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.

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

UIC Flames 2011-12 Preview

UIC Flames (7-24, 2-14)

Projected starting five:

Sr. C Dorian Tyler
Sr. C Darrin Williams
Sr. F Paris Carter
Jr. G Gary Talton
So. F Hayden Humes

Important departures:

Robo Kreps: 15.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.9 apg
Paul Carter: 14.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.9 apg
Zavion Neely: 8.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.3 apg
Brad Birton: 5.6 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 1.6 apg

The Flames were hit hard by graduation. Robo Kreps, Paul Carter, Brad Birton, Zavion Neely, K.C. Robbins (4.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.5 apg), Jimmy Harding (0.6 ppg, 0.3 rpg, 0.2 apg), and Dipanjot Singh (5.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.2 apg) all graduated. Eddie Denard and Shawn King are no longer with the team. Guard Corey Gray (3.0 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 1.4 apg) transferred to Chicago State.

% returning scoring and rebounding:

Scoring: 19 percent
Rebounding: 36 percent

The Flames return one starter: Darrin Williams.

Additions:

Jerome Brown is a freshman guard and local product from Chicago who is known for his outside shooting. Marc Brown is a freshman guard from Texas who received all-state honors during his senior year. Ahman Fells is a freshman forward and local product from Chicago who helped his high school team win two consecutive state titles. Rob Robinson is a freshman swingman who is another Chicago product who played for a year at a prep school before joining the Flames. Will Simonton is a freshman center from Virginia who is known for his defensive prowess. Sammy Sutter is a freshman guard who was named to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) all-state team and who joined the team as a walk-on. Greg Travis is a freshman guard and yet another local product. Guard Gary Talton is a Juco transfer.

Schedule highlights:

The Flames’ biggest nonconference matchup is against Oregon State. During Horizon League play, the Flames face a tough three-game test of Butler, Milwaukee and Green Bay.

Prediction: The Flames, who are in a rebuilding mode, will finish 10th.

Next: Valparaiso Crusaders

Back to Horizon League preview

UIC Flames at Wright State

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notes:

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

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.

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 Notebook: If Wright State Manages to Recruit Some Players, Look Out

DAYTON, OHIO -   They defended so well the night before New Year’s Eve against Cleveland State that I couldn’t wait for my next chance to see them play;  that came last night in the Nutter Center in their conference game hosting Illinois-Chicago.  Not surprisingly, before the game I learned from former Raider star and current radio analyst Bob Grote that preseason All-Conference selection Vaughn Duggins, out with a broken finger since early December, would not return this year, and likely be a medical redshirt.  What was surprising was that Grote also told me that oft-injured junior guard John David Gardner strained his right hip in Thursday night’s win over Loyola, and might not play against UIC.  As it turned out, Gardner gutted out a start, limped through the first seven minutes, and never returned.  Yet somehow, no matter who was or wasn’t on the floor, WSU’s defense continued to improve, and without their two best players the Raiders dominated UIC, holding the Flames to 31 points in a 57-31 blowout, just 13 in the first half on 6-20 shooting.  And those 31 points allowed were, for the second time this year, the fewest allowed in the history of the Raider program.  (On December 9th the Raiders held Toledo to 35 points;  the low before that was the 37 Wright State held Ohio Northern to in 1974-75).

In holding UIC to 31, Coach Brownell’s forward line collectively held UIC 7 foot center Scott Vandemeer to 10 points, just 2 in the game’s final 28 minutes.  Even more impressive, Brownell’s guards, principally 6-3 senior Will Graham, held UIC’s prolific scoring guard Josh Mayo to 6 points on two treys, 11 points under his season average.  And oh yes, while this win was all about defense, and precious little offense was needed, Todd Brown, a 6-5 junior guard from Canton-McKinley High School, had the best offensive night of any Raider this season, scoring 23 of WSU’s 57 points, on 9-18 shooting, including 4-9 from the arc.

Having played for former Indiana assistant Royce Waltman at DePauw, coached under another former Knight assistant Jim Crews at Evansville, then coached under Waltman at the University of Indianapolis, Brad Brownell is very much a member of the Bob Knight coaching family tree.  And he has learned his man-to-man defense well.  When we wrote about Brownell’s Raiders after the win over Cleveland State, we compared the defense they play to that played by the Hoosiers in the late 70s and 80s, an era in which Indiana staffs spent more time drilling defense than they did later, a time when defense was still more important than motion offense.  As we’ve written here before, more like Butler’s defense than Cleveland State’s, Wright State’s man-to-man does not apply pressure all-over the court, plays from the arc to the basket (against some opponents a step closer than the arc), the guards are sound individually, keep their men in front of them, and when required the help angles and rotations are absolutely sound.

