Primarily a collection of news links about all 12 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.
-Northern Kentucky @ Texas A&M – NKU is probably way overmatched, but they have managed two really solid wins away from home so far and could really make some noise if they can pull off an upset tonight
-Florida Atlantic @ Wright State – both teams 1-0
BUY GAMES:
-Youngstown State @ Ohio State – Ohio State looking for their first win
Green Bay gave Duke a scare. The Phoenix led after the first quarter and were up six in the second before Duke pulled away 76-60. Maddie Skorupski had a game-high 16 points, and Kristina Ouimette added 14. Duke was without Fournier, so it comes with an asterisk. But Green Bay going into Cameron and leading a top-10 team for a quarter and a half shows how tight the margins can be.
Cleveland State beat Penn State, 62-61. A Horizon League team winning at a Big Ten program in the opener is a great result, not a fluke. Between this and Green Bay's start at Duke, the Horizon showed up in Week 1. The Vikings came back down to earth a bit Thursday, losing 77-73 at Bowling Green.
The Euros versus the Speedsters, what a game we should have on Saturday in Indianapolis. IU Indy's insanely fast pace gets opponents into a game that barely looks like basketball at times, and most of UT Martin's players come from a FIBA system overseas that couldn't possibly be more different. The Skyhawks' players, who largely are playing their second actual college basketball game ever, may be in for culture shock.
UT Martin's defensive scheme is a 5-man switching system that is meant to fully cut off driving lanes. On the flipside, IU Indy's offensive system is built around a hub big man, which then runs cutters and handoffs through that big at the top of the key. Again, these teams couldn't be more different.
The Skyhawks do have a giant size advantage here, standing as the ninth-tallest team in the country. Considering this non-stop IU Indy pressure allowed copious rim baskets off the back end last year, that size at every position should make a big difference here. The counterpoint would be that pressure may force a ton of turnovers for a UT Martin team that was eighth-last nationally in that stat last year, but pardon the pun, there is lots of turnover on this new roster for Jeremy Shulman and Co.
One thing I can tell you is this game will be fast, very fast. But IU Indy giving a jumbo, physical squad like UT Martin with skilled guards Kaan Onat and Davi Remagen lanes to the basket off its pressure likely doesn't end well for the home team. - Matthew Winick
Wright State was one of the biggest winners relative to analytics expectations during the nation’s season openers this week. The Raiders handled business over Air Force, 102-71, in their debut to leap 23 spots on KenPom from their initial standing; that is the 27th-largest jump compared to expectations so far this season, and their +2.59 adjusted efficiency margin change is the 16th-best (at the time of writing). In a modern-era anomaly, returners led the way; standouts from last season’s NCAA Tournament squad Dominic Pangonis, Andrea Holden, and Kellen Pickett combined for 63 points, 20 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals in the win...[Subscriber Content]
Robert Morris at UIC (-7)
Chicago, IL | 8:00 PM ET | ESPN+
It's safe to say the season did not start the way Robert Morris planned, heading out to Reno and getting smoked 86-49 against Nevada. There were essentially zero redeeming qualities in that game. There was a point where they scored just one basket in an 11-minute span...[Subscriber Content]
–Green Bay @ Cincinnati – it’s a buy game, but Green Bay is expected to do really well in the Horizon this year and Cincinnati is a team that we think can break out onto the national stage and make the NCAA Tournament, so it’s a game worth watching
–Northern Kentucky @ South Dakota – both teams 1-0, this is the first road game for NKU (Note from Stalica – it’s the first true road game for the Norse, but keep in mind they did beat UTEP at the nearby Sanford Pentagon two days earlier)
-Milwaukee @ Santa Clara – Santa Clara should cruise to 2-0
On the YSU side, I think it’s an overreaction to say that the Penguins are
going to win the Horizon League, but you could definitely sell me on a
bounce-back season for Ethan Faulkner’s team. VMI transfer Linus Holmstrom
is a sniper and Division II transfer Kelvin Amoako was a monster on the
offensive boards.
