Top Four Showdowns, Game of the Week Highlight Weekend

Horizon League Men's Basketball Schedule (all times ET)
Friday, Jan. 13:
Cleveland State at Butler, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Youngstown State at Valparaiso, 8:05 p.m. (Horizon League Network)

Saturday, Jan. 14:
Wright State at Green Bay, 2 p.m. (Horizon League Network Game of the Week | ESPN3 | Check local listings)
Loyola at UIC, 4 p.m. (Horizon League Network)
Detroit at Milwaukee, 8 p.m. (Horizon League Network)

Sunday, Jan. 15:
Youngstown State at Butler, 2 p.m.
Cleveland State at Valparaiso, 2:35 p.m.

Teams tied for second and fourth square off throughout the weekend, while Wright State and Green Bay will be featured on the Horizon League Network Game of the Week on Saturday, as the conference season enters its fourth week.

ESPN.com deemed Hinkle Fieldhouse the place to be on Friday night, as Butler (9-8, 3-2 Horizon) faces a stern test when Cleveland State (14-3, 4-1 Horizon) visits Indianapolis. The game is the first of four between teams sitting one game apart in the standings over the weekend as CSU and Youngstown State (9-6, 4-1 Horizon) meet Butler and Valparaiso (10-7, 3-2 Horizon).

Butler will once again face a stiff defense, as Cleveland State enters the night allowing just 58.0 points per game, the 20th-best mark in the country. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs' offense has struggled at times, putting up 63.8 ppg. The Vikings' experience-laden roster offers a stark contrast to the youth of Butler; Cleveland State will start four seniors and a junior, while the Bulldogs have been rolling out starting lineups with at least one, if not two freshmen.

Cleveland State comes into the game with a balanced offensive attack, led by the return of D'Aundray Brown. After missing last year's Horizon League co-championship run, the senior is leading the way on both ends of the court, putting up 12.6 ppg, 5.2 rebounds per game and 2.5 steals per game. Meanwhile, Trey Harmon and Jeremy Montgomery have keyed the Vikings' resurgence from three-point range, helping CSU go 48-for-100 from beyond the arc over its last five games. Harmon drilled a career-best six threes in Cleveland State's last outing, a a 69-48 win over Loyola in the HLN Game of the Week.

Butler's offensive attack stems from Andrew Smith, who has held down the low post to average 10.1 ppg. Last Friday on ESPNU, Smith tallied 19 points, including two clutch three-pointers down the stretch to lift the Bulldogs to a thrilling 63-62 win over Wright State. Khyle Marshall has been a key off the bench, averaging 12.5 ppg in his last two games and providing Brad Stevens with added depth.

Cleveland State will be attempting to win a regular season game at Hinkle Fieldhouse for the first time since Feb. 10, 2005, when the Vikings took a 65-56 victory over the Bulldogs; the last Vikings' win at Hinkle came in the Horizon League Championship on March, 10, 2009.

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Already with two conference road wins to its credit, Youngstown State hits the road again, starting the weekend at Valparaiso in a game that provides a study in contrasts.

Youngstown State is among the nation's top three-point shooting teams, knocking down 38.6 percent of its attempts and hitting 9.3 per game. Meanwhile, Valparaiso is the second-best shooting team in the country from inside the three-point arc, going 308-558 (55.2 percent) this season.

The main reasons for the Crusaders' success come from Kevin Van Wijk and Ryan Broekhoff; Van Wijk is 12th in the country, hitting 62.0 percent of his attempts. Broekhoff's versatile game has allowed him to lead the Horizon League in both scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rpg) as he is knocking down 50 percent of his attempts.

Damian Eargle will be tasked with slowing Van WIjk in the post, and the junior will attempt to use his shot-blocking skills to limit the Dutchman's numbers. Eargle is third in the nation with 4.1 blocks per game, adding 10.8 ppg to a Penguin attack that presently has five players averaging at least 10 points per game.

On the perimeter, both Blake Allen and DuShawn Brooks are knocking down better than 42 percent of their three-pointers, with Allen pacing the League at 43.1 percent. Valpo will counter with Broekhoff, Jay Harris and Will Bogan; last Friday, Bogan nailed 7-of-8 triples in a 73-71 win.

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Saturday opens with the Horizon League Network Game of the Week, as Wright State (9-10, 4-3 Horizon) and Green Bay (6-10, 2-4 Horizon) will be looking for a split of the weekend.

Green Bay will turn to its front line for an advantage on the Raiders, as Alec Brown and Brennan Cougill provide the Phoenix with a decided advantage down low. In Thursday's loss to Detroit, Brown controlled the post, leading all players with 17 points and nine rebounds. Cougill's inside-outside game has allowed the big man to average 8.3 ppg and 7.1 rpg.

The duo has been joined by Keifer Sykes over the last six games in sharing the load, as the country's youngest player has posted 13.2 ppg over his last six games. Sykes had 10 points last night after a career-best 20 at Milwaukee last Saturday.

Wright State will look to get Julius Mays back on track, after Milwaukee limited the junior to three points on Thursday, 15 below his conference average entering the night. On the whole, the Raiders struggled, shooting just 25 percent from the floor in a 20-point loss. Entering Thursday, Mays had averaged 21.5 ppg over his last six outings, helping Wright State climb near the top of the League ladder.

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Crosstown rivals Loyola (5-11, 0-6 Horizon) and UIC (5-11, 1-5 Horizon) tangle on Saturday afternoon, reprising a matchup that featured a highlight-reel buzzer-beater last year.

At the UIC Pavilion, Courtney Stanley's three at the horn lifted Loyola to a 67-66 overtime win, giving the Ramblers a season sweep of the Flames. Overall, Loyola has won four straight and nine of its last 16 meetings with the Flames.

This year, the teams offer a contrast, with Loyola generating the majority of its offense in the front court, with UIC getting its best play in the back court. Junior Ben Averkamp and senior Walt Gibler have been carrying the Rambler attack, taking 46.7 percent of the team's shots and averaging 50.8 percent of the team's points.

For the Flames, it is a newcomer and a redshirt who have provided the majority of the UIC attack, as Daniel Barnes and Gary Talton have delivered strong play in the back court. Talton, who starred in junior college last year, is second on the team with 10.4 ppg and leads the Flames with 3.6 assists per contest. Barnes is averaging 11.0 ppg, but the duo is even better at the Pavilion, averaging a combined 25.2 ppg.

Looking as if they are rounding into the form expected when the year began, Detroit (9-10, 3-4 Horizon) will look to even its record at front-running Milwaukee (12-6, 5-1 Horizon) on Saturday night.

Fans will be treated to a matchup of two of the top point guards in the Horizon League, as Ray McCallum and Kaylon Williams square off. McCallum, the preseason player of the year in the conference, is averaging 14.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg and 3.7 apg, leading the Titans in scoring in Thursday's win with 16 points.

Meanwhile, Williams continues to rank among the top assist men in the nation, handing out nine assists on Thursday to boost his season average to a League-best 6.4 per game. Williams' 43.3 percent assist percentage is the seventh-best in the nation.

The game also marks a stark contrast in styles, with Detroit bringing a League-best 73.4 ppg to The Cell to meet Milwaukee's 57.9 opponent scoring defense. The Panthers have allowed 70 or more points just three times in 18 games, while Detroit has gone over the mark 10 times this year, including in each of its last three contests.