The top 10 arenas built in the last 15 years

I have written extensively about the old arenas, the history and when watching a game the sense of being taken back to a different era. But how about the new venues?

Let’s take a look at the best newer arenas for fans to watch a college basketball. The new arenas have seating bowls with wide seats, cup holders, huge video score boards, stat boards, wide concourses, all kinds of good food and of course, passionate fans.

This is my top 10 college basketball arenas built in the last 15 years. The two main criteria are the facility and the atmosphere. Louisville, Auburn and Oregon opened new arenas this season. I am not including them in this ranking because they are too new to get an accurate reading of the atmosphere. I will evaluate those venues next year after the newness factor wears off a little. … Continue Reading

McDermott Returns to The Valley at Creighton

OMAHA – Creighton coach Greg McDemott calmly crosses his arms and watches his team run their offense. Occasionally he squats down like a catcher, then he pops back up to call out instructions to his players. He may pace down the sidelines in front of his bench, but he never seems to get too excited.

Tonight the Bluejays are off to an ice-cold start against the Samford Bulldogs of the Southern Conference. After the Bulldogs go up 7-0 on a three-pointer by Josh Davis, McDermott calls a play by raising his right fist, Antoine Young come off a screen, pops in an 18-foot jumper and at the 13:07 mark in the first half, Creighton has finally scored their first basket.

What does McDermott do? Claps his hands twice and watches him team get back on defense. That’s it, no big display of emotion, just calm, cool and collected. That’s the way he handles things. When things go well or when things fall apart he is still the calm, measured, coach of Creighton basketball.

Tonight he coached his team to a 58-40 win over their out-gunned opponent.

In less than eight months at the helm of the Bluejays, McDermott has his team starting to win, the fans coming out to games and he even has fans around Omaha talking about college basketball, which is not that easy in this football crazy state.

McDermott was named the 16^th head coach in Creighton’s history on April 27, 2010. He spent the previous four seasons as head coach at Iowa State and replaced Dana Altman, who was hired as the coach at Oregon. While at Iowa State, he won 59 games where his teams were usually ranked near the top in scoring defense, but they just didn’t have enough offensive firepower to finish above .500. Going into the critical fifth year of his contract things were looking shaky for his future as a coach at Iowa State, so when the Creighton job became open, McDermott jumped at the chance to get back into the Missouri Valley Conference, where he coached Northern Iowa to three NCAA Tournament appearances in five years and won 90 games.

It is not very often that a coach leaves a BCS school to coach at a non-BCS school, but Creighton is not your average upper mid-major program. They average 15,000 fans a game, they have gone to the NCAA Tournament six times since 2000 and regularly contend for the MVC title.

So there are also pretty hefty expectations for the Creighton coach.

So far this year with the non-conference part of the schedule completed, McDermott has guided the Bluejays to an 8-4 record which includes wins over LSU and Saint Joseph’s, as well as heart-breaking road loses to Iowa State and Nebraska.

The defense is showing steady improvement as evidenced by holding three of the last four opponents to 60 or fewer points. In fact, tonight’s 58-40 win over Samford set the Qwest Center record for fewest points allowed, as well as biggest rebounding margin (45-19) for a team in the Qwest Center.

“We’ve made great strides defensively and we are still a work in progress, offensively,” said McDermott. “We have shortcomings, with our ability to pass it and our ability to shoot it, at times, but our decision-making as to what is a good pass and what is a good shot is improving. That is something that will be real important as we move forward in conference play.”

McDermott’s ability to move this team forward was developed in five years as an assistant at North Dakota State, followed by six successful years as head coach at Division II Wayne State College (NE).

But his meteoric rise in the head coaching ranks occurred in those five seasons as the head coach at his alma mater, Northern Iowa. He took over a program that had not had a winning season in four years. In just his third year, he won 21 games, followed that with another 21 wins and then his team won 23 wins.

So when Creighton AD director, Bruce Rasmussen needed a coach, he didn’t have to look far. McDermott was already a well-known quantity in the MVC.

Rasmussen said he wanted a coach with documented success, a coach with passion for the game, someone that understood Creighton and the MVC, a great family man and teacher. He got all of that with McDermott, along with that calm sideline demeanor.

McDermott keeps his emotions in check on the sideline because he wants his players to play under control and with poise during tough situations.

“If you want your players to handle adverse situations in the right way, you as a coach need to emulate that. I try not to get too high with the winds on the good plays and I try not to get too low when things are not going right, “explained McDermott. “I think there needs to be a calming effect from the sidelines for the players. These guys are young and emotional. It has always been my feeling to try to stay even-keeled.”

It is probably easier to stay even-keeled with this team than with Iowa State because this is a solid program. McDermott didn’t really need to fix a lot when he arrived; he just needed to get his players to buy into his way of doing things.

He credits the previous coach with leaving this program is good shape. “Obviously Coach Altman did a terrific job in his tenure here. It was just a matter of instituting my own things. The players have embraced that and I couldn’t be happier with how the community has embraced both myself and our family.”

He sees his team being right in the thick of things with Wichita State, Missouri State, Illinois State and Northern Iowa by the time the conference tournament rolls around in March and based upon his previous record in the MVC, McDermott has pretty good eye sight.

Why I Gave Up Bracketmania

It is that time of the year when my e-mail inbox and Facebook inbox are loaded with offers to get in NCAA Bracket Challenges and office pools. Some are for fun and some are for money, but all of them offer heartbreak and frustration.

So two years ago I decided to not enter any office pools. Heck, I didn’t even fill out a bracket for my own use.

It felt liberating and gave me a peace-of-mind as I watched games. I actually rooted only for teams I really wanted to win as I stuffed my face with cheese fries, potato skins, steak sandwiches and cheeseburgers, as opposed to rooting for the teams I think should win. It actually allowed me to kick back and really enjoy my cigars as I watched four games at a time at a sports bar in northern Kentucky.

All around me were people with their brackets laid put in front of them screaming at the TV screens. A lot of people had multiple brackets, all marked up with their picks and their corrections to their picks in front of them.

I have to admit the idea to skip doing brackets was not mine, although I wish it was my idea. A few years ago, Kyle Whelliston wrote a column about why you shouldn’t enter your office pool that was published on Midmajority.com.

Whelliston describes how he would fill in the all the pairings as a kid when they were announced and then over the weeks fill in the winners. If a team he liked (always a mid-major) won, he would fill them in with bold letters, with all caps and maybe even underline it. If a BCS team advanced he would write them down maybe using a pencil in real small letters, hoping they might disappear.

“Each naked tree branch on my bracket was a place where new spring leaves soon sprout and unfurl,” wrote Whelliston. “When the champion was crowned, I could look back on my bracket and recall all the emotions I felt with each game. I still have most of my brackets from the eighties; each one is a map to my NCAA memories.”

When I read that it really struck a chord with me. Whelliston’s poetic way of describing a better way to enjoy the greatest sporting event in the world had to be better than the frustration of watching my predictions go further down the toilet with each round.

It can be absolutely maddening to watch a 20-year-old player miss a buzzer-beater or commit an untimely turnover or foul in the closing seconds of a tight game. Then when that player is playing for a team I really don’t want to win, but one I picked in my brackets, I was obligated to root for them.

Now for those of you not familiar with Whelliston, he is the mid-major king. He eats, sleeps and writes about everything mid-major and he has no time to waste on Duke, Pittsburgh, Kentucky or any school above the “Red Line”, which is his way of separating the big boys and the so-called mid-majors in the world of college basketball. He bases his Red Line on how much money schools spend on college sports.

Many years ago I began to think something was wrong. I would study college basketball, more than most people I know, but when the NCAA National Championship game was concluded I found that I lost in my office pool to people that knew a lot less than I did.

To make losing even worse, I seemed too often lose to the office receptionist or bookkeeper that picked the winner based how their uniforms looked or what mascots represented the schools.

The difference between the office pool brackets and the ones that played out on the court were monumental. Watching the NCAA Tournament, especially in the latter rounds, was pure torture.

About four years ago I was sitting around a table with a sports talk-show host in Cincinnati, a newspaper sports writer and Division I coach. It was a round table discussion about college hoops at a northern Kentucky sports bar. We had the cigars going, beer flowing and good food everywhere. It was quite an assortment of basketball knowledge.

About 30 minutes into it, I asked if anyone had ever won an office pool. As we went around the table, it was nope, nope, not even close and nada.

It became evident that if that group can’t accurately predict a sport they are heavily involved with on a regular basis, then there is no reason to enter the office pool with an expectation of winning. Trying to predict random events on a basketball court is about the same as going to a casino and playing a slot machine.

I know there is probably a guy in your office that is the office sports nut. He always has two screens active on his computer at any given time. He has his work on one screen and a sports web page going on another, that he can minimize when the boss comes by. He will come by and solicit you to join the office pool. It will be tempting because all the cool people in the office will be playing.

But this year, tell him no. Tell him you want to enjoy the tournament this year and root for the teams that you really want to win. Maybe even do what Kyle suggests: fill out your brackets as the tournament progresses, printing the teams that you really like in big bold, colorful letters and the ones you do not like in a small dull number two pencil creatively misspelling them.

Leave the office pool to all the people that don’t pay much attention to college basketball until the tournament. After all, they usually win the office pool anyway.

Try it. I did and it made watching the tournament a lot more fun the last two years and you may just get them all right this year.

Butler Rolls in Horizon League Championship

INDIANAPOLIS – Here are the key numbers to this game: 66.7 percent, 61.5 percent and 100 percent.

