Cleveland State Vikings Overwhelm Milwaukee Panthers 83-57

In a game with major implications for the regular season Horizon League championship and seeding for the Horizon League Tournament, the Cleveland State Vikings dominated the Milwaukee Panthers by a score of 83-57 in a game in which the Panthers never led.

The Vikings and Panthers began the day in a tie for second place with conference records of 6-2. The winner of today’s matchup would be in a tie for first place with the Valparaiso Crusaders, who began Sunday with a 7-2 conference record after a win on Saturday against the UIC Flames.

These teams’ last matchup was a memorable one. Last season, the Panthers defeated the Vikings in the Wolstein Center in a late-season Horizon League matchup that ultimately denied the Vikings the chance to host the Horizon League Tournament and obtain an automatic spot in the semifinals. The Vikings were thus forced to play two games before facing the Butler Bulldogs in the semifinals, and the Vikings’ fatigue may have ultimately been the difference in their loss to the Bulldogs.

The bitter memory of these teams’ last meeting at the Wolstein Center may have been on the Vikings’ minds at the start of the game as the Vikings burst out to a 19-9 lead. Jeremy Montgomery’s seven points led the Vikings’ balanced attack.

After the Vikings extended their lead to 13 on a dunk by freshman Anton Grady with slightly less than five minutes remaining in the first half, the Panthers used a 9-4 run to narrow the Vikings’ lead to eight by the end of the half. Paced by their blistering 57.7% shooting performance in the first half, the Vikings headed into the locker room with a 36-28 lead.

In the second half, the Vikings once again came out looking for revenge against their conference rivals. Paced by six quick points from senior D’Aundray Brown, the Vikings quickly stretched their lead to 45-30. The Vikings extended their lead to 51-30 following an Anton Grady block and a fast break layup by Trevon Harmon.

Although the Panthers rallied at various points in the second half, the Vikings never allowed the Panthers to narrow their lead to less than 16 points. The Panthers’ dismal 26.9% shooting performance in the second half kept them from substantially cutting into the Vikings’ lead.

Vikings coach Gary Waters emptied his bench with approximately three minutes left in the game, allowing Ike Nwamu, Devon Long, and Marlin Mason to receive playing time.

The Panthers’ James Haarsma and Harmon led all scorers with 15 points. Haarsma was the only Panther in double figures. All five Viking starters scored in double figures.

The Vikings’ win ensures that they will continue to have a solid chance of hosting the Horizon League Tournament in March, as well as obtaining the two-game bye that will allow the Vikings to rest and recover before the tournament semifinals. The Vikings will have the week off before traveling to Youngstown State on Saturday for a rematch against the Penguins, who defeated the Vikings at the Wolstein Center on New Year’s Eve. The Panthers will return to Milwaukee for an important matchup against the Butler Bulldogs on Thursday.

As the Horizon League begins the second half of conference play with several teams having a realistic chance of finishing at the top of the league, each game will be pivotal and Horizon League fans should look forward to a month of competitive basketball.

Cleveland State messes with Texas, defeats Sam Houston State Bearkats

Although the Cleveland State pep band created an atmosphere full of Christmas cheer as they belted out a large number of Christmas tunes on Tuesday night at the Wolstein Center, the Cleveland State Vikings played the role of the Grinch as they defeated the visiting Sam Houston State Bearkats by a score of 65-43.

Powered by seven 3-point shots in the first half, the Vikings led 37-25 at halftime. The Vikings continued to control the game in the second half, outscoring the Bearkats 26-20.

Vikings coach Gary Waters was in a giving mood tonight as he doled out generous minutes to nearly every player on the roster. The Vikings’ young bench received significant minutes, with most of the Vikings’ freshmen playing at least 10 minutes. Senior center Aaron Pogue was limited by a thigh contusion that he reaggravated against South Florida, opening the door for sophomore Devon Long to receive 13 minutes of action.

The Vikings compensated for being outrebounded 30-29 by using their “Water Pressure” defense to force 23 turnovers and force the Bearkats into a 41.2% shooting performance. D’Aundray Brown led the Vikings’ balanced attack with 12 points. The Bearkats’ Demarcus Gatlin led all scorers with 13 points.

The Vikings will take the next week off and celebrate Christmas before returning to the Wolstein Center on New Year’s Eve for an afternoon match up against the Youngstown State Penguins.

Around the Horizon League: Weeks 2 and 3

Butler Bulldogs (4-3): Butler’s 3-3 start to the season is a bit deceiving, as two of their losses have been to teams from major conferences. The Bulldogs lost to the Louisville Cardinals by a score of 69-53 in a game in which the Bulldogs actually led in the second half. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, a very poor shooting night led to their downfall. The Bulldogs rebounded with a 57-42 victory over Savannah State and a 68-66 victory over Gardner-Webb. On Sunday, the Bulldogs dropped a 75-59 decision to the Indiana Hoosiers in which bad shooting yet again led to their downfall. The Bulldogs continued their up-and-down season with a 98-53 victory over Oakland City at home. On Saturday, the Bulldogs will take the court in their first Horizon League conference matchup at home against Valparaiso.

Cleveland State Vikings (6-1): The Vikings used a last-second shot by senior guard Trevon Harmon to defeat the St. Bonaventure Bonnies by a score of 67-64 in a very physical and hard-fought game. After this game, the Vikings headed off on a long series of road match ups. The Vikings began with a contest against the Kent State Golden Flashes, an in-state foe. The Vikings defeated the Golden Flashes, one of the best teams in the MAC, by a score of 57-53. The Vikings then headed east to Rhode Island to play three games in the Ticket City Legends Classic. Cleveland State began by defeating Boston University by a score of 63-62 in a game in which the Vikings came back from a 10-point deficit in the second half. The next day, the Vikings lost their first game of the season against the Hofstra Pride by a score of 63-53. On Sunday, the Vikings rebounded to defeat the Rhode Island Rams by a score of 67-45. The Vikings will have three days off before their first Horizon League match up on the road against the Wright State Raiders on Thursday.

Detroit Titans (3-4): This season is quickly becoming a nightmare season for the Titans, who began the season with hopes of knocking the Butler Bulldogs from their perch atop the Horizon League. At this point, the Titans do not have enough active scholarship players to conduct a 5-on-5 scrimmage during practice. Eli Holman remains on a leave of absence as he deals with an assault charge incurred at a fraternity house, and no updates have been given on his status. Senior forward Nick Minnerath recently suffered a season-ending ACL injury. John Hoskins left the team and guards Chris Blake and Brandon Romain are academically ineligible for the fall semester. Although the Titans were able to wallop Concordia (Mich.) by a score of 113-68, the Titans proceeded to lose two of their next three games in the CBE Classic in Bowling Green, Ohio. The Titans lost to the George Washington Colonials in the first game. In the second game, the Titans lost 67-61 to the Bowling Green Falcons. The Titans eked out a narrow overtime victory against Austin Peay in the final game by a score of 94-93. Playing their fourth straight game in Ohio this past Friday, the Titans lost 81-63 to a talented Akron Zips team. The Titans will return to action Thursday night in their first Horizon League match up against the Youngstown State Penguins.

Green Bay Phoenix (2-4): The Phoenix won a home game against Wyoming by the score of 52-44. The Phoenix then took their talents to Indiana to play Indiana State. Despite the offensive struggles of standout center Alec Brown, the bench helped the Phoenix stay in the game. However, the Phoenix eventually lost in the final seconds to the Sycamores by the score of 57-56 on a late 3-pointer. The Phoenix suffered another loss two days later on the road to the Virginia Cavaliers by a score of 68-42. On Thursday, the Phoenix will begin Horizon League play with a match up at home against the UIC Flames.

Loyola Ramblers (1-4): Despite having three players score in double figures, the Ramblers lost 63-51 on the road at Furman. Rookie head coach Porter Moser finally secured his first win as Loyola’s head coach with a 64-50 victory over Fordham in the Ramblers’ first game in renovated Gentile Arena. The Ramblers begin Horizon League play on Thursday with a road match up against the Milwaukee Panthers.

Milwaukee Panthers (5-1): The Panthers continued their strong start to the reason, which is impressive in light of the fact that star player Tony Meier has not played at all this season as a result of a lingering calf injury. After two impressive home victories over IUPUI and Texas Southern, the Panthers traveled to Michigan State for a road match up against the Spartans. Although the game was close at halftime, the Spartans pulled away in the second half for a 68-55 victory. The Panthers rebounded by defeating Arkansas-Little Rock by a score of 59-54. Kaylon Williams currently leads the Horizon League with an average of 6.0 assists per game. On Thursday, the Panthers will begin Horizon League play with a home match up against the Loyola Ramblers.

UIC Flames (2-3): The Flames dropped a 65-61 decision to Division II Quincy University but followed up with a 79-75 victory over Evansville. The Flames then lost to the Toledo Rockets by a score of 82-67 in a game in which a furious second-half comeback attempt could not overcome a large first-half deficit. The Flames will return to action on Thursday in their Horizon League opener on the road against the Green Bay Phoenix.

Valparaiso Crusaders (5-2): The Crusaders continued their impressive start to the season with three wins in the 2K Sports Classic. Their first victory was a 62-59 triumph over the talented Akron Zips. The next day, the Crusaders pounded IU Kokomo by a score of 79-48. Playing their third game in three days, the Crusaders defeated the Duquesne Dukes by a score of 84-68. After a four-day layoff, the Crusaders traveled to Columbus to play the nationally ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Although the Crusaders were only down by four points at halftime, the Buckeyes’ impressive shooting and the Crusaders’ abysmal shooting combined to produce a lopsided second half that resulted in an 80-47 victory for the Buckeyes. Ryan Broekhoff is currently tied for the Horizon League lead in rebounding with 9.3 points per game. The Crusaders will open Horizon League play with a match up against Butler on Saturday.

Wright State Raiders (2-4): The Raiders’ inexperience caught up to them during the second week of the season, as the Raiders dropped three straight games. The Raiders dropped a 78-65 decision to the Florida Gators. Two days later, the Raiders lost to North Florida by a score of 69-52. The friendly confines of the Nutter Center did not help the Raiders as they lost a close game to the Charlotte 49ers by a score of 70-66. The Raiders’ schedule will not get any easier as they begin Horizon League play on Thursday with a tough home matchup against the Cleveland State Vikings.

Youngstown State Penguins (4-1): The Penguins have continued their turnaround from last season’s disappointing campaign. Sophomore Kendrick Perry currently leads the Horizon League in scoring with 18.2 points per game and the team as a whole is dramatically improved. After a hard-fought defensive struggle against UC Riverside that ended in a 53-49 overtime victory, the Penguins headed to State College to face the Penn State Nittany Lions. Despite once again making a school-record 14 3-pointers, the Penguins fell behind early and lost to the Nittany Lions by a score of 82-71. The Penguins battled yet another Pennsylvania foe three days later when they battled the St. Francis Red Storm on the road. This time, the Penguins came away victorious by a score of 60-59 when senior DuShawn Brooks blocked a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer. The Penguins will travel to Detroit in their Horizon League opener to battle the Titans on Thursday.

