On The Horizon

Jim Squire

#HLMBB Games Preview – February 2nd – 6th--HoriZone Roundtable

State hoops: Dan Majerle sees big future for CMU; tossing TP, WMU a good start--Detroit News

Slam dunks

∎In Mike Davis' first years as a head coach at Detroit Mercy, there has been one headache after another, most notably COVID-19 complications, but also injuries and other personnel matters. The Titans, despite a star player in the NCAA's second-leading all-time scorer Antoine Davis, have struggled to get all their best players on the floor at the same time, and that continues to be the case this year. This week came a big blow: Jayden Stone, a junior guard from Perth, Australia, is out for the season, after the NCAA this week denied his waiver request over an academic issue. He played 13 games for the Titans, averaging 13.9 points and 5.3 rebounds, and developed a big-time chemistry with Davis, from there time living together in Davis' apartment over the summer.

∎Despite being held to 14 points in a loss to Oakland last month, Detroit Mercy's Davis still leads the nation, averaging 26.0 points. Davis is 335 points behind "Pistol" Pete Maravich for college basketball's all-time scoring record, meaning if Detroit Mercy plays the minimum amount of games the rest of the way (nine), he has to average 37.2 points. Twice this season, he's topped 40; there have been 20 other 40-point games in all of Division I.

∎The Oakland women have a special player coming up through the ranks in point guard Brooke Quarles-Daniels (it was just Brooke Daniels until a few weeks ago, when she decided to honor her grandfather), an ex-Macomb L'Anse Creuse North star who has been Horizon League freshman of the week five times, including the last three weeks. An Oakland recruit since she was in middle school, Daniels leads the team, averaging 12.0 points.

Cleveland State Men's Basketball Travels to Detroit Mercy for Thursday Night #HLMBB Clash--csuvikings.com

Cleveland State Women’s Basketball Notches 20th Win With 61-43 Victory Over RMU--csuvikings.com

Titans continue to struggle against rival Oakland--The Varsity News
Titans And Vikings To Clash In Calihan Hall On Thursday--detroittitans.com

Games 22-23: Detroit Mercy Closes Out #HLWBB Home Stand Against Green Bay and Milwaukee--detroittitans.com

UWGB women's basketball in position to win Horizon League with big final month--Green Bay Press Gazette
Green Bay Heads to Michigan to Face Detroit Mercy and Oakland--greenbayphoenix.com

JAGUARS DROP HEARTBREAKER TO MILWAUKEE, 72-69--iupuijags.com

Milwaukee crashes NKU Homecoming party--HoriZone Roundtable
UWM narrowly escapes against lowly IUPUI but earns best Horizon League conference start since 2006--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Panthers Stay Atop League Standings With Win At IUPUI--mkepanthers.com

Panthers Pay Visit to Oakland for Key Horizon League Matchup--mkepanthers.com

Dan Weber: TMU women, NKU men plus Kunkel’s Xavier, UK’s Fredrick all on comeback trail this week--Northern Kentucky Tribune

(Photo by Dan Weber)

• NKU MEN ON THE ROAD AGAIN . . . AND AGAIN . . . AND AGAIN: After a heart-breaking one-point loss Saturday to Milwaukee in a battle for first-place in the Horizon League, the Norse head north to Pittsburgh for Robert Morris Thursday and then over to Youngstown State Saturday. Both teams were defeated by NKU by four points – Robert Morris, 60-56, and Youngstown State, 77-73, in early December at Truist Arena, where NKU is 12-3. It’s the first pair of games in February that has NKU on the road for seven of its last eight Horizon League games.

Away from Truist Arena, NKU is just 2-6 and its 9-3 league record will certainly be at risk after getting swept by a Milwaukee team that is tied with the Norse now. What makes two of those three home-court losses tough to take is that both – to Oakland as well as Milwaukee – were by a single point. And the Milwaukee loss came in a game Saturday where the Norse led by 20 points at halftime.