Monday, February 6, 2012

News On The Horizon 2/6/2012

Youngstown St. 80, Loyola of Chicago 63--Associated Press
Cleveland St. 70, Ill.-Chicago 42--Associated Press

Utah Jazz extra: No Earl Watson jersey, but here are five free items--Deseret News

COMING ATTRACTIONS
...
Tuesday at Pacers, 5 p.m. MT, ROOT

Brownsburg's Gordon Hayward got a hero's welcome in his Indiana pro debut last year. Expect lots of No. 20 Jazz jerseys this time, too.

Non-Conference Opponents Update: February 6--Hammer and Rails

Butler Bulldogs - 13-12, 7-6 Horizon, RPI: 151 - Memo to Butler: STOP SUCKING! This loss continues to be an anvil tied to our ankles that is getting heavier as the season goes on. If we miss the NCAAs, this loss may be why. Butler lost at home to Detroit on Saturday and has now lost three of four. For good measure they get a weekend road trip to Youngstown State and Cleveland State, who are among the league leaders. They drew in-state rival Indiana State in the BracketBusters

On this day 12 years ago - Feb 05, 2000--Butler Blue Fever

Jenna Cobb Tabbed Horizon League Player of the Week--ButlerSports.com

Non-BCS Power Pyramid, Week 12--Eye On College Basketball

14. Cleveland State (20-4). A Sentence: With Nevada losing and Gary Waters’ team continue to roll in the Horizon, it’s time to get the Vikings back in the mix. A Statistic: No Pyramid team is worse in any category than Cleveland State is at getting to the foul line. The team’s free-throw rate is 26.1 percent, third-worst in the country. The Schedule: vs. Valpo, Thursday; vs. Butler, Saturday.

Toronto Raptors (8-16) at Miami Heat (17-6), 1 p.m. (ET)--Miami Herald

Mario Chalmers and Bosh scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, while Mike Miller also had 12 points and Norris Cole added 11 in the win. The Heat shot 51.9 percent and aim for a fifth straight win at home Sunday. They are 10-2 as the host and own a 1 1/2-game lead over Atlanta for the top spot in the Southeast Division. Miami is 12-3 versus the Eastern Conference this season and sports a 5-0 mark against Atlantic Division inhabitants. It has won nine in a row against teams from that division during the regular season.

Center, point guard, Battier secondary issues for Heat--South Florida Sun Sentinel

In a perfect world:
...
-- A veteran point guard is added for stability, an upgrade on last season's Mike Bibby addition, because we're still not sure about Norris Cole's motor being a playoff fit.

D'Aundray Brown's status for Valpo showdown uncertain: Cleveland State Insider--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Balanced Cleveland State breezes to road win over Illinois-Chicago--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Is the college game lacking depth behind the premier teams? National College Basketball Insider--Cleveland Plain Dealer

On the Horizon: Gary Waters has Cleveland State (20-4, 10-2) rolling, particularly on the defensive end. Since losing at Valparaiso, CSU has dispatched its opponents by 10, 26, 18 and 28 points, with most games decided by halftime.

If that trend continues this week with second-place Valparaiso (17-8, 10-3) at the Wolstein Center at 7 p.m. on Thursday, and league icon Butler (13-12, 7-6), at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Wolstein Center, national pollsters might have to revisit the notion of the Vikings being a Top 25 team. CSU received votes early in the season, but have not received many since losing to Hofstra, which remains the lone black mark on the Vikings' ledger this season.

Cleveland State Takes Down UIC, 70-42--Vikings Ball
Vikings Reach 20 Wins With 70-42 Win at UIC--csuvikings.com

On this day 14 years ago - Feb 05, 1998--Titans Update
Send a Kid to the Game Feb. 18 for $5--detroittitans.com

Cleveland State's big second half buries UIC--The Chicago Tribune
UIC hammered at home--Daily Herald
UIC Slips With Blowout Loss To Cleveland State, 70-42--Flame Fanatic
First-Place Cleveland State Defeats Men's Basketball, 70-42--uicflames.com

Loyola (5-18, 0-13) loses 11tth straight game--The Chicago Tribune
Loyola keeps battling despite 11-game skid--The Chicago Tribune
Loyola (Chicago) Drops One To Youngstown State, 80-63--LU Wolf Ball
Loyola Falls To Hot-Shooting Youngstown State, 80-63--LoyolaRamblers.com

