On The Horizon

Jim Squire

Tournament Central - 3/7--The Mid-Majority

Horizon
The Horizon tournament moves from home sites to Green Bay for the weekend with six teams remaining. Top two seeds Green Bay and Cleveland State will play the winners of today's games on Saturday. The first round went according to seed, although Oakland needed overtime and a near miracle in regulation to make it past Youngstown St.

#3 Wright State vs. #6 Oakland - 7:00 p.m.
#4 Valparaiso vs. #5 Milwaukee - 9:30 p.m.

Friday’s Pregame Shootaround: Harvard looks to make NCAA tournament return--CollegeBasketballTalk

Horizon League: Wright State, Valparaiso enter the fray
The Horizon League bracket favors those who finish highest in the standings, meaning that champion (and host) Green Bay and Cleveland State won’t play until Saturday’s semifinals. Friday night, Wright State and Valparaiso play their first games with the Raiders facing Oakland and Valpo taking on Milwaukee. Wright State swept the Golden Grizzlies during the regular season, and the Crusaders did the same to Milwaukee.

Late Night Snacks: No. 2 Wichita State remains undefeated, Harvard punches its ticket--CollegeBasketballTalk

STRUGGLED
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2) Duke Mondy (Oakland)

Shot 1-for-8 from the field, accounting for five points and three turnovers in the Golden Grizzlies’ 73-57 loss to Wright State in a Horizon League quarterfinal.
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CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
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Horizon League: Milwaukee knocks off Valparaiso
Milwaukee took care of Valparaiso, 74-57, setting up a semifinal matchup with rival and Horizon League regular season champ Green Bay. Jordan Aaron scored 20 points and Matt Tiby added 18 for the Panthers, who finished the season 7-9 in conference play. Also advancing to the semis was Wright State, who will play Cleveland State after beating Oakland 73-57.

Breaking down mid-major mania--USA Today

Horizon

Dates: March 4, March 7-8, March 11

Sites: First round is at campus sites; quarterfinals and semifinals are at Resch Center (Green Bay, Wis.); championship is at a campus site (higher-seeded team hosts)

What to expect: Wisconsin-Green Bay was far and away the best Horizon League team in the regular season, amassing a 24-5 overall record and notching a high-profile non-conference victory against ACC-leading Virginia. Led by Alec Brown, a 7-1 center with an outside shot, and 5-11 point guard Keifer Sykes, the Phoenix should take care of business on their floor. However, watch out for Cleveland State and its lights-out three-point shooting, as well as defending champion Valparaiso. The Crusaders took down Green Bay in January.

Who wins: Wisconsin-Green Bay

Bracketology: Looking ahead and who bubble teams should root for--Eye On College Basketball

UW Green Bay: The Horizon League champs host their conference tournament, which means that if they need an at-large bid, it's because they lost to an inferior team on their home floor. The Phoenix have a home win over ACC champ Virginia and C-USA co-champ Tulsa among its four top 100 wins. But they too have a couple bad losses, including UW Milwaukee at home and a very soft overall schedule. I think this team is dangerous if they get in, but they should have to win their tournament to do so.

Horizon League Second Round Recap--Mid-Major Madness
College Hoops Viewing Guide: March 7, 2014--Blogging the Bracket

Horizon League Second Round

Both games on Horizon League Network/Sportstime Ohio/TWCS Wisconsin/ESPN3

No. 6 Oakland Golden Grizzlies (13-19, 8-9) vs. No. 3 Wright State Raiders (18-13, 10-6), 6 p.m.
No. 5 Milwaukee Panthers (18-13, 8-9) vs. No. 4 Valparaiso Crusaders (18-14, 10-7), approx. 8:30 p.m.

The higher seeds dominated their opposition for today, with a nine-point Milwaukee loss to Valpo the closest the five and six seeds got all season.

Miami Heat falls flat against San Antonio Spurs--Miami Herald

Wade had 16 points and was 7 of 15 from the field. Michael Beasley had 11 points off the bench. Guards Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole struggled for the second game in a row.

Slow starts hurting Heat during skid--South Florida Sun Sentinel

Point guard play lacking

Another glaring blemish during the losing streak has been the play of point guards Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole.

They were badly outplayed by Spurs guard Tony Parker and the Rockets' Patrick Beverley the past two games.

"It's been off the last two games," Chalmers said. "We've got to do better."

Cole and Chalmers have combined to score 13 points on 5 of 23 shooting while committing seven turnovers. The opposing point guards averaged 18 points.

"We've got to get back on track, find a way to get back on track," Chalmers said. "It starts with me. I'm the starting point guard. I just got to turn it up. It's just been one of those trips. We've got to get out to a better start. That starts with me. I've got to make sure we got off to a better start."