After the game I compared the defense with Indiana’s 25 or 30 years ago.  Coach responded that “that’s high praise.  We don’t always play as if we’re trapped in a bunker (implying that they often do).”  When I asked how the defense stays so good without his two best players, Coach responded this way:  “Duggins and Gardner are without question my toughest kids, and toughness is a talent.  Without them, well, the defense isn’t nearly as tough, as aggressive, but it remains fundamentally sound.  Tonight the kids dug in and played as good a 40-minutes of defense as we’ve done yet.”

Having attended Youngstown State’s home upset of Cleveland State just 24 hours earlier, the disparity in personnel in the league was on my mind, so I broached recruiting with Brownell.  Introducing the topic, I pointed out that Gardner was really Coach’s recruit at UNC-Wilmington (and he merely followed his coach to Ohio), and pointed out that he hasn’t exactly brought in the likes of Matt Howard, Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack at Butler, Josh Mayo at UIC or J’Nathan Bullock, Trey Harmon or Aaron Pogue at Cleveland State, Pogue being from Dayton.  Brownell acknowledged that he has yet to break through in his recruiting, pointing out all of the schools he’s recruiting against in-state, many with better basketball tradition and prettier campuses.  “Most of the MAC is here in Ohio, and that includes the MAC’s best programs.  And in our own city Dayton [of the Atlantic-10] has much more visibility.  We just have to keep improving, building our program, defending, and eventually the kids will come.”  Given how this group guards, look out for the Raiders once they get players as good as those at Dayton, Xavier, Miami, Kent, Akron and Cleveland State (never mind Ohio State and Cincinnati).

Finally, since we were talking about recruiting, and also about Indiana under Bob Knight, I asked Coach Brownell what he thought about an old statement about Knight, half compliment, half criticism, one I still don’t believe:  that Knight purposely didn’t recruit the best athletes in America, preferring to beat you with lesser players playing better defense.  Well, Brownell smiled, agreed that he didn’t believe the statement either, and repeated that “we’re doing our best to get kids who can apply more pressure, not play as passively, disrupt our opponents some, and perhaps even get a steal or two.”

On the other side of the coin, Jimmy Collins’ UIC team had wilted against WSU’s man-to-man defense, and Coach Collins was frustrated with his group.  “Wright State is a good team, and we quit.  UIC’s kids are individuals rather than a team right now, and we quit.  No one helps Mayo when he’s triple teamed, no one sets the picks they’re supposed to set, preferring to post up themselves and ask for the ball.  Our team is now selfish to a fault.  And we didn’t play hard, smart or together.”  That’s what Wright State’s defense can do to a team.

Finally, I think back to the non-conference season, when teams hadn’t figured out how to stop Mayo, and UIC had monster road wins at Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.  At the same time Wright State was losing at Wake Forest (though playing them even in the second half).  Now it’s a month or six-weeks later, Wright State is without either of its two best and toughest players, and it is the Raider defense that dominated UIC, causing them to quit.  Who knows what could happen if Brownell were ever able to bring big-time recruits into his program.

Horizon News and Notes:

• At the halfway point of its conference schedule, Wright State is a respectable 6-3.  Green Bay having fallen to Butler on Thursday, Milwaukee to both Butler and Valpo this weekend, and Cleveland State in its only game at Youngstown, fourth place WSU is now just one game behind 7-2 Green Bay for the coveted second spot in the conference, is even in losses and just half a game behind 7-3 Milwaukee, and is two full games ahead of 4-5 CSU.  And in the second half of its schedule, WSU has three of those four-Butler, Green Bay and Milwaukee-coming into the Nutter Center.
• The second half of Wright State’s schedule begins as the first half did, on the road, with games this week at Youngstown State on Thursday and at Cleveland State on Saturday.  And as the Vikings found out on Friday night, YSU can be pretty darned tough at home.  This writer will get to see WSU again on Saturday night in Cleveland, and then at home against Butler a week later on February 7th.  .