#HLMBB Scoreboard (Dec. 14)
Valparaiso 80, Loyola Marymount 73
Green Bay 89, South Dakota 85
UIC 75, Southeast Missouri 69
#5/5 Michigan State 67, Oakland 63
North Carolina State 82, Detroit 79
#rv/rv Pittsburgh 91, Youngstown State 73
Valparaiso, Green Bay and UIC notched wins on Saturday. Among the six games played in the Horizon League, both Oakland and Detroit pushed opponents from power-5 conferences, while Youngstown State fell at Pitt.
Valparaiso 80, Loyola Marymount 73
Facing a 10-point halftime deficit, Valparaiso had little trouble rallying for a victory, taking the lead less than eight minutes into the second half and going on to an 80-73 victory over Loyola Marymount at the ARC.
Valparaiso (7-5) was led by the second 30-point effort of the season from freshman Alec Peters.
A pair of early 3-pointers from Peters within the first three minutes of the second half helped slice the Lions lead to six points, and a triple from LaVonte Dority made it a 45-42 game with 15:03 to play. The Dority 3-pointer came during a stretch where Valpo kept LMU from making a field goal over a four-minute span, which eventually allowed the Crusaders to take a 47-46 lead with 12:34 to go on yet another Peters 3-pointer.
The teams would go on to trade the lead a number of times over the next few minutes, as every time LMU scored, the Crusaders had an answer. Fifth-year Bobby Capobianco converted a layup while going to the ground, Jordan Coleman knocked down a long jumper from the corner, and Peters got inside for a second-chance basket as the two teams fought for control.
LMU held a slim 55-53 lead with 8:31 to play when Valpo finally took the lead for good, as Dority drove to the basket for an old-fashioned 3-point play. Following a Lion miss, Vashil Fernandez slipped to the basket after setting a screen for Peters, received the pass and threw down a one-handed slam, giving the Crusaders a three-point lead with under eight minutes to play.
It was a 60-59 lead as the clock ticked under seven minutes before Dority cleared a defensive rebound and started a fast break, throwing a lob ahead to Coleman who finished the reverse layup to make it a three-point edge. Fernandez came up with a blocked shot and rebound on the next defensive possession, and then on the other end, grabbed an offensive rebound and drove across the lane for a sky hook to make it 64-59 Valpo with six minutes left. The two-possession lead was the Crusaders’ first such advantage of the game and forced an LMU timeout.
Valpo’s lead never fell under four points the rest of the way, as the Crusaders maintained their edge by knocking down free throws. Valpo went 14-of-19 from the foul line over the final six minutes, ending the night 32-of-41 from the charity stripe.
The Crusaders held a pair of two-point leads early in the game, as Moussa Gueye scored Valpo’s first four points. LMU took early control, though, by hitting 11 of its first 13 shots. The Lions lead reached double figures at 15-5 just over five minutes into the game, and was as much as 12 in the first half. The Crusaders were within six with 2:33 to play in the opening period after a Peters 3-pointer, but LMU scored the final four points of the half to take a 39-29 lead into the locker room.
Peters had a strong night shooting the ball for the second 30-point effort of his career, making him just the fifth Crusader over the last 18 years to reach the 30-point milestone multiple times. The rookie went 9-of-16 from the field, including 4-of-7 from downtown, and also hit 8-of-9 from the foul line. Peters also tied for team-high honors with eight rebounds as well.
Coleman and Dority scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, to join Peters in double figures, as the backcourt duo combined to go 11-of-12 from the foul line. Gueye added six points and matched Peters with eight rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end. Valpo shot just 38.2 percent (21-of-55) from the floor and made just six 3-pointers, but grabbed 20 offensive rebounds which it converted into 19 second-chance points.
Anthony Ireland led Loyola Marymount (6-4) with 18 points and eight assists, but went just 6-of-18 from the floor. Evan Payne chipped in 12 points, including eight free throws, while Gabe Levin added 11 points of his own.
Green Bay 89, South Dakota 85
Despite falling behind 21-7 against a hot-shooting South Dakota team, visiting Green Bay put five players in double figures and rallied past the host Coyotes for an 89-85 victory at the DakotaDome.
For Green Bay (6-3), Keifer Sykes totaled 23 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Alec Brown added 17 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and four assists.
South Dakota, coming off a close 64-62 loss at Kansas State, made nine of its first 14 shots and opened up a 21-7 lead at the 11:45 mark of the first half. Getting 10 points each from Brown and Sykes, Green Bay responded to close to within seven points at halftime, 44-37.