Cleveland State shows what they are capable of against Rhode Island

SOUTH KINGSTON, R.I. – To listen to Gary Waters after his team’s 67-45 blowout of Rhode Island on Sunday, you would get the sense that it was a picture-perfect game. It fit the way the Cleveland State mentor wants his team to play, from the style of play to what the stat sheet would show to the final result. And while his team is now 6-1 on the young season, Sunday’s game showed some things about this team.

“I thought that was one of our better defensive efforts,” Waters said. “We really focused in and defended. I’m still a little perplexed about the rebounding, and I think we can do a much better job there, but I thought our guys did a good job of doing what we do: turning people over and finishing at the other end.”

… Continue Reading

Picking out some early season turkeys – and sweet performances

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, and that means we’re cooking up something for the holiday.

For the main course, we’re serving a few turkeys that have crept up in the college basketball nation. These conferences, teams, players and — in one case — an entire city’s judicial/law enforcement institution just aren’t getting the job done for one reason or another.

Some of these look tastier than others, but all will be heading to the chopping block if they don’t shape up soon. Some much-needed improvement could save these proverbial turkeys from the fate awaiting their avian namesakes across the country.

After the entrees, we’ve got a delicious spread of all-American winners that are worth saving room for — just like that pumpkin or apple pie. In the Protos household, my mother has added a German chocolate pie to the mix that is as mouth-watering as its more traditionally American pastries. Perhaps we need a new name for the pie. Or maybe not, as one of the coaches that we name has a distinctly Central European flavor.

Let’s get to the tryptophan-inducers first.

J’Covan Brown

How can someone putting up more than 26 ppg be on a list of turkeys? Well, when you get kicked out of a game for swearing and your young teammates subsequently choke up a double-digit lead in a few minutes, you become a turkey. Brown is absolutely essentially to a Longhorns team dominated by freshmen. After picking up a fourth foul midway through the second half against NC State, Brown protested the call with a vulgarity en route to his bench during a timeout. The referee took offense and gave Brown at technical and fifth personal, thus ending his night and beginning the Wolfpack’s comeback.

Colonial Athletic Association

The CAA isn’t exactly off to a great start, just months removed from sending VCU to the Final Four. The conference’s preseason favorite, Drexel, dropped a game to Norfolk State and then scored only 35 points in a loss to Virginia. George Mason has two overtime losses already, to Florida International and Florida Atlantic. Every team except Northeastern has at least two losses already, and five teams haven’t won more than one game.

UCLA

It’s messy out in Westwood. Heading into tonight’s game against Michigan, the Bruins are still looking for their first win against a Division I team after losing to Kansas in Maui and Loyola Marymount and Middle Tennessee State — by 20 — at home. The team can’t hit anything right now, and Reeves Nelson earned a suspension for sulking during the team’s opening loss to Loyola Marymount. There’s time to turn it around, but if they don’t, Howland might take much of the blame for this sloppiness.

The Syracuse edition of law & order

There’s no bigger turkey in college basketball right now than the attorneys and police officials in Syracuse, N.Y. They’re not even related to Orange basketball, but they have been thrust into the spotlight by accusations that Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine molested two ball boys over a span of more than a decade. The sordid story has devolved into people calling one another liars, and we need a functional investigation to get even close to realizing justice and revealing the truth. But the Syracuse district attorney’s office and police chief are too busy blaming each other for bungling the original investigation last decade. The DA has accused the police chief of hiding information while the police officers are calling the attorneys incompetent and unresponsive.

And now let’s enjoy some good stuff.

Coastal Carolina

The Chanticleers are back in business after injuries and suspensions derailed a promising season last February. Coastal Carolina already has knocked off power conferences foes LSU and Clemson — with the victory against the Tigers coming on the road. Besides a road game at East Carolina and a home date with Charleston, the Chanticleers look setup to post another gaudy record, which could earn this team an at-large bid if needed. That’d be a major accomplishment for the Big South.

Cleveland State

It’s certainly far more common for the Horizon League to get some extra love in the NCAA Tournament than the Big South, and the conference is certainly on the basketball nation’s radar after Butler made two consecutive trips to the title game. But with Norris Cole gone this season, the Vikings didn’t appear to be the team to beat in the conference. They certainly are playing the part after taking out Vanderbilt and Kent State on the road and a strong St. Bonaventure team at home by Lake Erie.

The cream of the crop

The top teams in the country have looked strong thus far, as North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio State, Syracuse, Connecticut and Duke have performed well against some stiff competition. As mentioned plenty of times, the top teams are returning an unusual amount of top talent, thanks in large part to the NBA lockout. We should be in store for a fantastic season with plenty of epic match ups, especially come March and April.

Coach K

Speaking of Duke, coach Mike Krzyzewski notched one of the sweetest accomplishments in sports in 2011 by surpassing his mentor, Bob Knight, for the most Division I wins in NCAA coaching history. Coach K has Duke in contention for ACC and NCAA titles nearly every season, a testament to his ability to adapt to a changing game and remain in the forefront for multiple generations of ballers.

Missouri Valley

The MVC might be the new CAA, which had been the new MVC anyways. Creighton, Wichita State, Indiana State, Northern Iowa and even Missouri State look like they could be in NCAA Tournament contention by the end of the regular season. Creighton annihilated Iowa on in Des Moines, while Wichita State dispatched Colorado and looked strong against Alabama and Temple.

Norfolk State

A week after losing to Marquette by 31 points, the Spartans regrouped to win three straight — including games against Drexel and TCU — before taking Marquette to the final possession in a rematch in the Paradise Jam title game in the Virgin Islands.

Cleveland State edges St. Bonaventure in hard-fought match up

In his postgame comments, Cleveland State Vikings head coach Gary Waters described Friday night’s game against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies as “a test of resiliency.”

Coach Waters’ statement might be the understatement of the year.

In a physical, hard-fought game that resembled a rugby scrum more than a basketball game at times, the Vikings pulled out a 67-64 comeback victory against the visiting St. Bonaventure Bonnies when senior guard Trevon Harmon nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2.8 seconds left.

Heading into the game, the Vikings knew that they would face a tough task in containing the Bonnies’ Andrew Nicholson, a senior forward and future NBA draft pick who was named to the Preseason Wooden Award Watch List. Earlier in the week, the Vikings were unsure if senior center Aaron Pogue, the key to the Vikings’ defensive attack against Nicholson, would be available for tonight’s game. Pogue missed Tuesday night’s game against Rio Grande with an injury. Fortunately for the Vikings, Pogue recovered from his injury and reclaimed his usual starting spot. Pogue has been one of the Vikings’ most improved players this season. He lost weight during the offseason and worked on his game, making him an improved defender and athletic scorer and enabling him to evade the foul trouble that plagued him throughout last season.

Fueled by a larger-than-normal home crowd and boisterous student section, the Vikings jumped out to a 12-9 lead with 14 minutes left in the first half. Motivated by a sizable contingent of vocal fans seated behind their bench, the Bonnies responded with a 13-3 run of their own to take a 22-15 lead with slightly more than 10 minutes left in the first half. Three of the Vikings’ senior leaders—D’Aundray Brown, Harmon and Pogue — combined to score seven quick points to tie the score at 22-22 with slightly less than seven minutes remaining. From that point on, neither team held more than a four-point lead until Nicholson sank a jumper at the end of the first half to send the Bonnies into the locker room with a five-point lead.

The second half was as intense and hard-fought as an NCAA Tournament game. Although the Vikings never reclaimed the lead until three minutes remained in the second half, the Vikings’ unyielding pressure defense kept them in the game and prevented the Bonnies from pulling away. The Vikings forced a total of 23 turnovers on the night with a relentless pressure defense that coach Gary Waters claimed would cause “everyone in the country” to struggle.

After the Vikings briefly reclaimed a three-point lead with 2:21 left in the second half, the Bonnies tied the game on a 3-point play by Michael Davenport with 1:30 remaining. After the teams traded missed baskets, the Vikings took possession with 30 seconds left in the game. As the Wolstein Center screamed in support, the Vikings ran the clock down with the intent of leaving no time left on the clock for a final shot by the Bonnies. Senior forward Tim Kamczyc, whom Waters described as “the glue to what we do,” passed to a surprisingly open Harmon who had shed his defender on a pick from Pogue, and Harmon nailed the game-winning shot.

Although Nicholson scored 19 points, blocked four shots, and pulled down six rebounds, the Vikings were able to limit his overall impact on the game with consistent double-teaming all game long. Pogue led a defensive effort in the first half that limited Nicholson to 13 quiet points. After Pogue picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, the Vikings employed a combination of sophomore Luda Ndaye and freshman Anton Grady to limit Nicholson to 6 second half points. Nicholson fouled out with 3:32 remaining in the second half after picking up several quick fouls during a particularly intense sequence.

Cleveland State’s talented freshmen came up big once again in Friday’s victory. Freshman Ike Nwamu made his regular-season debut for the Vikings and scored his first regular-season points on a layup with 14 minutes remaining in the first half. Sebastian Douglas, Charlie Lee and Grady all were praised in Waters’ postgame efforts for their outstanding play off the bench, which enabled the starters to receive much-needed rest throughout the game.

The Vikings improved to 3-0 and will now embark on a grueling seven-game stretch of road games beginning with Tuesday night’s contest against the Kent State Golden Flashes.

Around the Horizon League: Week 1

Butler Bulldogs (1-1): The Bulldogs lost their regular-season opener in overtime against Evansville by a score of 80-77. Andrew Smith missed two free throws that could have won the game at the end of regulation. Butler rebounded Tuesday night to defeat Chattanooga by a score of 57-46. This Saturday, the Bulldogs will battle the Louisville Cardinals at home in a highly anticipated nonconference matchup.

Cleveland State Vikings (2-0): The Vikings shocked the nationally ranked Vanderbilt Commodores on Sunday by a score of 71-58. On Tuesday, the Vikings knocked off the Rio Grande Red Storm, an NAIA school, by a score of 86-57. Cleveland State will face another test on Friday evening at home when they square off against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. Senior center Aaron Pogue missed Tuesday night’s match up with an undisclosed illness, and his availability for this important game is unknown. … Continue Reading

Cleveland State pulls away in second half to beat Rio Grande

After its upset victory over the nationally ranked Vanderbilt Commodores Sunday afternoon, Cleveland State could easily have been expected to face a bit of a letdown Tuesday night when the Vikings squared off against the Rio Grande Red Storm in their home opener at the Wolstein Center. Rio Grande is an NAIA school from southern Ohio, and some fans may have even expected the Vikings to overlook the Red Storm in their anticipation of Friday night’s matchup against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies.

As the Vikings headed onto the floor, the Wolstein Center crowd’s excitement about the home opener was tempered by the fact that senior center Aaron Pogue was not in uniform. Pogue later joined the team in street clothes on the bench to scattered applause with 2:25 left in the first half but did not play in Tuesday’s victory. Sophomore forward Ludovic Ndaye started in his place and scored seven points and pulled down seven rebounds. After the game, Vikings coach Gary Waters said Pogue’s lack of playing time was injury related and not a disciplinary matter.

