Three Big Horizon League Matchups on Docket in Men's Basketball

Horizon League Men's Basketball Weekly Release (Jan. 7)

Men's Basketball Schedule: Jan. 9 (all times EST)
Cleveland State at Wright State -- 7 p.m., HLN
Valparaiso at UIC -- 8 p.m., HLN
Loyola at Green Bay -- 8 p.m., HLN

INDIANAPOLIS -- It's too early in the conference season to begin declaring "it all comes down to this" but the three Horizon League men's basketball games scheduled for tonight can still have a major impact on the standings.

There are storylines aplenty surrounding tonight's action, which starts at 7 p.m. EST as Cleveland State makes the short trek to Wright State. The in-state rivals have seen varying degrees of success early this season. The host Raiders, picked to finish last in the preseason poll, are 2-0 in Horizon League play and tied with Detroit for first place. The Vikings, meanwhile, got blown out at Valparaiso in their conference opener last weekend before picking up a 10-point win on their home court against UIC Monday night.

The two teams are led by a pair of no-nonsense coaches -- arguably the Horizon League's two most outspoken -- in Billy Donlon and Gary Waters. Donlon, whose team is playing a third-straight Horizon League home game before heading on the road for four straight, realizes how important it is to win at home due to the fact that road wins are going to be near-impossible in conference play.

"They’re back to playing Gary Waters basketball with their defense and their pressure," Donlon told the Dayton Daily News. "They held UIC to 21 in the first half. It’ll be another war. Our league has got a lot of parity in it. You’ve got to do everything you can do defend your home court."

Waters, meanwhile, hopes he can get consistent play from his lone senior, swingman Tim Kamczyc.

“We need a certain amount of points [and] a certain amount of rebounds from Tim Kamzcyc in order for us to be effective,” Waters told horizonleague.com. “People have keyed on Tim because of the loss of Anton Grady. They would normally try to double Anton and … Anton’s ability to score out of double-teams was good, but he would also pass out of it. That would allow Tim to get a few open looks. Now, [teams] have made the decision that they are going to take Tim away, that they are going to have one person that stays just with Tim.”

Kamczyc picked up the slack in Cleveland State's win over UIC on Monday night, scoring 13 second-half points to help seal the win, twice squashing rally attempts by the Flames, once with one of his three 3-pointers and once with a layup.

An advanced-stat matchup to watch in the game deals with turnovers: Wright State is forcing turnovers on 25.4 percent of opponents' possessions, while the Vikings are committing turnovers at a 21.6 percent rate.

Perhaps the most intriguing matchup tonight is Valparaiso-UIC. The Flames have struggled on the road in Horizon League play for several seasons, but are seemingly unbeatable at home, building a 6-0 record at the Pavilion. Valpo, meanwhile, struggled on the road this season before finding a signature win at Murray State, then promptly got beat at home by Loyola in the Horizon League opener.

The Crusaders' trouncing of Cleveland State at home last Friday night could be a sign that head coach Bryce Drew has straightened his team out, but it will be interesting to see how Valparaiso responds to its first conference road game. One thing is certain: nothing will come easy in the Horizon League this season.

"Whoever wins the [Horizon League], it's not going to be easy," Drew told the NWI Times. "Our goal is to just worry about ourselves and keep getting better."

And Valparaiso isn't the only team in the matchup trying to get over the hump. The surprising Flames started the season 9-1 before dropping four of their last five games. Despite the recent struggles, head coach Howard Moore has been pleased by his team's progress this year and is looking forward to bigger and better things for UIC basketball. His inspiring story and affinity for recruiting was recently chronicled by chicagosidesports.com.

The big advanced stat battle to watch in this game boils down to Valparaiso's offense versus UIC's defense: the Crusaders carry a 52.1 percent effective field-goal clip while the Flames have help opponents to 44 percent. UIC is second in the Horizon League in scoring defense, allowing just 57.5 points per game.

The night's final matchup features Loyola visiting Green Bay. The Ramblers seemed to have made a big statement by winning at Valpo in the Horizon League opener, but were then beat at home by Youngstown State. Hoping to bounce back, Loyola is looking for a fourth-straight road win -- but it has been proven that those will not come easily in conference play, and the Ramblers haven't won in Green Bay since 2007.

Green Bay, meanwhile, is the lone team in the Horizon League with multiple wins over teams in the RPI top 50. Picked to finish third, the Phoenix are 0-2 in Horizon League play and just 6-9 overall. For head coach Brian Wardle, cutting down on turnovers is of vital importance.

"We said that we’ve got to take care of the ball and have good shot selection, and we didn’t do that. Every time we turned it over, it led to something," Wardle told the Press-Gazette of his team's conference season so far. "We’ve got to do a better job. Both games, we turned it over more than we have been. On the road, you can’t do that, especially in [Horizon League] play, when every possession is so critical. Every possession matters."

In this game, former Iowa teammates who have transferred into the Horizon League will face off for the first time. Loyola guard Culley Payne and Green Bay's Brennan Cougill were both members of the 2009-10 Hawkeyes team that went 10-22.

As for advanced stats, offensive rebounds may be at a premium for the Phoenix. Loyola is allowing offensive rebounds on just 28.1 percent of possession, whle Green Bay's mark sits at 32.7 percent.

All three of tonight's matchups can be seen for free on the Horizon League Network.

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