Primarily a collection of news links about all 11 Horizon League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
BEST STORYLINES ... Saturday ... * 2:00 pm: Valpo @ Butler; UIC @ Cleveland State: Butler looks like they are back on track this season with a win in the Diamond Head Classic, but Norris Cole and Cleveland State appear to be legit this season. Can CSU unseat Butler atop the Horizon?
Coach Jerry Sloan hasn't announced his starting lineup for tonight's game, but it's likely he will again go with Gordon Hayward in the small forward spot. The rookie scored a season-high 17 points with six rebounds and three assists in 44 minutes in the 103-95 comeback win over the Clippers.
Norris Cole, Cleveland State — The Vikings have been one of the best mid-major stories of the season’s first two months, and they’ve gone 13-1 (lone loss: at West Virginia) by way of a killer defense that yields only .91 points per possession. Until 2010 national runner-up Butler barreled through high-major competition on the way to the Diamond Head Classic championship in Hawaii last week, Cleveland State was not only arguably the best team in the Horizon League, they were the best team in the Horizon League.
Gary Waters’ team scores a phenomenal 1.05 points per trip, but that’s all the more remarkable due to the offense’s distinct lack of dimension. It’s a team ruled by guards, and 6-foot-2 senior Cole is king of kings. He scores 29 percent of the team’s points, is already over 300 for the year, and has put up 210 shots — 60 more than his closest teammate. He’s used on 32 percent of the team’s possessions, 24th in Division I. And he has notable March experience, too. On Friday, March 20, 2009, as a sophomore, Cole led his team with 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting as No. 13 Cleveland State took down No. 4 Wake Forest 84-69 for the team’s first NCAA win since 1986. Get past Butler again, and the Vikings will be back for another attempt. If you’re looking for the next Show, Cole could very well provide it.
7:00pm Green Bay @ Detroit – Jason Calliste has seen his scoring drop significantly but that may have more to do with the emergence of teammate Ray McCallum as a scorer. After starting off the season fairly hot, he’s only managed to score more than 8 points once in the last four games after a 20 points explosion Dec. 4. Calliste plays a lot of minutes and can fill it up in a hurry so this would be a good game to see if he does so tonight.
7. Some name program will give Brad Stevens a tough decision to make. Yes, Stevens signed a 12-year extension at Butler after last season's run to the national title game, but that was before he knew Gordon Hayward was leaving two years early and went through this season's early struggles with a less experienced and banged-up roster. Butler is an excellent job with strong institutional support and a legacy of producing terrific coaches and solid teams. Stevens also is a unique personality who, like Gonzaga's Mark Few, very well could be happy enough to stay where he is. But with junior Shelvin Mack an early-entry possibility to depart along with senior Matt Howard, next season could be a down one (relatively), and the miss on local stud recruit Cody Zeller underscores where Butler still stands in that landscape. Wouldn't Stevens at least have to listen if a really big name came calling?
23. Matt Howard, Butler- When Howard stays on the floor, the physical 6’8 forward and former Horizon League POY produces. Howard averages 18.1 PPG, 8.2 RPG and just brought back to the mainland the MVP of the Diamond Head Classic. Howard, along with Butler as a whole, appears to be hitting their stride. He’s a persistent rebounder that plays with an extremely high motor.
After a less-than-stellar start to its season, in which Butler got smoked by Louisville and lost in overtime to Evansville en route to a 4-4 record through its first eight games, it now looks like Brad Stevens’ squad has righted the ship. The Bulldogs have won five in a row and just beat Washington State on Christmas Day to win the Diamond Head Classic. Key to the Bulldogs recent surge has been their improved play on the defensive end. Butler has not allowed more than 68 points since Mississippi Valley St. put up 71 on Dec. 11, and in their last four wins, the Bulldogs have allowed their opponents to shoot the following percentages: Stanford, 31.4%; Utah, 39.6%; Florida State, 38%; and Washington State, 40.7%. The Bulldogs’ defensive numbers still aren’t great, they rank 48th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency rankings and they’re #272 in turnover %, but they’re on their way back to being a squad that can win games on the defensive end. As the schedule shifts to Horizon League play, the Bulldogs again are a safe bet to claim another conference championship.
