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

Wright State Raiders 2011-12 Preview

Wright State Raiders (19-14, 10-8)

Projected starting five:

So. F Cole Darling
Sr. F Johann Mpondo
So. F A.J. Pacher
So. G Matt Vest
So. G Vance Hall

Important departures:

Vaughn Duggins: 18.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.2 apg
N’gai Evans: 13.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.3 apg
Troy Tabler: 10.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.8 apg
Cooper Land: 8.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.7 apg

The Raiders lost more talent than any other team in the Horizon League. Their main losses include Vaughn Duggins, N’gai Evans, Troy Tabler and Cooper Land.

% returning scoring and rebounding:

Scoring: 28 percent
Rebounding: 54 percent

Two starters return for the Raiders: Cole Darling and Johann Mpondo

Additions:

Brooklyn Bradley is a freshman guard who is a hometown product from Dayton, Ohio. Reggie Arceneaux is a freshman guard from North Carolina who was named to the NC Preps Class 4A All State Team. Jason Cuffee is a freshman guard from West Virginia who was first-team all-state in West Virginia. Stephen Gossard is a freshman forward from Ohio who is not expected to contribute immediately. Kendall Griffin is a freshman guard from Indiana who has been recognized by the Wright State coaching staff for his defense. Alex Pritchett is a freshman forward from Indiana who is a hard-working, physical post player. Tavares Sledge is a freshman forward from Alabama who has been described as having a unique blend of size and athleticism. Ulysses Thomas is a freshman guard and local product from Cincinnati who will play point guard for the Raiders.

Schedule highlights:

The Raiders’ biggest nonconference matchup is their first game of the year against Ohio State. In Horizon League play, the Raiders face a tough three-game patch of Butler, Milwaukee and Valparaiso.

Prediction: The Raiders lost an enormous amount of talent to graduation, and it will take some time for them to return to their previous level. They will finish eighth.

Next: Youngstown State Penguins

Back to Horizon League preview

Scary Good

Butler Rolls in Horizon League Championship

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wright State, Butler Advance to Finals Once Again

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Butler Stops Milwaukee to Advance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hill led Milwaukee with 15 points.

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

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

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

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

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

Notes

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

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

Bracket Buster: Northeastern Shuts Down Wright State

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Game notes:

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

UIC Flames at Wright State

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Notes:

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

Wright State Shuts Down Loyola

DAYTON, Ohio – Another day, another defensive gem for the Wright State Raiders as they held Loyola to 29.4 percent shooting for the game and 15.4 percent in the second half to get a homecourt win, 68-47.

The final score was not a true indication of how tight the game was until the end. It took a Wright State defensive lock-down that held Loyola scoreless from the 9:46 mark until there was 2:02 left in the game to put the Ramblers away for good. In the same time frame the Raiders were not exactly shooting lights out, but they did manage to score 14 points thanks to their foul shooting, which accounted for nine of those points.

Loyola’s Walt Gibler finally got some points on the board to end the scoring drought when he made two free throws after getting fouled by Will Graham. Two more free throws by Loyola’s Courtney Stanley and the Ramblers were done scoring for the game. They made just four field goals in the second half.

“Their defense is very good, we had to have better ball movement and defend better against the three,” said Loyola coach Jim Whitesell. “We have to rebound better too. We played well for spurts, we just didn’t have enough good minutes to beat Wright State.”

Wright State (11-8, 5-3 Horizon) held a 41-30 lead at the half. The Ramblers came out and went on a 10-3 run in the first five minutes to cut the lead to 44-40 on a layup by J. R. Blount, another by Gibler and a 3-pointer by Justin Cerasoli. After that Loyola (11-9, 3-5 HL) scored just seven more points in the game.

For Wright State, in the second half Cory Cooperwood came alive to score 10 points after not scoring in the first half.

