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.
Monday’s Action:
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VCU hasn’t been talked about much since falling out of the rankings, but the Rams have now quietly won five straight since falling to Virginia at home, the latest win a 72-63 triumph over stubborn Cleveland State.
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Valparaiso is now 13-2, one of the top win totals in the country after ripping James Madison 79-52 on the road. Eye-opening result to beat a decent CAA team by 27 on the road.
Then in overtime, Michigan State maintained a 55-51 lead after Costello hit two free throws and Bryn Forbes split a pair of free throws after Turgeon was assessed a technical foul with 1:52 left.
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Michigan State (9-5, 0-1) held for the last shot but Forbes' 3-pointer from the corner came up short, sending it to double overtime.
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Trice scored 26 for Michigan State, while Branden Dawson, Forbes and Costello each finished with nine points. Valentine fouled out in the first overtime and finished with four points on 1-of-9 shooting.
10. DePaul survives UIC on late 3-pointer, 72-71 (Nov. 14)
In the 2014-15 season opener, DePaul jumped out to a 21-point lead on UIC in the first half. UIC chipped away and fought back, and sophomore Markese McGuire put the Flames ahead for the first time, 71-69, with a jumper in the final minute.
DePaul sophomore Billy Garrett Jr. responded with a huge 3-pointer from the left wing that would become the game-winner. UIC junior D’Juan Miller got a look at a game-winning triple for the Flames but could not connect.
Garrett’s game-winning shot was the second of his career. He also beat Northwestern at the buzzer in December 2013.
More To Watch: Pepperdine, Columbia, Central Michigan, Bowling Green, UC Davis, Cleveland St., Wright St., Hofstra, Canisius, High Point, Radford, USC Upstate, Vermont, Sam Houston St., Incarnate Word, Norfolk St., Toledo, Hawaii, St. Bonaventure, Colorado, Tulsa, New Mexico
Green Bay got revenge on Georgia State with a 78-61 victory Saturday. The Phoenix host Chicago State Wednesday in their final non-conference tuneup.
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16. Valparaiso (12-2). Last week: 19
Valparaiso finishes its non-conference slate Monday at James Madison.
Mid-Major Matchup of the Night: Cleveland State at VCU, 7:00 p.m.
VCU isn’t a mid-major program anymore, I know that, but this will still be a fun game. Cleveland State is one of the better teams in the Horizon this season and gave Louisville, another team that wins with their press, a fight earlier this season.
UIC’s losing streak is now four games after losses to Northwestern and Bradley last week. The Flames should be able to end the dry spell Tuesday against Judson.
It’s the last Saturday before conference play really gets going, as well as the first day of post-Christmas basketball. This will also be, by far, the lightest Saturday until March, as every Saturday between now and then will have over 100 Division I games. Besides the aforementioned rivalry game, here are some others to watch:
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Maryland hosts Oakland in what should be a tough battle given what Greg Kampe’s teams do in non-conference play.
Saturday’s Action:
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Maryland held off Oakland 72-56 after the Golden Grizzlies trimmed a 23-point second half deficit to six. Dez Wells scored 10 points in his first game back from injury.
MID-MAJOR GAME OF THE DAY: Georgia State at Green Bay, 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
The mid-major game so nice, they played it twice. Georgia State took the first contest with a 72-48 blowout win over Green Bay. The Phoenix looks to even the score at home.
Scored a career-high 28 points on 10-for-14 shooting in the Phoenix’s 78-61 win over Georgia State.
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NOTABLES
After losing 72-48 at Georgia State on December 4, Green Bay beat the Panthers 78-61 with Carrington Ward scoring a career-high 28 points. The Phoenix ended the game on a 21-3 run.
Cleveland State has had a rough season so far. It really started in the summer, for CSU was expected to return all five starters this year until top player Bryn Forbes decided mid-summer to “transfer closer to home,” which was magically the same time that Michigan State had a need for a skilled two-guard. The Vikings then lost spark plug point guard Charlie Lee to suspension for six games to start the season, and it’s been tough to find any continuity since. A 6-7 mark was hardly the expectation for this team, and while there’s still time to turn it around, at this point it’s going to be tough to match last year when it won 21 games and finished second in the Horizon League.