Those are Butler’s first half numbers from the field (14-21), from beyond the three-point line (8-13) and from the foul line (6-6) in their 70-45 victory over Wright State in the Horizon League Championship Game.

Butler’s Shelvin Mack hit a 3-pointer at the 18:56 mark to put Butler up 3-0 and the Bulldogs never trailed in the game.

A three-pointer by N’gai Evans for Wright State pulled the Raiders within one at 6-5 with 17:18 left in the first half, but after that Butler (28-4) just kept building their lead.  The Bulldogs hit double figures for good at the 4:26 mark when Ronald Nored made two fouls shots to make it 32-21 after being fouled by Ronnie Thomas.

By halftime it was 42-28, and that 14 point spread was a close as Wright State (20-12) would get the rest of the game.

Wright State went to a zone early in an attempt to stop Butler from cutting and driving the lane as they did in the prior game they played.  However, that opened up the outside and Butler lit it up from three-point land. Mack was 4-6, Zach Hahn went 2-2, Nored went 1-1 and Willie Veasley went 1-2.

“We’re a little thin inside with some injuries and we were hoping we might slow his (Howard) game down and force Butler to make some outside shots.  The last time we played, we opened up too many driving lanes and they go to the basket and finished,” explained Wright State coach Brad Brownell.  “Tonight they made threes.  When they see the ball go in early like that, then you know it’s going to be tough.”

Butler coach Brad Stevens thought that the hot start his team had coupled with some shots Wright State missed set the stage for his team’s runaway.

“When one team shoots it great and the other team misses a few sometimes you feel a lot better,” Stevens said.  “That was the case tonight. I thought our perimeter defense was really good in the first 30 minutes and then they missed a few they usually make, coupled together you have the final score.”

In the second half Butler just kept expanding their lead until it hit 30 points at the 2:39 mark.  When Butler and Wright State emptied the benches, the Raiders closed the gap back down to 25 points.

Butler’s three victories over Wright State may have been their three best played games this year.  Stevens said it came down to respect for Wright State that drives them to prepare so well for playing the Raiders.

He said, “It begins with a great deal of respect for their program.  Our staff and players have a great deal of respect for their staff. Brad (Brownell) and their players are really good.  Every time we play them we better bring our “A” game or we’re going to get beat, we know that.”

Wright State guard Vaughn Duggins thought that Butler was well-prepared and that was key to their dominating win, along with his Raiders missing shots.

“Butler was well-prepared.  They obviously scouted our motion offense and some of our tendencies we have,” he explained.  “They were on us like glue and they’re hard to shake free.  The times we were able to shake free and get shots, we didn’t make them and that’s the more frustrating part, when you get open and can’t knock down a shot.”

One play that stand out late in the game was at the about the 9:38 mark and Butler leading by 25 points at 59-34, Howard dove into the front row of seats to save the ball, which was grabbed by Shawn Vanzant and passed to Veasley for a layup.

Stevens pointed that play out as an important indicator of how hard Butler plays no matter what the score.

“That play will be shown for the next 20 years and the teaching point is that we’re up 20 points and he plays the right way to win the possession,” said Stevens.  “I think that speaks to who he is, but it also peaks to who we all want to be everyday.”

Notes

-Butler is 43-3 in Hinkle Fieldhouse under coach Brad Stevens.

-This is the 5^th straight year for Butler and 4^th straight year for Wright State that they have achieved 20 wins.

-Butler is ranked #12 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today “Top 25.”  They have been ranked each year since 2006-07.

-Former college coach Pete Gillen got here early tonight and held court at the scorer’s desk about 90 minutes before game time.  It seemed like almost everyone stopped by to talk with him.  He did the game for Westwood One Radio Network.

-Brad Brownell is 15-4 all-time in conference tournament games and 5-2 at Wright State.

-The Butler ROTC color guard had four big guys that looked like they could actually defend the country as opposed to a bunch of puny guys and little girls that you see at a lot of schools.

-Wright State had a large crowd there of well over 1,000 people.

-Wright State’s three worst losses were to Butler, with margins of 12 points, 12 points and 25 points.

-Quote of the night:  “I apologize that we didn’t play better.  We’re a better team than we showed tonight, but certainly Butler was playing at a high level.”  -Wright State head coach Brad Brownell

Wright State, Butler Advance to Finals Once Again

INDIANAPOLIS – When a team makes nine three-pointers in the first half, that generally means they are in a great position to win the game.  When they also hold that team to just 18 points in the first half, that usually points to a win.

Wright State did all that and rolled over Detroit 69-50 in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship.

Led by 6′ 9″ center Ronnie Thomas’ four three-pointers in four tries, the Raiders led 39-18 at the half.   The Titans shot just 38.1 percent (8-21) including 1-6 from 3-point land.

Wright State (20-11) didn’t set out in their game plan to set Thomas up to shoot three-pointers, that is just what the Detroit defense allowed the Raiders to do.

Detroit coach Ray McCallum’s game plan included packing it in around the basket to stop the easy shots, which opened things up for Raiders on the outside where they were 9-14 (52.2 percent).

“We knew they were an excellent three-point shooting team, but we wanted to take away layups.  We didn’t guard the three with our capability,” explained McCallum.  “We knew the shooters, we had them identified.  It was a quick turn around for our guys, we weren’t able to play Detroit basketball today.”

On the flip side Wright State coach Brad Brownell didn’t draw up any plays to get Thomas shots.

He said, “We didn’t try to have him be our game plan, but Ronnie has shot shots, and had some games where he made more than others.  It’s not like we told Ronnie not to shoot.  Most teams guard him out there a little differently, and if you leave him open, he’s going to make some shots.”

The game started off just fine for Detroit (20-14) when Thomas Kennedy hit a jumper to put them up 2-0.  By the 17:26 mark Kennedy hit a 3-pointer to put the Titans up by four at 7-3.  That was the biggest lead they would enjoy in the game.

Thomas hit a three-pointer at the 16:32 mark to get the Raiders within one at 7-6 and then Troy Tabler hit another to put Wright State up for good at 9-7.

Wright State got the lead up to 23 points at 36-13 with 3:03 to go in the first half.   When the teams headed to the locker room Wright State led 39-18.

In the second half Wright State expanded its lead to 25 three times, the last coming at the 6:06 mark when Scott Grote made a jumper to make the score 63-38.  After that Detroit went on a small 13-6 run to close the final point gap to 19 points.

Tabler, with 16 points in the game, felt that his team used the week off to their advantage, which helped them win tonight.

“It helped getting a week with no games, so we can focus our self in practice rather than focus on a game. This week we were able to get better as a team.”

Thomas led all scorers with 18 points, Eli Homan led Detroit with 12 points.

Butler Stops Milwaukee to Advance

For Butler, it came down to getting stops on defense, which finally caused Milwaukee to fall in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship 68-59.

Down 29-28 at the half, Butler came out and took the lead when Matt Howard made a jump shot at the 19:22 mark.  Milwaukee’s Anthony Hill made a layup to put the Panthers ahead at 31-30.  Another Jumper by Howard at the 18:41 mark put Butler ahead 32-31, and they never trailed again in the game.

When Butler’s Shelvin Mack made a layup with 11:56 left it stretched the Bulldogs’ lead to nine at 44-35.

But Milwaukee (20-14) wasn’t giving up.  By the time Ricky Franklin hit a three-pointer with 6:22 left, the Panthers were within a point at 50-49.

As the Butler fans got a little anxious, Butler coach Brad Stevens had faith in his players, so rather than call a timeout he let them play.

A couple of free throws by Howard, a lay up by Ronald Nored, then a free throw to complete the three-point play after a foul by Milwaukee’s Ja’Rob McCallum at the 5:20 mark and Butler had some breathing room with a 55-49 lead.

Over the last five minutes, Butler (27-4) worked its lead up to double digits, then as time ran tout Milwaukee’s Burleigh Porte hit a jumper to give Butler the nine-point win.

“It was a tough game, they are a very physical team.  I give those guys a lot of credit, third game in five days,” said Stevens.  ”I thought they played with outstanding effort and they didn’t get tired.”

Hill led Milwaukee with 15 points.

Matt Howard led all scorers with 18 points, 13 of which came in the second half.

“They were giving me the ball in good spots.  I was trying to attack and get the ball up on the rim, it was working today,” explained Howard.

Butler’s Gordon Hayward had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

The tough Butler defense had Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter saying that Butler was able to play their style, while forcing his team out of how they wanted to play and that was a big factor in his team’s loss.

“We got to this point by playing a certain style, and it was too bad we didn’t get a chance to finish that style out,” Jeter said.

Notes

• Detroit is the first team to post two upsets (by seed) in the tournament since the Titans did it in 1996.
• Former Wright State great Mike Grote and his brother former Michigan State player Steve Grote were in attendance tonight, along with Bob Grote, a former Raider great and father of Wright player Scott Grote.  Mike Grote played on the Raiders’ national championship team.  Those three are some very knowledgeable fans.
• Not to be outdone, Mike Nienabor, coach at Christian Brothers University, Kirk Nienabor, the all-time assists leader at Bethel University when he graduated and Mike Price, the coach of Cincinnati Oak Hills High School, were also on hand for the game.
• Wright State is in the Horizon League semifinal game for third time in the last four years.
• Wright State’s baseball team yesterday beat the number one ranked team in the country, University of Virginia 2-1.
• Wright State fans outnumbered Detroit fans about 10 to 1.   There were almost 1,000 Raider fans in attendance.
• Wright State has reached the 20-win mark for the fourth year in a row under coach Brad Brownell.
• Wright State leads the overall series with Detroit 20-19.
• Milwaukee is making their first appearance in the semifinals since they won the 2006 championship.
• Butler’s 19-game winning streak is the longest in the country.
• Butler won their fourth straight league title this season and is hosting the tournament for the third straight year.
• Butler is 13-0 at home and 42-3 in the last three years.
• Butler leads the all-time series with Milwaukee 30-10.
• Butler is in the Horizon League Championship game for the fifth year in a row, but lost three of the last four finals, including in 2007 against Wright State.  In the HL/MCC only Xavier had a longer run of final game appearances.
• With Wright State’s win tonight the Horizon League has five 20-win teams for the first time in conference history.  Only five other leagues/conferences have as many 20-game teams this season: Big East (8), Big 12 (7), SEC (6), ACC (5) and Atlantic 10 (5).  All of those conferences have more teams than the Horizon League.