Green Bay scored the first seven points coming out of the locker room to tie the game at 44-44, and with 14:30 remaining, Carrington Love gave the visitors their first lead, 53-52, with a 3-pointer. Love’s three started a 10-0 run that Jordan Fouse capped with a tip-in for a 60-52 lead with 11:06 to play.
Fouse had three putback baskets in the second half and finished the game with 11 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Greg Mays had nine of his 15 points in the second half, and Love was the fifth Phoenix player in double figures with 11 points.
The Phoenix lead reached as many as 11 in the second half, but South Dakota hung around due to a 17-of-19 performance at the free-throw line.
Green Bay led by three with 2:51 to play, when freshman Kenneth Lowe gathered an offensive rebound and converted a three-point play for a six-point lead. The Phoenix kept the margin at three or more the rest of the way.
With five players with five-plus rebounds, Green Bay held a 42-38 edge in rebounding. The Phoenix also had 16 assists and only nine turnovers in the win.
UIC 75, SEMO 69
UIC snapped Southeast Missouri State’s five-game win streak with a 75-69 road victory inside the Show Me Center.
Kelsey Barlow nearly achieved a triple-double, settling with his first collegiate double-double with 21 points and career-highs of 12 rebounds and eight assists.
UIC (4-6) opened the game on a 16-0 run and held the nation’s 13th-ranked offense to just 40 percent from the field, well below SEMO’s season average of 51.3 percent.
The Flames led from the opening tip, as Marc Brown scored the first five points of UIC's burst. UIC hit seven of its first 12 attempts from the field while holding SEMO without a basket until 6:10 into the half.
Barlow was joined in double figures by Jordan Harks and Brown, each of whom finished with 12 points. Freshman Markese McGuire recorded a new career-high with nine points.
UIC eventually took a 38-33 lead into the half and held off the Redhawks the final 20 minutes. They came charging back to cut the lead to 38-33 by halftime.
Five times SEMO would close within a point, but each time UIC would come up with bucket or stand to keep the Redhawks at bay. The final came with 3:38 to play after a Jarekious Bradley jumper brought SEMO within 64-63. Barlow responded with a layup, a jump shot and two free throws to seal the victory for UIC.
#5/5 Michigan State 67, Oakland 63
Keith Appling scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half and Adreian Payne had 20 points and 10 rebounds as No. 5 Michigan State held off Oakland 67-63 on Saturday.
Branden Dawson added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the shorthanded Spartans (8-1), who were rusty early and turnover-prone after a 10-day break.
Duke Mondy, the nation's leader in steals, had 24 points and seven swipes for Oakland (2-9) in their home game played at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Travis Bader has 18 points and was 4-for-14 from 3-point range, while Corey Petros added 11 points for Oakland.
Michigan State got all but 10 of its points from Appling, Payne and Dawson and only had five players score. But a 41-32 edge in rebounds gave the Spartans just enough to bounce back from the 79-65 loss to North Carolina that knocked them out of the No. 1 spot in the poll.
The Golden Grizzlies grabbed a 20-12 lead and took full advantage of the Spartans' sloppiness. Oakland had four assists on its first five baskets, while Michigan State was recording one assist and committing seven turnovers.
When the Spartans began to dominate the boards, they began to draw closer and overcame 11 first-half turnovers. A jump hook from Payne tied it at 27 before the Golden Grizzlies took a 31-30 halftime lead.
Michigan State grabbed a 35-31 lead early in the second half on two jumpers by Appling, who scored eight points in 5 minutes after a three-point first half. But Oakland wouldn't go away.
The Golden Grizzlies led 45-44 when Payne was fouled on an offensive rebound. His free throws and lob dunk put the Spartans back ahead 48-47. But Bader's third 3 in 10 attempts tied the game at 50 with 7:44 to play.
A 3 by Appling 3 and a turnover by Bader helped Michigan State take a five-point lead, its largest of the day. A turnover by Bader and a layup and free throw by Appling built the lead to 58-50 and seemed to create some daylight.
Oakland responded with a 3-pointer and a three-point play from Mondy to chop the lead in half at 60-56 with 2:42 left. But Travis Trice hit a 3 at the end of the shot clock to give the Spartans a seven-point lead.
The Golden Grizzlies needed a good game from long range to pull the upset and finished 8 for 27 beyond the arc. When Michigan State regrouped in the second half and finished with a 42.1-38.3 edge in accuracy from the field, Oakland was a couple of shots short.
North Carolina State 82, Detroit 79
A late second half rally came up short as Detroit team fell to NC State, 82-79, at Reynolds Coliseum.
