Men's Basketball Release #10

Jan. 7, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Horizon League Player of the Week

John Barber, Youngstown State
Senior * Forward * Detroit, Mich. (Renaissance)
John Barber averaged a double-double of 21 points and 10.5 rebounds to lead Youngstown State past UIC and Loyola last week. He posted career-high totals of 24 points and 15 rebounds against the Flames on Thursday, powering YSU to an 80-68 victory. Barber came back with 18 points and six boards Saturday as the Penguins defeated Loyola, 71-61. For the week, he shot 52 percent from the field while playing 77 of the 80 minutes.

Josh Mayo, UIC (Nov. 12); Cedric Jackson, CSU (Nov. 19); Mike Green, BU (Nov. 26); Matt Howard, BU (Dec. 3); Josh Mayo, UIC (Dec. 10); Samuel Haanpää (Dec. 17); Ryan Tillema, GB (Dec. 24), Todd Brown, WSU (Dec. 31).

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending January 6

Mike Green, Butler
Sr. * G * Philadelphia, Pa.
Green scored 24 points with eight rebounds and a career-high five steals to lead the Bulldogs past Valparaiso, 73-65, on Saturday. He was 4-of-5 from the field with three treys and 11-of-14 at the line while also handing out four assists.

J'Nathan Bullock, Cleveland State
Jr. * F * Flint, Mich.
Bullock averaged 14 points and 7.5 rebounds as CSU moved into first place in the League standings. He scored nine of his 12 points in the final 5:06 against Loyola on Thursday, and paced the Vikings with 16 points against UIC on Saturday.

Jon Goode, Detroit
Sr. * G * Flint, Mich.
Goode matched his season-high with 25 points in Saturday's 55-53 loss at Milwaukee. He scored 13 of UDM's final 14 points in that contest, following a 19-point outing in a loss at Green Bay on Thursday.

Ryan Tillema, Green Bay
Jr. * G * Randolph, Wis.
Tillema averaged 20 points in two victories, hitting 13-of-19 shots from the field. He posted 23 points with five treys during an 8-for-10 night against Detroit on Thursday, and added 17 points to lift the Phoenix past Wright State on Saturday.

J.R. Blount, Loyola
Jr. * G * Milwaukee, Wis.
Blount averaged 14 points and 3.5 assists in two road contests last week. He scored 16 points versus Youngstown State on Saturday, following a 12-point, five-assist effort against Cleveland State on Thursday.

Paige Paulsen, Milwaukee
Sr. * F * Custer, S.D.
Paulsen hit the game-winning three-pointer to give UWM a 55-53 victory over Detroit on Saturday, capping a night that featured 17 points and six rebounds. He also had 15 points in Thursday's victory over Wright State.

Karl White Jr., UIC
Sr. * G * Omaha, Neb.
White scored a career-high 21 points at Youngstown State on Thursday. He made eight of 17 shots from the field and four of six free-throw attempts to reach the 20-point mark for the second game in a row.

Jarryd Loyd, Valparaiso
Sr. * G * Lincolnwood, Ill.
Loyd averaged 17 points in two games. He led Valpo with 19 points and nine assists in Wednesday's rout of Indiana Wesleyan, and added 15 points against Butler on Saturday. Loyd was 13-of-21 from the field in the two games.

Todd Brown, Wright State
So. * G * Canton, Ohio
Brown collected 45 points in two games, canning seven three-pointers among his 17-of-34 effort from the floor. He scored 24 points in a 52-49 loss at Green Bay on Saturday following a 21-point effort against Milwaukee on Thursday.

News From Around the League

Vikings sit alone atop League standings
Cleveland State starts the week in sole possession of first place, owning a 3-0 League record and 10-5 overall mark after defeating Loyola 63-55 on Thursday and posting a 68-51 victory over UIC on Saturday. The Vikings have won six of their last eight games.

CSU already has matched last year's totals for victories (10-21) and League wins (3-13). The 3-0 League ledger is the program's best start in loop play since opening the 1999-2000 campaign at 4-0 in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. The 10-5 overall start is also CSU's best since an 11-4 mark in 1992-93.

