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.
Other Storylines ... Defensive battle: Cleveland State and Drexel won’t wake you up if you’re tired on Saturday morning. However, the game will feature two of the better defensive teams in the country. ... Game not to overlook: Valparaiso could be a threat in the Horizon heading into the final month, only a half-game out of first place. Meanwhile, Loyola Marymount has surprised some and already has a nice collection of wins.
Valparaiso Crusaders - 15-8, 8-3 Horizon League - Valpo won't get an at large bid, but they are only a half game out in the Horizon League and they have a win over leader Cleveland State. They won 72-66 at home against the Vikings, and that could come into play with the conference tournament. The No. 1 seed hosts the league tourney and the top 2 seeds receive a bye to the semi-finals. That means Valpo would be two home wins away from the NCAA Tournament if they win the Horizon League.
On February 9 Valpo heads to Cleveland State for what could be a huge conference game. Win that, and Valpo will be looking very good. ... Butler Bulldogs - 12-11, 6-5 Horizon - If Butler is going to go to a sixth straight NCAA Tournament they will have to do it the hard way, but never count them out. Butler was swept in Wisconsin this past weekend and is now 6-5, well off the pace in the Horizon League. Their best win is over Purdue, so there is no chance of an at large, but the Bulldogs have shown in the past they can get hot at the best time.
W-L Pace PPP Opp. PPP EM 1. Cleveland St. 8-2 63.4 1.09 0.94 +0.15 2. Detroit 6-5 64.3 1.07 1.01 +0.06 3. Milwaukee 7-4 63.8 0.95 0.91 +0.04 4. Valparaiso 8-3 63.3 1.05 1.02 +0.03 5. Youngstown St. 6-4 62.3 1.03 1.00 +0.03 6. Wright St. 6-5 61.2 0.94 0.93 +0.01 7. Butler 6-5 64.4 0.94 0.96 -0.02 8. Green Bay 5-6 66.2 1.00 1.02 -0.02 9. UIC 2-9 62.4 0.95 1.04 -0.09 10. Loyola 0-11 57.7 0.86 1.07 -0.21
AVG. 62.9 0.99
In the past two weeks Cleveland State has achieved separation from the rest of the Horizon, and the fact that the Vikings have done so the year after saying goodbye to 2011 Horizon POY Norris Cole calls to mind the year Ohio State had in 2010-11 after bidding adieu to national POY Evan Turner. Gary Waters, I salute you! Your men still foul too much, but you have the best team in the Horizon. Carry that flag proudly. Your league has quite the NCAA tournament record the past couple years.
Indiana's version of Jimmermania is Hayward hysteria. Or something like that. Gordon Hayward gets to go back next week. The ex-Butler hero's hoops homecoming was something to see and hear last year as dozens and dozens of Pacer loyalists sported No. 20 Jazz shirts in his honor. Conseco Fieldhouse went bonkers when he dunked over Paul George.
With that in mind, Hayward wasn't shocked by the positive reception the Kings' guard received in Jazzland.
"I was involved in that when I went home last year," Hayward fondly recalled. "It was the same type of thing, just on the opposite side for us (Saturday). It's good that we got the win."
A 21-point night from Hayward wasn't too shabby, either.
With the two veterans out, the Jazz will go with a starting lineup that includes point guard Devin Harris, shooting guard Gordon Hayward, small forward Josh Howard, power forward Paul Millsap and center Derrick Favors.
Ugly First Half: Where to begin? Here’s where the Jazz sat after 24 minutes: 14 of 46 from the field (30.4 percent), just 1 of 6 on three-pointers, and 10-15 from the free throw line. They had more turnovers (seven) than assists (just five) on the stat sheet. And after managing just 20 points in the first quarter, they were unable to match that in the second (19).
The individual shooting: Gordon Hayward 0-8, Paul Millsap 2-7, Enes Kanter 1-5, Alec Burks 0-2.