Showing no signs of a letdown, the Vikings jumped out to a 14-6 lead. The Red Storm tied the game at 17-17 with 9:27 left in the first half. However, the Vikings proceeded to rip off a 9-0 run and grew their lead to 26-17 with 5:45 remaining in the first half. Fueled by their relentless full-court pressure, which forced eight first-half turnovers, the Vikings slowly extended their lead during the remainder of the first half. Notably, senior guard Jeremy Montgomery had a special moment as he surpassed 1,000 points in his Cleveland State career with a basket during the first half.

Following an acrobatic turnaround jumper at the buzzer by senior forward D’Aundray Brown, the Vikings headed into halftime with a 40-27 lead. Brown led all scorers in the first half with 13 points and has shown no signs of rust in the first two games after missing last season due to a finger injury.

In the second half, the Vikings opened with a 13-6 run in the first five minutes to extend their lead to 53-33. Jermaine Warmack, who came off the bench to score 24 points for the Red Storm, single-handedly kept the Vikings’ lead to around 20 for much of the second half.

However, the Vikings steadily expanded their lead throughout the course of the second half and led by 80-52 with 3:57 left in the second half after a spectacular three-point play by Brown.

The Vikings’ bench again played a key role in the victory. After a foul-plagued first half, freshman forward Anton Grady rebounded in the second half with 12 points, seven rebounds, and six blocks, many of which sent the Wolstein Center crowd to their feet in appreciation. In his postgame comments, Waters said he hopes to limit the starters’ minutes throughout the season and that the starters will receive further bench support when freshman Ike Nwamu, who has missed the Vikings’ first two games with a concussion, is cleared for play. However, Vikings fans shouldn’t count on seeing Marlin Mason in action this season, as Waters said he hopes to redshirt Mason this season to develop his ability to play the small forward position.

The Vikings’ next game will be this Friday at home against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, which Waters as “a very big team” with a future high NBA draft pick in the frontcourt.

No Norris Cole? No problem. Cleveland State Vikings shock Vanderbilt Commodores

Most coaches would be thrilled if they had four-fifths of their starting lineup returning after a successful season in which their team tied for the conference title, qualified for the NIT, and had a hard-nosed senior defender returning after missing the past season with a finger injury.

However, when the one-fifth that is not returning is Norris Cole, the point guard who rewrote Cleveland State’s record books and played a pivotal role in helping the Vikings advance to the postseason two times in four years on his way to being drafted in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft, many coaches would be tempted to load their nonconference schedule with easy teams and drastically lower their expectations for the season.

Not Gary Waters. While some coaches may have viewed scheduling the nationally ranked Vanderbilt Commodores as a risky move as a regular-season opener and even point to Cleveland State’s major stumbles against top-ranked nonconference opponents during the 2009-10 season as evidence for their view, Waters penciled in a match up against a team whom many expect to be a major contender in the SEC.

Today, Waters looks like a genius as the Vikings upset the Commodores on their home floor on Sunday afternoon, 71-58.

Admittedly, the Commodores did not head into Sunday’s game at full strength. The Commodores were without star center Festus Ezeli, who was suspended for the first six games of the season after taking improper benefits from a booster and later injured his MCL in his knee. Additionally, coach Kevin Stallings’ squad also played a late game on Friday night against Oregon and appeared to be slow, tired and a step behind the hard-charging Vikings.

Nevertheless, the Vikings’ overwhelming dominance from start to finish shows that Cleveland State is indeed a team to be reckoned with this season and that Vanderbilt must realize that they need to work hard to fulfill the praises and potential heaped upon them in the media. The Vikings never trailed after taking a 3-0 lead on a 3-pointer by senior guard Trevon Harmon in the first minute of the game and led by as many as 15 points on the way to a win that captured the nation’s attention.

One of the brightest spots for the Vikings was the return of D’Aundray Brown, who returned after missing last season with a finger injury. Brown contributed 18 points, eight rebounds, and seven steals in his first regular season game since March 2010. The Vikings will lean heavily on Brown’s defense and experience this season.

Another bright spot for the Vikings was their bench play. Last season, the Vikings received inconsistent play from their bench all season long, and the starters were forced to play major minutes every game. While this did not hinder the Vikings at first as they jumped out to a 21-3 start to the season, the heavy minutes logged by the starting unit eventually took their toll toward the end of the season as the Vikings slogged through much of their conference schedule and lost in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals. On Sunday, the Vikings received 22 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks, and three assists from their bench. Freshman forward Anton Grady, a local product from Cleveland Central Catholic High School, made an impact in his regular-season debut with seven points, four rebounds, and four blocks in 22 minutes of action. Furthermore, no Vikings starter played more than 33 minutes.

Of course, it is far too early in the season for the Vikings to start printing NCAA Tournament commemorative hats and for fans to begin making travel plans to watch the Vikings in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Injuries, surprise NCAA violations, and the grind of the regular-season schedule can take down even the most talented team, and the Vikings have a long road ahead of them. Nevertheless, Sunday’s win gives Vikings fans much to celebrate and shows that the team will still be very competitive this season despite the loss of Norris Cole.

The Vikings will play their regular season home opener against the Rio Grande Redmen at 7:00 P.M. at the Wolstein Center.

Cleveland State Vikings

Cleveland State Vikings (27-9, 13-5)

Projected starting five:

Sr. G Jeremy Montgomery
Sr. G Trevon Harmon
Sr. C Aaron Pogue
Jr. F Tim Kamczyc
Sr. F D’Aundray Brown

Important departures:

Norris Cole: 21.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 5.3 apg

After rewriting the Vikings’ record books, Norris Cole graduated and joined the Miami Heat in June’s NBA draft. Joe Latas (1.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.1 apg), Charlie Woods (2.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.6 apg) and Josh McCoy (4.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.7 apg) transferred. Anthony Wells, who only played in eight games last season and did not score a point, also left the team. Keith Mackie, who also did not score a point last season, left the team as well. Darius Ware (0.5 ppg, 0.1 rpg, 0.0 apg) will not return either.

% returning scoring and rebounding:

Scoring: 58 percent
Rebounding: 64 percent

Four starters return from last year’s team: Tim Kamczyc, Aaron Pogue, Jeremy Montgomery and Trevon Harmon.

Additions:

Four new faces will be joining the Vikings this season. Anton Grady, a local product from Cleveland Central Catholic High School, is the Vikings’ most heralded recruit, and he will immediately strengthen the Vikings’ inside game. Charles Lee is a two-star recruit from Canada, and he will provide depth at the point guard position. Ike Nwamu, a two-star recruit, will provide depth at the guard position. Marlin Mason, a forward from Detroit, is viewed by the Vikings as a developmental player.

Schedule highlights:

The Vikings’ biggest nonconference matchup comes in their first game of the season, a home game against Vanderbilt. During Horizon League play, the Vikings face a tough three-game schedule in early February against Valparaiso, Butler and Milwaukee.

Prediction: The Vikings will finish second. Uncertainty about the quality of their bench play keeps them from the top spot.

Next: Detroit Titans

Back to Horizon League preview

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

Horizon Notebook – Looking Towards the End Game

Everybody’s doing it.  Everybody denies it, but everybody’s doing it.  No, not THAT… and not THAT.  Reviewing the schedule, deciding what games we’re sure to win, what games we have little hope to win, and what games can go either way.  At this time of the year, every coaching staff in America is scrutinizing its remaining schedule.  Can we win our conference?  Can we get a conference tournament bye?  Can we get an at-large bid to one tournament to another?  Can we be .500 in conference?  Can we get to 20 wins?  Can we beat anybody?  On the three staffs I was on we told our players to focus on the next opponent, the kid each of our kids was about to guard, how to win tonight.  But we couldn’t help ourselves, so we scrutinized and scrutinized.  And by this point in the season, ESPN commercials notwithstanding, most of the games are in the first and second category (games we really should win, games we really can’t win), and relatively few are in that all-important third group (games that can truly go either way).

In the Horizon, it is more apparent with each passing week that Butler is even better than it was last year, by far the best.  Absent major injury or major miracle, the Bulldogs should not be beaten in conference.  And while the late Al McGuire hated relying on freshmen, Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack simply are not like any other freshmen to come on the mid-major scene in recent memory, perhaps not like any pair of freshmen at this level, ever.  (Two nights ago ESPN2′s wonderful studio analyst Hubert Davis called Duke’s 6-8 sophomore forward Kyle Singler the best player-or the most valuable-in the ACC, and this writer has previously called Gordon Hayward “a freshman version of Singler, except that Hayward rebounds better”).

At the other end of the spectrum, I have thought all along that Ray McCallum’s Detroit Titans would win a game in conference, probably at home, though they missed the opportunity I’d circled on New Year’s Day hosting Youngstown State.  Back in the “first division,” Green Bay, Milwaukee, Wright State and Cleveland State should win the rest of their games against everyone else except Butler (what WSU gives up in personnel to the other three, it makes up with superb half-court defense and coaching), but the remaining games among those four should all be competitive.

That said, this writer was shocked by not one but two monstrous upsets this past weekend in the Horizon, upsets with huge impacts on the standings (on what I’ve called the “race for second”).  First on Thursday night, while this writer was in Indianapolis watching Butler dispatch Wisconsin-Green Bay, the other one-loss Wisconsin team, that hailing from Milwaukee, was visiting Homer Drew’s 2-6 Valparaiso team.  Still  playing without sophomore forward Benjamin Fumey (who had arthroscopic knee surgery the previous day), but with Erik Buggs and D’Andre Haskins back from the injury list, the Crusaders played their best defensive game of the year, upsetting the Panthers 63-51.  Valpo forced 20 Milwaukee turnovers, held the Panthers to 29% shooting (24% in the second half), and held three Milwaukee starters-Ricky Franklin, Avery Smith and Anthony Hill-scoreless for the game.  Senior Jake Diebler dominated the game offensively, scoring 19 on 7-13 shooting, including 5-9 from the arc.  No longer concussed but still diminutive freshman Erik Buggs contributed 14 (on 6-10 shooting) and seven huge rebounds.  And not a moment too soon, senior Urule Igbavboa finally went to the boards, grabbing 9 caroms.  The thrashing by Valpo may have had a lingering effect, as Milwaukee was never in the game two days later, falling at Butler 78-48.  The true impact of Valpo’s beating on Milwaukee’s collective psyche will be revealed on Wednesday, when the now three-loss Panthers return home to face eminently beatable Loyola.

Perhaps less surprising to readers of this space, but more so to a national television audience on ESPNU, was the result on Friday night when Cleveland State visited Youngstown State.  Having witnessed YSU’s hard-nosed eight point home loss to Butler on December 6th, and having called sophomore swingman Vytas Sulskis-recently ensconced in Coach Slocum’s doghouse-and junior second guard Kelvin Bright, respectively, “a poor man’s Gordon Hayward” and “a poor man’s Shelvin Mack,” this writer expected a spirited effort by the Penguins in defense of their home court.  What I didn’t expect was yet another subpar defensive effort by Cleveland State, witnessing no Viking except Norris Coles (guarding Bright) defend hard or well.  In the first half, YSU junior forward Sirlester Martin dominated a game played at the Penguins’ preferred pace-slow–scoring 10 of YSU’s 29 points (on 5-9 shooting) and grabbing 5 rebounds.  Martin having shown the way, Penguin senior center Jack Liles joined the first half party, contributing 8 points (on 4-7) and 6 boards, and YSU led by 4 at the break, 29-25.