Wright State and Butler play Tuesday night at 9 p.m. on ESPN.

Horizon League Quarterfinals – Detroit Frustrates Green Bay, Milwaukee Takes Down Cleveland State

Detroit Frustrates Green Bay

INDIANAPOLIS – For Detroit it was part big man in the middle and part penetrating guards and part taking Green Bay’s leading scorer out of his game. All of this added up to a 62-53 win for the Titans in the Horizon League Championship quarter-final game.

Green Bay’s Rahmon Fletcher came in averaging 17.1 ppg and when the buzzer sounded he had just three points going 1-10 from the field.

The big man part for Detroit was 6’ 10” Eli Holman. He muscled in 16 points and pulled down 11 rebounds.

Detroit’s penetrating guards were Woody Payne and Chase Simon. Payne scored seven points and registered five assists. For Simon it was five points and three assists.

Part I, holding Fletcher’s scoring down was what Detroit coach Ray McCallum thought was the key to their win.

“Or focus was on him. Paying attention to Fletcher and slowing him down.”

The scoring started for Detroit (20-13) when Holman slammed home a dunk at the 18:37 mark and from that 2-0 lead the Titans never trailed in the game.

“One thing our coach preached to us, was going to the glass and I know I’m good at that, going to the glass,” said Holman.

The Phoenix got the score down to one point twice in the first half the last time on a 3-pointer by Troy Cotton with 13:52 left.

The Titans did get the lead up as high as eight points at 24-16 with 6:30 left, but Green Bay (21-12) kept fighting and when Seth Evans hit a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left they briefly got it two within two points at 28-26 before Thomas Kennedy hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left to push their halftime to five at 31-26.

In the second half Green Bay never got closer than five points.

“Without a question, a disappointing and frustrating loss. The key word is frustrating. Give Detroit credit for that, they took us out of what we wanted to do offensively and we got frustrated,” said Kowalczyk.

Milwaukee Takes Down Cleveland State

INDIANAPOLIS – The nightcap was similar to the first game only this time it was Milwaukee scoring the first basketball and going wire-to-wire to win 82-75 over Cleveland State.

The Panthers spread their scoring around with six players scoring in double digits.

It did get a little exciting in the second half. With Milwaukee leading by 20 points at 62-42, Cleveland State’s Norris Cole drove down the lane and made a layup. That led to 13 straight points by the Vikings to make it 64-55 with 5:58 left in the game.

Finally a layup by Milwaukee’s Anthony Hill at the 4:46 mark got the score back up to double figures at 66-55. Cleveland State (16-17) spent the rest of the game whittling the score down to the final deficit of seven.

“We responded, our guys responded with layups to break the pressure,” said Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter.

Panther player Ja’Rob McCallum also pointed out that they also kicked the ball out when pressured.

“We usually have a guy on the baseline and our bigs are in and out flashing high post.”

Cleveland State’s coach Gary Water agreed that going inside was the difference in this game.

“They could go inside anytime they wanted and get a basket,” Waters explained. “Anytime we made a run and went at them, they would go right to the heart of our defense.”

The first half saw Milwaukee (20-13) go up by as many as 11 points before ending the half up by eight points at 32-24.

Milwaukee’s balances scoring was led by Hill and McCallum with 14 points. Ricky Franklin had 13 points, Ryan Haggerty had 12 points, James Eayers had 11 points, with seven rebounds and Jason Everkamp pitched in 10 points.

Cleveland State’s Tim Kamczyc led all scorers with 20 points, Cole had 16 points, Jeremy Montgomery had 15 points and Lance James had 13 points.

Quarterfinal Notes

• Wright State coach Brad Brownell had his team practice on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday was an off day, then they practiced Thursday in Dayton and Friday for 90 minutes at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Brownell wasn’t sure if having a week off was a good thing or not. No games for a week, is good for his team, which is down two players due to injuries, so his team will be well rested. But playing either Detroit or Green Bay after they played two games might have them in a flow and his team a little rusty. The Raiders worked on things for each team. Today Wright State spent the bulk of their practice today working on their half court offense.

• Butler coach Brad Stevens had the same practice schedule as Wright State going on Monday and Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, with Wednesday off. Stevens spent this week watching game films against his possible opponents, Milwaukee and Cleveland State. He also watched some film of them playing teams that he thought might be similar to Butler’s style of play. Stevens didn’t reveal anything different his team was doing before their semi-final game.

• This is Detroit’s first winning season in six years (18-13, 2003-04) and they reached 20 wins for the first time since going 25-12 in2000-01.

• Detroit leads the overall series with Green Bay 20-19.

• UWM-holds a 20-14 lead in the overall series with Cleveland State.

• Milwaukee advanced to the league championship game the last four times it reached the semifinals.

• Detroit plays Wright State Saturday at 5:15 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPNU on tape-delay at 10 p.m. EST that night.

• Milwaukee plays Butler at 8:00 p.m. The game in on ESPNU.

Big Quote:

“I can tell you we’re going to be in a post-season tournament. We are going to play in the post-season and we’re excited to play in the post-season.” Ted Kowalczy

Bracketbusters 2010 in Omaha

OMAHA – It is Bracketbusters Saturday and time for some of the better mid-major teams to step outside conference play and maybe impress some of the members of the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

But for Creighton and Loyola (Ill.), there was no TV for their Bracketbusters game tonight, so they were both trying to get back on track after suffering losses in last games in conference play.

As it worked out, Creighton broke their two-game losing streak with a convincing 78-58 win over their Horizon League foe, but it took a second half spurt to put away the Ramblers after they pulled to within one at 34-33 on a jumper by Andy Polka with four seconds left in the first half.

In the first half Loyola got their largest lead of the game at the 17:31 mark on a jumper by Ben Averkamp to make it 10-5. Then Creighton (14-14) went on a 27-10 run to take a 12-point lead at 32-20 with 4:45 left in the first half.

But just when it looked like the Bluejays were going to put this game away, the Ramblers got back into the game on two free throws and a layup by Walt Gibler, four free throws by Geoff McCammon, a three-pointer by Terrance Hill and the aforementioned jumper by Polka.

Loyola (14-13) seemed to be in good shape coming out in the second half and then in just over four minutes the Bluejays had another 12-point lead at 47-35.

Creighton’s second half lead stayed at around 10 points until just under five minutes remained. A couple free throws by Antoine Young got the Bluejays to finish out on a 15-6 run with six different players scoring multiple points close out the game.

“In the first seven or eight minutes Creighton got up in us and we just didn’t take care of the ball. We didn’t get any in and out. We just didn’t have many quality processions when they went on their run to start the second half,” said Loyola coach Jim Whitesell. “It is execution where we need to improve, but give Creighton credit, they had only 10 turnovers and six more possessions than we had and we need every possession possible.”

Creighton’s coach Dana Altman thought their second half run was triggered by good defense.

“Defensively, I think we were better. We got a lot of points on turnovers. Then Casey (Harriman) hit a big three and Kaleb (Korver) hit a big three and they had been struggling. So that helped us open up a lead,” explained Altman.

Creighton’s Kenny Lawson had a double-double with 19 points to lead all scorers and 10 rebounds. Cavel Witter also scored 12 points for the Bluejays.

For Loyola, Walt Gibbler had 15 points, Terrance Hill had 12 points and McCammon had 11 points. Polka had 10 rebounds.

Whenever a team interrupts conference play to play a non-conference game there is always the possibility in some players’ minds that this type of game can be a distraction or maybe break up the rhythm they are in playing conference games. That line of thought was not shared by the Creighton’s Justin Carter, who thought it was an opportunity to get on the winning track.

“It was great stepping out of conference play when we could see someone new and try to get something going,” Carter said.

Notes

• This series dates back to 1926 and Loyola leads the series 11-6.
• Dana Altman is the dean of Missouri Valley coaches in his 16^th year with a 322-174 (.649) record.
• This is just the second time in eight years that Creighton’s Bracketbusters game did not air on national television.
• Loyola’s trainer Dr. Ton Hitcho has worked 952 consecutive Loyola basketball games. Since joining the staff in 1977-78 he has witnessed 445 Rambler victories.
• Creighton draws 14,093 during the last six years, but during the four Bracketbusters games held here at the Qwest Center the Bluejays have averaged a little over 17,300 per game.
• During the National Anthem every Creighton player and coach put their hands on their heart. Not many teams do that anymore. In fact, the vast majority of the crowd did that too.
• Tonight’s match-up is part of the nationwide Jesuit Basketball Spotlight project, using Jesuit basketball to raise awareness of Jesuit education. They highlight games between the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities.
• Creighton’s next game is Tuesday at Southern Illinois at 8:05 EST.
• Loyola’s next game is at home against Milwaukee Thursday at 8:00 EST.

