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.
Side Dishes
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Virginia topped Oakland 71-58 in a non-conference game, though the Golden Grizzlies’ Kahlil Felder again stole some of the thunder in defeat. Felder scored 30 of his team’s 58 points.
IMPORTANT OUTCOMES
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No. 5 Virginia 71, Oakland 58: The Cavaliers erased a one-point halftime deficit to take care of the dangerous Golden Grizzlies in Charlottesville. Kay Felder scored 30 points but no other Oakland player scored in double figures (Felder only had three assists) as Virginia’s defense wore down Greg Kampe’s team. Anthony Gill scored 17 points and Mike Tobey, who scored a total of 20 points in the six games prior to tonight, added 16 for Virginia.
Horizon League: This should come down to Valparaiso and Oakland, two teams that are well-coached and battle-tested. Milwaukee and Detroit should be competitive, but this looks like a two-horse race.
Long Beach State 49ers at No. 15 Duke Blue Devils, 4 p.m. (ACC RSNs/ESPN3)
Oakland Golden Grizzlies at No. 5 Virginia Cavaliers, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
The Blue Devils and Cavaliers wrap up their ACC prep with a pair of high-quality mid-majors. Don't expect the Golden Grizzlies to keep this as close as their OT loss to Michigan State in Auburn Hills eight days ago.
Evan Bradds finished with 26 points and 10 boards and Craig Bradshaw chipped in with 21 points of his own as the Bruins picked off a Valparaiso team that still had some slim hopes of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament come Selection Sunday. There’s no shame in losing to Belmont in Nashville — the Bruins won at Marquette on the season’s opening night, after all — but Valpo’s non-conference schedule is now locked in at 10-3, the only noteworthy wins coming against Rhode Island, Oregon State and Indiana State. The Horizon League is going to be one of the toughest mid-major conferences in the country, with Oakland and Milwaukee both looking like they could be good enough to snag the regular season title from Valpo’s grip, but it’s not a league that will provide the Crusaders with many opportunities to strengthen their at-large profile.
Valpo may very well be the best mid-major team in the country, a veteran group with size that can really, really defend. They could, in theory, reach the Sweet 16, but to have a shot at doing so, it looks like they’re going to need to win the Horizon’s automatic bid.
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STARRED
Kahlil Felder, Oakland: 23 points, 13 assists, eight steals, five boards and a 101-93 win over Chicago State. Light work.
2014-15: 27-12; lost in NCAA Tournament Final Four
Record: 13-0
Best win: Kansas (79-73, Nov. 17, neutral)
Worst loss: N/A
Outlook: The Spartans are off to their best start ever, but they’ll have to work around the two-week absence of star Denzel Valentine (two triple-doubles). He’s not expected to miss any of the marquee showdowns, but the absence will give Bryn Forbes time to shine.
ALL-DIMINUTIVE
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3. Kahlil Felder, 5'9" junior, Oakland: He ranks second in the country in points (26.9) and is first in assists (8.9) per game. He also just had 37 points and nine assists in the Golden Grizzlies’ near-upset of Michigan State last week.
THE ‘ALL THEY WERE GOOD, TOO’ TEAM
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Kahlil Felder, Oakland: Felder’s Oakland squad couldn’t quite pull the upset on No. 1 Michigan State, but the Grizzlies got 37 points and nine assists out of their diminutive superstar.
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BENCH: Bryn Forbes (Michigan State), Ben Bentil (Providence)
THEY WERE GOOD, TOO
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Milwaukee Panthers: The Panthers now own two road wins against Big Ten competition, knocking off Minnesota at The Barn this week.
UIC ended a six-game losing streak by beating Purdue-Calumet, but the Flames have still not defeated a Division I team this season. They get their final shot in non-conference play Tuesday against Northern Illinois.
It’s not the lightest slate, but also not loaded with must-see matchups.
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The best game of the day might be Valparaiso traveling to Nashville to take on Belmont, as it will be a battle of two consistent mid-major winners.
Panther pride in Milwaukee: Waukegan grads Akeem Springs and Jordan Johnson are starters on Milwaukee's men's basketball team, and North Chicago grad JayQuan McCloud is a reserve. McCloud had to sit out the start of the season after transferring to Milwaukee (8-4) after a false start to his collegiate career at Murray State.
Springs came to Milwaukee via NIU in DeKalb and Mississippi Valley State. Johnson came to Milwaukee via John Wood, a junior college in Quincy.
Springs is averaging 13 points and is shooting 43 percent (17-for-39) from distance. Johnson is the point guard, and he's averaging 10 points and nearly eight assists.
McCloud is averaging seven points in his first three games with the Panthers.
Milwaukee plays in the Horizon League, and Valparaiso is the league power.
If your pleasure is single OT games, there were eight of them, from top-ranked Michigan State’s 99-93 escape from Oakland to Drexel and Penn’s 53-52 game (tied at 44 after regulation) eventually won by the Dragons. If you like two overtimes, there were two of those (Houston 94-89 over Wyoming and Marist edging Brown 84-83).
If you wanted three overtimes, you had it with Canisius and Louisiana-Monroe, where in one of the wildest games you’ll ever see the Golden Griffins came back from 13 points down with 1:02 left in regulation. Each team had a chance but failed to win in the first two overtimes with free throws in the final seconds, and then Canisius blanked ULM 12-0 in the third extra session.
As mentioned, No. 1 Michigan State almost went down in its first game without Denzel Valentine. The Spartans trailed by 13 at halftime before the two teams settled into a terrific back-and-forth at the end of regulation and in overtime. It’s possible the only thing that kept the game from going longer was a very poor charging foul on Oakland’s Kahlil Felder (37 points, nine assists) late in overtime, most noticeable for a lack of consistency as it came immediately after the exact same call had been ignored on the other end the play before.