CSU’s defense was no better in the second half, and while J’Nathan Bullock’s effort kept them close (Bullock finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds), the Vikings could never pull even on the scoreboard.  Remarkably, the Vikes showed little interest in increasing the pace YSU controlled.  And oddly, instead of pressing for much of the game, CSU employed a passive “triangle and two” for a stretch (one of the “two” was Kelvin Bright, second leading scorer in conference play coming into the game-but no Michael Jordan-and at least at one point, the other one of the “two” was low-scoring Tom Parks).  Finally, at the 17:54 mark of the second half, down by 6, the Vikings went to full-court pressure, and while they forced two turnovers the rest of the way and were able to pull within 2, the change-of-pace proved too little too late, and the Vikings fell 64-60.  While the differences on the stat page were Penguin forwards Martin and Liles (15 on 7-13 for Martin with 9 boards, and 18 on 7-11 for Liles with 6 boards), the game was controlled and won by Penguin Coach Jerry Slocum, who got everything he could have hoped for from a roster not nearly as strong as his opponent’s.

The loss was devastating to Cleveland State, as even coming off an oh-for-Wisconsin trip the previous weekend, the 4-4 Vikings still had second place and the coveted double-bye squarely in their sites coming into the game.  Green Bay and Milwaukee had each lost for the second time the night before, and Milwaukee still had Butler to play twice (they then lost in Indianapolis on Saturday);  the Vikings had both Wisconsin schools and Wright State all coming to Wolstein Arena in the second half of the conference season (and only Butler among first division opponents away);  and defender/rebounder/all-around hustler D’Aundray Brown on the mend, soon to return from injury.  Only a visit to the lowly Penguins was asked of them before returning home to the friendly confines.  But those pesky Penguins had other ideas, and instead of being 5-4 and just two games behind with a favorable schedule, the Vikings are 4-5 at the turn, with no reasonable chance for that coveted second spot.   Oh, what might have been.

Horizon News and Notes:

• Separated by just 70 miles, at least from the Youngstown State perspective Cleveland State could be their biggest rival, and 6,249 screaming Penguin fans contributed to Friday’s upset, the fourth largest crowd ever in Beeghly Center.
• If you’ll indulge me, having seen my share of Big Five games in Philly’s Palestra, and having watched the discontinuation of the “Basketball Beanpot” in Boston some years ago, wouldn’t it be wonderful if Northeast Ohio’s four D-Is-two in the MAC and two in the Horizon-were to institute some kind of regional competition for bragging rights.  That would require each team to play both of the schools in the other conference once (presumably one at home and one away), in addition to the home-and-home games within the respective conferences;  the best record among the four would win some kind of cup or trophy.  The fans of the four schools would love it, and I suspect help fill one another’s gyms.
• Continuing on that theme, in the wake of its upset of CSU, YSU played an unusual late January non-conference game Monday night, hosting Akron in Beeghly.  In front of barely ¼ of the audience three nights earlier, the Pens were unable to sustain their terrific play, falling to the improving Akron Zips 67-63.  For three quarters of the game YSU got little from its forwards, and Akron got little from its guards.  But Akron’s guards began contributing something-barely something–midway in the second half, and YSU’s forwards never did.  Senior Nate Linhart led the Zips with 15, on 6-11 shooting, and 9 rebounds;  Chris McKnight added 13, mainly on late game free throws, and also had 9 boards.  Junior YSU guard DeAndre Mays led all scorers in a losing cause with 18, on 7-14 including 2-5 from the arc, and had 8 boards, and Martin pulled down 11 rebounds for the Pens.
• With each pair of conference teams yet to play each other a second time (and Cleveland State and Akron not currently playing one another at all), here are the current standings for Northeast Ohio’s unofficial “Lake Erie Cup”:
  • Akron:  2-0
  • Cleveland State:  1-1
  • Kent State:  1-2
  • Youngstown State:  1-2
  • Of course, in addition to remaining games in which Akron visits Kent State and Youngstown State visits Cleveland State, it is possible that conference foes will meet in their respective conference tourneys (or even that one of these four will meet another-some day-in the NCAA Tourney, the NIT or the CBI).  Yes, the “Lake Erie Cup.”  (Of course, a regional sponsor will quickly gobble this up, making it the “Key Bank Cup,” or the “NCB Cup.”  On the other hand, the way things have been going lately, maybe I shouldn’t wait by the phone for any bank or brokerage to be calling…).

Horizon Notebook: Butler Too Good for Green Bay in Battle for First Place

INDIANAPOLIS – The Wisconsin-Green Bay team may not have read this space recently (or if they did, they chose not to believe), as we had long decided that the Horizon regular season belongs to Butler. In fact, the only question that remains in the mind of this writer is whether Butler will lose a single game, either in the Horizon regular season or in a conference tournament in which it will need to win but twice, both games at home. But I will forgive Tod Kowalczyk, his staff and his players if they thought otherwise, coming into Hinkle for their first meeting with Butler with but a single conference loss. And even if only technically speaking, the Phoenix were correct, as a win on Butler’s home court would have left both teams with one loss, with Green Bay having won head-to-head. But it was not to be.

Having already anointed Butler regular season champs, we’ve decided three corollary things in this space. First, that the real battleground in the Horizon is for the second seed in the tournament, which also provides that awful double-bye and a home semi-final game. Second, that with both Wisconsin teams, Wright State and Cleveland State the obvious contenders for second, each is now rooting strongly for Butler when it plays any of the other contenders; thus, deep down Milwaukee, WSU and CSU were all rooting for the Bulldogs to beat Green Bay Thursday night. Third, that even though Green Bay and Milwaukee came into Thursday night’s games with just one loss, Wright State with three, and CSU with four (Milwaukee now has two losses, after falling to Valpo Thursday night), the Wisconsin schools having yet to face Butler even once, the race for second is tighter than the difference between one loss and four might otherwise indicate. That is, at 4-4 going into their game Saturday night at Youngstown State, preseason favorite Cleveland State is still very much alive for that cherished second spot. Of course, coming off a week in which they were oh-for-Wisconsin, the Vikings certainly have to win tomorrow night at YSU to stay in the race for second.

With that as a backdrop, Thursday night’s game went very much like lots of Butler’s games this season. Saddled with two early fouls, center Matt Howard played only 10 first-half minutes. And with forward Willie Veasley also in foul trouble (he played just 5 minutes and had three fouls before halftime), Butler played from behind the entire half (trailing by as many as 6), but its players kept the game at their signature controlled pace. And as was the case in earlier wins over Northwestern, Cleveland State, UAB, Detroit and Illinois-Chicago, Butler trailed at the half, though by just three points, at 25-22. In that slow and low-scoring half, Green Bay’s 6-0 junior guard Troy Cotton dominated, by scoring 10 of Green Bay’s 25 points (on 3-4 shooting, 2-2 from the arc), grabbing a team-high four boards, and most of all by holding one of Butler’s sharpshooting frosh Shelvin Mack scoreless, his pressure allowing Mack to shoot just three times, all from the arc, hitting none.

But just as in those five earlier games (and in their single loss to Ohio State), Butler came out of the locker room strong, and took over the game. (At OSU, the Bulldogs trailed by 6 at the intermission, cut the lead in half in the second stanza, and had a Gordon Hayward trey in the air at the final buzzer that would have tied the game). Strong defense, particularly by the guards, Howard’s rebounding, and Veasley’s all-around aggressive play took the game back. And even with just Howard and Hayward scoring at their usual rate, by the ten minute mark of the second what was a three-point deficit had become a six-point lead (41-35). Then, when a pretty Hayward feed got a previously scoreless Mack a shot under the goal at the eleven minute mark, Mack belatedly joined the party, and Butler’s three scorers all contributing was too much for Green Bay to overcome. The game wasn’t as close as the 68-59 final score.

Howard had 15 (on 4-7) and eight boards. Hayward had 14 (on 5-9, 2-5 from the arc) and 6 boards. Mack had 11 (on 4-7, and also 2-5 from the arc), five boards, and a monstrous eight assists. In fact, as we approach the halfway point of the conference season, it was incredibly obvious that Butler’s two freshmen shooters, Hayward and Mack, also love playing together, setting up one another to score, and feeding off of one another’s energy. For the losers, diminutive lefty guard Rahmon Fletcher did all he could to keep his team close in the second half, scoring 17 of his 22 after intermission, on 7-12 shooting. But he was overmatched by Butler all half long, in particular by Butler’s two frosh playing together as beautifully as they did.

Green Bay coach Kowalczyk talked about Butler’s strong defense after the game, focusing on a series of “7 possessions during which we turned the ball over 4 times.” He followed up that “because Butler plays so slow, each possession is that much more valuable.”

Mimicking former Arizona Cardinals coach Dennis Green’s famous comments about the Chicago Bears, Butler coach Brad Stevens began his press conference complimenting Green Bay’s defense, telling us that “they [Green Bay] were exactly what we thought they’d be.” In response to questions he was candid that in a number of games this year his now 17-1 team has shot poorly in the first half, causing a first-half or halftime deficit.

When I asked him about his team’s controlled pace, and if or when he might allow his talented freshmen to play a bit faster, he responded that he’s already trying to cause that to happen, that this edition of the Bulldogs has succeeded in getting the ball up the floor more quickly than last year’s group in a number of games, and attributed the slowness of tonight’s first half to strong Green Bay defense. He then proceeded to compliment Gordon Hayward’s unselfish team-oriented attitude, at the same time making clear that he wants Hayward to shoot from the perimeter every single time he’s open, and that when Hayward is crowded by a defender Stevens wants him to drive hard to the goal. Not surprisingly, Stevens wouldn’t focus for very long on his gaudy 17-1 record to start the season (the best start in team history), telling us that “if we start looking at that instead of our next opponent, that’s the best way to make sure that we’ll no longer have a something-and-one record.”

While Green Bay moves on to more beatable Valparaiso for a game Saturday night, Butler will remain at home and entertain that other Wisconsin team, which stumbled badly at Valpo Thursday night, falling 63-51, that game at 2 p.m. Saturday. You can bet that the Panthers, who Stevens called “scary-good offensively,” will bring their A-game to Indianapolis, hoping to find a way to beat Butler and salvage a split on their swing through Indiana. You can also bet that Green Bay – along with WSU and CSU – will be rooting for Butler to beat Milwaukee Saturday, and stay undefeated.

Horizon News and Notes

• Don’t forget the Friday 9 p.m. eastern Horizon ESPNU game, Friday night featuring Cleveland State at Youngstown State. And CSU had better not take those pesky Penguins lightly, as they are mighty dangerous on their home court.
• Thursday night’s game being the first chance this writer has had to see Wisconsin-Green Bay in person, I got a chance to watch last year’s Horizon Defensive Player of the Year, Phoenix 3-man Terry Evans, who spent most of the night shadowing Butler’s Gordon Hayward. In this writer’s opinion, Evans helped off of Hayward more than he should have, dug for dribbles and lunged for passes, and as a result Hayward scored well, and had open looks that could have resulted in his scoring way more than his 14. While one match-up in one game – a difficult one at that – isn’t enough to reach a firm judgment, from what I saw tonight, much as is the case for Cleveland State’s Cedric Jackson (the only player in the league with more steals), for Evans steals aren’t a positive statistic. I’d be more impressed if Evans played tough hard-nosed position defense, tightened up his spacing, and forced his man to turn his side or back to the goal, and to take more difficult shots. This night, Evans wasn’t even the best defensive player on his team; Troy Cotton was, for his terrific work on Shelvin Mack, holding Mack scoreless for the first 31 minutes.