Butler Knocks Off Xavier in Dramatic Fashion

INDIANAPOLIS – The key numbers for Saturday’s game between Xavier and Butler are 1.2, 1.3 and 1.8.

With 1.8 seconds left in the game, Butler’s Gordon Hayward grabbed a loose ball and shot a layup.  The ball went through the net with 1.2 seconds to go to put Butler up 69-68.  The officials stopped play to check the instant replay to figure what most people in attendance thought they would: how much time there should be on the clock for Xavier to make one last desperation play to go for the win.

After about five minutes it became evident they were looking at a possible clock malfunction that caused the clock to not tick off enough time prior to Haywood’s layup.  After 11 minutes the officials declared the game over with Butler winning 69-68.

Apparently the clock erroneously stopped at the 14.7 mark.  The officials put a stopwatch to it and determined that 1.3 seconds had elapsed.   That was deducted from the 1.2 seconds left, so the game was over.

The last procession of the game, which lasted 36 seconds, started when Xavier’s Mark Lyons got tied up for a held ball.  Then the possession took what seemed like an eternity to complete, as it included two missed 3-pointers by Butler, two offensive rebounds, a mad scramble for the ball and finally Hayward’s layup.

Xavier’s coach Chris Mack, when informed the game was over, raced over to the officials to plead his case, then threw his hands up in disgust as the officials hustled off the court.

After the game Mack was still skeptical of the call, but didn’t say they blew it.

“I know when I go back and I have a chance to watch it on film, I really hope for everybody’s sake they got it right,” said Mack.

But it was Saturday afternoon and there was no better place to be than at Butler’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse to watch college basketball.

This game matched two teams that share a history together, both as former members of the Midwest Collegiate Conference (which later became the Horizon League) and two private non-top six conference basketball schools that have been constantly ranked in the Top 25.  They are two of the best non-BCS schools in the country.

Until last year, when Butler beat No. 14 Xavier in Cincinnati 74-65, the two schools had not played since 1998 when Xavier won 73-66.  Xavier leads the all-time series 28-15, including seven straight at Hinkle Fieldhouse coming in.

But that is before Butler started its run of ranked teams.  This year Butler is ranked at number 17 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and 21 in the AP Poll.

It is amazing that these two small private schools have become basketball powers on the national scene.

Xavier has become a basketball factory producing good players, great teams and lot of recognition for the school, without sacrificing their academic integrity.  The Musketeers play in the beautiful 10,250-seat Cintas Center, where they average close to 10,000 fans a game.  At the same time Xavier has figured a way to maximize their basketball revenue stream so much that Forbes magazine named them one of the 20 most valuable college basketball programs in the country for the second year in a row, generating $7.9 million in operating income last year.  That put them 17^th out of over 300 Division I basketball programs.   They fly to their away game in a chartered jet, just like the big boys do.

As for Butler, they have turned their success into invitations to play in some of the top preseason tournaments and regular appearances on national TV.  Their success has allowed them to play home games against not only Xavier, but teams like Northwestern and Ohio State.  Unlike Xavier, the usually fly commercial and they average around 6,000 fans per game, although this year they are averaging close to 7,500 fans per game.  It appears they are growing and creating new fans in Central Indiana.  It wasn’t much more than 15 years ago that Xavier was averaging 7,500 fans per game.

The game started out with a three-pointer by Hayward and Butler led the entire first half, pushing the lead up as high as 15 points before Xavier whittled it down to 39-32 at the half.

In the second half the Musketeers scored the first 11 points and went ahead for the first time when Jordon Crawford made a three-pointer to make it 41-39 with 17:39 to go.

Xavier held their lead in the second half until Lyons fouled Ronald Norad, who promptly made both free throws to tie the score at 60 with 4:07 left.

The Musketeers got the lead back when Jason Love hit a baseline jumper to make it 66-65 with just 1:32 left.  Crawford then hit a jump shot with 46.7 seconds left to push the lead to three points.   Butler’s Shelvin Mack got fouled by Terrell Holloway with 39 seconds left, making both foul shots to get Butler within 68-67.  The only thing that remained at this point was the one last sequence that ended with Haywood’s game-winning layup.

Butler’s Brad Stevens, always the even-keeled coach, said that during the time it took to sort out the ending for the game he told his players, “If the call doesn’t go our way or we a worse team?  If it goes our way are we a better team?”

It was a shame that such a great basketball game by these two good teams on a glorious winter day in America’s basketball state had to end by a decision by the officials rather than a great shot or great block.

The Bobby Knight watch: He was sitting courtside doing the game for ESPN2.  There were two uniformed policemen and two Hinkle security guys standing near or seated by the famous coach.  At one point near the end of the first half a group of students started chanting his name, eventually joined by some other fans and he waved to them, which got an even louder cheer by the fans.  After the game he signed autographs for fans.

Why Bracket-Mania Is Not For Me

It is that time of the year when my e-mail inbox and Facebook inbox are loaded with offers to get in NCAA Bracket Challenges and office pools.  Some are for fun and some are for money, but all of them offer heartbreak and frustration.

Last year for the first time in years I did not fill out a NCAA Tournament Bracket ahead of the actual tournament.

If felt liberating, it gave me a peace-of-mind as I watched games.  I actually rooted only for teams I really wanted to win as I stuffed my face with cheese fries, potato skins, steak sandwiches and cheeseburgers, as opposed to rooting for the teams I think should win.   It actually allowed me to kick back and really enjoy my cigars as I watched four games at a time at Ticket’s Sports Bar in Northern Kentucky.

All around me were people with their brackets laid out in front of them screaming at the TV screens.  A lot of people had multiple brackets; all market up in front of them.

I have to admit the idea to skip doing brackets was not mine, although I wish it was my idea.  Last year Kyle Whelliston wrote a column about why you shouldn’t enter your office pool that was published on Midmajority.com.

Whelliston describes how he would fill in the all the pairings as a kid when they were announced and then over the weeks fill in the winners.  If a team he liked (always a mid-major) won he would fill them in with bold letters, with all caps and maybe even underline it.  If a BCS team advanced he would write them down maybe using a pencil in real small letters, hoping they might disappear.

“Each naked tree branch on my bracket was a place where new spring leaves soon sprout and unfurl,” wrote Whelliston.  “When the champion was crowned, I could look back on my bracket and recall all the emotions I felt with each game.  I still have most of my brackets from the eighties; each one is a map to my NCAA memories.”

When I read that last year it really struck a chord with me.  Whelliston’s poetic way of describing a better way to enjoy the greatest sporting event in the world had to be better than the frustration of watching my predictions go further down the toilet with each round.

It can be absolutely maddening to watch as a 20 year old player miss a buzzer-beater, or commit an untimely turnover or foul, in the closing seconds of a tight game playing for a team I really don’t want to win, but since I picked them in my brackets, I was obligated to root for them.

Now for those of you not familiar with Welliston, he is the mid-major king.  He eats, sleeps and writes about everything mid-major and he has no time to waste on Duke, Pittsburgh, Texas or any school above the redline, which is his way of separating the big boys and the so-called mid-majors in the world of college basketball.  He bases his redline on how much money schools spend on college sports.

Years ago I began to think something was wrong.  I would study college basketball, more than most people I know, but when the NCAA National Championship game was concluded I found that I lost in my office pool to people that knew a lot less than I did.

The difference between the office pool brackets and the ones that played out on the court were monumental.  Watching the NCAA Tournament especially in the latter rounds was pure torture.

About four years ago I was sitting around a table with Lance McAlister, a popular sports talk-show host in Cincinnati, Richard Skinner, who used to be the Cincinnati Post’s UK beat writer and Dan Peters, the associate head coach at Ohio State.   It was a round table discussion about college hoops at a Northern Kentucky sports bar.  We had the cigars going, beer flowing and good food everywhere.  It was quite an assortment of basketball knowledge.

About 30 minutes into it, I asked if anyone had ever won an office pool.  As we went around the table, it was nope, nope, not even close and nada.

It became evident that if that group can’t accurately predict a sport they are heavily involved with on a regular basis, then there is no reason to enter the office poor with an expectation of winning.

Trying to predict random events on a basketball court is about the same as going to a casino and playing a slot machine.

I know there is probably a guy in your office that is the office sports nut.  He always has two screens active on his computer at any given time.  He has his work on one screen and a sports web page going on another, that he can minimize when the boss comes by.

He will come by and solicit you to join the office pool.  It will be tempting because all the cool people in the office will be playing.

But this year, tell him no.  Tell him, you want to enjoy the tournament this year and root for the teams that you really want to win.  Maybe even do what Kyle suggests, fill out your brackets as the tournament progresses, printing the teams that you really like in big bold, colorful letters and the ones you do not like in a small dull number two pencil creatively misspelling them.

Leave the office pool to all the people that don’t pay much attention to college basketball until the tournament.  After all, they usually win the office pool anyway.

Try it, I did and it made watching the tournament a lot more fun and you may just get them all right this year.

Tournament Time: Top Ten Excuses for Skipping Work

It is that time of the year again, the first two days of the NCAA Tournament where they inconveniently schedule games during business hours on Thursday and Friday.

For some employees catching the games is as simple as taking a paid day off or doing what I used to do, schedule an out of town business trip to allow you to take care of some important business like watching college hoops.

But suppose you work in an office and you can’t schedule a day off.  What if you work for an organization like the Post Office where you have to be on the job each day.  Well that might be a bad example, they are probably goofing off anyway.  But I am sure you get the idea with having a hard time getting off work.

If you have worked for an employer for while you have probably used up most of your best excuses.  Let’s face it, you can only use the dead grand parent excuse four times.

