Monday, March 5, 2012

News On The Horizon 3/5/2012

Being All That You Can Be?--The Mid-Majority
Sitting with the Enemy--The Mid-Majority
King's Court: Regular-season awards--ESPN

Best first-year coaches

Bryce Drew, Valparaiso: The son of longtime Crusaders coach Homer Drew won the Horizon League league title with a 14-4 conference record.
...
Don't Forget to Write ("Good Guy" seniors we'll miss)
...
Ronald Nored, Butler: The defensive catalyst never got enough credit for his contributions to Butler's back-to-back appearances in the national championship game. Can't imagine the guy has an enemy off the court.

Winner: Five-way tie. They're all winners.

Horizon title game preview: Valpo vs. Detroit--Eye On College Basketball
2012 Madness Men's Basketball All-High Major Teams--College Sports Madness
Tuesday Truths--Basketball Prospectus

Horizon: Valpo plays for a bid at home

W-L Pace PPP Opp. PPP EM
1. Cleveland St. 12-6 62.9 1.08 0.95 +0.13
2. Valparaiso 14-4 62.9 1.05 0.99 +0.06
3. Detroit 11-7 65.0 1.06 1.02 +0.04
4. Youngstown St. 10-8 63.3 1.04 1.01 +0.03
5. Butler 11-7 63.8 0.96 0.94 +0.02
6. Milwaukee 11-7 64.2 0.99 0.97 +0.02
7. Green Bay 10-8 65.8 1.03 1.02 +0.01
8. Wright St. 7-11 61.4 0.93 0.96 -0.03
9. UIC 3-15 62.2 0.96 1.08 -0.12
10. Loyola 1-17 59.0 0.92 1.09 -0.17

AVG. 63.0 1.00

Tomorrow night Valparaiso will host Detroit in the title game of the Horizon tournament, with the winner receiving what will surely be the league's only NCAA bid. Ordinarily the fact that the Titans defeated the league's best per-possession team, Cleveland State, to get this far would be more impressive, but CSU really struggled over the last three weeks of the season. Then again UDM star Ray McCallum certainly helped extend those struggles in the semifinals, to the tune of 26 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. For their part the Crusaders will be able to call upon 2012 Horizon POY Ryan Broekhoff, a 6-7 junior who exhibited remarkable shooting accuracy from both sides of the arc this year. In a post-Butler league, these are indeed the conference's two most talented members.


ATB: Wild Weekend Full of Tournament Tickets Punched And Regular Season Finales--Rush The Court

Three Mid-Majors Blow Their Opportunity. Middle Tennessee, Iona and Butler were three strong mid-major teams to keep tabs on as possible NCAA Tournament Cinderellas. Iona leads the nation in scoring per game with several offensive stars, MTSU is top-five in the country in field-goal percentage, and we all know why you can’t doubt Butler. But all three of these teams lost in their conference tournaments over the weekend and sport lackluster resumes that are not likely to result in at-large bids. It’s a shame that we won’t be able to see Scott Machado play in the Big Dance or Brad Stevens gunning for a third straight Final Four appearance, but that’s what happens when you don’t perform best when it matters most. We’ll see you in the NIT.

Utah Jazz vs. Dallas Mavericks: Report card--Deseret News

Guards: Devin Harris, Gordon Hayward and C.J. Miles, who played 10 more minutes than the starter Hayward, combined to go 8-24 from the field, while Earl Watson was so-so (five points on 2-4 shooting with two turnovers). Backup guard and former Jazz signee Jason Terry scored 22 points and shot 3-6 from distance to pace the Dallas backcourt on a night that Jason Kidd and Vince Carter were nothing special. GRADE: C-

Wizards see strong back court emerging to lead their roster--Washington Post
Butler's NCAA Tournament Reign Ends in Conference Tournament Semi--Bleacher Report

Horizon League Semifinals: Detroit 63, Cleveland State 58--Cleveland State Hoops

Watch The Horizon League Network's Women's Basketball Awards Show Today At 2 P.M.--detroittitans.com


Former Ramblers Excelling In Pro Ranks
--LoyolaRamblers.com

Down and out--UWM Post
On this day 6 years ago - Mar 04, 2006--UWM Update

Panthers lose to UIC and Loyola--UWM Post
Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championship preview--UWM Post
UWM Opens Horizon League Tournament At Home Against Valparaiso--uwmpanthers.com

VU getting physical in tourney--The Post-Tribune
Horizon League commish believed it was only a matter of time for Crusaders to excel--The NWI Times
Ohio State 72, Michigan State 70: Spartans can't clinch Big Ten title outright, lose Branden Dawson for season--The Detroit Free Press

Still, with Keith Appling pushing the ball in transition and Brandon Wood hitting from the wings MSU was able to take a nine-point halftime lead. But Ohio State quickly cut the lead to three to begin the second half.

Ohio State 72, Michigan State 70: Spartans share Big Ten title after blowing lead--The Detroit Free Press

EAST LANSING -- Coach Tom Izzo promised his family that if Michigan State lost its regular-season finale Sunday afternoon against Ohio State, and the outright Big Ten title with it, he wouldn't let it ruin the postgame senior day celebration to honor the careers of Draymond Green, Delvon Roe, Austin Thornton, Brandon Wood and Anthony Ianni.
...
Despite the rough finish, MSU did follow the game plan early, as Keith Appling pushed the ball in transition and Brandon Wood made shots from the wings.

MSU falls in thriller, shares title with Michigan, OSU--The Detroit News

Brandon Wood, who scored 15 points, was guarding Buford on the final play, but switched with Keith Appling.

"He made a great shot," Wood said. "Keith played it as well as he could, he's just a good player and he made a good shot."

Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State share the wealth in Big Ten--The Detroit News

Eyes on the bigger prize
...
The Spartans built their lead on the force of pure Green energy — along with the shooting of fellow senior Brandon Wood. And if you doubted whether regular-season basketball titles still mattered, you saw the graphic response in the physical and emotional toll of this one.

Crusaders Set For Title Game Against Detroit--valpoathletics.com

Horizon League women’s tourney preview--The Post-Tribune
Timmerman key to Valpo’s tourney hopes--The Post-Tribune
Junior Laura Richards prepared to lead Valpo into conference tournament--The NWI Times
Scouting the Horizon League Women's Basketball tournament--The NWI Times
Women's Hoops Tips Off Tournament Play Monday at Milwaukee--valpoathletics.com

On this day 9 years ago - Mar 04, 2003--Rowdy Review

Frosh Start--Youngstown Vindicator
On this day 9 years ago - Mar 04, 2003--Guin Report

Women's Basketball Heads Back to Cleveland for League Tournament--ysusports.com

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