five rebounds.
Youngstown State (14-13, 9-7 Horizon) sits on the verge of records when Wright State (13-16, 7-9 Horizon) visits the Beeghly Center.
The Penguins are on the verge of the following:
· Biggest turnaround in League play since the 10-team Horizon League was formed. An eight-win turnaround (2-16 to 10-7) would break the seven-win turnaround (2-16 to 9-9) by Detroit from 2008-09 to 2009-10.
· Damian Eargle sits three blocks from tying the Horizon League record of 111 blocks set by Scott VanderMeer in 2006-07. Three blocks by Eargle would also tie the record of 63 blocks in League play, currently held by Marquette’s Jim McIlvaine in 1990-91.
And, of course, Youngstown State is also in the race for its best seed in the Horizon League Tournament, currently tied for fifth with Milwaukee.
Wright State counters with the momentum built in Kansas City last weekend, when the Raiders knocked off UMKC, 76-62, with its best collective team effort of the season. In winning just its fourth road game of the year, WSU put four players into double figures and shot 57.8 percent.
The Raiders also bring the confidence that comes about by having beaten YSU earlier in the year; in one of the 34 Horizon League games to come down to the final minute of regulation, it was Wright State claiming a 63-62 win over the Penguins. The Raiders overcame an early 17-point deficit, holding Youngstown State to just two second half three-pointers after the Penguins went 9-for-15 in the first half.
Julius Mays had 19 in that game, and the junior has made himself a contender for the Horizon League Newcomer of the Year award by reaching 20 points on 10 occasions this year. Meanwhile, Kendrick Perry has hit the 20-point mark seven times this year and in five of his last seven games for the Penguins.
In the Windy City, UIC (8-19, 3-13 Horizon) and Loyola (7-20, 1-15 Horizon) welcome their neighbors to the north, as Milwaukee (17-12, 9-7 Horizon) and Green Bay (13-14, 7-8 Horizon) pay visits, respectively.
The Flames and Panthers will revisit another of the 34 nail-biters in the Horizon League this year, as the two teams memorably played into overtime on Dec. 3, with Milwaukee escaping, 73-71. UIC was led by Gary Talton, who posted 18 points in the loss, missing potential game-winning shots at both the end of regulation and overtime. UWM was paced by Kyle Kelm, who scored 18 points, including an 8-for-10 effort from the free throw line.
And while UIC has improved by just one game in League play from last year, the pieces are in place to make the Flames a dangerous team on a nightly basis. UIC boasts two-of the Horizon League's top-15 scorers, in Talton (12.0 ppg; 12th) and Daniel Barnes (10.9; 13th). Hayden Humes ranks seventh in the League in three-point field goal percentage (.407).
The Flames enter Thursday's contest leading the Horizon League in offensive rebounding both overall (12.6 rpg) and in conference play, and at home, UIC is averaging 60.6 points per game while shooting 40.4 percent from the field, including a 37.8 percent mark from three-point range.
Milwaukee will counter will (hopefully) healthy roster; the Panthers were decimated by the flu in Saturday’s 67-63 win over Fairfield, as James Haarsma, Christian Wolf and Ryan Haggerty all stayed home with the bug. And while affected, Kaylon Williams played, handing out 10 assists.
The Panthers are 8-2 when Williams reaches at least seven assists, but perhaps more important to Milwaukee is the return to form of Tony Meier, who seems to have found his shooting touch over the last four games. The seniors has made 11-of-21 from three-point range while averaging 14.5 points per game in that span. As a team, Milwaukee has made 45 three-pointers in its last five games, as Meier and Paris Gulley have led the way.
Gulley had 19 points in last Saturday’s victory and is averaging 12.8 ppg over his last five, bolstering Milwaukee’s offense.
With five rotation players hailing from Chicago, this weekend will be a welcome home party for Green Bay (13-14, 7-8 Horizon), as the Phoenix try to make a late push for a tournament home game. Standing in the way, however, is a Loyola (7-20, 1-15 Horizon) squad that has showed plenty of gumption of late.
Green Bay has won just once on the road this year, but with Keifer Sykes, Aaron Armstead, Greg Mays, Josh Humphrey and Terry Johnson all hailing from the Chicagoland area, Thursday (and Saturday) will be anything but road games for the Phoenix.
For Sykes, the venue may not matter at all, as one of the youngest players in Division I has grown up quickly in the last seven weeks. Since turning 18 on Dec. 30, Sykes is averaging 14.5 ppg, 4.5 apg and is shooting 52.9 percent from the floor.
Sykes’ presence on the perimeter and ability to break down defenses has opened up the post for Alec Brown, who continues to build an All-League resume. The big man is fifth in scoring (14.2 ppg), second in rebounding (8.1 rpg) and second in blocks (3.1 bpg) in conference play.
The Phoenix sit one game behind both Youngstown State and Milwaukee for the right to host a first round game, while Loyola is trying to chase down UIC for the No. 9 seed. Of late, the Ramblers have been a feisty bunch in losses at Butler and Valparaiso, with Ben Averkamp leading the charge.
The reigning player of the week in the Horizon League, Averkamp nearly led the Ramblers to a win at Valpo on Tuesday before falling 66-62 in overtime. The junior finished with 21 points, coming on the heels of a 23-point effort at Butler and a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double at Bradley.