So that is where I come in with my annual top ten excuses to use on your boss to get out of work.

So in the grand tradition of Ferris Bueller here they are.

10. The dog ate my keys.  We are hitching hiking to the vet.  If we don’t get      a ride, my dog should poop them out by Saturday.

9. I can’t come into work today because I will be stalking my previous boss, who fired me for not showing up to work.  Okay?

8. I can’t come to work today because the EPA has determined my house is completely surrounded by wetlands and I have to arrange for helicopter transportation.

7. I have anal glaucoma today meaning I can’t see my butt coming in today.

6. I contacted mono while kissing the new intern in accounting.  I think you should send out a memo warning the other employees not to kiss her.

5. If it is all the same to you I won’t be coming in today.  The voices told me to clean all my guns today.

4. Constipation has made me a walking time bomb!

3. I seem to have contracted some attention-deficit disorder and, hey, how about those Musketeers, huh?  So, I won’t be able to, yes, can I help you?  No, no, I’ll be sticking with T-Moble, but thanks you for calling.

2.  I am helping President Obama spend 2.7 trillion dollars to help stimulate the economy.   It might take me awhile, I will call you when I am done.

And the number one excuse for missing work (for the third year in a row) is diarrhea.  Let’s make that “explosive diarrhea!!!”  The mere mention of it and your boss will immediately stop asking questions.

So go check those brackets one more time and enjoy the games.

Horizon League Championship Sights and Sounds

INDIANAPOLIS – Cleveland State upset Butler on their home court 67-64.

• If you are a fan of the Horizon League, is it better financially for the schools in the Horizon League to get two teams or to get one team in with a good seed that is in a position to win several games? According to Horizon League Commissioner Jonathon LeCrone there is no difference financially for the League if Butler is the only team and goes two rounds versus Cleveland State winning the Championship, with both teams each playing one game. Obviously, the best scenario is two teams in and at least one winning multiple games.

• This is the 7^th time Cleveland State has played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the last 13 months.

• Butler owns more Horizon League Titles (5) than any other active member.

• Butler has won 57 of their last 62 home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

• Butler is 13-2 all-time as a No. 1 seed in Horizon League Tournament play.

• Matt Howard is the sixth player in League history to win Player of the year and Newcomer of the Year honors.

• Butler coach Brad Stevens has moved into the No. 2 spot on the NCAA Division I list for Best Career Coaching Starts-Two Seasons with his 56-8 career record. Bill Guthridge of North Carolina holds the top spot, with a 58-14 record from 1998-99.

• Former Xavier coach Pete Gillen returns to Hinkle to announce the game for the Westwood One radio network. When he coached the Musketeers he used to bring them up to Hinkle each year to play Butler in the old Midwest Colligate Conference.

• Tonight across town the Pacers are playing, but this is the place to be. For probably 10-20 percent of the cost of a Pacers ticket a fan can come to a true historic basketball cathedral and watch some fundamentally sound basketball. There isn’t any place else I would rather be.

• Cleveland is the first team to win the Horizon League Championship by winning four games since instituting the double bye for the top two seeds.

• When Butler receives their expected at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament it will be the third at-large they have received in the last seven years. The is probably the best of any Mid-major team.

• The Horizon League Championship All-Tournament Team:

• Cedric Jackson, Cleveland State (MVP)
• Matt Howard, Butler
• Shelvin Mack, Butler
• Norris Cole, Cleveland State
• J’Nathan Bulock, Cleveland State

Cleveland State Upsets Green Bay

INDIANAPOLIS – It took overcoming a 12-point deficit but Cleveland State took down Green Bay, the No. 2 seed 73-67 in the second game tonight at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Phoenix controlled the game for almost 75 percent of the game, but it was the that last 25 percent that got a little tricky for them.

At the half Green Bay led 39-33 largely on 16 first half points by Mike Schachtner and 11 points by Ryan Tillema.   Those were Schachtner’s only points of the game.

Cleveland State tried pressing Green Bay, but it didn’t work and in fact it hurt them as Green Bay sent their shooters down the court rather than have them help to break the press.  So they had Tillema and Schachter down court waiting for the ball when the press was broken, and they shot and made several 3-pointers.  So the Vikings gave up on the press.

“We started out pressing and they were ready for it. When you press, someone is open.  They ran their shooters down the court.  They didn’t take the ball up the court so at the end of the press they are down there shooting threes,” said Cleveland State coach Gary Waters.

Cleveland State (24-10) was able to stay close, keeping the deficit to single digits until the 10:48 mark when Cleveland State’s Cedric Jackson hit a 3-pointer put the Vikings up 52-50.  Green Bay never was able to regain the lead.

Green Bay coach Tod Kowalczyk felt his team just ran out of gas late in the game, with Cleveland State’s physical play wearing them down.

“Unfortunately we ran out of gas,” said Kowalczyk.  “The first half we played pretty well and moved the ball.  In the second half it was a very physical game.”

Green Bay (22-10) held the Vikings to only foul shots, but no field goals, during the last six minutes of the game.

For Cleveland State, Norris Cole scored 24 points and for Green Bay, Tillema led scorers with 21 points.

Somehow, Some Way, Butler Knocks Off Wright State, Advances to Horizon Final

INDAINAPOLIS – It was twenty minutes after the game and Wright State coach Brad Brownell was still seething as he took questions about his team’s 62-57 loss to the 22^nd ranked team in the latest AP Poll.

Wright State had scored 22 field goals to Butler’s 17 field goals, out-shot Butler from beyond the arc by making eight three-pointers to four for Butler and committed just eight turnovers to Butler’s 10 turnovers.

The Raiders held all five of Butler’s starters to under 50 percent shooting.

The only wrinkle in Wright State’s plan to upset Butler on their home court was that Butler went 24-31 from the free throw line and Wright State was just 5-8.  Butler’s Matt Howard was an outstanding 14-15 from the free throw line and he led all scorers with 28 points.

The free throws were the difference in this game.  But the Raiders fought until the end to catch Butler and the Bulldogs worked very hard to keep the Raiders at bay.   There was no quit in either team.

With 15 seconds left Wright State’s Todd Brown got the ball with a chance to tie the game at 59. He faked, got his defender in the air, then got off a shot, but it never even found iron and Butler held on to make it to the final championship game.

It is all Wright State could ask for: their best player on the court had the ball with a chance to tie the game, but he didn’t make the shot.

The Butler crowd roared as Browns shot missed its mark.

When asked about the free throw differential between the teams Brownell simply said he would have to check the tape to take a look at all the fouls called on his team.  He certainly was not eager to talk about it or publically blame it for his team’s loss.  He did point out how his team kept fighting until the end.

“I am unbelievably proud of my team, not only in this game, but all season,” he said.  “Several times Butler jumped out on us and had a chance to put us away, but we bounced back.  There in the last minute we had every chance to win the game and a couple of things went against us and Butler won.”

One of the things that went against the Raiders was the fifth foul called on Cory Cooperwood when he was called for a foul when he bumped Gordon Hayward going for a ball with 41 seconds left.

“That is exactly what we thought it would be.  They are playing great basketball.  They are extremely well coached.  They are playing very confidently,” said Butler coach Brad Stevens.

For Butler, they held Brown to just eight points on 4-13 shooting.  Ronald Nored was on him most of the night, but they switched up some and Shelvin Mack and Willie Veasley guarded him tight, too.

With Butler up 50-42 Mack hit a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs up by 11 points, and that was the last field goal Butler would score in the game.   From that point on it was all free throws for Butler (26-4).  They went 9-12 to close out the game.

Wright State scratched and clawed until they got within two with at 58-56 with 1:14 left.  Butler then sank five of six free throws to put the game away.

In the first half Wright State (20-13) scored the first basket on a jumper by Brown.  The plan by Wright State was to not to get in a hole, to not to let Butler get a comfortable lead.  The Raiders wanted to sew some seeds of doubt in the minds of Butler’s players that Butler could dominate the Raiders they way they did the last two games.

That plan started to fall apart as Butler scored the next seven points largely behind the play of Matt Howard.  Not only did he score points, but he got several key rebounds.

Butler was able to get the crowd in the game and they were loud.  It made for a tough atmosphere for the Raiders.

After the first media timeout two of Butler’s bench players came in and gave the Bulldogs a quick lift. Zach Hahn hit a 3-pointer and Garrett Butcher took a feed from Gordon Haywood and hit a jumper to put Butler up 12-3 at the 14:41 mark.

After that the Raiders started to chip away at Butler’s lead until at the 7:43 mark, when Troy Tabler hit a 3-pointer to cap off a 16-3 run and give the Raiders their biggest lead of the game at 19-16.

But Butler, as they did all game, answered Wright State’s little run and regained the lead.  They went into halftime up by four at 32-28.

Corey Cooperwood led Wright State with 11 points going 5-6 from the field in just 17 minutes of play.

For Butler it was just another night of doing what they do best: winning.

Butler Holds Off Wright State, Cleveland State Upsets Green Bay

INDIANAPOLIS — It was twenty minutes after the game and Wright State coach Brad Brownell was still seething as he took questions about his team’s 62-57 loss to 22nd ranked team in the latest AP Poll.

Wright State had scored 22 field goals to Butler’s 17 field goals, out-shot Butler from beyond the arc by making eight 3-pointers to four for Butler and committed just eight turnovers to Butler’s 10 turnovers.

The Raiders held all five of Butler’s starters to under 50 percent shooting.