On this day 14 years ago - Feb 05, 1998--Phoenix Fever

Injuries, free throw shooting threaten Panthers men’s season--UWM Post
Simplicity breeds offense--PantherU
On this day 7 years ago - Feb 05, 2005--UWM Update

The inexperience of the Panthers proves harmful--UWM Post

Michigan State Spartans 64, Michigan Wolverines 54: Draymond Green leads the way at home--The Detroit Free Press

Down 13, the Wolverines continued to scratch away. Trey Burke's three-pointer, followed by Morgan's layup cut the lead to 45-37 with 8:35 left. But the lead crept back into double-digits after Appling's driving layup and Derrick Nix's hook shot with 4:36 to go, making it 53-40 MSU. With less than 3 minutes to play, Wood hauled in an offensive rebound and then tripled, pushing the lead up to 17 with 2:48 remaining.
...
The Spartans outscored the Wolverines, 20-6, during about a 10-minute stretch in the first half. During the run, MSU turned U-M over five times and scored three layups on those turnovers. Also, Wood scored six of MSU's 20 points in the run to give the Spartans a 25-11 lead with 4:49 to go in the half.

MSU looked like it would have a double-digit lead going into halftime, but Burke's long three-pointer from the top of the key as time expired made it 30-22. Green and Wood each had six points at the break as MSU shot 59% (13-for-22). Novak had eight points for U-M.

Demoted Brandon Wood makes most of bench role with Spartans--The Detroit Free Press
Notebook: Michigan State targets, shuts down Michigan's Trey Burke--The Detroit News

Slam dunk

Austin Thornton started for Michigan State instead of Brandon Wood, who has struggled the past few games for the Spartans. Wood responded off the bench, though, with nine points, four rebounds and four assists in 29 minutes.

Draymond Green backs up bold words, MSU rolls over U-M--The Detroit News

It was also the fourth straight game Dawson scored in double-figures, and Brandon Wood, coming of the bench for the first time, scored nine and grabbed three offensive rebounds.

They're feeling good in East Lansing again--The Detroit News

The memory of that Jan. 17 loss also resonated with some of his less-experienced teammates, though. Izzo's "three-and-a-half freshmen" — rookies Travis Trice, Branden Dawson, Brandan Kearney and senior transfer Brandon Wood — all struggled in the loss at Ann Arbor.
Wood displays energy

None more so than Wood, whose play in the three games since has been spotty, at best, leading Izzo to replace him in the starting lineup with Austin Thornton.

But there was Wood on Sunday, hustling for as many offensive rebounds (three) as Michigan grabbed all game and finishing with nine points, four rebounds and four assists in 29 minutes.

Late in the second half, it was Wood who effectively sealed the win in a spirited sequence, grabbing an offensive rebound to reset the shot clock and then later hitting a 3-pointer to give the Spartans their largest lead at 57-40 with 2:48 left.

"Brandon just wasn't playing with energy," Izzo said. "And I want to coach basketball; I don't want to coach energy. So I told him, 'This is a challenge now. You can sulk about it or you can play.'

"Give him credit, I think the kid grew up a little bit today. I'm happy for him, and it's gonna make us a better team."

Michigan State's Brandon Wood responds to heavy heart, benching vs. Michigan--MLive

Wright State junior guard continues to play well in Horizon League games--Wright State University Sports
Raiders Host Wisconsin Teams--wsuraiders.com

Perry, Penguins take down Loyola--Youngstown Vindicator
Perry leads Youngstown State past Loyola 80-63--Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle
Perry powers YSU men--Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle
Youngstown State Gets Win Over Loyola (Chicago), 80-63--Guin Report
Kendrick Perry, Hot-Shooting Penguins Take Down Loyola, 80-63--ysusports.com
Kendrick Perry Named Horizon League Player of the Week--ysusports.com

Second-Half Runs Push Cleveland State, Youngstown State to Big Wins--Horizon League Network
YSU's Perry Grabs Player of the Week Accolade--Horizon League Network

Butler's Jenna Cobb Named Women's Basketball Player of the Week--Horizon League Network

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