In the first half Cerasoli hit a 3-pointer 52 seconds into the game to give Loyola their biggest lead of the game at 3-0. The score went back and forth until with 11:26 left in the first half Loyola had a 17-15 lead, then 43 seconds later when Wright State’s Todd Brown hit a 3-pointer to give the Raiders the lead that would hold the rest of the game.

The game plan the Raiders used worked well. Wright State coach Brad Brownell wanted his team to concentrate on rebounding and defending Loyola’s guards and it worked pretty well with the Raiders holding a 38-30 rebounding edge and keeping Loyola’s guards from scoring in double figures.

He said, “We did what we were trying to do. Their guards are so good, you are trying to keep them from penetrating. Then you want to keep them off the glass. Offensively we tried to be aggressive and try to have a little better flow.”

Notes

• Wright State has won 11 of the last 13 games, losing only to ranked programs, Wake Forest and Butler, both on the road.
• When Loyola scores at least 70 points, good things happen. Last year the Ramblers were 7-0 hitting the 70 mark. Dating back to the 2005-06 season they are 17-2 when scoring 70 and this year they are 5-1.
• Wright State leads the all-time series 16-14.
• Loyola’s next game is on Saturday at Detroit at 1:05 p.m., and it is televised on Fox Sports Detroit.
• Wright State’s next game is Saturday against UIC at home at 7 p.m.

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.

Butler Fends Off Wright State

INDIANAPOLIS – It is a typical year in the Horizon League, the tenth ranked conference according to the RPI rankings. Butler is rolling along coming into the game 12-1 and a perfect 3-0 in Horizon League play.

Wright State has won eight of their last nine games after their typical slow start. Well, it was a little more severe than their typical slow start – the Raiders started off 0-6 with injuries to three key players. Cleveland State, Milwaukee and Green Bay are all in the thick of things too in the Horizon League race.

The Raiders are back on track just in time to visit Butler’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse and face the 21st ranked team in the Associated Press national poll. Butler comes into tonight’s game 6-0 at home this year.

There is some good news for the Raiders: they are 9-3 versus Butler in the last 12 games. Wright State has won at Butler in 2002, ’04 and ’05.

It didn’t take long in this game to see that Wright State was going to have their hands full with this Butler team.

When a team makes three more baskets and eight more foul shots than their opponent, then they are going to win, and tonight that team was Butler, as they defeated Wright State 64-48.

Tonight it was all Butler, all the time, as they scored the first basket and never allowed the Wright State (8-8, 2-3 HL) to get a lead.

Against tough defense by the Raiders Butler was masterful as they spread the defense, forcing the Raider defenders to come out and defend Gordon Hayward, Willie Veasley, Shelvin Mack and Shawn Vanzant, because any of them could sink a 3-pointer in a heartbeat. That opened up the middle for Matt Howard. When the defense collapsed on Howard, he kicked the ball back out to an open player on the perimeter.

To further complicate things for the Wright State’s defense Gordon Hayward is a 6′ 8″ perimeter player that can shoot over or pass around most defenders.

This all adds up to one big headache for any team’s defense, even a very good defense like Wright State’s.

Butler (13-1, 4-0) started the game with a jump shot by Veasley, a layup by Ronald Nored and a layup by Howard. He was fouled by Cory Cooperwood and he made the foul shot for the three-point play.

Then it started raining 3-pointers as Hayward made two and Vanzant hit one to put Butler up 18-7 at the 12:47 mark. With 3:35 left Butler went up by 20 points at 34-14 when Hayward again hit a 3-pointer.

Wright State clawed back as N’Gai Evans hit a 3-pointer followed by two foul shots from Kyle Pressley and two from Will Graham to make it a 13 point Butler lead at 34-21 at halftime.

“We got beat early, Butler came out and made shots and put us back on our heels. We don’t have quite the firepower of some teams in the league,” explained Brownell. “When Butler made their first few shots and we weren’t scoring it gave Butler some confidence to build on.”

In the second half Butler came out and scored the first five points to go up by 18 points at 39-21. Wright State fought and clawed as they got the lead down to eight points on a layup by John David Gardner at the 7:26 mark.

