Lowest-scoring game
March 4: #274 Milwaukee 43, #95 Valparaiso 41 [53] This was in the Horizon League quarterfinals and Valpo was adjusting to like without it’s star player Alec Peters. One can understand why the Crusaders may have been out of sorts. Still, it’s kind of frustrating to know you only needed 44 points to buy yourself another game. The 43 points was the lowest for a winning team all season. The game was 4 to 3 at the end of the first quarter, which was the lowest-scoring first quarter in any game in over five years. Milwaukee won its semifinal and its appearance in the Horizon League final was the least-likely team accomplishment in all of the conference tournaments, estimated at 2% before action began.
In end, Green Bay better prepared for Horizon final--Varsity News
The state of Illinois finally ended its shutout streak in the NCAA Tournament with Northwestern going dancing. Aside from that? It was a somewhat disappointing year.Shocking exodus--Whoosh! Net
UIC reached the CBI semifinals and Illinois made the NIT quarterfinals, but the state had a legitimate chance to send four teams to the NCAA Tournament at one point during championship week with Illinois State on the bubble after its Arch Madness finals loss, Illinois trying to play its way into the field with the Big Ten Tournament coming up and UIC being favored in the Horizon League semifinals against Milwaukee.
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7. UIC (17-19, 7-11 Horizon; CBI Semifinals)
After upsetting Green Bay, UIC had a wide-open path to the Horizon League championship game. But then the Flames got knocked off by bottom-seeded Milwaukee in the semifinals.
UIC still got a bid to the CBI and took advantage with two postseason wins before falling to Coastal Carolina in the semis.
Manny Patterson commits to Green Bay--Phear The Phoenix
Rechlicz Looks Back On 2016-17 Season--mkepanthers.com
Open Hearts and Minds for the Little GuysValparaiso athletic director Mark LaBarbera talks hot-button topics in Q-and-A--Post-Tribune
Perhaps the biggest problem for the committee each year is how to assess the teams that play in non-power conferences. With so few opportunities for resume-enhancing wins using the current methodology, those squads are at a distinct disadvantage. The solution is for the committee to consider other evaluation tools when its standard method does not give enough information. For example, here is a situation that occurred during the 2016 selection process.
The committee chose Tulsa and Temple ostensibly because they owned more top-50 wins, but those two teams also had numerous more chances to play top-50 opponents. Since St. Mary’s and Valparaiso didn’t have those same opportunities, the committee should have utilized another metric to properly consider them. This methodology should also apply to seeding — making Wichita State (KenPom top 10) a #10 Seed in this year’s event was extremely unfair to both the Shockers and the other teams in their pod (i.e., Dayton and Kentucky). This inherent availability problem in evaluating teams from mid-major leagues is only going to get worse as several power conferences move to 20-game league schedules and further limit opportunities for the teams from the other leagues to schedule tough non-conference games.
Peters Named Honorable Mention All-American by Associated Press--valpoathletics.com
Crusaders Announce Elite Camp--valpoathletics.com
Update: Bothof issues statement on Brannen’s status--The Northerner
Former Wright State standout Thomasson signs NBA D-League contract--Dayton Daily News
Davis exits dunk contest with groin injury--Dayton Daily News
WSU’s Alstork declares for NBA Draft--Dayton Daily News
Sports Today: Grant’s challenge at Dayton, Ohio State’s rebuilds and reboots and the Reds are coming to town--Dayton Daily News
Wright State can brag of a shorter NBA draft drought than UD’s thanks to big man Vitaly Potapenko, who was taken 12th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1996.Alstork leaving options open, but focus set on NBA--Springfield News-Sun
Mark Alstork, who led the Raiders in scoring last season as a junior, declared this morning he will enter the draft, although it is likely a fact-finding mission more than anything else. He can return if he doesn’t sign with an agent.
As a 6-5 guard, he has the size to intrigue scouts if he continues to develop under now-second year coach Scott Nagy, so it will be interesting to find out what he learns from scouts during this process.
The Raiders were also in the news last night as Steven Davis took part in a slam dunk contest for college seniors, but an injury wiped out his chance to take home the title…
Alstork Declares for NBA Draft--wsuraiders.com
Women Enjoy Success Under First-Year Coach Merriweather--wsuraiders.com
Youngstown State has long been one of the true outposts in Division I basketball, a school where winning seasons are rare-just five over the last 33 years-and finishing even near the middle of the Horizon League has been a success. The Penguins are known far more for football, but they do seem to have done very well with the hire of Jarrod Calhoun, who comes from Fairmont State (W.Va.), which just played in the NCAA Division II championship game. Calhoun was a success at Fairmont State and as head coach at then-NAIA (now NCAA D-II) Walsh (Ohio), and he also spent time working under Bob Huggins at West Virginia.Ed Puskas: Penguins are already winning--Youngstown Vindicator
Calhoun plans to bring up-temp style to YSU--Youngstown Vindicator
YSU officially hires Calhoun as men’s coach--Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle
Huggins a big fan of new YSU coach--Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle
New YSU coach wants turnaround--Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle
Penguins pleased with new leader--Mahoning Valley Tribune Chronicle
A Sleeping Giant: Jerrod Calhoun Introduced as YSU Men’s Basketball Coach--The Jambar
