Men's Basketball Weekly Release #7
Release
Horizon League ·
December 30, 2008
Tuesday's win at #14/12 Xavier was Butler's first over a nationally-ranked opponent since March 17, 2007, when the Bulldogs defeated #18 Maryland in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Tuesday's victory was also Butler's first on a ranked opponent's homecourt since Dec. 19, 2001, when the Bulldogs knocked off #21 Ball State. Butler recorded three season highs at Xavier -- free throws made (26), free throws attempted (33) and steals (11). Freshman Ronald Nored recorded his first collegiate double-figure scoring effort with 10 points against the Musketeers.
CLEVELAND STATE VIKINGS (10-4, 1-1) Saturday's win over Notre Dame College gave Cleveland State its 10th win before New Year's Day for the first time in school history. Cleveland State opened the year by losing the rebounding battle in five of its first six games, but the Vikings have now out-rebounded six of their last eight opponents. Cleveland State has held nine of its 14 opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field. The Vikings have also kept their opponents under that clip in eight of the past nine games and are 7-2 during the stretch.
DETROIT TITANS (4-7, 0-2) Detroit ended a 19-game road losing streak with a 67-55 victory at Central Michigan on Tuesday. The Titans' skid was the sixth longest in the country. Detroit's 67 points against Central Michigan were a season high. They were also the most points UDM has scored away from Calihan Hall since Nov. 28, 2007. Senior Tryl Hartfield came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points -- in just 17 minutes -- against Central Michigan. Hartfield came into the contest with just 19 points in 29 collegiate games.
GREEN BAY PHOENIX (8-4, 2-0) Head coach Tod Kowalczyk picked up his 100th career victory last Monday against Houston Baptist. Senior Ryan Tillema has registered three straight 20-point scoring games, including a Green Bay season-high 24 points last Monday against Houston Baptist. Green Bay is in the midst of a five-game road stretch that concludes on Dec. 9. The Phoenix do not have a home game from Dec. 21 through Jan. 14.
LOYOLA RAMBLERS (7-5, 0-1) Loyola won its third straight game with an 89-65 decision over SIU-Edwardsville last Monday. The current streak is the Ramblers' longest since capturing three in a row from Jan. 26-Feb. 2, 2008. The Ramblers dished out a season-high 23 assists and had four players score in double figures against SIUE. Senior Leon Young came off the bench to record 16 points and 11 rebounds against SIU-Edwardsville for his first double-double this season. Loyola has won 15 of its last 17 contests when scoring 70 or more points.The Ramblers have won 21 of their last 25 contests (.840) versus non-Horizon League foes at the Gentile Center.
MILWAUKEE PANTHERS (6-5, 2-0) Milwaukee will play its first contest since Dec. 20 on Tuesday at UIC. The Panthers have won three of their last four games overall and both Horizon League tilts to date. Since the 2001-02 season, Milwaukee has the second-most Horizon League wins among conference schools and sits just three League wins behind Butler. Those two schools have also combined to win or share the last seven League regular-season titles. Milwaukee leads the Horizon League in defensive rebounding (26.4 pg), but is last in offensive rebounding (9.2 pg). The Panthers rank fourth out of 10 schools in total boards (35.5 pg).
UIC FLAMES (8-3, 1-0) UIC has won seven of its last eight contests, including four of its last five on the road. UIC has already claimed four road wins -- in six chances -- this season. The Flames had just five road victories in all of 2007-08. Senior Scott VanderMeer became the Horizon League's all-time blocked shots leaders (227) with three rejections on Tuesday at Toledo. The previous record, held by Evansville's Dan Godfread, stood for 18 years. Senior Scott VanderMeer also holds the League's single-season (111 in 2006-07) and single-game (9 on Jan. 27, 2007) blocked shot records.Senior Scott VanderMeer is averaging 14.3 points and 10.1 rebounds in UIC's last eight games. UIC has allowed just one opponent to score 70 points or better in its first 11 games of 2008-09. Since allowing 77 points to Northern Iowa on Nov. 19, UIC has given up an average of 61.5 ppg to its last nine foes.
VALPARAISO CRUSADERS (3-9, 1-1) Senior Brandon McPherson led Valparaiso with 12 points at Central Florida last Monday in his first start of the year. Sophomore Howard Little pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds on Sunday at Purdue. It was the second double-figure rebounding total of his career. Valparaiso has played multiple Top 25 foes in the same season seven of last eight years. In addition, the Crusaders have faced multiple ranked teams within a two-week span six times during that stretch.
WRIGHT STATE RAIDERS (6-7, 0-2) Wright State has won six of its last seven contests after beginning the campaign 0-6. Wright State captured the 2008 San Juan Shootout with three wins in three days. Junior John David Gardner was named tournament Most Valuable Player. Wright State has held the opposition to under 46 points in its last four games and set a new school record by holding Norfolk State to just 12 points in the first half of a Dec. 17 contest.
YOUNGSTOWN STATE PENGUINS (3-8, 0-2) Youngstown State did not play last week, but it posted an 81-60 win over Division II Lock Haven on Monday night at the Beeghly Center. Senior Jack Liles led four Penguins in double figures with 18 points and 13 rebounds against Lock Haven. YSU outrebounded the Bald Eagles, 50-26.
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Dec. 30, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK IN THE HORIZON LEAGUE
Monday, Dec. 29
Youngstown State 81, Lock Haven 60 ... HLN / MyVTV #
Tuesday, Dec. 30
Green Bay at Western Michigan, 6 p.m.
Cleveland State at Wright State, 7 p.m. ... HLN
UAB at Butler, 7 p.m. ... HLN
Alcorn State at Loyola, 8 p.m. ... HLN
Milwaukee at UIC, 8 p.m. ... HLN, Lakeshore & Sports 32
North Park at Valparaiso, 8:05 p.m. ... HLN
Thursday, Jan. 1
Youngstown State at Detroit, 1:05 p.m. ... HLN
Saturday, Jan. 3
Milwaukee at Loyola, 4 p.m. ... HLN / Sports 32
Cleveland State at Detroit, 4:05 p.m. ... HLN
Youngstown State at Wright State, 7 p.m. ... HLN
Green Bay at UIC, 8 p.m. ... HLN
Butler at Valparaiso, 8:05 p.m. ... HLN, Lakeshore & WFYI-Plus DT 20.3
Horizon League games are in italics
All times are Eastern Daylight (EDT)
Rankings are Associated Press first, ESPN/USA Today Coaches second
HLN = Horizon League Network webcast (www.horizonleaguenetwork.tv)
# = Tape delayed at 10 p.m. ET
HORIZON LEAGUE TEAM NOTES
BUTLER BULLDOGS (10-1, 2-0)
CLEVELAND STATE VIKINGS (10-4, 1-1)
DETROIT TITANS (4-7, 0-2)
GREEN BAY PHOENIX (8-4, 2-0)
LOYOLA RAMBLERS (7-5, 0-1)
MILWAUKEE PANTHERS (6-5, 2-0)
UIC FLAMES (8-3, 1-0)
VALPARAISO CRUSADERS (3-9, 1-1)
WRIGHT STATE RAIDERS (6-7, 0-2)
YOUNGSTOWN STATE PENGUINS (3-8, 0-2)
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