On The Horizon

Horizon
G: Kyler D’Augustino (IU Indy)
G: Corey Hadnot II (Purdue Fort Wayne)
G: Brody Robinson (Oakland)
F: DeSean Goode (Robert Morris)
F: Dayan Nessah (Cleveland State)
POY: Corey Hadnot II (Purdue Fort Wayne)
ROY: DeSean Goode (Robert Morris)
DPOY: Tae Dozier (Northern Kentucky)
6TH: Chevalier Emery (Cleveland State)
COY: Clint Sargent (Wright State)

Championship Week Video Notebook – Day 2--Hoops HD

...We also had our first Quintuplefinal game in the Horizon League....

3.4.26 Game Analysis--Basket Under Review

HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT NOTES: [Subscriber content]

Cleveland State Men's Basketball Continues #HLMBB Tournament Play at Wright State--csuvikings.com

Maples Leads Renovated Vikings Into HL Tournament--HoriZone Roundtable
Cleveland State Women's Basketball Opens #HLWBB Tournament Play By Hosting Oakland--csuvikings.com

Detroit Mercy Seeks Memorable March--HoriZone Roundtable
In wide-open Horizon League, Detroit Mercy men's hoops says: Why not us?--The Detroit News
Lovejoy doing it for his hometown in final college season--The Varsity News

Edwards shows growth in final season as a Titan--The Varsity News
Game 31: No. 11 Detroit Mercy Heads to No. 1 Green Bay in 2026 Barbasol #HLWBB Championship First Round Showdown--detroittitans.com

UWGB men's basketball earns first Horizon tournament win in six years--Green Bay Press-Gazette
UW-Green Bay Phoenix heading to Indy with 1st conference tournament win in 6 years--WFRV Local 5
Phoenix Bound for Indianapolis after Win over Purdue Fort Wayne--greenbayphoenix.com

Phoenix to Host Detroit Mercy in Horizon League First Round Tomorrow--greenbayphoenix.com

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TRAVELS TO NORTHERN KENTUCKY FOR #HLWBB FIRST ROUND--iuindyjags.com

Milwaukee Men’s Basketball Enters Post Season on a Positive Note--UWM Post

UWM Women’s Basketball Season Ends with 69-67 Play-In Loss to Detroit Mercy--UWM Post

Brett White II gave up hoop dreams to help family. At 28, it's game on--The Detroit News
[4] Golden Grizzlies Prep for [7] Northern Kentucky in #HLMBB First Round--goldengrizzlies.com

PFW eliminated from Horizon League tourney in loss to Green Bay--Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Mastodons Fall 64-56 to Green Bay in #HLMBB First Round--gomastodons.com

Mastodons Host Robert Morris for #HLWBB Championship First Round--gomastodons.com

Top 10 Teams from One-Bid Leagues Most Likely to Pull off a Round of 64 Upset--Hoops HQ

9. Robert Morris Colonials

Record: 21-10 (13-7 Horizon League)

A year ago, Robert Morris almost pulled off the upset over Alabama as a No. 15 seed. It’s a completely new cast, but the similarities are there with this version, which enters the postseason on a seven-game win streak and having the Horizon League Player of the Year on its roster in 6-foot-8 sophomore forward DeSean Goode (15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds). This is a team with size and depth which ranks in the top 30 in three-point shooting (37 percent). If they can get past the crowded Horizon League Tournament field, the Colonials could pose a challenge in the Big Dance.

Robert Morris’ Goode happy to be part of Horizon League title defense--Tribune-Review
No. 2 Robert Morris excited to ‘taste the chase of a championship’ in Horizon League tournament--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
RMU Men's Basketball Hosts Youngstown State In in the First Round of the Barbasol Horizon League Championship--rmucolonials.com

RMU Ends Regular Season With a Win, Takes On Purdue Fort Wayne in Horizon League Tournament--HoriZone Roundtable
Robert Morris WBB Lands Three Players on All-Horizon League Teams--Robert Morris Sports Now

Raiders begin #HLMBB tourney run Wednesday inside the Nutter Center--wsuraiders.com

Jim Squire

“Beast” Ryan Helps Vikings Feast on Jaguars--HoriZone Roundtable
Conference tourney odds--kenpom's thoughts
Conference Tourney Previews, Part 1 of 3--Hoops HD