Horizon Notebook – CSU Loses Wisconsin Two-Step for the Two-Seed

CLEVELAND -  Even in the context of Butler’s home scare at the hands of Detroit a week ago Saturday, we suggested in this space that everyone else in the Horizon is already playing for second.  (We’ve also suggested more than once that the deepest line in the sand is between the double-bye and home semi-final game to be awarded the second seed and the two extra games the third seed must play in the conference tourney).  Coming into the weekend just past, with Butler a perfect 5-0, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Wisconsin-Milwaukee each had one loss, Cleveland State had two, and Wright State had three.  And predictably, Butler stayed perfect, taking care of business this weekend in Chicago, beating Loyola and Illinois-Chicago;  also predictably, Wright State took care of business in its lone game at Detroit, still stuck on three losses.  So there was Cleveland State on its annual brutal trek through Wisconsin, needing two wins to be tied for second and a split to stay close;  it got neither.  So now the preseason favorite Vikings wake up in Cleveland at 4-4 and in fifth place, three full games and the head-to-head tiebreaker behind Milwaukee for second.

It was a better trip offensively than CSU had the right to expect, as finally shoot-first point guard Cedric Jackson was able to contribute at that end of the floor.  21 points at Green Bay on Thursday (7-12, 4-5 from the arc) and then 17 points (7-13) to go with 10 assists and 7 boards Saturday in Milwaukee.  And even with J’Nathan Bullock scoring 22 and 19 in the two games, CSU’s improved offense could not overcome its poorest defensive weekend of the season.  The Vikes lost 80-65 to Green Bay in a game not nearly that close, and after a furious comeback form nineteen down in the last five minutes in Milwaukee, they lost by two 77-75, when a Trevon Harmon trey rimmed and came out with less than two seconds remaining.  It has been that kind of year for the Vikings.

Needless to say, under Gary Waters CSU is known for its tenacious, stifling pressure defense, and coming into the weekend the Vikings had held 6 of their previous 10 D-I opponents to 50 points or less.  So one would have thought that 65 points in Green Bay and 75 in Milwaukee would have been enough to win at least one of those games, and maybe both.  The problem:  while CSU’s defense can grind you down over forty minutes when the Vikings have the lead, when they’re behind it becomes a reaching, lunging and fouling defense, risking everything for steals, and thus vulnerable against good teams to back-door cuts, guard penetration and lots of open jump shots.  Now, playing that kind of 100% style (as opposed to the aggressive but under control style made famous by late 70s and 80s Indiana teams and played these days by Butler and Wright State), the results can be, well, inconsistent.  The game can become a schoolyard game, and for short periods CSU can make steals and make hay against its opponent.  Witness the last 5 minutes at Milwaukee, and a similar stretch during the last 8 minutes of the first half at Green Bay, during which the Vikings returned from the dead to tie that game at the half.  In the long run, however-at least against quality opponents-playing defense that way is pure suicide, allowing a team that might have scored 55 or 60 against the Vikings to score 70 or more.  And with CSU’s poor perimeter shooting on offense, that difference is just too much to overcome.  Thus, two losses in the Wisconsin snow.

Now in the race for second, all is not utterly lost for the Vikings.  Coach Gary Waters having said that the regular season Horizon winner will have four or more losses, even if Butler doesn’t the rest of the teams in the league should, or at least could.  So, if freshman Trey Harmon improves, and sophomore D’Aundray Brown returns from his rib injury, the second half of the conference schedule is more favorable for the Vikings.  Home and home with Youngstown State (Jerry Slocum’s Penguin team is pretty darned tough at home), all three teams the Vikes are chasing for second still to play at home in Wolstein Arena, and then a season-ending rematch with Butler at Hinkle on Saturday February 28.  And both one-loss Wisconsin teams yet to play Butler at all.  So if Butler should beat Green Bay and Milwaukee twice, and if Wright State beats one or both of the Wisconsin teams on their trips to Dayton, and if CSU makes those Wisconsin schools’ trips south as miserable as they did to the Vikes going north, well, CSU can still be heading for Indianapolis for that February 28th game with a shot at the second seed, and with more to play for that day than the Bulldogs.  But first they need to right the ship with a win at Youngstown State this Friday night, a game the Vikings must win to stay in the hunt for second.  To do that they better be ready to stop YSU second guard Kelvin Bright, who has scored most of his 14 points per game on his home floor.

Horizon News and Notes:

• Both Green Bay and Milwaukee get their first looks at Butler’s freshman class this week, Green Bay playing at Hinkle on Thursday at 7 pm eastern, and Milwaukee playing there on Saturday at 2 pm eastern.
• Cleveland State plays at Youngstown State in this Friday night’s 9 pm eastern ESPNU game.
• To date still playing without Vaughn Duggins, Wright State faces Illinois-Chicago at home on Saturday night, that game to tip at 7 pm eastern.  If Duggins is ready to play this weekend, he’ll get a home warmup Thursday night against Loyola, and then face UIC.  If he’s not ready to play this weekend, expect Coach Brownell to announce a decision to redshirt him some time next week.

Horizon Notebook: Great Week Clarifies Horizon Race – or Does it?

CLEVELAND -  By late Friday evening I was pretty sure what I was going to write in this space.  With Wright State still playing without injured star Vaughn Duggins, 20th ranked Butler had no trouble dispatching the Raiders at home on Thursday night, 64-48.  Remarkably (truly remarkably), Loyola-a team that I said elsewhere with some hyperbole does not have a true Division I player on its roster–removed Wisconsin-Green Bay from the ranks of conference undefeated, upsetting the Phoenix 62-60 on Monday night on Chicago’s north side.  Then in the best game of the week-one serving as a great start to the Horizon’s weekly series on ESPNU on Fridays at 9 eastern-Green Bay did the same to rival Wisconsin-Milwaukee, going on the road to give the Panther’s their first loss, 77-75 in overtime.  Meanwhile, Illinois-Chicago lossed its third in a row (now four), falling at Youngstown State Thursday 80-70, while Cleveland State easily dispatched Loyola at home, in a game in which freshman Trevon Harmon may have become a “shooting star” for the Vikings.

I was about to write that no one could catch Butler, these young Bulldogs being even better than last year’s group;  in fact, that history notwithstanding Brad Stevens’ current team just might run the table in the Horizon without a loss.  No, Wright State can’t beat them without Duggins (and with another week gone by, might Brad Brownell red shirt him?), and probably can’t even with its star in the lineup.  No, UIC won’t be able to beat them (I’m guessing Ronald Nored will guard Josh Mayo, and do just as well as CSU’s Norris Cole did last night).  Both having lost this week, neither Green Bay nor Milwaukee appear to guard well enough to beat Butler.  And even with Trey Harmon providing long-range shooting-and with athletic swingman D’Aundray Brown likely back for the game-no, I don’t think CSU can go into Hinkle on the last day of the regular season and beat Butler in its own gym.  So I was going to give the conference regular season-and the resulting double-bye and tournament home court advantage-to Butler on January 9th.

And then came Ray McCallum’s Detroit Titans into town on Saturday, losers of four in a row, all five conference games and 17 straight road conference games, with leading scorer Xavier Keeling still sidelined with a foot injury, fresh off a 64-41 drubbing at Valpo two night’s earlier.  Worse still, an early afternoon game at Hinkle, providing the visitors that much less turnaround time.  Well, the game appeared so one-sided, so noncompetitive, that this writer didn’t even bother checking the score until I walked into  Wolstein Arena that evening to watch UIC play Cleveland State.  And to my shock-and probably to all of yours-Detroit pushed Butler further than anyone has save Ohio State, losing 54-50, with a Tryl Hartfield jumper in the air to tie with under three second left (Matt Howard rebounded with under a second remaining, was fouled and hit two free throws, making the winning margin four).  To coin a phrase, I guess “that’s why they play the games.”  Thomas Kennedy, Eulis Stephens and Eugene Blue each had 8 to lead the Titans, with Nemanja Jokic adding 6 along with a game-high 7 rebounds.  Behind Jokic’s 7 boards-and with Matt Howard limited to 26 minutes with foul trouble–Detroit outrebounded Butler for the game 29-20.

So where do we go from here?  Does the Titans’ near miss signal that Butler can be had, or did it provide just the wake up call Coach Stevens’ group needed to concentrate on conference play?  Did it expose freshman inconsistency (Gordon Hayward scored just 5 in 36 minutes, and worse, grabbed just one rebound;  Shelvin Mack scored just 7), or will it serve as the impetus for freshman growth?  Well, with both Wisconsin teams now having lost, Wright State having lost three three and UIC in free-fall, well, I wish 4-2 Cleveland State hadn’t played its home game with Butler before Harmon became eligible.  Nonetheless, Gary Waters has said more than once that “in the end, the team that wins the Horizon regular season will have four losses,” which means that his Vikings remain in the hunt.  I’m not sure I can find four losses on Butler’s schedule-not sure I even see one-and somehow, I suspect the entire rest of the conference is now playing for second place.  That said, second place is quite the plum in the Horizon, as the double-bye in the conference tournament (assigned to the first and second seeds) is even more valuable than the bye earned by first and second seeds in each NFL conference.

Horizon news and notes:

• In CSU’s home win Saturday night over UIC, sophomore Norris Cole blanketed league-leading scorer Josh Mayo for all 34 minutes Mayo played, holding him to just two field goals (2-10) and 6 points, in fact holding him scoreless until he cashed in two free throws more than 14 minutes into the second half.  CSU center Chris Moore led all scorers in the game with 18 (on 8-8 shooting), and UIC freshman power forward Jelani Poston emerged to play his best half of the year in the second, finishing the game with 14 points on 6-6 shooting (all near the goal), and 7 rebounds.  Back to Cleveland State, freshman guard Josh McCoy-who hit from way out while playing Mayo in practice Friday on CSU’s scout team-continued right where he left off in practice, hitting all three treys he took in the UIC game.  Coach Waters told the media after the game that McCoy earned his playing time with his strong practice shooting mimicking Mayo.
• Trey Harmon started both CSU games this week for injured D’Aundray Brown, and against Loyola scored 17 in 34 minutes, on 5-9 shooting, including 4-7 from the arc.
• After losing 64-48 at Butler Thursday night, a Duggins-less Wright State squad turned things around, winning at Valpo Saturday night by an identical score.  Todd Brown led all scorers with 19 (6-12) and grabbed 5 boards.  John David Gardner continued to improve offensively, scoring 18 (5-11).  6-5 sophomore guard Michael Rogers led Valpo with 12 (4-7) and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.
• After surprising UIC 80-70 on Thursday night, Youngstown State couldn’t parlay that win into a home sweep, falling to Loyola 68-57 on Saturday night.  Junior guard Aric Van Weelden rebounded from a subpar performance at CSU Thursday night to lead the Ramblers with 12, hitting all four of his shots, all treys.  Kelvin Bright of YSU led both teams in scoring, continuing to grow offensively with 22, on 9-18 shooting.  In Thursday’s win over UIC, Bright had outscored Josh Mayo 23-20, on 6-15 shooting, including 3-6 from the arc and 8-9 from the line.
• CSU and YSU have their toughest weeks of the season upcoming (in terms of basketball, geography and weather) as both teams travel to Wisconsin to face Milwaukee and Green Bay.  CSU’s games Thursday night in Green Bay and Saturday night in Milwaukee will both be televised back in Cleveland on SportsTime Ohio, those games to air at 8:30 and 8 eastern, respectively.
• The second installment of the weekly Friday night ESPNU game features Wright State at Detroit, again at 9 pm on January 16.  That game should tell both whether Coach McCallum can build on the near miss at Butler, and whether we’ll get to see Vaughn Duggins at all this year for Coach Brownell’s Raiders.  Here’s hoping game no. 2 of that weekly series is as exciting as the Green Bay-Milwaukee game was last week.