While everyone from Mehmet Okur and Earl Watson to C.J. Miles and Gordon Hayward made significant contributions for Utah on Monday night during a 96-91 home defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers, several key reserves acknowledged Tuesday that the team’s bench has recently lacked the smoothness and sharpness that characterized its play during the first 26 games of the season.
Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko left the game with 4:57 left during the third quarter and did not return. He is day to day with a lower back strain.
Utah coach Jerry Sloan said that he possibly would have used Kirilenko late in the game, but instead relied upon rookie Gordon Hayward for all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter for the second consecutive contest.
Hayward scored four points via free throws and was 0 of 4 from the field.
Valparaiso 69, Ball State 52 — This isn't the way to get noticed in Indiana basketball. The Cardinals, after hanging tough for the first-half-of-the-first-half, saw the Crusaders bolt to a 12-point halftime lead, and no rallying cry stuck with BSU. Jarrod Jones was the only double-digit scorer for Ball State with 18 points and seven rebounds. Basically the defense struggled to get in Valpo's fat face, as they shot 52 percent from the field. Get in their face. That's how basketball works, right? Ball State's next game: Friday, 12/31 vs. North Carolina A&T
Valparaiso (10-4, 2-0 Horizon League) RPI: 70 - So far our win over the Crusaders has been a very pleasant gift. It is another top 100 road victory, which when coupled with our remaining game at West Virginia, could give us three true road victories in non-conference play against the top 100. Since Valpo is 2-0 in the Horizon League and has at least four games left against Butler (RPI: 11) and Cleveland State (RPI: 16) this win can get even better and they could be a fringe at large team if they somehow pull a Butler and sweep through the Horizon League, but lose in the conference title game to either Cleveland State or Butler. An overtime loss to a bad Toledo team sucks, but Valpo beat Oakland last week 103-102 and already has a win over Illinois-Chicago (who beat Illinois). They play at Hinkle Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon to restart Horizon League play. Strangely, Toledo can screw us in basketball too because they are only 3-9, but chose to break an 0-9 start by beating Valpo in overtime. Damn you, Rockets!
Can the state get as many as five NCAA Tournament bids?
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Dec 27, 2010 -
With December winding down it is time for the state's college basketball teams to turn to conference play. Notre Dame, Louisville, and possibly Butler have built solid at large profiles for NCAA tournament berths. Everyone else will have to succeed in conference play if they wish to reach the postseason. Valparaiso and IPFW remain as the best bets to have successful conference seasons, but they still must win their respective conference tournaments if they hope to dance. Here is a look at the opening week of conference play around the state: ... Ball State vs. Valparaiso - The Crusaders and Cardinals will meet in a final non-conference gameTuesday night before Valpo has a crucial Conference game at Butler on Saturday. Brandon Wood has been on fire of late for the Crusaders, scoring 35 in a 103-102 win over Oakland. If Valpo pulls the upset at Butler on Saturday they will take early control of the Horizon League race.
Meanwhile, Ball State has had an up and down non-conference season. They have beaten DePaul from the Big East, but lost to Division II Alaska Anchorage by 18. The Cardinals also host North Carolina A&T on Friday.
Butler may have given life to their chances of earning an at-large bid this season with a win in the Diamond Head Classic out in Hawaii. With wins over Florida State and Washington State, as well as Utah, Butler landed themselves two quality victories against teams that will likely be in the tournament come March. Without much in the way of a resume booster from here on out, the Bulldogs are going to want to win the Horizon Tournament to be safe, but the resume is not what was important coming out of this week.
What's important is that Butler looked like the Butler we expected to see all season long. Matt Howard has really grown as a player in his four season with the Bulldogs. He's now knocking down threes, he's putting the ball on the floor and hitting mid-range shots and fadeaways. He's still a terrific rebounder. He averaged 18.7 ppg and 8.7 rpg this week, upping his averages to 18.1 ppg and 8.2 rpg on the season. Shelvin Mack broke out of his slump this week, scoring 17 points on FSU and 20 on WSU. Andrew Smith looks like he is going to be a force on the block in the Horizon this year. Chase Stigall and Zack Hahn are both knocking down jumpers now. Ronald Nored and Shawn Vanzant are just as pesky and athletic as they were last season. I'm not usually a big believer in the eye test, but this team passed with flying colors this week.
Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko left the game with 4:57 left during the third quarter and did not return. He is day to day with a lower back strain.
Utah coach Jerry Sloan said that he possibly would have used Kirilenko late in the game, but instead relied upon rookie Gordon Hayward for all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter for the second consecutive contest.
Hayward scored four points via free throws and was 0 of 4 from the field.
Cleveland State has played 14 games. The Vikings won 13 of them. And yet that seems not to have impressed the folks who vote for the Associated Press top 25, who presented CSU with a single poll point for the current week.
Which means one person voted the Vikings No. 25. This reminds again how really crappy the polls are at identifying genuine achievement. There are 45 teams ranked by the AP ahead of Cleveland State. Maybe there will be 45 teams better by the end of the year, but a team winning at a 93 percent clip—even when many of those games are on the road—usually has something special about it.
In Sporting News magazine last month, we pointed out teams winning more than 80 percent of their games entering the NCAA Tournament dominate the event. Among the club members in last year’s event: Saint Mary’s, Northern Iowa, Butler.
If the Vikings keep this up, dismiss them at your own peril.
While most of the college basketball world relaxed and spent time with their friends and family there was also quality basketball being played in Hawaii, the big winner was Butler, who ran off three straight wins knocking off Utah, FSU, and Washington State in succession to win the Diamond Head Classic. After a rough start to the early season, the Bulldogs appear to be rounding into shape and should be a team to be reckoned with despite what Joe Lunardi might have thought (Insider access: Basically an absurd column questioning if Butler and Gonzaga would make the NCAA Tournament).
It wasn't a basketball-related question, but I had fun asking every Jazz player what he'd really like to get for Christmas. The responses were as wide-ranging and interesting, everything from peace, to a guaranteed contract, to a James Bond sportscar, to family time, to socks and briefs or boxers (I didn't ask that overly personal follow up). Hopefully readers enjoyed the Christmas morning feature as players, even if short responses, gave a glimpse into their interesting personalities. (P.S. Fesenko appreciated all Happy Birthday wishes that were relayed by fans. Though he didn't get asked-for birthday texts from teammates, rookies Gordon Hayward and Jeremy Evans serenated him with the B-day song at practice Friday. Fes was grateful for that, even if it was the worst singing he said he's ever heard. C.J. Miles contends that Gordan Giricek was a worse singer.)
4. Hayward doesn't go wayward
Speaking of the rookies, it's not unusual to see them play in the fourth quarter. It is, however, very rare to see them playing crunch-time minutes. But that indeed was Gordon Hayward out there playing like a seasoned veteran as the Jazz won with a fourth-quarter rally last Wednesday in Minnesota to wrap up their 3-1 trip. The rookie stayed in for all 12 minutes in the fourth, which Al Jefferson claimed was a trust-earning moment for Hayward as far as their coach is concerned. The 20-year-old certainly passed that test after coming up short on some other exams in recent weeks — especially his three invisible starts — so it was a positive step forward for Hayward. Who knows when the No. 9 pick will be given the opportunity again. But the Butler standout said he'll be ready when it happens. Now if we could only hear how he sings duets with Evans.
For one half, Butler and Washington State appeared to be evenly matched foes. The score was tied at 38 just before halftime, but the Bulldogs were able to sink the final shot for a narrow 40-38 halftime lead.
Well, that score proved to be an illusion — Butler opened the second half by outscoring the Cougars 21-4 and eventually pulled away to a 84-68 victory that wasn't close at all.
Full credit to Butler coach Brad Stevens, who continues to be one of the greatest strategists in the game with the way he puts his players in the best position to win, while also minimizing an opponent's advantages and maximizing their weaknesses. Butler overwhelms you with unselfish team play and execution, not athleticism.
* Quest for victory: At Valparaiso, my fondest wish is for the Crusaders to beat Butler in basketball, something they haven't managed since Dec. 4, 1993. They're 0-6 against the Bulldogs since joining the Horizon League ... * Hawkey talk: More than a few fans have noticed assistant VU women's basketball coach Greg Kirby bears a striking resemblance to Joel Quenneville of the Blackhawks.
But he's not even a hockey fan. Maybe the coaches should flip a coin to decide who shaves off his distinctive moustache so we can tell them apart.