All that said, thanks to some strong rebounding work (27 boards) and some decent defense (five steals, four blocked shots), Utah found themselves down by just six at halftime — 45-39.
Not So Ugly Second Half: Minus a bout of nervous free throw shooting, the second half was an entirely different story. There was increased activity, teamwork, and defensive effort. As has been the case many times this year, Earl Watson was the leader with his energy being contagious.
After that miserable first half, Hayward settled down, going 3 for 4 from the field, while drilling a pair of treys. He also was clutch down the stretch, blocking a Jamal Crawford lay-up, stealing the ball from Nicolas Batum, and snaring the offensive board of a missed free throw with two second left and subsequently sinking the clinching free throws.
Utah improved greatly by hitting 18 of 38 field goals (47.3 percent). They also upped their assists (10) and decreased the miscues (four second-half turnovers).
GUARDS: Devin Harris played efficiently with 13 points, four assists and just one turnover in 23 minutes. Gordon Hayward, who moved over to shooting guard from his usual small forward spot with Raja Bell sitting out, followed up a disastrous first half with a solid second half. He had 12 points after halftime, and his offensive rebound after a missed free throw by C.J. Miles in the final seconds was one of the game's biggest plays.
Earl Watson 's revitalizing energy, Gordon Hayward's revived aim, Paul Millsap's resolve and rebounding, Devin Harris ' recharged drive and re-engerized contributions down the roster helped restore and rev up both the home team and the crowd. ... Miles finished with 15 points off the bench, Harris had 13 points and four assists, Hayward shook off an 0-for-8 start to dial in a dozen and fill-in starter Josh Howard (Bell's replacement) added 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Josh Howard played a part, as did Paul Millsap. The same for Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward and Devin Harris. Then Miles and Watson created sparks in the fourth, while Utah burned the Blazers in transition, dominated the boards and consistently punched Portland in the mouth.
Sensing an opening, Utah took advantage, forcing turnovers and converting at the other end. It was Portland’s misfortune that Jazz forward Gordon Hayward played better in the second half, scoring 12 points after going 0-for-8 from the field in the first half.
Teams deserving a shout out: ... Cleveland State: The Vikings have taken full control of the Horizon League race, taking a one game lead on Valpo and a two game lead on Milwaukee and Youngstown State. How'd they do it? By beating Youngstown State by 20 on the road just six days after a 26 point win over Milwaukee.
Make sure to record these games and watch them as NCAA Tournament prep work ... 4. Sat. 11:00 am: Drexel at Cleveland State (ESPNU): The odds of either of these teams earning an at-large bid is fairly slim. Both are sitting at or near the top of a competitive mid-major league; the Vikings currently lead the Horizon while Drexel is tied with three other teams at second place in the CAA. Where this game gets interesting is on the defensive end of the floor, where both teams thrive. Cleveland State thrives with a trapping pressure defense where Drexel is more equipped for grind-it-out half court games, winning games based on their ability to force tough shots and clean the defensive glass.
The Heat gladly welcomed Dwyane Wade back to the lineup on Friday, but they did just fine without him, winning eight of the nine games he was sidelined, including one in which LeBron James sat also. Chris Bosh, who has been tentative at times offensively, and has had to take a back seat to Wade and James since coming to Miami, really stepped up during Wade's absence, averaging 25.7 ppg during that stretch. The Heat were also helped by the fact they have a much deeper team this season with the additions of Shane Battier and rookie point guard Norris Cole.
"Brandon Wood and Branden Dawson have to improve their defense," Izzo said. "They're getting better. But can they get enough better to play the way we're going to have to play against these top teams?"
But Miles embraced them late Saturday inside Utah’s locker room, following a 96-93 home win against Sacramento. He jumped off the bench to score 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, attacking the basket while refusing to settle for long-range jump shots. A slasher instead of a perimeter bystander, Miles scored his first 18 points in just 18 minutes, teaming with fellow wing Gordon Hayward to propel the Jazz to a 13-point fourth-quarter lead. ... No conscience
Miles and Hayward aren’t the only Jazz wingmen who play better when they think less.