Wright State Rides Defense for First Horizon Win

DAYTON – It took their patented defense in the first half and an offensive explosion in the second half, to give Wright State their first league win of the season, at home, over Cleveland State 71-62.

Wright State (7-7, 1-2 HL) scored the first basket at the 18:05 mark when Ronnie Thomas took a feed from Will Graham to put in a layup and the Raiders held the lead for the entire game.

Wright State’s defense was so dominate that with 3:07 remaining in the first half the Vikings has scored only three baskets, were shooting 13 percent and were behind 21-12.

Cleveland State (10-5, 1-2 HL) did finish the half with six baskets, going 6-27 (22.2 percent) to cut the Raiders lead to five at 27-22. The Vikings’ 8 for 10 performance at the foul line helped take some of the sting out of their poor shooting.

Wright State’s John David Gardner credited his team’s fast start to getting this game under control.

“I think we came out and set the tone early. We jumped out on them early, they came back, but we held on to get the win,” he said.

In the second half the Raiders shot 65.2 percent (21-30) which put them at 53.5 percent for the game (23-43) while Cleveland State improved to 48.3 percent (14-29) in the second half and 35.7 percent for the game (20-56).

Two bright Spots for Cleveland State were J’Nathan Bullock and Dayton native Norris Cole. Bullock scored 23 points to lead all scorers and pulled down nine rebounds. Cole scored 18 points in front of almost 60 friends and family, in attendance at the Nutter Center to see his annual homecoming.

In addition to not making baskets the Vikings were in foul trouble all night. Cole, Cedrick Jackson and Trevon Harmon fouled out while George Tandy and Eric Schiele had four fouls, which forced Cleveland coach Gary Waters to play younger inexperienced players.

“We had too many guys in foul trouble. You can’t play when your guys are in foul trouble,” said Waters. ““We didn’t shut them down at all, we played terrible and it still was a six point game with a few minutes left.”

Even though the pre-season favorite Vikings lost a tough league game Waters was upbeat that his team could improve from this game.

“This wasn’t us, but you have to give them credit. We will regroup from this and I hope this becomes a learning experience for us,” explained Waters.

For the Raiders the Christmas Break didn’t seem to affect them as they won the seven of the last eight games which was a big concern after taking a week off since their last game for Wright State coach Brad Brownell.

“We continued our good play from San Juan. We executed much better offensively in the second half,” he said.

Playing both good defense and good offense is something that the Raiders have just recently begun to do.

“It is hard to win at a high level without doing both well. We have gotten into a little better flow,” said Brownell.

For Wright State Cory Cooperwood scored 15 points, Todd Brown had 13 points and nine rebounds, plus John David Gardner scored 12 points.

Notes:

• CSU ranks in the top 50 nationally in six categories, ranking 15th in scoring defense (54.7), 20th in turnover margin (+4.9), 23rd in steals (10.0), 40th in three-point field goal defense (.281), 47th in field goal defense (.376) and 48th in assist-turnover-ratio (1.21).
• Coming into this game Cleveland State was riding a five game winning streak and Wright State had a four game winning streak.
• Former Bowling Green and Brooklyn College assistance coach Jay Pearlman was seated next to me during the game. He now writes for Hoopville.net and several other sports outlets. He is a fountain of basketball knowledge and he is happy to share it.
• Wright State leads this series 26-23.
• Coming into tonight’s game, the last four games Wright State has held their opposition in the 40s.
• Cleveland State’s next game is on Saturday at Detroit at 4 p.m.
• Wright State’s next game is Saturday against Youngstown State at 7 p.m.

Horizon Notebook: Greatest Week Ever (Ha!), Plus Four Ideas

CLEVELAND -  Let it be first said in this space, loudly and clearly:  the eight days stretching from Friday December 19th, 2008 through Friday December 26th, 2008  likely were the greatest single week in the history of the Horizon League.  And that would make last night—Tuesday December 23, 2008—the greatest single night.  A quick weeklong review, then greater focus on last night’s two big games, and then four suggestions.

Just one game on Friday December  19:  a three-point win for Youngstown State at High Point University of the Big South Conference, 64-61.  Nothing like beating North Carolina except the geography, but any YSU win, and especially any YSU road win, is a good thing.  (And conference teams better not take Coach Slocum’s Penguins too lightly).

Then on Saturday, CSU beat Division III La Roche College;  not much more noteworthy, Butler beat new Division I Florida Gulf Coast, both games at home.  Valpo hung tough into the second half against North Carolina at the United Center, eventually succumbing 85-63;  Detroit also hung in for most of the first half in Champagne, losing to Illinois 82-51.  Wisconsin-Green Bay beat North Dakota at home, Wisconsin-Milwaukee beat Bradley at home, Loyola won at Northern Illinois, and Wright State won its first of three straight in San Juan, over Oral Roberts.  The only negative of the day was Jimmy Collins’ Illinois-Chicago team, which was upended at Illinois State, 67-60.

On Sunday, Youngstown State was beaten at UNC-Charlotte, and Wright State won its second in Puerto Rico, beating the Big East’s South Florida 60-43 behind Todd Brown’s 15 (on 7-11).

On Monday, Loyola beat Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at home (not a monumental win), Green Bay won at Houston-Baptist, and Wright State completed its three-game sweep in San Juan, besting Murray State.  Only Valpo fell short this day, losing at Central Florida.

Then there was last night, Tuesday December 23rd.  Most of the damage was against the MAC Conference.  UIC got back on the winning track by winning at rebuilding Toledo;  not a monster win.  Better, Detroit built on its strong first half at Illinois, winning at Central Michigan, 67-55.

In the battle of preseason MAC and Horizon League favorites in Cleveland, CSU demolished Kent State in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as its 67-41 final.  Led by Norris Cole, CSU’s guards stymied Kent’s vaunted backcourt combination of MAC Player of the Year Al Fisher and newly eligible Tyree Evans, holding them to a combined 14 points.  Viking star forward J’Nathan Bullock scored 24 on 9-16 shooting and grabbed 10 boards;  rebounding machine George Tandy grabbed 13 boards in just 24 minutes, and must surely be in the top five in the country in rebounds per minute played.

And then Butler played Xavier.  In a matchup featuring the Horizon’s best team against formerly 8th-ranked and current no. 12 Xavier from the Atlantic 10, a game played at Xavier, Butler led most of the way, and held on for a monster win, 74-65.  Matt Howard and emerging star Gordon Hayward each had 19 points, and those two grabbed 14 and 10 rebounds, respectively.  Look for Butler to improve on its current No. 5 ranking in CollegeInsider.com’s Mid-Major Top 25, and to break into the Top 25 of the national rankings come Monday.  The entire conference is now off for Christmas, resuming play on Saturday.

So on the heels of this monster week for the Horizon, this might be the best time to address the schools, in some combination the league’s head coaches, athletic directors and presidents, on four points.  Here goes;

1. Recognizing the difficulties inherent in mid-major scheduling, as well as the fact that some of the early season tournaments include Division II teams (forcing you to play them if you want to be included in the field), please stop scheduling sub-Division I opponents.  I spent the last couple of years with the Colonial Athletic Association, and those schools don’t schedule sub-Division I’s.  Now that the Horizon is ahead of the CAA in conference ranking (at least for last year, and likely for this year as well), please stop playing games that can’t help at season’s end;
2. Schedule a Media Day each October at a central location, probably best in Indianapolis where the conference office is located.  The CAA does it at DC’s ESPN Zone, the MAC does it at Quicken Loans Arena (site of their conference tournament), and both are big hits.  Invite the coaches (men’s and women’s), AD’s, SID’s, local and national media, and go to town!
3. Begin playing the conference tournament at one venue, be it the same venue each year like the Big East, the MAC and the CAA, or a different venue each year like the Big Ten, the ACC and the SEC.  That’ll make season’s end like a big convention of teams, administrators and fans, and help promote the league.  I don’t care if we use civic arenas or our larger on-campus arenas (Hinkle has obvious appeal, at least for years in which the Big Ten Tournament isn’t in Indy);  and
4. Stop protecting the first seed (or the first two seeds) through the double-bye format, and initiate the same format most other conferences use for their tournament:  a first round or play-in day, in which seeds 6-10 play a doubleheader, leaving 8 schools going forward.  Then play day and evening quarterfinal doubleheaders on the next day, followed by a semi-final doubleheader and a final game.  More action for our two best teams, and fairer for everyone else.

The reason for these suggestions:  as long as we’re playing like a top-10 conference, include universities in major urban markets, and boast sizable and beautiful arenas, let’s use all of these things to our advantage.  As someone once said about a former corn field in Iowa:  “Build it and they will come!”

Horizon League Notebook – Scheduling Issues and Cupcakes

When college basketball begins each November (soon to be October?), scheduling disparities make it difficult to evaluate teams early, even harder to compare them. Mid-majors like the teams in our league often have incredibly uneven schedules; for example, Detroit played NAIA Division II Aquinas College on Wednesday night, managing a 58-48 win at home, but is now en route to Champaign-Urbana for a game tomorrow night at Illinois.

This happens for reasons many of you are familiar with: first, there just aren’t always enough regional mid-majors – particularly outside of the northeast – to fill up one another’s schedules. Second, while major programs generally won’t play at mid-majors, the financial “guarantees” they pay to mid-major programs to play in their gyms provide resources many universities depend on to fund their basketball programs. Third, recognizing that casual and less knowledgeable fans (including some in the ranks of university administrators and boosters) just count wins and losses each season, irrespective of the opponents, mid-major coaches who like their jobs often lobby to play schools from lesser Division I conferences, Division II and Division III opponents, and NAIA schools. Fourth, many coaches believe that at least some wins during the season – no matter against whom – are essential to help maintain the enthusiasm and commitment of their players.

Doubtless some of you remember that in the days John Thompson, Jr. coached at Georgetown, most years they opened their season with a lopsided win over Division III St. Leo’s College. And while St. Leo’s and other D-III’s no longer appear on the Hoyas’ schedule, Coach John Thompson III was following in his father’s footsteps last week when Georgetown hosted one of the weakest teams in Division I, managing to keep the score differential against Savannah State under 100.

