Teams Start Second Half Looking to Climb Ladder

Horizon League Men’s Basketball Schedule (Jan. 25)
Loyola at Detroit, 7 p.m. ET – Horizon League Network
UIC at Wright State, 7 p.m. ET – Horizon League Network

The second half of the Horizon League season begins on Wednesday night, with four teams looking to make a surge up the ladder on Wednesday. Detroit welcomes Loyola to Calihan Hall, while UIC heads to Daytong for a meeting with Wright State. The Horizon League Network will have live coverage of both games beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Detroit (10-11, 4-5 Horizon) has not been at or above the .500 mark since Nov. 18, but the Titans can reach level with a win over visiting Loyola (5-14, 0-9 Horizon) on Wednesday. In a season interrupted by injuries and inconsistency, Detroit could move within a game of either Butler or Milwaukee, pending the results of their Thursday night showdown, with a victory.

The Titans bounced back from a disappointing loss at Milwaukee two weeks ago to roll past Wright State, 69-53, in their lone game of last week. A balanced attack and hot three-point shooting were the keys for Detroit, as Ray McCallum went a perfect 4-for-4 in the first half as the Titans knocked down a season-best nine three-pointers in the game.

McCallum has raised his game in Horizon League play, averaging 15.9 points per game while adding 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per contest, the rebounding mark ranking second on the team.

Loyola will be looking for its first win of the conference season and will be looking to build on an effort that saw the Ramblers go toe-to-toe with Butler in last Saturday’s Horizon League Network Game of the Week before succumbing to a 63-57 defeat.

Head coach Porter Moser will look to his upperclassmen – Walt Gibler, Ben Averkamp and Jordan Hicks – to lead the way against Detroit. Gibler sits just 17 points and 17 rebounds from becoming the 18^th player in Loyola history with 1,000 career points and 500 career boards. Defenses have focused much of their attention on Averkamp in conference play, with the junior averaging just 11.8 ppg and shooting 37.5 percent from the floor.

Gibler and Hicks have attempted to pick up the slack, with Gibler putting up 14.4 ppg and 6.3 rpg in League play; Hicks, working his way back from a foot injury suffered last year, is averaging just 5.6 ppg in seven League games, but has put up 11.0 ppg in his last two outings.

In the teams’ previous meeting, Detroit extended its winning streak over Loyola to seven games with a 65-54 victory at Gentile Arena. Four Titans finished in double figures, led by Chase Simon’s 17. Averkamp tallied 20 points to lead all scorers.

At the Nutter Center, two of the country’s most deliberate offensive teams will collide, when UIC (6-13, 2-7 Horizon) and Wright State (9-12, 4-5 Horizon) will each be out to snap losing skids. The Flames hit the road having dropped their first nine games away from the UIC Pavilion this year, while the Raiders have dropped three straight after a high-water mark of 4-2 in the conference.

Wright State will look for the return of Julius Mays to bolster an offense that ranks 284^th nationally with 64.5 possessions per game. Needing to maximize each possession, Mays has been an integral part of Wright State’s attack, having averaged 18.4 ppg in an eight-game stretch between injuries. In that span, the Raiders were 5-3. With Mays out, Wright State’s offense scored just 53 points in its loss at Detroit.

Mays’ takes some of the scoring burden off the nation’s sixth-youngest program; given Mays’ 21-point performance in the Raiders’ 74-70 overtime win at the Pavilion on Dec. 31. Also starring in that game was senior Johann Mpondo, who notched a career-best 16 points in the win.

That loss at home was just the second of the year for UIC at the time, but it has been the road where the Flames have showed their relative youth, struggling to a 0-9 mark. In the teams’ first meeting, it was Darrin Williams who controlled the post until fouling out; the big man finished with a season- and career-high 22 points.

In the back court, UIC has leaned on Gary Talton and Daniel Barnes, with the duo combining for 21.9 points on the year. In conference play, Talton has shouldered a bigger burden, putting up 13.9 ppg to go along with 3.1 apg.