Junior forward J'Nathan Bullock averaged 14 points and 7.5 rebounds for the week. He ranks sixth in the League at 6.5 rebounds per game while also averaging 14.4 points per outing. He made his 50th consecutive start Saturday, and needs 48 points to reach the 1,000 mark for his career.

Senior guard Kevin Francis provided a spark off the bench with averages of 10.5 points and eight rebounds for the week, including a career-best 13 boards versus UIC.

Cleveland State attempts to re-write history with this week's travels. On Thursday, CSU travels to Detroit---a city where the Vikings have never won in 20 previous attempts (including 0-19 at Calihan Hall). Cleveland State closes the week at Wright State on Saturday.

Phoenix wins at home, hits the road again
Green Bay improved to 9-5 overall and 3-1 in League play after a pair of home-court victories last week. The Phoenix ran past Detroit 78-52 on Thursday and then held off Wright State for a 52-49 triumph on Saturday, moving to 6-0 at the Resch Center in 2007-08.

Saturday's victory lifted Green Bay to 5-0 in games decided by seven points or fewer. The 101 points allowed are also the fewest given up in back-to-back games since the 2003-04 season. The Phoenix limited both teams to 19-of-56 shooting (33.9 percent) from the field.

Green Bay shot 58 percent against Detroit---the fifth time this season the Phoenix has finished over 50 percent. Saturday's contest saw the hosts shoot just 37 percent but outscore Wright State 16-5 at the free-throw line.

Junior guard Ryan Tillema led the Phoenix in scoring in both games, posting 23 points against UDM and 17 versus the Raiders. Tillema's effort on Thursday featured eight-of-ten shooting from the field with five three-pointers. He is averaging 22.5 points in his last four outings, and 12.2 for the season. Junior forward Mike Schachtner leads Green Bay in scoring, ranking third in the League at 17.6 points per contest.

The Phoenix is on the road for a pair of games this week. Green Bay's contest at Butler on Thursday airs nationally on ESPNU, before the Phoenix travels to Valparaiso on Saturday.Bulldogs keep rolling along
Butler stands at 13-1 overall and 2-1 in League play after defeating Valparaiso 73-65 on Saturday. It was only the fourth home game of the year for Butler, which climbed to 14th in both the Associated Press national poll and the latest ESPN/USA Today canvass.

Butler's start matches the best 14-game ledger in school history, and the Bulldogs are 42-8 since the start of the 2006-07 campaign.

Butler hit a season-high 28 of 33 free throws Saturday, marking the fifth game in a row in which the Bulldogs made at least 20 charity tosses. BU has outscored its opponents 118-58 from the stripe during that span, which coincides with the team's five-game winning streak.

Freshman forward Matt Howard scored 12 points Saturday for his fifth double-figure outing in a row. He averages 11.8 points per game for the season, joining senior guards Mike Green (15.6) and A.J. Graves (15.5) and senior forward Pete Campbell (11.3) in double figures.

Green matched his career-high with 24 points against Valpo while adding eight rebounds, four assists and five steals. He ranks second in the League with a rate of 4.86 assists per game,

Butler faces a busy week, starting Monday at Loyola. The Bulldogs return home Thursday to meet Green Bay in front of a national (ESPNU) television audience before renewing its rivalry with Milwaukee on Saturday.

Crusaders suffer first Horizon League loss
Valparaiso brings an 11-4 overall record into the week, falling to 2-1 in the League with a 73-65 loss at Butler on Saturday. The Crusaders' ledger also includes a 93-46 rout of Indiana Wesleyan on Wednesday.

Valpo outscored IWU 53-18 in the second half of that game to reach the 11-win earlier than any Crusader team since at least 1946-47.

Senior guard Jarryd Loyd paved the way with 19 points and nine assists Wednesday, and led Valpo with 15 points and five helpers versus Butler. He leads the team in both categories (11.9 and 3.53, respectively)---with the latter number ranking fifth in the League---despite coming off the bench in all 15 games this season.

Valpo leads the League in scoring offense (73.9 points per game) and field-goal percentage (.469), boasting a balanced attack with four double-digit scorers. Senior guard Shawn Huff adds 11.3 points per game, with sophomore guard Samuel Haanpää at junior forward Urule Igbavboa at 11.2 and 10.2. Igbavboa also stands fifth on the League rebounding chars with a norm of 6.5 caroms per contest.