If you’re inferring some annoyance on the part of this writer with schools scheduling “cupcakes,” well, you’re inferring correctly. In addition to Detroit’s game this past week with Aquinas, Jimmy Collins’ vaunted UIC team played D-II Lewis College (a school I’d never heard of), and on its upcoming three-game home stand, Cleveland State will play both D-III La Roche College and D-III Notre Dame College (that’s not the Notre Dame we all know and love – the one CSU should be playing). If any of these schools find themselves on the wrong side of the bubble for an at-large NCAA bid (or for an NIT bid), they need look no further than their own schedules to learn why.

Last on this, I just took a peak at the schedule for recent D-I admit New Jersey Institute of Technology. As many of you know, since moving to Division I, the most widely known fact in the history of NJIT undoubtedly is that its basketball team failed to win a single game last year; they have maintained “perfection” to date this season, losing their first 8 games. That said, I recognized every single school listed on NJIT’s 2008-09 schedule, and every one is an NCAA Division I member. So while that program obviously has hurdles to overcome, kudos to Coach Jim Engles and Athletic Director Lenny Kaplan for jumping into the deep end, and not manufacturing wins by playing the local junior high in their own gym!

With that lengthy introduction, now that Horizon teams have as many as eleven games under their belts, in some cases against common opponents (including two conference games for everyone except UIC and Loyola), the league appears to have separated itself into two “divisions.” Butler and Illinois-Chicago have been by far the most impressive, with preseason favorite CSU, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Wisconsin-Milwaukee rounding out this writer’s “first division.”

Over the last 10 days, UIC backed up its earlier monster win at the SEC’s Vanderbilt with a home conference win over its biggest rival, Loyola. Then they went to Atlanta, besting the ACC’s Georgia Tech last Sunday, 66-60. Both of Collins’ senior stars came up big in the win over the Yellow Jackets, preseason Player of Year point guard Josh Mayo with 17 points on 6-14, 7 assists and 6 rebounds, and center Scott VanderMeer with 19 points on 8-15 shooting and seven rebounds. Coach, even with your two stars graduating this June, please don’t schedule Lewis College again next year!

If a loss can make a previously undefeated team look even better, that’s just what happened to Butler this week. Coming into December 5-0 with wins at Drake and over Northwestern, Butler began the month with Zach Hahn’s buzzer-beating trey at CSU, 50-48, won a workmanlike second conference road game in snowy Youngstown two nights later, 79-71, and then beat Bradley in Peoria, 87-75. Then they lost a titanic defensive struggle at OSU, 54-51. But what a game it was.

First, that game showed that Butler’s guards can really guard, holding vaunted Buckeye Evan Turner to 14 points (making him take 10 shots to get them), and holding Turner’s athletic running mate David Lighty to 10. And behind Matt Howard’s 10 boards – now a sophomore and a burgeoning star, Howard seems to play better against better opponents – Butler was able to win the battle of the boards by one, 34-33. Above all, that game was the coming out party for freshman sensation Gordon Hayward, who’s fast becoming the star of this space, as well as of the Horizon, and of college basketball in the state of Indiana. With OSU in man-to-man all afternoon, and assigning forwards rather than guards to defend him, Hayward rewarded those of us who love his stroke by hitting 7 treys in the game (in 11 tries) for a total of 25 points. He also asserted himself on the boards (as he had at CSU with Howard in foul trouble), pulling down 7 rebounds. And he had a trey in the air at the final buzzer that would have tied the game.

The only questions I have left is how good Hayward will get this year (in the conference, in the conference tourney and beyond), how he’ll fair against UIC (now that he’s no longer a surprise), and whether Butler Coach Brad Stevens no longer has reason to expect that he’ll have Hayward around for a full four seasons.

For Cleveland State it was a mixed week, shooting just 33 percent in a ten-point loss in West Virginia (27 percent in the second half, and 25 percent from the arc), then improving in that category against rebuilding Marist (56 percent for the game), and then saving December with a win at then-11th ranked Syracuse on Monday night. Put aside that Syracuse isn’t anything close to the 11th-best team in America (that darned schedule-maker again, bringing a parade of Ivy and Patriot teams into the Carrier Dome so far this season), that Syracuse’s heralded 2-3 zone is the least mobile, least aggressive, and most permeable defense this writer has ever seen (just the opposite of the 1-1-3 match-up Coach Greg Kampe of Oakland used to nearly beat CSU in Cleveland), and that the Orange played this game with less intensity and emotion than any of us could imagine. Still, CSU was the better team on Monday night, and star forward J’Nathan Bullock rebounded from an 0-9 first half to shoot 8-12 in the second to keep CSU in the game and even get the Vikings a 5-point lead in the final minute.

After a trey and a put-back tied the score for Syracuse, CSU had the ball with 3 seconds left on its own baseline. The ball was inbounded to underperforming senior guard Cedric Jackson (who’d previously played in the Carrier Dome with St. John’s), and Jackson launched a 70-foot heave at the buzzer, which banked in (I thought you had to call “bank”) to give Coach Gary Waters a much needed win, 72-69.

In fairness, CSU could be viewed as “entitled” to those D-III’s coming into Wolstein, having already played Washington, Kansas State, Butler and West Virginia. Moreover, with Jackson severely disappointing over the first third of the season – he came in to the dome averaging just 9.4 and shooting 30 percent, 14 percent from the arc – perhaps that 70-foot heave will turn Jackson’s season around. Certainly, it put a smile on Ced’s face that hadn’t been there in weeks.

Elsewhere in the “first division,” Green Bay won its second home conference game, 66-59 over Wright State, beat Idaho State at home, lost at Wisconsin, and then lost a heartbreaker at home to Oakland, 79-76. (How good must Kampe be with 7 wins already, including road wins at Oregon and Green Bay, all without star senior forward Derick Nelson? Oh, if Nelson could somehow be ready for tomorrow afternoon’s “home” game against Michigan at the Palace…) And after beating Wright State at home for its second conference win, Milwaukee lost to Charlie Coles’ Miami team in Ohio, 69-45.

In the “second division,” Valpo lost at home to IPFW, and played Miami in Oxford tougher than Milwaukee did, losing 62-50. After losing at conference rival UIC, Loyola beat UMKC at home. And after losing its second conference game in Wisconsin (at Green Bay), Detroit also lost at Bowling Green before besting Aquinas.

After also losing its second conference game in Wisconsin (at Milwaukee), Wright State finally figured out how to win without injured all-conference selection Vaughn Duggins, beating Toledo at home, winning at Arkansas-Little Rock, playing tough and well in falling 66-53 at Wake Forest, and then making it 3 out of 4 by besting Norfolk State at home. And while for now residing in this writer’s “second division,” that recent “mini-run” of success combined with Duggins’ expected January return might combine to move the Raiders up into the “first division,” perhaps displacing one or the other of the Wisconsin schools.

Remember, while most pre-season publications predicted CSU atop the Horizon, expecting a healthy Vaughn USA Today preferred Wright State. Could this be one of those December injuries that helps a team succeed later on in conference play?

Lastly, after playing hard and shooting well in an 8-point home loss to Butler, YSU was competitive at Kent, losing 82-74. While sophomore wing Vytas Sulskis may be a “poor man’s Gordon Hayward,” junior guard Kelvin Bright may be a “poor man’s Shelvin Mack,” and senior center Jack Liles probably doesn’t quite qualify as a “poor man’s Matt Howard,” it appears Coach Jerry Slocum will get a lot out of this roster, and be competitive in conference play, at least at home.

Horizon News and Notes

• With exam breaks coming to an end around the league, there will some great games Christmas week. Valpo will host North Carolina at the United Center tomorrow (2 p.m. on ESPNU), Detroit will play at Illinois tomorrow evening, and Wright State begins three straight days of play in the San Juan Shootout, facing Oral Roberts tomorrow, and South Florida and Murray State Sunday and Monday. On Sunday YSU will play at Charlotte. On Tuesday night, the night before Christmas Eve, Butler will play at Xavier, a game also on ESPNU. And in a battle of preseason favorites in the Horizon and the MAC, and of Gary Waters’ old and new schools, also on Tuesday CSU will host Kent State.
• Merry Christmas, Horizon fans. And may Santa leave a wonderful season of conference games under all of our trees!

Horizon League Notebook – Conference Games in December

CLEVELAND – Coaches (present and former) come out differently about conference games in December. “Purists” are vehemently against, claiming this time of year is for learning and teaching, often claiming they’re not ready to begin conference play. A former (and still often) purist, I love league games in December, jumping right into games with real meaning and intensity.

Perhaps Homer Drew said it best the other night after Valparaiso lost its earliest conference opener ever to Cleveland State: “These early games are great when you’re playing mostly experienced juniors and seniors; they’re really brutal when you’re relying on freshmen.” Interestingly, Drew’s Crusaders must have gained some experience at CSU on Tuesday night, as they continued their road trip and won an all-important conference road game at Youngstown State last night.

So with the “Drew theory” on early conference games in mind, we focus on last night’s big game in Cleveland between Butler and Cleveland State.

Those of you who’ve read this space before know that at first this writer was skeptical about Butler: another non-athletic Princeton that says it defends, but really just holds the ball for 34 seconds. Then, I ventured out to Indy for an exhibition game, and after just thirty seconds, that skepticism was gone. The freshmen guards are far more athletic than last year’s group, Shelvin Mack can also shoot from the perimeter, and big, strong, tough center Matt Howard is now a sophomore. And then there is 6-8 freshman guard (that’s right, guard) Gordon Hayward, who led Brownsburg to an Indiana state championship last winter, and about whom former Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson should be more ashamed than he is about text messaging. In fact, only a former assistant coach and never a head coach, it was probably arrogant of me to say in an earlier piece that with the release and purity of his shot, his size, and his athleticism, Hayward is going to be a pro (a pro in this country, not overseas). Well, Butler came to Cleveland last night to open its conference schedule at 1-0 Cleveland State, and nothing happened in last night’s game to change my mind.

As high as this writer has been on Butler from the beginning, even with their undefeated non-conference November, last night’s game looked like an awfully tough spot. It was the first conference game for coach Brad Stevens’ freshmen, on the road, at preseason Horizon favorite CSU with its two preseason all-league seniors. In fact, I thought (and perhaps wrote somewhere) that while CSU will improve with next week’s eligibility of freshman guard Trevon Harmon, they were fortunate to get Butler in their gym in early December, before Stevens’ three starting freshmen could be ready. To this writer, last night was the night CSU had to win, given its advantage; by the time these two teams meat in Hinkle the last day of February, well by then Butler’s frosh will be much more formidable opponents.

So having expected Butler to be competitive but CSU to prevail, it now occurs to me that in losing 50-48 last night, CSU may have squandered the best chance it will have had to beat Butler for some time to come.

And Coach Gary Waters couldn’t have written a better script to start last night’s game, with Butler center Matt Howard forced to the bench for 15 first half minutes after two quick fouls. CSU built a seven-point halftime lead, which was then an eight-point lead fourteen minutes into the second stanza.

