Monday, February 16, 2015

News On The Horizon 2/16/2014

The Morning Dish – Sunday, February 15, 2015--Hoopville
Valparaiso at Wisconsin-Milwaukee The Panthers have been tough at home of late, so there’s no room for a letdown for the Crusaders after Friday’s hard-fought win over UW-Green Bay to take over the Horizon lead.
Sunday’s Snacks: No. 5 Wisconsin wins eighth straight, and Northwestern upsets Iowa--CollegeBasketballTalk
STARRED
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3. Oakland’s Khalil Felder

29 points, eight assists and three rebounds in the Golden Grizzlies’ 83-78 win over Detroit.
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NOTABLES
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Valparaiso won its sixth straight game, as they won 62-55 at Milwaukee. Bryce Drew’s Crusaders have a one-game lead on Cleveland State and Green Bay, and two of their final three Horizon League games will be on the road.
Kahlil Felder leads Oakland past Detroit 83-78 at O'rena--The Detroit Free Press
Felder leads as Oakland takes down Detroit this time--The Detroit News
Mid-Major Rankings for the Week of Feb. 16--The Catch and Shoot
6. Valparaiso (24-4, 11-2 Horizon). Last week: 10

Valparaiso had a monster week, moving into sole possession of first place in the Horizon League. The Crusaders held off Green Bay and then survive a close game at Milwaukee.



7. Green Bay (20-6, 9-3 Horizon). Last week: 7

Green Bay fell out of first place in the Horizon League on Friday with a 63-59 loss at Valparaiso. The bigger concern for the Phoenix right now is that leading scorer Keifer Sykes injured his thumb in the loss.
Chicago Weekly Awards: Feb. 16--The Catch and Shoot
Player of the Week
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Honorable mentions: Ahman Fells, UIC; Paris Burns, UIC; Tevonn Walker, Valparaiso

Freshman of the Week

Freshman guard Tevonn Walker continues to light it up for Valparaiso. He averaged 16.0 points and 2.5 steals in two wins last week for the Crusaders and has now reached double figures in scoring in the last six games.
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Team of the Week

Valparaiso went 2-0 last week, including a huge home win against Green Bay that vaulted the Crusaders into sole possession of first place in the Horizon League. Valpo followed that up with a road win at Milwaukee.

The Crusaders need two more wins to clinch at least a share of the Horizon League title.

Game of the Week
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Honorable mention: Valparaiso 63, Green Bay 59 (2/13)

Cleveland State rolls past Illinois-Chicago, 67-59--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Avoiding late upsets key to conference championships - Local College Basketball Insider--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Cleveland State needs local products Anton Grady and Trey Lewis at their best this week -- Terry Pluto (photos)--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Cleveland State 67, UIC 59: Vikings Down Flames, Keeps Pace in Horizon League race--Cleveland State Hoops
Cleveland State Knocks Off UIC 67-59--Vikings Ball
Cleveland State (16-11) Goes Up against Western Carolina (13-14)--Vikings Ball
Vikings Top UIC, 67-59, on Senior Day--csuvikings.com
CSU Concludes Nonconference Slate at Western Carolina--csuvikings.com
CSU Basketball Radio Network Expands to Lorain County--csuvikings.com

Coleman & Gordon Double-Doubles Lead CSU To Overtime Victory--csuvikings.com

Detroit Loses to Oakland 83-78--Titans Update
Detroit (12-16) Takes On Green Bay (20-6)--Titans Update
Bass Scores Career-High in #MetroSeries Loss at Oakland--detroittitans.com

First Half Deficit Too Much For Titans To Overcome On Saturday--detroittitans.com
#DetroitsCollegeTeam Looks To #BeatOakland For Metro Series Sweep On Wednesday--detroittitans.com
Titans Celebrate National Girls & Women In Sports Day--detroittitans.com