Valpo, which is 6-0 at home but 5-4 away from the ARC this season, puts a 13-game homecourt winning streak on the line this week, hosting Milwaukee on Thursday and Green Bay on Saturday. Only ten Division I teams have longer current home-court streaks than Valparaiso.

Penguins build winning streak
Youngstown State has won three games in a row, improving to 6-7 overall and 2-1 in League play after defeating UIC 80-68 on Thursday and getting past Loyola 71-61 on Saturday. YSU swept the Chicago schools in consecutive games for the first time in history.

Senior forward John Barber had a career night against UIC, posting collegiate-highs of 24 points and 15 rebounds in the victory for his second double-double of the season. He ranks third in the League at 6.7 rebounds per game while adding 13.9 points per outing to support senior guard Byron Davis (14.5).

Freshman guard Vytas Sulskis registered a career-high 26 points Thursday, the third-best single-game total by a YSU freshman since the program moved to Division I in 1981.

The Penguins have attempted 142 free throws in their last five games after getting to the line only 132 times in the first eight games.

YSU faces a busy schedule this week, beginning Monday at home against Milwaukee. The Penguins then hit the road, traveling to Wright State on Thursday and visiting Detroit on Saturday. A victory at home Monday would give the Penguins their first four-game winning streak since November 2000.

The Penguins have lost seven in a row at WSU since their last win there in 1994, while Youngstown State is 0-10 all-time at Detroit.

Flames' road woes continue
UIC brings a three-game losing streak into the week, slipping to 8-7 overall and 22 in League play with an 80-68 loss at Youngstown State on Thursday and a 68-51 setback at Cleveland State on Saturday. The Flames have lost seven of nine games away from home this season.

UIC shot a season-low 28.6 percent from the field (16-of-56) and was outrebounded 44-30 at Cleveland State. Senior guard Karl White Jr. led UIC with a season-high 21 points against Youngstown State.

The Flames lead the League in three-point shooting (.428) this season, including a 54.6 percent mark (65-of-119) at home. UIC is just 54-of-159 (34 percent) behind the arc on the road, however. That disparity is also apparent in overall field-goal accuracy with the Flames at 54 percent (180-of-333) at home but 40.6 percent (205-of-505) away from the Pavilion.

Junior guard Josh Mayo ranks second in the League with a 17.9 points-per-game scoring pace, one of six categories in which he stands among the circuit's top ten. He is the only Flame in double figures.

Junior center Scott VanderMeer logged five blocked shots Saturday---his fifth such outing of the year---and remains atop the League charts with a rate of 2.80 rejections per game.

UIC is idle until Saturday, when the Flames host cross-town rival Loyola.Panthers return to win column
Milwaukee enters the week on a four-game winning streak, leveling its overall (7-7) and League (2-2) records with a 75-64 victory over Wright State on Thursday and a 55-53 triumph against Detroit on Saturday. UWM had lost six in a row immediately before the current streak. which is the program's longest run of success since the end of the 2005-06 campaign.

The Panthers canned a season-high 12 three-pointers against Wright State and used the trey to defeat Detroit two days later. Senior forward Paige Paulsen's triple with three seconds left in regulation was the difference as Milwaukee erased a 14-point deficit in the final 6:43. It was the third time this year the Panthers have come back from a double-digit hole to claim a victory.

Paulsen leads the team in scoring (14.9 points per game, ninth-best in the League) and rebounding (6.4, sixth on that loop chart).

Junior guard Ricky Franklin had a career-high 24 points Thursday. Franklin had hit double digits in only three of UWM's first 11 games with a season-high of 14 points, but made eight of 11 shots from the field including five three-pointers. Franklin averages 9.2 points per game for the season.

UWM opens a four-game road swing Monday at Youngstown State, before traveling to Valparaiso on Thursday and visiting Butler on Saturday.

Raiders drop a pair on the road
Wright State dropped to 8-5 overall and 1-3 in the League, losing 75-64 at Milwaukee on Thursday and falling 52-49 at Green Bay on Saturday.

The Raiders matched their season-low with seven turnovers against UWM but also had their worst shooting night of the year with 33.9 percent accuracy from the field.