But just as scripture more than once foretold that “A child shall lead them,” eighteen-year-old Hayward stepped up in every phase of the game, and led a spirited Butler comeback, one ultimately resulting in Zach Hahn’s game-winning three-pointer in the final second. Butler didn’t hold a lead in the game from its 8-6 advantage at the five-minute mark, when Howard took a seat, until 47-46 after a Shawn Vanzant trey at 19:40 of the second. And then, after J’Nathan Bullock scored from the block against Howard at 19:55 to restore CSU’s lead, that trey by Hahn gave the Bulldogs a win in Wolstein at the final buzzer, 50-48. A win in a game as intense, physical and exciting as it was low scoring.

Not only did Howard pick up two fouls in the first five minutes, but he picked up his third as Bullock bulled toward the goal barely two minutes into the second half. Having played just seven minutes at that point and hardly contributed (no points and two rebounds at that juncture), Stevens took a calculated gamble and left Howard in the game with three fouls. And while he would play the rest of the game and not be whistled for his fourth, Howard never regained the ferociousness he’s known for, never regained the aggressiveness robbed by fouls. That tentativeness caused Howard to touch but fail to capture ten more than the seven rebounds he was credited for in the game, and lose the handle on dribbles and passes far more often than his two turnovers indicated. Howard finished with just two field goals, a total of seven points, and even two crucial missed free throws down the stretch.

But on this night of Howard’s worst game in memory, Hayward took a giant step in his development as a basketball player. Blanketed all night long by D’Aundray Brown, CSU’s best defender, this would not be a night Hayward would take over from the arc, finishing with just eight points on 2-7 shooting, just 1-2 from deep. But in an effort to relieve the defensive pressure applied to his smaller guards by CSU’s Cedric Jackson and Norris Cole, for much of the second half Stevens had Hayward handling the ball as his point guard.

And at the defensive end, when it again became clear that the greater threat posed by Cedric Jackson was at the goal rather than on the perimeter, Hayward defended Jackson for much of the second half, taking away most of Jackson’s half court penetration. In one crucial late second half sequence, on three trips down Hayward guarded Jackson outside, Bullock in the post, and then Jackson again outside, all three successfully. And with Howard first seated and then uncharacteristically docile, Hayward took over the boards, finishing with a game-high 12.

Then there were the last four minutes, when Hayward wouldn’t let his team lose. At the 16-minute mark he rebounded Shelvin Mack’s missed trey, was fouled on the follow, and made two free throws, cutting CSU’s lead to five. After CSU failed to convert on a minute-long possession, at the 17:30 mark Hayward hit a trey from the corner. Then a defensive board at 17:50, fouled at 18:20, hitting 1-of-2 from the line. Then great play in the final thirty seconds.

Down two, Hayward dribbled to his right across half court against pressure, saw Bullock’s failure to switch leave open guard Shawn Vanzant (playing 16 minutes for Ronald Nored this night), and made a long, quick accurate pass to his left to assist on Vanzant’s trey that put Butler in front.

Then, after Bullock responded with under 6 seconds remaining, Butler turned to Hayward to play the Tyus Edney role in this night’s drama. Again dribbling to his right across mid-court, Hayward found Hahn to his left behind the arc with a pass good enough for Hahn to catch in rhythm, shot fake Cole, and launch a trey with under a second on the clock. When the lefty’s shot went through, Hayward had assisted on his second trey in the final twenty seconds, and Butler had a most unlikely two-point win.

Stevens was proud that his team “never conceded defeat,” and particularly proud of “Gordon’s big play after big play” in the final minutes. While he was talking about the pass to Hahn when he said “that was a great pass by Hayward,” he just as easily could have been talking about the pass seconds earlier to Vanzant.

On the other end of the drama, Waters focused on opportunities lost playing much of the first half with Howard on the bench (“J’Nathan missed four layups in the first half”), five consecutive poor defensive possessions down the stretch, and late missed free throws (most of CSU’s twelve misses were in the last 8 minutes).

“We’re gonna have to steal one down the road we shouldn’t win, to make up for losing tonight,” Coach said. Well, it’s not a conference game, but tomorrow afternoon at West Virginia is as good a place as any for that.

Horizon News and Notes

• In the first big night of Horizon action, Valpo rebounded from its loss Tuesday in Cleveland and came back from a 9-point first half deficit, winning at Youngstown State 68-57. Home teams prevailed in Wisconsin, as Milwaukee bested Detroit 71-62, and Green Bay defeated Wright State 57-46. Now 0-5, Wright State will have go at least another month without junior point guard Vaughn Duggins, whose Thanksgiving Day practice broken finger was surgically repaired Wednesday.
• While the Cleveland and Indianapolis Horizon contingents (and ESPNU) properly focused on Butler-CSU as the big game this week, one perhaps even bigger – and more startling – was played down in Nashville. On Wednesday, Illinois-Chicago visited Vanderbilt and in a win Coach Jimmy Collins called “great for the Horizon League,” UIC not only upset the SEC’s Commodores, but did so handily, 74-55. Preseason Player-of-the-Year selection Josh Mayo hit 8-of -10 treys to score 30 (overall 11-20), backcourt running mate Robo Kreps scored 23 on an even more efficient 10-15 shooting, and Scott VenderMeer grabbed 11 rebounds.

Horizon League Notebook – Early Showdown between Butler and Cleveland State

No, they’re not the best team in the country as their RPI of 1 earlier this week suggested. (RPI rankings really are silly, especially early in the year.) And no, they’re not the 27th-best team in America as their Sagarin ranking suggests. Yes, like teams in higher conferences they’ve played 4 of their 5 games at home, only venturing away from the friendly confines of Hinkle to visit Drake to open the season. And no, they haven’t faced the Dukes, North Carolinas and Connecticuts of the world, with Northwestern near the bottom of the Big Ten having been their most serious opponent – and at home. But to the surprise of some, with three freshmen in Brad Stevens’ starting lineup, the Butler Bulldogs have completed the first portion of their non-conference schedule undefeated, and will bring a 5-0 record into Wolstein Center Thursday night to face preseason Horizon favorite Cleveland State.

As this writer projected after attending an exhibition game four weeks ago, this is a different kind of Butler team, quite frankly a more interesting and more exciting Butler team. It is one that will be able to play the more physical and athletic style often required to beat teams from major conferences. At least for the moment – until Gordon Hayward really gets going – they’re not the three-point shooting team we’ve come to expect Butler to be: the team’s 32 percent three-point shooting puts Butler more than two percentage points out of the nation’s top hundred. What they’re doing it with is solid defense, defense already better than that which led the Horizon in fewest points allowed the last three seasons.

As has been suggested a time or two in this space, points allowed can be a deceptive stat, as teams like Princeton, Dartmouth, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Butler (like the Super Bowl winning Giants with O.J. Anderson) can use all of the shot clock each time down the floor, control the ball for 25 of 40 minutes, and limit opposition possessions and attempts to a precious few. And respectfully, it is that style more than great individual man-to-man pressure that has caused Butler to lead the league in scoring defense in recent years. No more.

In the five games Butler has played, they’ve yielded an average of just 50 points, and never given up 60. Their opponents are shooting a combined 37 percent from the field (and 32 percent from the arc), and while the NCAA won’t publish statistics on defensive field goal percentage until tomorrow, I suspect that 37 percent number will be in America’s top ten, maybe top five. Focusing as I often do on the point guard position, while Alabama native Ronald Nored has struggled offensively (particularly from the line, where he’s started his career 4-14), it was the freshman’s stout defense more than anything else that turned defeat into victory against Northwestern on Wednesday night.

In the Northwestern game, Nored was assigned the task of defending the opposition’s best player, backcourt star Craig Moore, fresh off of a 31-point performance and Big Ten Co-Player of the Week honors. Putting in yeoman’s work at the defensive end, Nored held Moore to just 11 points, on 4-11 shooting, 3-8 from the arc. And if the other team’s radio broadcasters were on the money (isn’t it wonderful to listen to faraway college basketball on one’s car radio after dark this time of year), it was Nored’s defensive work more than anything else that allowed Butler to come back from a deficit that reached 12-points in the first half and was 9 at intermission, to defeat the Wildcats 57-53.

Offensively and on the boards, it is no surprise that star sophomore Matt Howard is leading the way, holding the fort until the freshmen are truly ready. Howard is tied for fifth in the league scoring 13.3 per game, is second in shooting percentage at 57.5 percent, and tied for seventh with 6.3 rebounds. More importantly (though not surprisingly), 6-8 freshman guard Gordon Hayward is on Howard’s heels in every category and also shoots threes: through the first five games of his career Hayward is tied for tenth in the conference in scoring at 12 points per game, fourth in field goal percentage at 51.6 percent, fourth in steals at 2 per game (this is a surprise), fifth in treys made with 2 per game, and sixth in three-point percentage at 44.4 percent; he’s also grabbing 5 rebound per game. In the backcourt, with 18 points on 8-11 shooting in yesterday’s win over Evansville (including 2-2 from the arc), Lexington’s Shelvin Mack has raised his scoring average to 12 per game, and will be listed among the conference’s top twenty scorers when conference stats are recalibrated tomorrow. And in addition to Ronald Nored’s stellar individual defense, he’s dished out 2.8 assists per game, tied for ninth in the Horizon.

So while this edition of the Bulldogs doesn’t quite shoot like recent groups did (Hayward excluded, and maybe Mack), they may already be among the best defensive teams that has patrolled Hinkle, and are destined to become over the next two years the best Butler team ever. That said, they should be good enough to compete at Cleveland State Thursday night (in CSU’s second conference game in three days, but just Butler’s first), though perhaps not yet ready for their freshman to beat the Vikings’ seniors in their gym. Then the Bulldogs will proceed down the road and be more ready for a conference road win at Youngstown State on Saturday night. All being held together by Matt Howard, as those three freshman get better and better and better.

Horizon News and Notes

• Saturday was a big day for conference teams as in addition to Butler’s 75-59 win over Evansville, Loyola beat Holy Cross 58-53, Detroit beat St. Louis 62-57, Wisconsin Green-Bay beat Massachusetts 84-67 and Illinois-Chicago beat Central Michigan 77-67. Not surprisingly, Wisconsin-Milwaukee lost in Madison to the Badgers, 67-46; Youngstown State was edged at home by St. Francis of Pennsylvania, 66-65. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that after yesterday’s 84-65 loss to Sam Houston State, Wright State will begin conference play 0-4 on the season.
• With many conferences now adding one or two pre-Christmas conference games, this week provides Horizon fans with a great taste of what January and February will be like. The conference schedule begins Tuesday night with just a singleton, Valparaiso at Cleveland State. Then four conference games tip off on Thursday: Valpo at Youngstown State, Butler at CSU, Detroit at Milwaukee and Wright State at Green Bay. Four more conference tilts come on Saturday: Butler at YSU, Wright State at Milwaukee, Detroit at Green Bay and Loyola at Illinois-Chicago. Enjoy your early taste!
• Note that Thursday’s game between Butler and Cleveland State in Cleveland will start at 8 pm, rather than CSU’s usual 7 pm, and be telecast nationally on ESPNU.