The only wrinkle in Wright State’s plan to upset Butler on their home court was that Butler went 24-31 from the free throw line and Wright State was just 5-8. Butler’s Matt Howard was an outstanding 14-15 from the free throw line and he led all scorers with 28 points.

The free throws were the difference in this game.

But the Raiders fought until the end to catch Butler and the Bulldogs worked very hard to keep the Raiders, at bay .  There was no quit in either team.

With 15 seconds left Wright State’s Todd Brown got the ball with a chance to tie the game at 59 points, faked, got his defender in the air, then got off a shot, but it never even found iron and Butler held on to make it to the final championship game.

It is all Wright State could ask for, their best player on the court had the ball with a chance to tie the game, but he didn’t make the shot.

The Butler crowd roared as Browns shot missed its mark.

When asked about the free throw differential between the teams Brownell simply said he would have to check the tape to take a look at all the fouls called on his team.   He certainly was not eager to talk about it or publicly blame it for his team’s loss.  He did point out how his team kept fighting until the end.

He said, “I am unbelievably proud of my team, not only in this game, but all season.  Several times Butler jumped out on us and had a chance to put us away, but we bounced back.  There in the last minute we had every chance to win the game and a couple of things went against us and Butler won.”

One of the things that went against the Raiders was the fifth foul called on Cory Cooperwood when he was called for a foul when he bumped Haywood going for a ball with 41 seconds left.

“That is exactly what we thought it would be.  They are playing great basketball.  They are extremely well coached.  They are playing very confidently,” said Butler coach Brad Stevens.

For Butler, they held Brown to just eight points on 4-13 shooting.  Nored was on him most of the night, but they switched up some and Shelvin Mack and Willie Veasley guarded him tight too.

With Butler up 50-42 Mack hit a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs up by 11 points and that was the last field goal Butler would score in the game.   From that point on it was all field goals for Butler (26-4).  They went 9-12 to close out the game.

Wright State scratched and clawed until they got within two with at 58-56 with 1:14 left.  Butler then sank five of six free throws to put the game away.

In the first half Wright State (20-13) scored the first basket on a jumper by Brown.  The plan by Wright State was to not to get in a hole, to not to let Butler get a comfortable lead.  The Raiders wanted to sew some seeds of doubt in the minds of Butler’s players that Butler could dominate the Raiders they way they did the last two games.

That plan started to fall apart as Butler scored the next seven points largely behind the play of Matt Howard.  Not only did he score points but he got several key rebounds.

Butler was able to get the crowd in the game and they were loud.  It made for a tough atmosphere for the Raiders.

After the first media timeout two of Butler’s bench players came in and gave the Bulldogs a quick lift. Zach Hahn hit a 3-pointer and Garr Butcher took a feed from Gordon Haywood and hit a jumper to put Butler up 12-3 at the 14:41 mark.

After that the Raiders started to chip away at Butler’s lead until at the 7:43 mark Troy Tabler hit a 3-pointer to cap off a 16-3 run and give the Raiders their biggest lead of the game at 19-16.

But Butler as they did all game answered Wright State’s little run and regained the lead.  They went into halftime up by four at 32-28.

Corey Cooperwood led Wright State with 11 points going 5-6 from the field in just 17 minutes of play.

For Butler it was just another night of doing what they do best . . . winning.

Cleveland upsets Green Bay

It took overcoming a 12 point deficit but Cleveland State took down Green Bay, the No. 2 seed 73-67 in the second game tonight at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Phoenix controlled the game almost 75 percent of the game, it was the that last 25 percent that got a little tricky for them.

At the half Green Bay led 39-33 largely on the 16 first half points by Mike Schachter and 11 points by Ryan Tillema.  Those were Schachter’s only points of the game.

Cleveland State tired pressing Green Bay but it didn’t work and in fact it hurt them as Green Bay sent their shooters down the court rather than have them help to break the press.  So they had Tillema and Schachter down court waiting for the ball when the press was broken, they shot and made several 3-pointers.  So the Vikings gave up on the press.

“We started out pressing and they were ready for it. When you press someone is open.  They ran their shooters down the court.  They didn’t take the ball up the court so at the end of the press they are down there shooting threes,” said Cleveland State coach Gary Waters.

Cleveland State (24-10) was able to stay close keeping the deficit to single digits until the 10:48 mark when Cleveland State’s Cedric Jackson hit a 3-pointer put the Vikings up 52-50.  Green Bay never was able to regain the lead.

Green Bay coach Tod Kowacxyk felt his team just ran out of gas late in the game with Cleveland State’s physical play wearing them down.

He said, “Unfortunately we ran out of gas.  The first half we played pretty well and moved the ball.  In the second half it was a very physical game.”

Green Bay (22-10) held the Vikings to only foul shots, but no field goals during the last six minutes of the game.

For Green Bay Norris Cole scored 24 points and for Green Bay Tillema led scorers with 21 points.     

News and Notes:

• On the way in to the game tonight the song “Pressure” by Billy Joel came on the radio and it made me think about the first game.  All the pressure was on Wright State.  Sure, Butler is playing for a good seed in the NCAA Tournament, but Wright State got handled twice this year by Butler.  This game was it for them unless they won.  Their 20 wins won’t get them in the NIT or NCAA bid.
• Horizon League Commissioner Jon LeCrone circulated freely among the media in the media room stopping to talk with almost everyone and answer questions about all-things Horizon League or NCAA related.
• LeCrone said that the Horizon League did a top-to-bottom five-year review of the current and unique league tournament after last season.  The conclusion was that the format was an outstanding success.  He pointed out that the attendance was up, the television exposure increased and the Horizon League has experienced more post-season success.  So game on, the format will be around for awhile.  Now there is a possibility that the Horizon League may make some small adjustments to the format, but the concept will remain intact.
• Butler is playing in the Horizon League semifinals for the 11th time in the past 13 years.
• 20 wins . . . Wright State has posted its third straight 20-win season in a row.  For Butler it is eleven 20-win seasons in the last 13 years.  For Cleveland State it is their second straight year posting 20 wins and for Green Bay it is their first time in nine years.
• Cleveland State’s D’Aundray Brown is out for the rest of the season with a damaged ACL in his knee, but that didn’t prevent him from hobbling over to the media seating area to grab a vacant seat and watch a little of the Butler/Wright State game.  At halftime he didn’t have a prediction for how it might turn out.  He said, “This game could go either way.  So far, every time Wright State tried to make a run, Butler would answer.”
• Cleveland State is the first team to make it to the Horizon League Championship game twice without the benefit of a double bye since the Horizon League went to this tournament format six years ago.
• UWGB head coach Tod Kowalczyk predicted that Butler would win against Cleveland State on Tuesday night because are the better team.
• Kowalczyk also said his team was not done playing this year.  He said, “I am a firm believer we are still the second best team in this league and we deserve to play in the NIT  We’ve got 22 wins and we played down a man tonight.”
• Butler swept Wright State three times for the first time since 1999.  According to David Wood (the king of obscure statistics) of the Indy Star in the last decade Butler has been to the NCAA more times (5) and had more Sweet Sixteen appearances (2) than 3-game sweeps of the Raiders . . . very interesting.

Sights and Sounds at the Horizon League Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS – Tonight the Horizon League played the quarterfinal games at number one seed Butler University.  The 6 p.m. game featured Wright State playing Milwaukee and the 8 p.m. game featured UIC and Cleveland State.  In both games the higher seed prevailed.  Wright State beat Milwaukee 80-70 and Cleveland State beat UIC 67-64.

Hinkle Fieldhouse is known for the venue where the big game in the movie Hoosiers was played but this court and fieldhouse has seen all kinds of history.  For starters almost every major player from the Midwest has played here.  Oscar Robertson played high school games here, Steve Alford once scored 50 points in a high school game at Hinkle.  Cazzie Russell came in with Michigan to play Butler.  You can’t forget Larry Bird playing here in high school and college.  There have been ABA and NBA All-Star games.  Billy Graham once held a crusade here.  Presidents Hoover, Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and Bush have spoken here.  Jesse Owens ran an indoor track meet while a student at Ohio State here. Maybe the most amazing thing is they still use the original court.

Sights and Sounds:

• Wright State came out hitting shooting well and then Milwaukee switched to a zone at about the 13 minute mark and Wright State kept up shooting well from outside including several 3-pointers.  The Panthers went back to man-to-man and started a run.
• The crowd in game one was heavily Wright State supporters, probably 85 percent or so were cheering for the green and gold. In fact, I think Wright State had more fans than the other three teams combined.  There were maybe 500 Raider fans in attendance tonight.
• At the 10:35 mark, Hoopville writer Jay Pearlman leaned over and called the game for Wright State.  The Raiders were leading 59-45.  In case you are not familiar with Pearlman’s background he used to be a coach on Dan Dakich’s staff at Bowling Green State University, so he knows a little about basketball.   Of course, he was right again.
• In the second half of the game Wright State held the Panthers to just six points in the first 9:47.  The amazing thing was that Milwaukee had just six points and not one was a legit field goal.  Their scoring consisted of two foul shots and Wright was called for two goal-tending calls.
• Wright State’s athletic director Bob Grant expects 1,000 or so fans to be in attendance for the semi-final game against Butler.
• The 80 points Wright State scored tonight were the most points the Raiders have scored in a game all season.
• So far the Horizon League Tournament has had no flub-ups here at Hinkle Arena.  No birds flying around crapping on fans or flying into the ventilation system and getting ground up in a flurry of feathers.  No score board malfunctions.  No mascots taking a doo-doo on the court.   All of those things I have witnessed at college games.  It had been rather uneventful except for the great basketball on the court.
• There was a little unusual excitement tonight when the game officials asked Horizon League officials to remove several Wright State students that were sitting under the basket where the Butler students usually sit.  It is not known what they said, but the students said as they were being tossed out that they said nothing offensive.  Three Raider Rowdies were removed and the other Raider students behaved themselves.
• UIC has won six of the last seven games they have played coming into tonight’s game.
• UIC’s 7’ 0” Scott VanderMeer holds the Horizon League record for blocked shots.  Including the two he got tonight, it is 273.
• The semifinals on Saturday night feature four teams with at least 20 wins or more.
  • Wright State (20-13) plays Butler (25-4) at 7 p.m.
  • Cleveland State (23-10) plays Green Bay (22-9) at 9 p.m.