The Bulldogs went back to work and built the lead back up to 18 points largely on free throws at 62-44 with 3:08 left.

Butler only committed eight turnovers which Butler coach Brad Stevens pointed out is how they win games.

“We shot it or got fouled every possession but eight, when we turned it over, and that is a formula for success,” he said. “This is a team (Wright State) you never feel confident with since they are so tough on both ends of the court.”

Butler held the Raiders to 33.4 percent shooting percentage for the game and Wright State held Butler to 44.2 percent shooting.

Stevens pointed to defense and execution as two areas of play he stresses.

“One of the things you are always thinking about is defense. You just have to play and execute on every procession,” he said.

Brownell certainly liked Butler’s defense.

“The thing that is misleading is their defense is good. Their defense is really good and I think that gets over-looked in the offensive numbers,” said Brownell.

Notes

• Wright State has handed Butler three of its last nine losses. The Raiders were one of just four teams to defeat the Bulldogs last season, and the only team to beat Butler twice in 2006-07.
• Butler entered this week with the most wins of any Division I team in Indiana. The Bulldogs have led the state of Indiana in victories in each of the last three seasons.
• The Bulldogs are 11-3 in their last 13 games against schools from BCS conferences.
• Butler is the only team in the Horizon League without a senior on the roster.
• Butler leads the all-time series 18-15.
• Butler’s next game is Saturday at 2 p.m. against Detroit.

Horizon Notebook: Brownell Leads Wright State Back Into Race

CLEVELAND -  There are some really good coaches in the Horizon League.  Jimmy Collins was really good back when I was on a staff that faced him in the late 90s, and has been to 3 NCAAs and an NIT since.  Homer Drew is a legend at Valpo (and could pass for a man twenty years his junior).  Brad Stevens at Butler appears to be the best young coach in the country.  I’ve watched Gary Waters build Kent and improve Rutgers, and his teams defend awfully hard.  Ray McCallum was super at Ball State, and will rebuild Detroit.  And then there’s Brad Brownell at Wright State.  Having spent the last two years covering the Colonial Athletic Association, I missed Brownell’s time at UNC-Wilmington, but heard the whispers about how terrific a coach he was.  During four seasons at UNCW, Brownell won 83 games and two CAA Conference Tournaments;  now in two years at WSU, Brownell has won 44 games, and upset Butler to capture the 2007 Horizon Tournament.  That’s 3 NCAA tournament appearances in six seasons.  And the job he’s done to reach 7-7 this year at Wright State might be his best ever.

Coming into this season, returning the top two players and three starters from a group that tied Cleveland State for second, including preseason first team all-conference selection Vaughn Duggins, Brownell’s team was picked near the top of the Horizon, and at the top by the only publication not naming CSU (USA Today).  They started slowly, losing by eight to now 13-0 Illinois State, in overtime on the road at Central Michigan (before it was as cold up there as it is now), to Charlie Coles’ rugged Miami team, and in Texas at Sam Houston State.  Then the unthinkable happened, as Duggins broke a finger in practice prior to the December 4 conference opener at Green Bay (Duggins could return next Thursday for the game at Butler).  Duggins-less conference losses at Green Bay and Milwaukee made the season-opening record 0-6.  Then a home win against rebuilding Toledo, a big road win at Arkansas-Little Rock, and as good a loss as one could have at now No. 6 Wake Forest, 66-53.  Four more wins, one against Norfolk State and three at the San Juan Shootout, those three including a thrashing of the Big East’s South Florida.  So with nationally ranked Dayton getting 90% of the local press (Dayton is ranked Nos. 20 and 23 in the polls this week), the Raiders were 6-7 as they resumed conference play Tuesday night hosting Cleveland State.