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When Bo Ryan retired and Greg Gard was named Wisconsin interim coach, it left an opening on the Badgers’ coaching staff. Gard had said he would only fill the spot if he could find the right fit, but on Tuesday it was announced that Howard Moore will join the staff. It’s hard to think of a more perfect fit than Moore, a player and graduate of Wisconsin who also was an assistant with Gard under Ryan and recently spent five years as the head coach at Illinois-Chicago.
Today’s menu:
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A pair of Wisconsin state schools challenge Big Ten foes on the road as Wisconsin-Milwaukee-already a winner at Wisconsin-faces Minnesota while Wisconsin-Green Bay faces the Badgers (9 p.m., BTN).
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Greg Gard made his debut as Wisconsin’s interim coach, and the Badgers ran out to a huge lead on Wisconsin-Green Bay before the Phoenix made for some nervous moments late. Wisconsin eventually won 84-79.
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Wisconsin-Milwaukee won for the second time this year against a Big Ten team, defeating Minnesota 74-65. Terrific junior college transfer guard Jordan Johnson nearly notched a triple-double (19 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds), while the Golden Gophers lost for the third time this month at home.
OTHER NOTABLE OUTCOMES
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When discussing the Horizon League be sure to include Milwaukee with Valparaiso and Oakland as contenders. The Panthers moved to 9-4 on the season with a nine-point win at Minnesota.
How the game turned: Shockers center Shaq Morris scored the game’s first two baskets, blocked a shot and passed to Evan Wessel for a layup to give WSU an 8-7 lead.
That sequence started WSU’s big men on their way to a productive night. Morris scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds. Anton Grady finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
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“The bigs did a great job being aggressive and attacking their inside presence,” Grady said. “We just did a great job as a team just attacking their strength and that took it away from them.”
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Rotation watch: Morris and Grady grabbed the important minutes in the post. John Robert Simon earned some run in the first half and responded with a three-pointer.
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Wamukota, who sat on the bench Tuesday, is also battling back stiffness. His long-term absence would rob WSU of a valuable defender and rebounder. If Grady and Morris are as productive as they were on Tuesday, his minutes will be limited.
With VanVleet’s left hamstring at its strongest since late October and the return of center Anton Grady, the Shockers can take time off for Christmas and look forward to the potential for stability in 2016.
U of L (11-1) left Utah Valley (5-8) in the dust by scoring easily against the Wolverines’ zone defense. The Cards hit seven 3-pointers and shot 69 percent from the floor in the first half while surging ahead 59-31 at halftime. Louisville finished 31 of 56 (55.4 percent) from the field, led by Trey Lewis (21 points), who was named MVP of the Minardi Classic.
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**In addition to scoring a team-high 21 points (7-10 FGs, 3-6 3-pointers), Lewis also had seven rebounds, and as a 6-2 guard, he deserves praise for the way he pursues boards and pulls them down effectively at the peak of his jump.
Kay Felder gets his chance to shine Tuesday against Michigan State: Who is Felder?
If you haven't seen him you're missing out, but you don't have to for much longer.
Oakland's 5-foot-9 point guard is the best player in college basketball that nobody knows about and is coming off a game in which he torched Washington for 38 points, nine assists, and six rebounds.
After the Golden Grizzlies' win over the Huskies, Washington coach Lorenzo Romar compared him to Boston Celtics' guard Isaiah Thomas.
Now Felder (25.9 points, 8.9 assists, and 4.7 rebounds) -- who has scored 20 or more points in every game he's played in this season -- and his teammates get a chance to slay the giant Tuesday as they take on top-ranked Michigan State on Tuesday at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Why is this such is a big deal and one of my headlines today?
The last two times these two teams have played at The Palace the Spartans have only beaten the Golden Grizzlies by a combined five points and Michigan State was ranked in the top 10 each time.
Oakland coach Greg Kampe told CBS Sports this week that the game Tuesday is sold out and an industry source told CBS Sports that the Pistons didn't even sell out this season when they hosted LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Another reason why this game is a big deal?
The Golden Grizzlies are the type of team that can win multiple games in the NCAA Tournament.
Many people have already anointed Valpo as the team to beat in the Horizon League and that's for good reason, but the Crusaders are going to have their hands full with Oakland.
Kampe has turned the Golden Grizzlies' program into a mid-major version of Iowa State and has several transfers -- Sherron Dorsey-Walker (Iowa State), Percy Gibson (Iowa State), Martez Walker (Texas), and Max Hooper (St. John's) -- that began their careers at high-major programs.
Add Felder and you've got a heck of a team.
Kampe has been close to upsetting Michigan State several times in the past, but now he's got a player that is capable of being the most dangerous player on the floor in crunch time since Denzel Valentine is out with an injury.
Signature performance: It came Tuesday night, against the No. 1 team the country. Felder had 37 points, nine assists and three rebounds -- and almost willed his team to a win over shorthanded Michigan State.
Case file: Felder is averaging 26.9 points, 8.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and shooting 40 percent from 3-point range. His points average is second-best in the country to Howard's James Daniel (28.4), while his assists average is college basketball's best by almost one full assist per game. (Milwaukee's Jordan Johnson is putting up 8.0 per game, good enough for second in the country.) My colleague, Gary Parrish, wrote a nice profile on Felder earlier this week. There's a good story there. Considering no player has ever ended the season leading the nation in points and assists, and the fact that Felder is flirting with that right now, we had to include him here.
