INDIANAPOLIS -- Both UIC and Butler scored wins over Big Six conference institutions on Saturday, the first two such wins of the men's basketball season for Horizon League members. UIC tipped its way past #12/14 Illinois, 57-54, while Butler demolished Stanford, 83-50. Wright State, Detroit, Valparaiso and Milwaukee carried the League banner to victories in the evening portion of games.
UIC (5-7) entered Saturday's game against Illinois having dropped four straight games, three of them by two points, but refused to buckle late, as a Darrin Williams tip in gave the Flames a one-point lead with 23 ticks left; two defensive stands later, UIC had its second win over the Fighting Illini in 14 meetings.
The Flames led for much of the second half before a 12-0 Illinois burst left UIC in a 49-41 hole with under eight minutes to play; however, UIC refused to buckle, as a Paul Carter three tied the game at 51 with 2:51 left, setting the stage for the late-game heroics.
Robo Kreps led UIC with 15 points, while Carter and Zavion Neely added 12 and 11, respectively. Five of Williams' nine points came in the game's final 80 seconds.
In CBS Sports' first visit to Hinkle Fieldhouse, Butler (6-4) put on an offensive and defensive show, treating the national television audience to an 83-50 woodshedding of Stanford. Matt Howard continued his strong play, picking up his fourth double-double of the season with 27 points and 10 rebounds.
The senior fueled an early 16-2 run that broke open a 9-9 tie with six points, and with Howard and Andrew Smith controlling play down low, the Bulldogs built a 19-point halftime lead. Howard scored Butler's first 10 points of the second half, and by the 16:06 mark of the half, the Bulldogs led by 32 points; Stanford came no closer than 29 the rest of the contest.
Smith finished with 10 points, while Shelvin Mack added 14.
Wright State (7-5) continued its winning ways, tallying its fourth straight win with a convincing 66-51 decision over visiting Miami. The Raiders trailed just once in the game (3-2), outscoring the RedHawks 21-7 to open the game and never looking back.
Hitting 48 percent of their attempts from the floor, another balanced effort led the Raiders to their 12th straight win at the WSU Nutter Center, with Troy Tabler scoring 10 of his game-high 16 points in the game's first 20 minutes. Vaughn Duggins added 15 and Cooper Land 10 for Wright State, who snapped a two-game losing streak to its in-state rivals from Oxford.
Detroit (7-5) built an 11-point halftime lead and blitzed Central Michigan in the opening minutes of the second half to coast to a 75-49 road victory on ESPNU. Ray McCallum won the hyped battle between Trey Zeigler in a matchup of highly-coveted recruits who chose to stay home and play for their fathers. The freshman finished with 22 points and controlled play throughout, while Zeigler ended the night with 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting.
Up 31-20 after a smaller lineup pushed them to a 21-11 closing burst in the first half, Jason Calliste put the Chippewas away early in the second half. Two threes pushed the Detroit lead to 20, with the Titans building a 27-point bulge with 6:11 to go.
A week after recording a career-best 31 points and 8 rebounds, McCallum posted a new career-best with 11 boards, tallying his first career double-double and adding seven assists to boot. Calliste and Chase Simon each finished with 16 points.
After two disappointing losses, Valparaiso (7-4) limited visiting IPFW to 26 percent shooting and cruised to a 63-47 triumph at the ARC. The Crusaders closed the first half on a 13-1 run, opening a 39-21 advantage at intermission.
Valpo never allowed IPFW to mount a serious challenge, as a stifling defensive effort limited the Mastodons to just three assists on the night, the fewest allowed by Valparaiso in over 10 years.
Offensively, Kevin Van Wijk enjoyed his finest game of the season, leading the Crusader attack with 16 points off the bench. Going 6-of-8 from the floor, Van Wijk had five and-one opportunities off of his field goals.
Starting hot and cooling off midway through the first half, it looked like a familiar scenario for Milwaukee (6-7), as they trailed by 11 points to visiting Bowling Green with 11:50 to play. However, the Panthers flipped the script down the stretch, overtaking the Falcons late for a 72-69 victory.
Tone Boyle led the way with 22 points, while Tony Meier added 20; the duo scored 29 of Milwaukee's second half points, with Boyle knocking down several clutch shots down the stretch, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 2:55 to play. Meier followed with a layup to put the Panthers up by two possessions, and three Milwaukee free throws provided enough margin in the final minute.
Boyle finished the night 7-for-14 from the field, with every attempt coming from three-point range.
Cleveland State (12-1) saw its unbeaten start to the season come an end in a highly competitive 74-63 loss at West Virginia.
Led by Norris Cole's 19 points, the Vikings rallied to know the game at 55 with 8:30 to go, but could not find the bottom of the net over the next 4:40, during which West Virginia went on a 10-0 run to build a comfortable margin. Trey Harmon knocked down a three to get CSU off the schneid, but the Mountaineers countered with two free throws and a three of their own to blunt the abbreviated Vikings' rally.
Loyola (8-4) got a career-high 31 points from Geoff McCammon, but could not fully overcome DePaul's full-court pressure in an 81-74 defeat.
McCammon carried the Ramblers for the better part of the first half, scoring 14 of the team's first 16 points and converting a layup to give Loyola its final lead of the game, 34-33. Turnovers on its next three possessions spurred a 10-0 DePaul spurt, but the Ramblers mounted one more comeback attempt.
Loyola answered with an 8-0 run behind McCammon and Ben Averkamp to close within a point, but with the score 47-44, the Blue Demons knocked down a back-breaking three as the shot clock expired as part of a 7-0 spurt to rebuild the double-digit advantage.
Averkamp's 17 matched his career high, which came a week ago in Loyola's 68-60 loss to then-#5/5 Kansas State.