While Wilmington fans the last two-plus seasons have seen a team reminiscent of Paul Westhead’s at Loyola Marymount, fans in southeast North Carolina mostly remember good Seahawk defense under Brownell.  Wright State fans have seen the same thing these past two years, and it is that part of the game that started coming together in Winston-Salem, holding Wake Forest to 66 in a loss, and in four subsequent wins holding every opponent in the 40s.  Now, Wright State doesn’t play its man-to-man defense the way Cleveland State does;  the Raiders look more like the Indiana teams of the late 70s and 80s, picking up at the three-point line, tucking in, guarding the goal (yes, I know there was no three-point line back in the 70s and early 80s).

Brownell likely having watched Butler’s win at CSU dozens of times, Tuesday night a Duggins-less Wright State team dominated the game against Cleveland State with its half-court defense.  In fact, that defense was so good to start the game, WSU clamped down so hard at the defensive end, that at the 13½ minute mark Cleveland State had scored only 6 points, on J’Nathan Bullock’s two field goals, in 16 CSU shot attempts.  Using that defense to jump out to a thirteen-point lead, WSU was never headed, and the game was not nearly as close as the final score of 71-62.  Now they play Youngstown State at home on Saturday, and then MAY get Duggins back before next week’s Butler/Valpo road trip.

Now 7-7 (1-2 in conference) after starting 0-6, the Wright State “no-names” have also improved of late on offense.  Guard John David Gardner-he played well enough Tuesday night for me to use all three names-was first recruited by Brownell from Homewood, Alabama High School to UNC-Wilmington, played just seven games due to injury in 2005-06, followed his coach to Wright State, sat out 2006-07, and was again sidelined last winter by injuries, playing in just 11 games.  Now a junior and finally healthy, the 6-4 guard is now defending like crazy, scoring 9 points per game, shooting 47% (36% from the arc) and handing out 4 assists compared to just 2 turnovers per game.   6-7 forward Cory Cooperwood is scoring 10 points per game, shooting 50%, and grabbing 5 rebounds.  And 6-5 junior guard Todd Brown is averaging 6 points, not yet shooting a good percentage, and grabbing 4 boards per game.  But it is a total team effort, at both ends of the floor.  And Duggins is almost ready to return.

This writer showed up Tuesday night knowing only that Duggins is out, and that “that kid with three names” earned MVP honors in San Juan but still scores in single figures.  And while none of the current players jumped out as all-conference material, I haven’t seen a team play more soundly, more AS A TEAM, in a long time.  In the first half, the half in which the methodical pace was set and both teams came to believe that Wright State could prevail, the Raiders played a nearly perfect defensive 20 minutes, holding CSU to 22% shooting.  And only a miracle shot-clock beating trey near the end of the half by CSU’s Eric Schiele, which became a four-point play on a bad foul, got CSU into the 20s at the half, trailing 27-22.  And in the second half, with CSU pressing, lunging, reaching and fouling, the Wright State kids put on an offensive clinic, beating overplays with back door cuts, and hitting medium range jumpers, twice leading by 13, and with the game firmly in hand at the last media timeout winning comfortably by 9.

After the game Brownell deflected questions about regaining .500 (at 7-7) after an 0-6 start, responding that “we just play each game.”  When I asked about integrating Duggins with the current group when he’s ready, Coach responded merely that “we’ll see how he practices, and go from there.”  Coach wouldn’t rule out that, in consultation with the young man and his family, he may yet make Duggins a medical redshirt, but I got the idea everyone would like to see the preseason all-conference selection play again this year, and also see just how good this team can be when coach gets his leading scorer integrated with the current “no-name” group.

Based on Coach’s responses, I can’t imagine Duggins playing Saturday at home against Youngstown State (a YSU team that managed a two-point win AT Detroit on New Year’s Day), but I do think we could see him off the bench at Butler next Thursday.  Now, I’m not sure Duggins will be in all-conference form his first night back, but he just might be ready by the time Illinois-Chicago gets to Dayton on January 24.  And then for games at Cleveland State on January 31 and at home against Butler on February 7.  This writer is gonna try to get to both of those games, and Horizon fans in southern and northern Ohio might make a point of catching one or the other.