The Wolfpack led by 18 with eight minutes left in regulation before the Titans closed the game with a 32-17 run. But a deep three-pointer from Jarod Williams rattled in and out at the buzzer.
Detroit (5-6) was led by Juwan Howard Jr. who finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Evan Bruinsma added 16 points and six rebounds. Ugochukwu Njoku scored a career-high 11 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, while the freshman backcourt of Williams and Matthew Grant scored 10 and nine points, respectively. Williams also dished out a team-high four assists in the game.
N.C. State (7-2) opened the game with an early 7-2 run, before Detroit responded with an 8-3 run to make the score 12-10 with just over 12 minutes left in the half. The Wolfpack then answered back with a 20-6 run to build a 16-point lead 32-16 with four minutes left, before the Titans closed the half with a 12-5 run to make the score 37-28 as both teams entered the locker room. Howard led Detroit with nine points in the first half, while Grant added six.
Both teams exchanged baskets for the first six minutes of the second half until N.C. State put together a 16-6 run, including three 3-pointers from Ralston Turner, to build its largest lead of the game 65-47. Detroit started to chip away at the lead with layups from Grant and Williams, before a 3-pointer from Howard with 4:46 left cut the lead in half 70-61 to spark the comeback. Another 3-pointer from Howard made the score 74-69 with 1:57 left, before back-to-back three's from Bruinsma and Grant made it a two point game 81-79 with seven seconds remaining. Detroit was forced to foul and after T.J. Warren split the a pair from the charity stripe the Titans still had a shot to force overtime, but Williams' 3-pointer rimmed in and out as the buzzer sounded.
Detroit finished shooting 45.8 percent (27-of-59) overall, including 56.7 percent (17-of-30) in the second half, while N.C. State shot 50 percent (25-of-50) overall. The Titans only made 1-of-9 from deep in the first half, but responded by making 5-of-11 in the second half, while the Wolfpack finished 10-of-21 from beyond the arc. Detroit won the battle on the boards 36-31 and forced 15 turnovers.
Warren led N.C. State with a game-high 29 points, while Turner added 21. Turner finished the game 6-of-8 from downtown.
#rv/rv Pittsburgh 91, Youngstown State 73
Youngstown State senior Kendrick Perry scored a game-high 28 points as the Penguins dropped a 91-73 decision to Pitt at the Petersen Events Center.
Perry was 11-of-18 from the field, dished out four assists and had three rebounds in the contest. Kamren Belin added 13 points for YSU while DJ Cole had nine. Youngstown State (7-5) became the first team to score more than 70 against the Panthers this year.
For the game, YSU shot 46.4 percent, knocking down 51.7 percent (15-of-29) in the second half. The Guins made 26-of-56 shots in the contest. YSU converted five of its six 3-pointers in the second half. Pitt shot 51.5 percent in the game making 35-of-68 shots.
In the second half, Pitt scored the first seven points to extend an 11-point halftime lead 50-32 just three minutes into the period. YSU crept within 55-42 on a Keene 3-pointer at the 14:23 but the Panthers answered with six straight points.
The Panthers (10-0) pushed their advantage to 72-46 with 10:35 remaining following a Josh Newkirk 3-pointer. From that point, the Guins outscored Pitt 27-19 in the final 10 minutes. YSU pulled within 84-69 on a Cole 3-pointer with 2:21 remaining.
Pitt had five players scored in double figures as Lamar Patterson scored 18 points to lead the way.
YSU trailed just 36-30 with 2:30 left in the half before the Panthers closed on a 7-2 run to grab a 43-32 advantage at the break. Perry scored 13 points while Shawn Amiker came off the bench to score seven.
The first half featured four lead changes and a two ties. YSU kept the contest tight the first eight-plus minutes trailing 16-14 after Amiker converted a three-point play off a nifty layup and free throw with 11:41 remaining. Off the timeout, the Panthers scored seven straight to boost the advantage to 23-14 following a James Robinson three-point play at 8:59.
From that point YSU was able to get within five on two occasions. The first came on a driving bucket by Belin with 7:09 left (25-20). The second time after the lead increased to nine, Belin drained a 3-pointer and Marcus Keene made one-of-two free throws at the 3:57 mark to make the game 31-26.
At the 2:21 mark, YSU hung tough trailing 36-30 following a steal and layup by Perry.
In the first half, YSU shot 40.7 percent making 11-of-27 shots from the field. The Guins were 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. Pitt was 16-of-34 (47.1 percent) and made 10-of-13 free-throw attempts.