Wright State Uses Early Run to Hold Off Valparaiso

DAYTON – It took reserve player Copper Land going 6-6 from the field and a 22-27 effort in the second half from the foul line for Wright State to beat Valparaiso 68-56 in the first round of the Horizon League Championship.

Well it also took Wright State’s stellar defense and Scott Grote’s career high at Wright State of 19 points too, to get the Raiders into the quarterfinal game on Friday.

The way the Horizon League runs their tournament is a little different than most conferences.  The number one seed and number two seed get a two-game bye into the semifinal games held at the number one seed’s venue.  The other eight teams play at the 3-6 seed’s venues with the four winners advancing to the quarterfinal games on Friday at the number one seed’s venue.

This game, announced just a little over two days ago, had only 3,006 people which is 2,500 under Wright State’s season average.  It felt like an early season game or maybe a preseason exhibition game against a no-name team.

Wright State coach Brad Brownell worried that since his players were going to class today that they would not understand the possible finality of this game.

“I told them to do something different today.  I wanted them to feel it was a tournament and not like a normal school day,” said Brownell. “We have a lot of HL signs in the locker room to remind the team this is a tournament game and if you lose, you’re out.”

When asked what he did different today, Grote proudly said he fixed breakfast, which is not a normal activity for him.  With his 19 points he may be cooking breakfast a lot more on game days.

Wright State (19-12) jumped out to an 11-0 lead and at the 12:50 mark they led 15-3.  Valpraiso was looking scared.  After a couple of timeouts and some field goals the Crusaders started to whittle Wright State’s lead down, and at the 8:37 mark Urule Igbavboa hit a 3-pointer to get the lead down to 17-9.  By halftime the Raiders led 29-23.

“We have a lot of new guys and this is their first post season.  It wasn’t a lack of energy, maybe we were a little tense,” said Valpo’s Jake Diebler about his team’s slow start.

In the second half Valparaiso (9-22) kept chipping away and finally got the lead down to one point with 16:23 left when Diebler hit a 3-pointer to make it 34-33.

After a timeout, Wright State went on a 14-0 run over the next six minutes to go up 46-33.

The Crusaders went on a little mini-run to cut the lead to five points with 8:33 left.  After that point, Wright State went 13-15 from the foul line and put the game away.

“We made free throws late, but we took care of business,” said Brownell.  “I like the way our team is playing, and hopefully we can keep the season going for a few more games.”

Valparaiso’s coach Homer Drew was not panicked when the Raiders jumped out ahead by 12 points.   After all, they were down 12 points and last year in the Nutter Center and fought back to win a squeaker.

“They are very physical.  We weren’t concerned, I had faith we could come back and then we went on a little run of our own. Then they went on that 14-0 run and that really hurt us,” said Drew.  “We didn’t play our best basketball and a lot had to do with Wright State’s defense.  We didn’t execute or make shots when we had to.”

For Valpo Michael Rogers and Diebler each scored 14 points and De’Andre Haskins scored 13 points.

Game notes

• Wright State leads the all-time series 8-5.
• “We have played more closely to our maximum potential than any other team,” said Brownell. When you think of it in those terms, Brownell is right about that. The Raiders are not a great team, but they play consistently closer to their best of any team in the Horizon League.
• Wright State plays Milwaukee on Friday at 6 p.m. at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
• Cleveland State plays UIC on Friday at 8 p.m. at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Dierkers Shows He’s a Quiet Player With a Loud Shot

OXFORD, Ohio – With Kent State leading Miami 56-54 with 4:21 left in the game, Miami’s Tyler Dierkers had the ball just outside the lane. He jumped up and shot the ball; it left his hand, kissed the glass and wet through the net.

The game was tied at 56 and it was just another clutch shot that Dierkers makes during a typical game.  Today’s typical game included a double-double with a solid 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Miami won this game 68-63 behind Michael Bramos’ 34 points and Antonio Ballard’s 13 points, in addition to the previously mentioned contributions by Dierkers.

Tyree Evans scored 15 points and Jordon Mincy added 14 points for Kent State.

When you think of star players in the Mid-American Conference you think of Miami’s Michael Bramos, Ohio’s Jerome Tillman, Kent State’s Al Fisher or maybe Darion Anderson of Northern Illinois.  All of those guys are big scorers.  But guys that set the screens, make the critical passes, pull down the offensive rebound tend to be quiet players and do not get the headlines.

Tyler Dierkers is one of those quiet players that scores loud points.  In addition to the jumper to tie the game late in the second half, Dierkers hit a big 3-pointer to put the game away by putting the RedHawks up by seven points with 1:46 left.

“He can score six or eight points and they tend to be loud.  They are the ones you remember,” said Kent State coach Geno Ford.  “He tipped a couple of balls and kept them alive on the offensive glass early.  We lost him around the rim a couple of time and he caught it and finished.  Then he hit the three-pointer, which was the game.  That was the dagger shot right there.”

Long-time Miami play-by-play announcer Steve Baker really likes how hard Dierkers works at the little things like passing and his footwork.

He said, “Dierkers is one of the better post defenders in the MAC.  He really works at the things that make him good.  He passes the ball really well for a big guy.  I really like the way he works around the basket, he does a lot of little things.”

Dierkers averages 9.2 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game, which are not that different from the 13 points and 8 rebounds he averaged at Moeller High School his senior year in Cincinnati.   He played on a very, very good high school team with several other good players that went on to play Division I basketball, so learning to do things other than scoring helped him to fit in on that team and has helped him become an important piece of this Miami basketball team.

Dierkers sees his assets as being versatile, being able to do several things to help the team and understanding what needs to be done in a given situation to help his team get the win.

“I see myself as doing a little bit of everything, handling the ball, shooting, bang down low, which has been more my calling card this year.  That includes getting in there down low trying to get rebounds and put-backs.  I try to understand the game and help our team however I need to, to get the win.” explained Dierkers.

Being a smart player, Dierkers tries to pick up things from his opponents to get an edge during the game.

He said, “It is something that comes from many years of playing and studying the game.  It is putting yourself in there and letting yourself become part of the game.  You try to notice little tendencies in opposing players.  Sometimes it gets you in trouble because you guess wrong, but for the most part I have been able to capitalize on my opponent’s mistakes.”

Sometimes his coach, Charlie Coles, sees things a little differently when he is on defense.

“He is a very smart defender as a team defender,” Coles began.  “I think he is as not good as an individual defender.  I think he is a guy that if he sees something going over there he can break it up.  Now sometimes he has trouble stopping his guy.  I told him at halftime he should be in the Peace Corps, then, he could go around helping everybody.   He is guarding every man out there but his own man.   That was my sarcastic way of dealing with him.”

Upon reflection Dierkers thinks his defense could improve a little to match his offense.

“I think my offense has picked up a little this year, but my defense has maybe slacked off a little this year,” he said. “I try to go out early and establish myself offensively and defensively, trying to do whatever the team needs.  Sometimes you need to take a step back to figure what is going on in the game and go from there.”

Aside from an occasional defensive lapse Coles enjoys coaching him and sees a little bit of himself in Dierkers.

“He is a great person.  He reminds me a little bit of me.  Gosh I don’t know if I can say this (lowering his voice to a whisper) but he is a smart ass, just like me.  Those guys are always good to coach because they keep you on your toes,” said Coles.  “He is a team player and an interesting guy, unselfish and players like him and that is the important thing. I wouldn’t call him headstrong as much as I would call him creative.  He does things a little bit different.”

Cole enjoys the give and take that goes on between himself and Dierkers.

“I like him far more than he thinks I do, but I am not going to tell him I like him because I think that wouldn’t be as fun.  I enjoy getting on him,” said Coles with a chuckle.

I wanted to know from Coles something that people don’t realize about him, and he gave me two things.

“His teachers at Moeller actually adored him.  I don’t see how any teacher would adore him.  He would seem like a guy that would be into things, but I met two teachers at Moeller that swear by him, a wonderful kid,” said Coles.

The other thing Coles mentioned was that he is very good at ball reversal, which as he explained it involves your team attacking on one side of the court and then reversing and immediately attacking on the other side.  That’s something I doubt many fans pick up.

Back to the smart player aspect of Dierkers, Ford thinks he is very smart and that makes other players better.

“Tyler has the highest basketball IQ of any frontcourt player in our league.  He always seems to be in the right place.  When you watch tape, he is always where he should be to make a play,” explained Ford.  “He is not a guy who is a catch-it- and-clear-it-out-for-him type of player.  He finds a way to not only make other players better, but also be very, very productive within the confines of what they are trying to do offensively.”

