Third Place on the Line as Teams Look to Widen Men's Basketball Field

Horizon League Men's Basketball Schedule (all time EST)
Loyola at Youngstown State -- 7:45 p.m., HLN
Wright State at Green Bay -- 8 p.m., HLN
Detroit at Milwaukee -- 8 p.m., HLN

INDIANAPOLIS -- Third place in the Horizon League men's basketball standings hangs in the balance Thursday night as six teams look to give more definition to the field.

The marquee matchup is between Wright State (15-8) and Green Bay (12-11), which both hold a 6-4 record in Horizon League play and are currently tied for third in the conference standings. The winner of tonight's game will take over sole possession of third place. With nine teams in the conference this season, the third-place team will receive a coveted bye into the second round of the Horizon League Tournament.

As David Joblonski wrote in the Dayton Daily News, the state of Wisconsin has not been kind to the Raiders of late:

"Eight of the last 11 times the Raiders have played at Green Bay and Milwaukee in a three-day span, they’ve lost both games. The other three times, they split the two games. Wright State swept the Phoenix and Panthers at the Nutter Center in three days in January, but it’s going to be tall order to repeat the task on the road this week."

The task will be made harder still by Green Bay's dominance at home in conference play. Returning to the Resch Center after splitting a four-game roadtrip, the Phoenix has won seven straight at home, including four Horizon League games.

Interestingly, both teams are coming off of wins against Loyola: Green Bay beat the Ramblers 73-65 in Chicago last Saturday and the Raiders won 62-59 at the Nutter Center on Monday night.

Loyola plays tonight in one of two games that could help distance the top of the pack from the bottom -- or could continue to prove the parity the Horizon League has shown all season.

The Ramblers (13-10, 3-7 HL) are in eighth place currently and will visit Youngstown State (13-10, 5-5 HL), which with a win would move into a fourth-place tie with the loser of tonight's Wright State-Green Bay matchup.

Loyola has lost three straight, but two of their Horizon League wins have been on the road. The Penguins have lost two straight road games but before that won three in a row at the Beeghly Center. Tonight's game begins a five-game homestand.

In tonight's third game, second-place Detroit (15-8, 7-3 HL) travels to Milwaukee, the start of the three-game homestand for the Panthers. The Titans have won three straight since a home loss to Wright State and have picked up three road wins in Horizon League play. The Panthers, meanwhile, have lost five straight. However, their only conference win so far came at the Klotsche Center; as the season has shown so far, few Horizon League road wins come easily.

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