Rookie guard Alec Burks drilled two 3s against the Kings, showing off a quick release and smooth stroke that should silence any remaining critics who questioned whether the No. 12 overall pick in 2011 could shoot well enough to make a living in the NBA.
Burks has recently put in extra work with Utah assistant coach Jeff Hornacek, who’s also teamed with Hayward and knocked down 828 3s during his 14-year playing career.
Butler Bulldogs - 12-11, 6-5 Horizon, RPI: 124 - Butler went to Wisconsin and got swept in both Horzion League games by double digits, thus severely damaging their conference title hopes. They now trail Cleveland State by three games in the loss column and have already lost to them at Hinkle Fieldhouse. It is officially conference tournament or bust for Butler if they want to return to the NCAAs, but I still applaud them for their last two years. This loss and the Penn State loss are anchors tied to Purdue's ankles, and I fear we're going to regret them.
Rose swished one of those patented, 10-foot running floaters with 7:35 left to cut the Heat’s lead to 84-82 and the Heat answered with a badly missed three-point attempt by rookie Norris Cole. A driving layup by Rose tied the score on the next possession.
On the move: Both Cleveland State (18-4/RPI 53) and Akron (14-7/RPI 59) are creeping toward the fringe of the NCAA Tournament bubble discussion, which makes Tuesday’s BrackBuster pairings huge for both teams. Traveling Akron looks to draw either Iona (16-5/RPI 49), Oral Roberts (20-4/RPI 51) or Davidson (15-5/RPI 67), all currently leaders in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Summit and Southern conferences, respectively.
All three teams can score as ORU (74.5 ppg) relies on its wing players, Iona (83.0 ppg) relies on its guards and Davidson (78.9 ppg) on its inside/high post scoring with 6-10 Jake Cohen. A win over any of these teams would boost Akron’s at-large chances considerably.
CSU, however, could get stuck with a tough/bad draw at home. The possibilities look to be Long Beach State (16-6/RPI 33), Northern Iowa (14-9/RPI 56) and Nevada (18-3/RPI 61). If the Vikings are lucky, they will get either Long Beach or Nevada, leaders in the Big West and the Western Athletic Conference, respectively. Long Beach is clearly in the at-large picture, but quite likely could draw a closer pairing with Oral Roberts. Nevada is much like CSU, but could also wind up with a dance partner west of the Mississippi.
That would leave Northern Iowa, which has a good RPI, but struggles playing teams on the road and in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Vikings would have nothing really to gain by playing and beating Northern Iowa, and a ton to lose, as a setback to the seventh-place MVC Panthers, along with losses already to three teams outside the RPI Top 100 (Hofstra, Youngstown State, Valparaiso) would not look good on an at-large résumé.
On the Horizon: Don’t look now, but the second half of the Horizon League season begins with the preseason favorites, the Detroit Titans (12-11, 6-5) getting their act together. After suffering from the early-season loss of 6-10 Eli Holman for personal reasons, followed by the season-ending injury to 6-9 power forward Nick Minnerath, the Titans have finally regrouped. Holman is back in the fold, coming off the bench, and sophomore guard Ray McCallum Jr. is on a roll.
The Titans have won five of their last six games. In that run, McCallum, averaging 15.6 ppg on the season, has averaged 17.1 ppg, including two games of 23 points. In the past five games, Holman has delivered two double doubles with one game of nine rebounds and another with eight. The Titans are likely out of the title race, but if they keep this up, nobody will want to play them in the Horizon League Tournament.