Additional Miami/Kent State Notes

• Coles is now the all-time win leader at Miami. He earned that honor on January 20^th when the RedHawks defeated Bowling Green 67-60. He is now 223-166 at Miami and 315-250 is his career record as a head coach. He surpassed Darrell Hedric’s 216-166 record at Miami.
• The Miami dance team is once again outstanding. I am not sure how well they can dance, but they are attractive, wholesome and friendly. If their basketball team was as consistent at basketball as the dance team is in the looks department, Coach Coles would have 400 victories.
• Kent State’s coach Geno Ford is 34 years old and he looks like he could almost suit up and play. “All my players can out-attempt me and they probably can out-shoot me now. It is hard to get off the ground when you are carrying an extra 25 pounds,” said Ford when asked about taking on his players in a 3-point shooting contest.
• Charlie Coles had the quote of the game on Carl Richburg, who had nine assists and just two turnovers:  “He thinks a turnover is a sandwich that you get uptown.”

Wright State sneaks by Green Bay

DAYTON – Wright State coach Brad Brownell was amazingly calm after winning a nail-biter 65-64 against Green Bay.

In the span of 26 seconds Wright State came within hair of blowing a four-point lead and losing.

In that short 26 second time frame Wright State’s Scott Grote made two free throws to put Wright State up 63-59.  Green Bay brought the ball down and Ryan Tillema was fouled by Todd Brown and made both free throws.  The score was 63-61.

The inbound pass was to Mike Grote and he threw it right into the hands of Green Bay’s Troy Cotton.  He turned around and made a short jump shot as Grote fouled him.  Cotton made the foul shot and Green Bay led 64-63 with 16 seconds to go.

The Raiders ran a play for N’Gai Evans.  He got the ball at the top of the key with nine seconds left, drove down the lane and hit a layup to put Wright State (18-12, 12-6 HL) up for good at 65-64.

The excitement wasn’t over as Green Bay rushed the ball up the court and Cotton got off a weak shot that was tipped, then batted around a few times and finally the ball got knocked up court far enough from the basket that Green Bay could not get a shot off even if they could have gotten to the ball.  As the buzzer sounded 6465 fans let out a sigh and started applauding.

“They converted the last play, we didn’t.  I thought it was a heck of a basketball game,” said Green Bay coach Tod Kowalczyk.  “Both teams played with unbelievable heart and character.  It was a tremendous college basketball game, unfortunately we came out on the short end.”

In the first half the Phoenix held a small but consistent lead most of the game.  It ranged from one point to as high as six points at the 7:01 mark at 22-16.  The defense of both team dominated the action with Green Bay taking a one point lead into the locker room at halftime at 27-26.

In the second half the offense picked up a little led by Green Bay’s Ryan Tillema with 22 points as he went 10-17 including 5-8 from 3-point land.  Cotton also scored 15 of his 22 points.  Wright State’s offense improved too with Brown scoring 14 of his 19 points. The score still stayed close with the score tied five times and 13 lead changes.

Wright State’s coach Brad Brownell felt that the win on Thursday against Milwaukee gave his team some added confidence that helped his team prevail tonight.

He said, “In the second half the tempo changed they pushed it more trying to be more aggressive.  It put us on our heels just a little bit but our guys felt comfortable and confident after the win Thursday night.  Our overall confidence and our ability was the difference tonight.”

Game Notes:

• Green Bay leads the all-time series with Wright State 21-18.
• On Wednesday, senior Mike Schachtner was named to ESPN the Magazine’s Academic All-America Second Team, becoming the school’s first three-time selection in any sport.
• MidMajority.com’s Kyle Whelliston was at the game dressed in a snappy suit, looking a little like the Dayton Daily News writer Marc Katz.  Katz is pretty old school in that he rarely covers a game without his tie and jacket.  For at least a night press row looked a little more classy.
• Green Bay is the second seed in the Horizon League Championship and they will not play until 7 p.m. on Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
• Wright State’s seed will not be determined until later tonight but they play their first round Horizon League Championship game on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

Bracket Buster: Northeastern Shuts Down Wright State

DAYTON — In this game of two defensive-minded teams, Wright State succeeded in shutting down Northeastern’s two top scorers, but their whole effort sprung a leak as Chaisson Allen exploded for 22 points and Eugene Spates had a career day, as the Huskies defeated Wright State 69-57.

Wright State coach Brad Brownell decided to go with a little bigger lineup to counter the Huskies height advantage to start the game by adding 6’9” Ronnie Thomas along with 6’6” Scott Grote. Grote scored just two points and had five turnovers of the Raiders’ 16 turnovers for the game. Thomas did put in 12 points and block three shots but Northeastern (18-9) shot better and only turned the ball over six times for the game. The Huskies started Nkem Ojougboh at 6’9,” Manny Adako at 6’8” and Spates at 6’8.”

Northeastern coach Bill Coen knew that Wright State played great defense and his team patiently worked the ball around until they found an opening and then made the shots when they had to.

He said, “Our defensive intensity was back. On offense we knew we had to be patient. Wright State uses your energy against you on defense against teams when you go right at them. They do a good job of sagging and helping each other out.”

Wright State (16-12) jumped out to a 7-2 lead at the 16:20 mark on a drive and layup by Will Graham but by the end of the first half the Huskies had taken control of the game led by Spates’ 13 first half points. His jumper with 4:14 to go in the half put Northeastern up for good as they went on a 16-2 run to go up 37-24 at the half.

Wright State out-rebounded the bigger Huskies 30-23 which helped them close the gap in the second half to five points with 3:18 left in the game but 27 seconds later Allen hit a jump shot and Northeastern’s players made six more critical foul shots to shut the door on the Raiders’ comeback.

“Story of the game was our turnovers. But their execution down the stretch was good. They run some unique things that you don’t see very much,” said Brownell. “Their discipline was good, they relaxed and out-executed us down the stretch.”

For the Raiders Todd Brown score 15 points and Cory Coperwood had 10 rebounds

Game notes:

• Wright State leads the all-time series against Northeastern 2-1.
• Northeastern seems to live and die with 40 percent shooting. They are 10-0 when they hold an opponent under 40 percent, 6-10 when they do not. They were close today, holding the Raiders to 41 percent for the game.
• Northeastern needs to get a new travel agent. They had to hurry after the game to get on the road to catch a plane in Pittsburgh which is 41/2 hours from Dayton. Breaking their three game losing streak today must have made the ride seem just a little shorter.
• Northeastern’s next game is Wednesday at Drexel at 7p.m.
• Wright State’s next game is Thursday against Milwaukee at 7 p.m.

UIC Flames at Wright State

DAYTON – When we last left off Wright State had just held Loyola to just four field goals in the second half as they beat them 68-47 on Thursday night.  Tonight Wright State held University of Illinois-Chicago to just five buckets in the second half and a school record 31 points in the game as the Raiders win 57-31.

The defensive wonders for Wright State included holding UIC to just 26.2 percent shooting (11-42) for the game and also holding UIC’s first team Horizon League Player Josh Mayo to just six points and eight shots.  To stop Mayo the Raiders used N’Gai Evans some and Will Graham a lot to guard him.

Wright State coach Brad Brownell said he used Graham because of his experience and all of the little things to he brings to the games.

He said, ‘Will has just been in the battles a longtime in this league. He is never the primary player.  He is a glue guy, he holds your players together.  He will never wow you with shooting but he wows you with a lot of other plays that a lot of casual fans miss.”

Wright State player Pat Tabler added, “We were just trying to limit his touches. They do a lot of dribbling and fill behinds.  We just didn’t want to slide off of him to help”

When the game started, UIC (10-9, 3-6 HL) used the first six minutes of the game to build a five point lead on three short jumpers by Scott Vandermeer and a 3-pointer by Tori Boyd to go ahead 9-4.

At the 3:38 mark Wright State’s Troy Tabler hit a 3-pointer to put Wright State up 15-13 and they held the lead for the rest of the game.  By the time the first half ended Wright State (12-8, 6-3 HL) went up by 10 points at 23-13 on two more 3-pointers Todd Brown  and a layup by Cooper Land.

In the second half UIC cut the lead to seven points at the 16:42 mark on a jumper by Boyd making it 30-23 but that was as close as the Flames got.  Wright State just kept pushing the score up until the Raiders went up 26 points on the last bucket of the game when Land put in a layup with 44 seconds left.

After the game UIC coach Jimmy Collins appeared almost 45 minutes after the game and he hopping mad.  The delay in appearing in the media room was because he was meeting with his team in their locker room.

“I have never been so embarrassed in all my years of coaching.  I have never been affiliated with a team that wouldn’t fight, said Collins.  “Wight State has a good team and we quit. Brad does a good job with those kids.  They are spirited, they are high fiving each other and picking each other up.”

Collins said they have plays designed to get Mayo the ball but some of his players are selfish and just didn’t want to set picks for Mayo.

“Our game plan was to get people the ball, to be poised, play smart and to play together, “ added Collins.  “We didn’t do that.”

Brown led a scorers with 23 points on a 9-18 shooting performance and Vandermeer led UIC with 10 points.

Brownell was pleased with his team’s performance tonight and on Thursday against Loyola.

“Clearly one of our better performances, I am really please of how our kids played defensively,” said Brownell.  “We showed some maturity.  We struggled early just a bit offensively, but we kept our poise and pulled through.  Our kids were really ready, we played with a lot of confidence.”

Notes:

• The Raiders set a new school record by allowing only 31 points tonight breaking the 35 points record they set earlier this season against Toledo on December 9th  when they won 50-35.
• One of Wright State’s best players, John David Gardner played just seven minutes tonight and came out with an on-going nagging hip injury.
• UIC leads the all-time series with Wright State 20-19.
• UIC’s next game is Wednesday at Green Bay at 8 p.m.
• Wright State’s next game is Wednesday at Youngstown State at 7 p.m.