Three-Way Tie Moves Up the Ladder as Butler, Valpo, UIC Claim Wins

Horizon League Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Feb. 2):
Butler 64, Wright State 53
Valparaiso 78, Detroit 73
UIC 72, Youngstown State 68

The Horizon League men’s basketball standings had a three-way tie at the beginning of the day, and by the end of the night, three teams were knotted in the ladder once more after Butler, Valparaiso and UIC claimed victories.

Butler 64, Wright State 53
With a Super Bowl buzz and plenty of national media at Hinkle Fieldhouse, Butler jumped out to a big lead on visiting Wright State and held the Raiders at arm’s length throughout the night, winning 64-53.

Butler (13-11, 7-5 Horizon) used a balanced attack and stingy defense to get past Wright State (11-13, 6-6 Horizon). The Bulldogs locked down on the League’s leading scorer, Julius Mays, holding him to just eight points.

Butler jumped out to an early 10-2 lead as Chrishawn Hopkins, making his first start since November, sparked the Bulldogs with four points in the stretch, finishing with a team-high 13 on the night. An Andrew Smith three and layup from Ronald Nored would push the advantage to 11 just 7:07 into the game.

Wright State would come no closer than five the rest of the night, but managed to bring an audible gasp from the crowd just before the half, when Cole Darling drained a 70-foot heave as the buzzer sounded.

However, Khyle Marshall would supply his own highlights to start the second half, driving to the hoop for a thunderous dunk and following it with a block on the other end. Marshall’s second dunk of the half, off a feed from Andrew Smith, gave Butler a 58-43 lead with 5:30 left, marching Butler’s largest of the night.

Smith would finish a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor to add 11 points, while Erik Fromm came off the bench to post 10 points. Armond Battle was the lone Raider in double figures, scoring a game-high 18.

Valparaiso 78, Detroit 73
Behind a career-high 26 points from Ryan Broekhoff, Valparaiso rallied late to stun Detroit, 78-73, at the ARC.

Valparaiso (16-8, 9-3 Horizon) held Detroit (12-12, 6-6 Horizon) to just one field goal in the final 5:06, helping the Crusaders rally from what had been a  10-point deficit early in the second half.

Broekhoff went 6-for-6 from beyond the three-point arc, saving his final two threes of the night for when Valpo needed them most. His fifth of the night gave the Crusaders their first lead of the second half, 64-62, with just over five minutes to play. His final triple snapped a 66-66 deadlock with 4:08 to play, fueling a 5-0 burst that helped decide the game.

Broekhoff matched the Crusaders’ program record for most 3-pointers in a game without a miss on Thursday, draining all six of his 3-point attempts to tie the mark set by Jared Nuness at Belmont in 1997.  The six triples also tied Broekhoff’s career high in a single game.

Detroit led 49-39 early in the second half, but with a 55-47 advantage five minutes into the half, the tide began to turn as Jay Harris get fouled on a shot attempt, followed immediately by a technical foul to a Detroit player.  Harris stepped up and hit all four free throw attempts to slice the lead in half, and then contributed a 3-pointer at the 12-minute mark as the Crusaders continued to slowly crawl back towards even, trailing 58-55.

Broekhoff was assisted on the offensive end by the efforts of Richie Edwards, who came off the bench to contribute 16 points and a team-high six rebounds in 21 minutes. Kevin Van Wijk closed out a trio of Crusaders in double figures as his late free throws gave him 10 points on the evening. Led by Broekhoff’s record-tying night from downtown, Valpo shot 54.5% (12-of-22) from behind the arc and maintained that clip overall from the field while assisting on 17 of its 24 field goals.

Five Titans, including four starters, closed Thursday night in double figures, with Chase Simon, Ray McCallum and Eli Holman tying for team-high honors with 14 points. McCallum also dished out six assists, while Doug Anderson added 12 points, seven rebounds and two highlight-reel dunks. The Titans shot at a blistering 61.5% (16-of-26) clip in the first 20 minutes, but were limited to 34.5% (10-of-29) in the second stanza.

UIC 72, Youngstown State 68
For most of the game, UIC beat Youngstown State at its own game and then held on late for a 72-68 win over the visiting Penguins at the UIC Pavilion.

UIC (7-15, 3-9 Horizon) went 9-for-21 from three-point range, out-gunning Youngstown State (12-10, 7-5 Horizon) for most of the evening.

The Penguins held a 35-29 lead at the half and were up 40-32 following an Ashen Ward jumper, but UIC took control of the game with a 12-0 run over the next 4:15. Darrin Williams fueled the burst with six points, opening up the perimeter for a Daniel Barnes three that made the score 43-40.

Another layup from Williams extended the lead to 48-43, and Hayden Humes would score five of UIC’s next nine points as the Flames opened a 58-49 advantage with 6:22 left, forcing Youngstown State into a timeout.

UIC would lead by 10 before Youngstown State mounted a furious comeback, finally finding its range from the three-point arc. Blake Allen got the burst started with a three to make the score, 62-55, with 2:29 to play, and after Kendrick Perry hit a triple from the top of the key, UIC turned the ball over on the inbounds, leading to Perry’s second three in 12 seconds to make it a 66-63 game with just 37 ticks left.

Initially failing to force a turnover, YSU deflected the pass into the backcourt, with DuShawn Brooks corralling the ball on the baseline. However, his pass to the perimeter was picked off by Marc Brown, giving UIC the chance to close the game out at the free throw line.

Gary Talton and Barnes would go a combined 8-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final minute, with Talton’s last two freebies giving UIC a two-possession lead with five seconds play after Allen had brought YSU within 70-68 with 11 ticks to play.

Talton and Barnes each scored a game-high 19 points, matching the effort of YSU’s Perry. Humes and Williams each recorded 11 points and double-doubles for the Flames, as both team’s starting lineups stuffed the box score. The Penguins got 66 of their 68 points from their five starters, with Ward adding 14 and Allen, Brooks and Damian Eargle tallying 12, 11 and 10, respectively.