Horizon News and Notes:

• When this writer saw YSU play Butler tough at home a few weeks back, I suggested that Coach Slocum might be awfully competitive at home in the conference.  Well, what do I know, as the Penguins managed to win their first road conference game yesterday in Detroit.
• In a conference more impressive each week than the week before, Wisconsin-Milwaukee went into Chicago and bested high-flying UIC Tuesday night, 71-66.  The Panthers featured a balanced offensive attack, with Avery Smith, Tone Boyle, Ricky Franklin and Tony Meier scoring 15, 14, 13 and 12, respectively.  Perhaps more impressively, Milwaukee’s backcourt defended Josh Mayo so well that he had to take 17 shots to score 18 points;  and by holding Scott Vandermeer to 9 rebounds (to go with his 16 points), Milwaukee kept the rebounding close, UIC only winning that category 38-33.
• And continuing to play a rough and tumble schedule, now-25th ranked Butler came back from an 11-point first half deficit to defeat Alabama-Birmingham at home Tuesday night, 72-68.  Freshman guard Shelvin Mack from Lexington, some nights outshined by fellow freshman Gordon Hayward, fueled the early second half comeback with 5 treys, and finished tying his high of 22.  Sophomore center Matt Howard chipped in 19 points, and Hayward grabbed 9 rebounds.

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 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!

Wright State Finally Wins

DAYTON – Wright State finally broke out of their losing streak and even set a new record for the fewest points allowed as they beat Toledo 50-35 at the Nutter Center.

It wasn’t pretty, unless you liked defense, but it broke Wright State’s longest losing streak to start a season since joining the ranks of Division I just 21 years ago.

As for Toledo (2-7) it was another dent in first year coach Gene Cross’ rebuilding job.

Midway through the first half Wright State’s Cory Cooperwood took a feed from Scott Grote and hit a jump shot to put the Raiders up 8-7, a lead they held for the rest of the game. At halftime Wright State (1-6) held a four-point lead at 20-16.

The Raiders came out and went on an 11-2 run during the first 13 minutes to go up 31-18 and the game was never in doubt after that.

“The first few minutes (of the second half) they smashed us around,” said Cross. “They imposed their will upon us, instead of us imposing it on them. When you turn the ball over 26 times it is hard to win.”

The 26 turnovers had a lot to do with the Raiders’ tight defense. The 26 turnovers were almost twice as many as they had field goals (14). The Raiders’ defense held the Rockets to a measly 29.2 percent (14-48) shooting. Normally the Rockets are one of the better shooting teams in the MAC, averaging 43.6 percent.

The Raiders shot just 37.7 percent (20-53), which has been a problem for them all year. But tonight the Raiders lived off of their defense and that was enough to get by the Rockets.

Wright State coach Brad Brownell cited defense as the key to wining the game since the offense was still a little sub-par.

“It wasn’t pretty, but if you like defense it was pretty,” explained Brownell. “It was an outstanding defensive effort.”

The Rockets’ star player, Tyrone Kent, took just six shots and made two of them. No Toledo player scored in double figures on the night.

For Wright State, John David Gardner scored 12 points and Ronnie Thomas pulled down 12 rebounds.

Notes

• Toledo leads the series 5-4.
• Raider sick bay report: leading scorer Vaughn Duggins had surgery on his ring finger of his right hand on December 4th and hopes to return after the first of the year. Kyle Pressley has a sprained right ankle and did not play tonight. He is listed as day-to-day. Troy Tabler separated his left shoulder in practice and is listed as day-to-day. He did not dress against Toledo.
• With all the injuries Wright State added Michael Boan from Reynoldsburg, OH as a walk-on. He saw his first action tonight when he came in for the last minute.
• Wright State won the first game ever played against Toledo 67-66, and then lost the second game 75-73 while they were still a Division II power.
• Toledo’s next game is at home against Houston on December 20 at 7 p.m.
• Wright State’s next game is Friday at Arkansas-Little Rock at 8 p.m.

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.  .