Wednesday, December 24, 2008

News On The Horizon 12/24/2008


Butler upsets No. 14 Xavier 74-65--MICentralSports.com
Butler fouls up Xavier's night--Cincinnati Enquirer
Butler did it! Bulldogs down suddenly slumping Xavier--Cincinnati Post
Nored stays cool under pressure--The Indy Star
Bulldogs make point--The Indy Star
A 10-1 record? Never saw it coming--Indy Star Butler Insider
BUTLER 74, XAVIER 65--THE unOFFICIAL BUTLER BULLDOGS MEN'S BASKETBALL PAGE
XU Falls 73-65 to Butler--GoXavier.com
Young Butler Team Upsets No. 14 Xavier 74-65--ButlerSports.com

Stat wars: Vikings dominate the scoresheet in routing the Golden Flashes--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Lockdown: Vikings defense throttles the Flashes in a record-setting romp--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Cleveland State wows fans in dismantling Kent State--Terry's Talkin' Sports
Weekly News and Notes--The Fan Home of the Cleveland State Vikings
Toledo's Second-Half Rally Falls Short in 65-55 Loss to UIC--UTRockets.com
Kent State Ice Cold In 67-41 Loss At Cleveland State--KentStateSports.com
Vikings Knock Off Kent State 67-41--csuvikings.com

Titans surge past Central--The Detroit Free Press
Free Throws Help Titans Down Chippewas, 67-55--CMUChippewas.com
Kennedy Catches Fire In Second Half As Titans Roll Past Central Michigan--detroittitans.com

UT gets a lesson on rebounds--Toledo Blade
Illinois-Chicago defeats Toledo--The Chicago Tribune
VanderMeer sets record--The Chicago Sun-Times
Stewart shows scoring punch as Flames rebound--Whoosh!Net
Men's Basketball Turns Away Toledo, 65-55--uicflames.com

VAN WEELDEN A PART OF LOYOLA MEN'S SUCCESS--The NWI Times

Munster grad Aric Van Weelden has started the last three games for Loyola and the Ramblers are 3-0. In three games since moving into the starting lineup, the junior guard is averaging 3.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.

In an 89-65 win over SIU-Edwardsville on Dec. 22, Van Weelden had four points, four rebounds and three assists.


McCloskey Ties NCAA Record But Cold-Shooting Loyola Slumps To 85-55 Loss At Dayton--LoyolaRamblers.com

Women's Basketball Returns to Action Monday at DePaul--uwgbathletics.com

Hansbrough, Heels roll--Chapel Hill News

Tyler Hansbrough scored 25 points and the Tar Heels overcame a sluggish start Saturday before rolling to an 85-63 victory over Valparaiso.

Hansbrough, who became North Carolina's career scoring leader Thursday night in a victory over Evansville, sparked runs at the end of the first half and beginning of the second.

North Carolina (11-0) won by double figures for the 11th straight game, tying a school record also held by the 1992-93 team that won the national championship.

Valparaiso (3-7) was facing the No. 1 team for the fifth straight season and the seventh time in school history. The Crusaders are now 0-7 in those games.

Hansbrough scored eight straight points -- two free throws, a layup after a steal, a slam and a jumper -- to get the Tar Heels started on a 12-0 run late in the first half that built a 38-25 lead. They were ahead 41-31 at the half.

North Carolina then scored the first nine points of the second half to pull away from the scrappy Crusaders in the game at the United Center.

North Carolina has won 37 straight regular-season games against non-conference opponents. They'll go for 38 when they host Rutgers this Sunday in the Smith Center.


Men's hoops back from Puerto Rico feeling good--Dayton Daily News
A season in parts--Mark Katz's Blog

League on the Horizon--Youngstown Vindicator

Men's Basketball Scoreboard -- Dec. 23--The Horizon League
Men's Basketball Weekly Release #6--The Horizon League
ATB: Lumps of Coal for Xavier and Gonzaga--Rush The Court

Bad Santas. Portland St. 77, Gonzaga 70. Santa Claus made an early visit to the environs of Cincinnati, OH, and Spokane, WA, tonight, but instead of leaving toys and treats for the tots of Xavier and Gonzaga Universities, respectively, he left a couple of lumps of coal and another undisclosed brownish substance in their stockings. AP #7 Gonzaga and AP # 14 Xavier, both coming off of devastating Saturday losses (in different ways), were unable to shake off their hangovers from losses to UConn and Duke and instead dropped home games tonight that sent shocks throughout mid-major America. The more surprising upset of the two took place out west, where Gonzaga was thoroughly outplayed by the scrappier, guttier Portland St. Vikings. PSU was led by 5′6 Jeremiah Dominguez, who hit seven threes for a sick line of 25/6/5 assts. Yes, a guy shorter than you outrebounded all but Gonzaga’s 6′11 Austin Daye (9 boards) and 6′10 Josh Heytvelt (8) in this game. Portland St., who has losses to Hampton and Cal Poly on its resume, never wavered in the face of the superior athleticism and size of Gonzaga. GU, should have come out ready to eat glass in this one, but instead they allowed their heartbreaking loss to UConn over the weekend to mentally affect their play tonight. Would that have happened to UNC? Pitt? Duke? UCLA? Gonzaga needs to get tougher mentally. Butler 74, Xavier 65. Wasn’t Butler supposed to be rebuilding this year? Amazingly, eight of Brad Stevens’ top nine Bulldogs are freshmen and sophomores, whereas XU starts two juniors and one senior. So how is it that Butler was able to come into the Cintas Center and earn a victory in a location where Xavier had won its last fifteen games? Standard Butler-issue hardnosed defense and poise. Butler was able to keep Xavier under control from three (7-24) while also winning the battle of ball control (-7 turnovers) in a tough game that Xavier will regret losing come March. Matt Howard (19/14) and Gordon Hayward (19/10) both provided double-doubles, but the key stat of the game may have been Xavier’s 12-22 from the line. The 198th best FT-shooting team in America didn’t help their cause tonight, several times failing to convert both FT opportunities down the stretch. If Gonzaga and Xavier want to be taken seriously as “high mids” vying for the Final Four, they cannot afford to lose home games like these.

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