FORWARDS: Paul Millsap provided yet another 20-point night — his third straight with at least that many points — while adding seven rebounds. However, Dallas' recent acquisition, Lamar Odom, essentially matched Utah's hot-handed big man with 19 points and five boards, including a trio of 3-pointers. Odom's ability to roam on the outside seemed to do more than keep Millsap on his toes. Gordon Hayward dished six assists to complement his eight points, but his counterpart, Shawn Marion, scored 16 points. Grade: C
While regular scoring leaders Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson struggled, swingmen Gordon Hayward and C.J. Miles responded with 21 and 20 points, respectively. The Kings were paced by a slicing-and-dicing Tyreke Evans’ 31 points and nine assists. ... Hayward’s return: Another player made famous by the NCAA spotlight, Gordon Hayward, also enjoyed a nice breakout game. Showing an aggressiveness that has been noticeably absent recently, Hayward put forth a complete game. He scored a team-high 21 points, while recording five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
More importantly, Hayward was not hesitant to shoot. Throughout the night, he knew when to shoot and when to dish the ball. While he had a few struggles defensively, this was a game the Jazz coaching staff and fans hope will be the start to some more consistent play.
FORWARDS: What's this, an off game from Paul Millsap? He only had six points, but still contributed with 14 rebounds. Gordon Hayward had what might have been a breakout game, finishing with a season-high 21 points. The Jazz struggled with Jason Thompson in the first half, but adjusted and quieted him in the second half. John Salmons was a non-factor.
But it was the Jazz's Gordon Hayward and C.J. Miles who stole his thunder and saved the day for the Jazz on offnight for usually reliable Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson.
Hayward led Utah with 21 points and Miles scored 20 points off the bench, playing extended minutes and starting the second half after Raja Bell strained his right adductor.
Gordon Hayward hit a free throw a second after Fredette's 25-foot airball and the Jazz survived their first encounter with Jimmermania, escaping with an emotional and much-needed 96-93 victory. ... On this night, rather, the dynamic duo turned out to be Gordon Hayward (21 points) and C.J. Miles (20 points). Picking up the slack for their struggling stars, the young swingmen were instrumental in getting the Jazz (11-7) back on a winning path after tough losses to the defending NBA champs and to lowly Toronto at home Wednesday. ... "It makes us a much harder team to guard," Hayward said, speaking of contributions from the Jazz wing players. "It's easy when you just throw it in the post and if they're not going then it's just like, 'What do you do then?' So it's good when we step up like that. We need to do that."
HOLDING ON: Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin shook his head in disbelief and relief at the end of Saturday's game.
Not because of Jimmer Fredette's 3-point attempt that could've won the game for the Kings. Rather, he couldn't believe second-year forward Gordon Hayward carelessly threw the ball to Earl Watson by the Sacramento bench in the final moments.
The ball harmlessly rolled away while time expired, but. ...
"Four seconds on the clock. Just hold it," Corbin said. "They're going to foul you. Don't jump in the air and throw it. If you throw it, throw it up so the clock can run out, but don't throw it toward the baseline and give them a chance to get another possession of the ball."
It worked like a charm, and Hayward sheepishly said he'll hold it next time.
"Just young," Corbin added. "That turned my stomach more than the Jimmer shot."
Sat. 2:00 pm: Valparaiso @ Milwaukee: There are four teams sitting within a game at the top of the Horizon League, and these are two of them. The Panthers are at the end of the toughest portion of their schedule, going 1-2 against Youngstown State, Cleveland State and Butler. Valpo, on the other hand, lost their last game at Green Bay, dropping them a game off the pace. Depending on what happens in the Cleveland State game, the loser of this game could end up two games behind first place in the league standings. ... Sat. 7:05 pm: Cleveland State @ Youngstown State: The Horizon is as muddled as any league in the country. How muddled? Cleveland State is currently sitting in first place in the league. Youngstown State is a game behind them and all alone in fourth place. The Vikings, who are my pick to win the league, won the first matchup between these two at Youngstown State. Will the Penguins get their revenge?