Slowed game pace working well for Golden Grizzlies--The Detroit Free Press
Felder leads Oakland past Detroit--The Oakland Press
Pat Caputo - Big win for Oakland basketball in big rivalry with Detroit--The Oakland Press
Khalil Felder helps Oakland sink rivals Detroit, 83-78--Press Row Sports
Oakland Knocks Off Detroit 83-78--Grizz Gang
Oakland (13-14) vs. Wright State (11-15)--Grizz Gang
OAKLAND HOLDS OFF UDM FOR 83-78 METRO SERIES AND MSHOF CUP VICTORY--ougrizzlies.com

OAKLAND SUFFERS OVERTIME LOSS AT CLEVELAND STATE, 80-74--ougrizzlies.com

Illinois Rankings for the Week of Feb. 16--The Catch and Shoot
11. UIC (7-20, 3-9 Horizon). Last week: 11

UIC had another strong week in the Horizon League. The Flames won at Wright State and then battled with second-place Cleveland State in a 67-59 road loss.
Righting the ship--Whoosh!Net
Road run stopped--Whoosh!Net
UIC Loses to Cleveland State 67-59--Flame Fanatic
UIC (7-20) Battles Milwaukee (10-16)--Flame Fanatic
Strong Second Half Lifts Cleveland State Past UIC, 67-59--uicflames.com

Big Second Half Pushes Wright State Past UIC, 74-63--uicflames.com

Five college players who may someday win the NBA dunk contest--The Dagger
2. Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Position: Guard
Year: Senior
Height/Weight: 6-0, 180
Stats: 17.6 ppg, 3.9 apg, 1.7 spg
Why he's a threat: It's not easy to become a sports celebrity in Green Bay unless you wear a yellow helmet and shoulder pads to work, but the high-flying Sykes has done it. The point guard with the 45-inch vertical has awed Chris Paul with a self-alley-oop during a summer camp and nearly soared over national player of the year candidate Frank Kaminsky in November, a missed dunk of the year favorite that led to a memorable exchange of tweets afterward. The only thing that could keep Sykes from someday participating in the NBA dunk contest is whether he can crack an NBA roster. DraftExpress currently lists the gravity-defying point guard as its 96th-rated prospect.
Top in-game dunks: 1. Jan. 19, 2014 — Alley-oop with his head at the rim at UIC. 2. March 1, 2014 — Transition windmill at Detroit. 3. Nov. 14, 2014 — The missed dunk that left Kaminsky awestruck.
Green Bay (20-6) Goes Up against Detroit (12-16)--Phoenix Fever
Keifer Sykes "50-50" to play Wednesday--Phear The Phoenix

Kraker stays hot as UWGB women rout UW-Milwaukee--Green Bay Press Gazette
Green Bay Enjoys Valentine's Day with Big Win at Milwaukee--GreenBayPhoenix.com

UWM Panthers' late miscues help end home streak--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Crusaders End Panthers Home Win Streak--UWM Post
Milwaukee Drops One to Valparaiso 62-55--UWM Update
Milwaukee (10-16) Takes On UIC (7-20)--UWM Update
Milwaukee Drops Hard-Fought 62-55 Decision To Valparaiso--uwmpanthers.com

Panthers doomed by cold shooting--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
UWGB paints a pretty picture inside--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Green Bay Uses Inside Game To Earn Victory Over Milwaukee--uwmpanthers.com

Poll Attacks: Maryland's resume is actually pretty solid, my friend--USA Today
Maryland is 21-5 overall, 9-4 in the Big Ten.

The Terrapins have five top-50 RPI wins, among them wins over two schools Seth did rank this week -- Iowa State and Oklahoma State. Meantime, Maryland has zero losses outside of the top 60, and four of the five losses are losses in true road games. The lone other loss is a home loss to Virginia, and that's nothing to be ashamed of considering Virginia is 9-0 in road games, leading the ACC and ranked second in this week's Associated Press poll.

Now let's compare that resume to the team Seth ranked 25th ... Valparaiso.