Monday’s action: Another night with a number of surprises, near surprises, and a plenty of significant games
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UC Irvine defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay 72-70 in the championship game of the Holiday Hoops Tourney in Las Vegas, as Alex Young scored the winning hoop with 1.7 seconds left.
Green Bay beat Morehead State and Arkansas-Little Rock and now has a four-game winning streak. The Phoenix have a pair of tough matchups this week with UC Irvine and Georgia State.
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19. Valparaiso (12-2). Last week: 20
Valparaiso has won four straight games with one non-conference game at James Madison remaining.
UIC guard Marc Brown had a slow start to his senior year as he battled a foot injury, but now he’s getting healthy and the results are showing. In two games last week, Brown averaged 19 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals. He also made three 3-pointers in each game.
Honorable mentions: Alec Peters, Valparaiso; Clarke Rosenberg, Chicago State
Freshman of the Week
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Honorable mentions: Tai Odiase, UIC; Bryant McIntosh, Northwestern; Tevonn Walker, Valparaiso
Mid-Major Matchup of the Night: UC Irvine vs. Green Bay, 5:00 p.m. (Las Vegas)
UC Irvine has 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye, an NBA prospect, on their roster. Green Bay has 5-foot-10 Keifer Sykes, another NBA prospect, on their roster.
PITTSBURGH – James Robinson scored 18 points, including five in the final minutes of regulation to send the game into overtime, to help Pittsburgh avoid an upset by beating Oakland, 81-77, today.
Michael Young led Pitt (8-3) with 19 points and seven rebounds while Cameron Wright and Chris Jones each scored 16.
Kahlil Felder finished with 23 points to lead Oakland (4-8).
Jalen Hayes scored 16 and Max Hooper added 12 off the bench.
The Panthers tied the game at 72 in the final minutes of regulation after Robinson converted a three-point play on a drive to the basket then made a pair of free throws. After Felder was called for a travel, Wright missed a midrange jumper as time expired to send the game to overtime.
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Rhode Island 69, Detroit Mercy 55
KINGTSON, R.I. – E.C. Matthews had only four points by halftime, but roared to life after the break to finish with 23 as Rhode Island surged past Detroit, 69-55, today.
For much of the second half Matthews single-handedly outscored Detroit, 18-17. Rhode Island (7-3) is 5-0 at home.
The first half was quite different as Juwan Howard scored 13 for Detroit (6-6), and the Titans bench outscored Rhode Island's 23-12 en route to a 36-34 lead at the half.
But Howard was tightly guarded after halftime, taking seven shots — and not making one till 3:53 remained and Detroit down by 17. He finished with 17 points, his other four starters adding only four more.
Rhode Island opened the second half 19-4, taking control of the game. Aside from shutting down Howard, the Rams sank 26 of 34 from the line, forced 18 turnovers and blocked seven shots, Hassan Martin with four.
Walk-on Bobby Wehrli came off the bench to play a career-high 21 minutes. Ryan Bass scored a season-high eight points and played a season-high 21 minutes.
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The Flyers led 59-55 at the 10:27 mark. Every time the Flyers made a run, the Terriers answered. Then Wehrli hit his first career 3-pointer at the 9:59 mark. A jumper by Bass stretched Dayton’s lead to 64-55. Boston never got closer than nine in the final five minutes.
Freshman Darrell Davis came in and went 5-for-5 from three-point range and finished with a career-high 19 points. Ryan Bass, the under-sized transfer, had a career night, as well, with eight points in just 11 minutes. And Bobby Wehrli, one of the walk-ons, played 21 minutes and hit a big three pointer from the baseline
After falling to Tennessee-Martin in overtime, UIC hung with SMU on the road for 30 minutes before losing by 21 points. The Flames’ only game this week is at Bradley.