Wisconsin-Milwaukee 53, Butler 42 Butler has had a shocking number of horrific offensive efficiency games so far this season. They had a 28.9 eFG% and scored 0.67 PPP. It's the fourth time this year they've had an eFG% under 35%, and the sixth time they've scored less than 0.85 PPP. To put that in perspective, they only hit either of those low marks twice all of last season, with one being the National Title game. The problem continues to be backcourt play, which has been so inconsistent without anybody able to hit a shot. They have four guards that play regular minutes (Nored, Stigall, Hopkins and Aldridge), and they're shooting a combined 28.2% on threes. I give Brad Stevens credit for mixing up his lineup and trying new players, but if you don't have anybody on the perimeter that can hit a shot then there's not a whole lot that the coach can do.
The Butler frontcourt is still scoring efficiently. Even here, Khyle Marshall and Andrew Smith combined for 20 points on 9-for-21 shooting, with 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 3 turnovers... not that bad. And Wisconsin-Milwaukee deserves some credit here. They are third in the nation in 3P% against (25.2%). Butler's offense actually has been (other than here) playing better over the past month than they were back in November and early December.
This loss drops Butler to 6-4 and, with a home loss to Cleveland State, basically out of the Horizon regular season race. The key the rest of the season is going to be trying to figure out their offensive issues. They're running out of time before the Horizon League tournament. Butler's next game will be tomorrow at Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee moves only a half game behind Cleveland State with this win. They lost to CSU in Cleveland but will have a return visit on February 14th. With a soft upcoming schedule, it's really not so unlikely that Milwaukee could win a second straight surprise Horizon League regular season title. They'll play Valparaiso at home tomorrow before games against Youngstown State and Wisconsin-Green Bay.
VALPARAISO at MILWAUKEE (2 p.m. Saturday at US Cellular Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
It isn’t quite as bad as the A-10, but four teams are within a game of the top spot in the Horizon League. The two teams tied for second place are Valparaiso and Milwaukee, and they meet in Wisconsin this weekend. Valparaiso (14-8, 7-3) hopes it has better luck against another Wisconsin school than it did against Green Bay, which beat the Crusaders 75-60 to snap Valpo’s four-game winning streak. Valparaiso’s other league losses came against Wright State and Milwaukee, which downed Valpo 57-55. Milwaukee (14-8, 7-3) beat Butler 53-42 in its last contest as James Haarsma’s 12 points led the way. Milwaukee lost to Youngstown State and Cleveland State before this, so hopefully it has better luck against the Crusaders.
As for the shooting guard spot, several scenarios could unfold, including having C.J. Miles or Josh Howard start at small forward with Gordon Hayward moving over to the off-guard spot. Rookie Alec Burks is another shooting guard starter possibility.
Wing players including Bell, Miles and Gordon Hayward said they’ve already absorbed one crucial point. After watching big men Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson carry Utah through its early-season run, the Jazz have become too reliant on the duo to will the team to victory.
Millsap delivered again Friday, scoring a team-high 20 points, while Jefferson played through an ankle injury to pour in 19. But as Dallas (12-8) continually mixed an all-around offensive attack that saw speedy reserve point guard Rodrigue Beaubois (game-high 22 points) rip apart Utah’s interior at the same time Jason Terry, Lamar Odom and Vince Carter fired away from the perimeter, the Jazz continued to perform as a two-man show.
Hayward and Bell disappeared from Utah’s offense; Miles was frustrated by Dallas’ length and size; Jazz point guard Devin Harris failed to score in the second half and took just one shot after recording 10 points during the initial two quarters.
In the second quarter Friday, Norris Cole, displaying a deft touch, made a no-look, behind-the-shoulder alley oop lob to James for a dunk. In the fourth quarter, Cole grabbed a steal and fed James for a spinning drive to the basket.
Notable: Cleveland State (8-11, 3-5 Horizon League) got a four-game homestand off to a poor start with a loss, but looks to reverse that trend against Detroit (9-11, 5-3). Tickets are $1 to "Pack the House."