Valpo is 24-4 with one top-50 RPI win and three losses to schools ranked outside of the top 130. In other words, Maryland has five times as many top-50 wins as Valpo, and Valpo has three losses way worse than Maryland's worst loss. So while I'm all for throwing a so-called bone to the so-called little guy, to do so at the expense of a Maryland team with a legitimate resume is difficult to make sense of unless you just ignore the resumes.

In fairness, perhaps that's what Seth's doing.

I don't know.

But, again, he's a colleague and a friend and I genuinely like him.

So let's just move on, OK?

This is uncomfortable.
Top 10 Sexiest Mid-Major Coaches of 2015--Mid-Major Madness
9. Bryce Drew (Valparaiso, Head Coach)

Last season Drew lead the Crusaders to an 18-win season and their fourth consecutive postseason berth. In the 2012-13 season he lead them to their second regular season title and their first conference title, returning the Crusaders to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2004. His rookie season boasted 22 wins. He's only in his fourth year as head coach and it looks like he's wasting no time taking his team to the top.
Valpo shifts focus from Green Bay to Milwaukee--The Post-Tribune
Valparaiso men's basketball has international flavor--The Post-Tribune
Valparaiso rallies from halftime deficit to beat Milwaukee--The Post-Tribune
Earlier blowout won’t derail Valparaiso’s focus--The NWI Times
Crusaders recover from slow start to prevail in Milwaukee--The NWI Times
Which team will win the Horizon League men's basketball regular-season title?--The NWI Times
Valparaiso Picks Up Win against Milwaukee 62-55--Valpo Daily
Crusaders Down Milwaukee Sunday For Key Road Win--valpoathletics.com
Pair of Crusaders Earn Weekly Accolades--valpoathletics.com

Post-Tribune Local Roundup for Monday, Feb. 16--The Post-Tribune
VU sweeps Horizon freshman honors: Valparaiso University picked up Horizon League Freshman of the Week honors for men's and women's basketball. Tevonn Walker won the men's award after scoring 32 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in wins over Green Bay and Milwaukee. Jasmyn Walker got the women's award for the third time this season after scoring 18 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in a win over Milwaukee.

Walker Collects Third HL Freshman of the Week Honor--valpoathletics.com

Raiders rally goes for naught once again--Dayton Daily News
Hopkins should be ready for Grizzlies on Wednesday--Dayton Daily News
Arch: Picture perfect first start for WSU’s Collie--Dayton Daily News
Raiders’ slide continues against Youngstown State--RaiderRoundball.com
Wright State Loses to Youngstown State 74-69--Rowdy Review
Wright State (11-15) Faces Oakland (13-14)--Rowdy Review
Men’s basketball: Raiders gassed after home loss--The Guardian
Men’s basketball: WSU loses record fifth in a row at home--The Guardian
Men Fall to Youngstown State--wsuraiders.com

Women Rally for 73-62 Win at UIC--wsuraiders.com

YSU downs WSU behind Keene--Youngstown Vindicator
YSU holds on against Detroit--Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle
Youngstown State Knocks Off Wright State 74-69--Guin Report
Penguins Hold Off Wright State in 74-69 Win at the Nutter Center--ysusports.com
Marcus Keene Tabbed Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Week--ysusports.com

YSU women avenge loss to Detroit--Youngstown Vindicator
Big First-Half Run Lifts Penguins to 70-65 Win at Detroit--ysusports.com
Heidi Schlegel Named Horizon League Women’s Basketball Player of the Week--ysusports.com

CSU, Oakland, Valpo & YSU Pull Out Close Wins on Sunday--Horizon League Network
Youngstown State's Keene and Valparaiso's Walker Collect Men's Basketball Honors--Horizon League Network

Green Bay, Wright State Hold Top Spots in Standings --Horizon League Network
Youngstown State's Schlegel and Valparaiso's Walker Tab Weekly Honors--Horizon League Network

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