News On The Horizon 1/18/2017

Scanning the Nation January 17, 2017: notes from across college hoops--Hoopville

It’s also cool seeing Bacari Alexander on the sidelines for Detroit Mercy, the school that perpetually seems to alternate every few years between wanting to be known as Detroit and Detroit Mercy (the school’s actual name). Alexander was a tough guy on some terrific Titans teams under Perry Watson in the late 90s. And that was some kind of rivalry game Detroit won over Oakland Friday night, a 2-14 team defeating a 14-3 team, on the road, in front of a

Odiase scores 20 as Illinois-Chicago beats Milwaukee 71-57--CBS Sports
Mid-Major Madness Power Rankings: Chaos, chaos everywhere--Mid-Major Madness

RANK TEAM RECORD LAST WEEK POINTS
...
10 Valparaiso 15-4 15 118
...
23 Oakland 14-5 12 42

Technically speaking, officials charged with cleaning up college basketball (photos, video)--Cleveland Plain Dealer

Rise and shine: Cleveland State (6-13, 2-5) is back on the road Friday at Milwaukee (5-14, 1-5), looking to back up its impressive road upset earlier this week at Oakland, 76-65. The Vikings only other league win was at home over Milwaukee the opening week of Horizon League play. CSU will play the third of four straight road games on Monday at Green Bay.

Sophomore guard Rob Edwards was key for the Vikings over Oakland as he scored a career-high 32 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field.

Valpo's Peters too much for Cleveland State--Cleveland State Hoops

Vikings Continue Roadswing At Oakland Friday Evening--csuvikings.com

Metro & state: UDM reunion weekend features Duerod jersey retirement--Detroit Free Press
1976-77 Reunion To Feature Special Luncheon, Duerod Jersey Retirement, Vitale Returning--detroittitans.com

My big weekend wrapup: #MACtion and the Mid-Major Madness Jinx--Mid-Major Madness

Stock Falling:
...
Oakland: We jumped to the front of the Oakland bandwagon when the Golden Grizzlies beat Valparaiso last week. Since then, they squeaked by a bad Illinois Chicago team by one, then lost a pair of home games to even-worse Detroit and Cleveland State. What’s going on in Oakland?

Men’s basketball suffers second consecutive conference loss--Oakland Post
Golden Grizzlies look to restore swagger--OAKLAND INSIDER BY TERRY FOSTER
FANS SELECT TOP 20 NOMINEES FOR OAKLAND BASKETBALL HALF-CENTURY TEAM--golengrizzlies.com

Rough first half makes women’s basketball incapable of comeback against Raiders--Oakland Post

Dixson’s Shooting Numbers Prove How Much His Game Has Improved--HLeagueHoops.com
Marcus Ottey could miss up to four weeks with broken wrist--The Catch and Shoot
UIC has turned the first corner by beating up on bad opponents--The Catch and Shoot
Flames outlast Penguins in overtime battle--UIC News
Adversity not stopping Flames--Whoosh! Net
UIC Rips Off Third Straight Win, Downs Milwaukee, 71-57--uicflames.com

Bender Climbs Assist List in Loss to Milwaukee--uicflames.com

Green Bay comes crashing back to earth in loss at Valpo--Phear the Phoenix

Youth steps up, leads UWGB past Valparaiso--Green Bay Press Gazette
Green Bay Receives Top 25 Ranking in USA Today Coaches Poll--greenbayphoenix.com
Newly Ranked Green Bay Locks Down Valparaiso to Win Eighth Straight--greenbayphoenix.com

Illinois-Chicago 71, UWM 57: Flames knock off Panthers--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Panthers Fall After Flames Pull Away In Second Half--mkepanthers.com
Milwaukee Men Host Cleveland State Friday At UWM Panther Arena--mkepanthers.com

Panthers win big over Flames, 83-55--UWM Post
Panthers Extinguish Flames In 28-Point Win--mkepanthers.com

Expert predictions: SI writers make midseason picks for Final Four & more--Sports Illustrated

Tournament hero in waiting

Davis: Alec Peters, senior forward, Valparaiso. He could have gone pro—and no one would have blamed him after his coach, Bryce Drew, left for Vanderbilt—but Peters came back to try to play in the NCAA tournament for the first time. He is as gifted an offensive players as there is in the country.

It’s tough to break records--Kenpom

It turns out my hunch was wrong. From a predictive standpoint, it’s beneficial for a team to have attempted more free throws to this point. More free-throw attempts give us a more reliable estimate of a team’s ability. Because Notre Dame has shot so few free throws, we can’t be as confident in the fact that nearly all of their players have improved their shooting over previous career averages.

In fact, Valparaiso, who has made 80.6% of their shots on 449 attempts, is probably about as good as Notre Dame in real life. The Crusaders are actually the favorite to lead the country in FT% from this point forward, but since Notre Dame already has a 2.2% advantage in the bank, the Fighting Irish are still the favorite to win the season-long FT% title.

Bracketology: Northwestern continues rise in field of 68--The Catch and Shoot

Greenville
 5  Purdue
 12  Valparaiso
 4  North Carolina
 13  Wichita State

Franklin Reaches Career Milestone in Loss to Green Bay--valpoathletics.com

NKU women add six to program in Whitaker’s first recruiting class--The Northerner

YSU Looks to End Losing Streak at Green Bay--The Jambar
Milwaukee Game Time Changed to 1 p.m. Eastern/Noon Central--ysusports.com

One Game at a Time: YSU Women look to Extend Their Streak--The Jambar
Brunner Named Horizon League Freshman of the Week--ysusports.com
Penguins Hope to Carry Momentum to Detroit on Friday--ysusports.com

(WHID) What's Happening in Detroit - Jan. 18--The Horizon League
UIC Wins Third Straight; #HLMBB Update Jan. 17--The Horizon League

#HLWBB Recaps, Jan. 17--The Horizon League