Senior forward Scottie Wilson has moved into the top spot on the League rebounding charts at 7.2 boards per game, with senior forward Jordan Pleiman boasting a loop-best .593 field-goal percentage.

Sophomore guards Todd Brown and Vaughn Duggins average 16.1 and 14.5 points per game, respectively, with Brown's rate ranking fourth in the League. He has six 20-point games this season, including each of the last five. Brown had 21 points against Milwaukee and posted 24 at Green Bay.

Duggins left Saturday's game early with a sprained foot, with junior forward Gavin Horne also sidelined with a sprained ankle. Sophomore guard John David Gardner could return to action this week after being injured against Belmont on Dec. 29.

The Raiders return to the Nutter Center this week, hosting Youngstown State on Thursday and facing League front-runner Cleveland State on Saturday.

Ramblers come up empty on Ohio trip
Loyola carries a 5-9 overall mark, including a 1-3 League ledger, following two losses in northeast Ohio. The Ramblers fell 63-55 at Cleveland State on Thursday and had a comeback bid fall short in Saturday's 71-61 loss at Youngstpwn State. Loyola has now lost six consecutive games away from the Gentile Center.

Junior forward Leon Young did not travel to Ohio due to a case of pneumonia. Junior Darrin Williams has started in Young's place for the last three games, and posted a career-high 21 points with eight rebounds at CSU. WIlliams entered that game with only 42 points in his collegiate career.

Junior guard J.R. Blount started his 50th consecutive game at YSU, and needs seven points to hit the 900 mark for his career. He leads Loyola with a rate of 14.9 points per game, while Young is second in the League at 7.1 rebounds per outing.

Senior forward Tracy Robinson registered a career-high 19 points at YSU.

Loyola ends a stretch of three games in five days Monday, hosting Butler. The teams met three times last year, with the games decided by a total of nine points. Two went to overtime, including BU's one-point victory in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship.

Loyola closes the week Saturday, visiting cross-town rival UIC.

Titans hoping eight (losses) is enough
Detroit dropped to 4-10 overall and 0-4 in League play after losing a pair of games in Wisconsin last week. UDM nearly ended the streak Saturday but a three-pointer with three seconds left gave Milwaukee a 55-53 victory after Green Bay defeated the Titans 78-52 on Thursday.

The eight-game losing streak is the longest of coach Perry Watson's 15-year tenure at the school, and the longest for the Titans since a 12-game skid in 1988-89.

Senior guard Jon Goode matched his season high with 25 points---17 in the second half---at UWM. He also posted 19 in the loss at Green Bay and needs 23 more to hit the 1,000 mark for his career. He would join Butler's A.J. Graves (1,561) and Green Bay's Mike Schachtner (1,059) as the only active players in the League to reach four figures. Goode leads the League in scoring this season, averaging 18 points per game with eight outings of 20 or more.

Junior forward Chris Hayes recorded his second double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds against the Panthers. Hayes stands fourth on the loop rebounding charts with a rate of 6.6 caroms per contest.

Detroit attempts to end the losing streak during a two-game homestand this week. UDM hosts League-leader Cleveland State on Thursday before a Saturday matinee against Youngstown State.

Horizon League teams defend home court early in loop schedule
Horizon League teams compiled a 10-0 record at home last week, including a perfect 9-0 sweep in League contests. The home court has been important in the early-season standings, with home teams winning 14 of the first 18 League games this year.

This week's schedule features several critical match-ups, starting Monday when Milwaukee visits Youngstown State. The Panthers have won four in a row to move back to .500 (7-7) on the season, while YSU brings a three-game streak into the contest. Monday's other game has Butler at Loyola in a rivalry that saw two of last year's three meetings go to overtime.

Butler and Green Bay take the ESPNU spotlight Thursday when the Phoenix visits Hinkle Fieldhouse. The rest of that day's slate has Valpo facing Milwaukee in an attempt to remain unbeaten at home, while Cleveland State tries for a 4-0 League start against Detroit. Wright State hosts Youngstown State in the other League game that evening.

On Saturday, Milwaukee visits Butler with Cleveland State at Wright State, Youngstown State at Detroit and Green Bay at Valparaiso. The final game Saturday features cross-town rivals UIC and Loyola squaring off at the UIC Pavilion.