Horizon tourney predicted champ: Green Bay (#5 seed)
Dates: March 2-10
Location: Campus sites and Indianapolis, IN
2025 tourney champ: Robert Morris (#1 seed)
Fun fact: 5 different champs in past 5 years
Seeding: 7 of past 10 champs were not #1 seed
I do like Penn alumni so I am dying to select my fellow Quaker Andy Toole, the head coach at Robert Morris (or as the folks at HoopsHD like to call them: Morris Robert). However, this tourney seems to keep having a new champ every March so I will go with another notable coach: Doug Gottlieb and the Phoenix. It seems like he is in the news every other week for all the wrong reasons, and his team’s defense leaves a LOT to be desired (around 300th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency), but that gets balanced out by having 4 starters who each average double-digits. Their lineup is a little short with none of their top-6 scorers standing taller than 6’6”, yet they only allow 31.2 RPG (which is top-30 in the nation). The X-factor is their 3-PT shooting: their top-3 shooters from 3-PT range (Marcus Hall/Preston Ruedinger/Caden Wilkins) have each knocked down at least 44 shots from behind the arc this season.

3.3.26 Game Analysis--Basket Under Review

HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT NOTES:
5 seed Green Bay hosts 6 seed Purdue Fort Wayne after the Phoenix dominated the regular season series... [Subscriber content]

Cleveland State Men's Basketball Defeats IU Indy in 2026 Barbasol #HLMBB Tournament First Round--csuvikings.com

Zingaro Named HL Newcomer of the Year, Two Other Vikings Honored--HoriZone Roundtable

Postseason Has Titans Hosting Milwaukee On Wednesday--detroittitans.com

Three Players Reach Double Figures Lifting No. 11 Detroit Mercy Past No. 10 Milwaukee in 2026 Barbasol #HLWBB Championship Play-In Game--detroittitans.com

UWGB's Jenna Guyer, Kayla Karius are Horizon player, coach of year--Green Bay Press-Gazette
Green Bay’s Jenna Guyer named Horizon League Player of the Year; Kayla Karius earns Coach of the Year--WFRV Local 5

MEN'S BASKETBALL SEASON COMES TO AN END AT NO. 10 CLEVELAND STATE IN 101-93 DEFEAT--iuindyjags.com

UWM roster depleted but spirit strong for tournament game in Detroit--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Panthers Open 2026 Barbasol Horizon League Championships Wednesday--mkepanthers.com

Panthers Denied in Horizon League Championship Play-In Matchup vs. Detroit Mercy--mkepanthers.com

NKU basketball players earn Horizon League awards--Cincinnati Enquirer

Women's Basketball Slated for Rematch with Vikings in First Round of #HLWBB Championship--goldengrizzlies.com

'Dons Set For #HLMBB First Round at Green Bay on Tuesday--gomastodons.com

Colonials Open Up First Round of 2026 Barbasol #HLWBB Championship Against No. 5 Purdue Fort Wayne--rmucolonials.com

Wright State basketball: Raiders living out their faith while racking up wins--Dayton Daily News
First Place Raiders Take Down IU Indy with Team Connection & Focus--Wright State Guardian
Women’s Basketball to open postseason play at Youngstown State Wednesday--wsuraiders.com

No. 9 Penguins Visit No. 2 Robert Morris in First Round Matchup Wednesday Night--ysusports.com

Penguins Host Raiders on Wednesday to Open Tournament Play--ysusports.com

#HLMBB Notebook – March 3, 2026--The Horizon League

#HLWBB Notebook – March 3, 2026--The Horizon League

Jim Squire

#HLMBB NET Rankings (And More!) – March 2, 2026--HoriZone Roundtable
2026 Horizon League Men’s Tournament: Schedule, Bracket, Recent History, TV/Streaming Info--Blogging the Bracket
Championship Week Tips Off with Atlantic Sun, Patriot League, Sun Belt, Horizon League, NEC and Big South--Hoops HQ
3/2/26 MONDAY NEWS AND NOTES--Staring at the Floorboards

Subscriber Content

We have postseason basketball being played today the Horizon play-in featuring IU Indy at Cleveland State.....

Week 18 Watchlist: MARCH--Basket Under Review

Monday, March 2

C Game

Horizon League Play-in: #312 IU Indy at #321 Cleveland State (-3), 7 PM ET, ESPN+. This is the first conference tournament game of 2026, and therefore, it will be mentioned here. Is it any good? No, but it is here and it exists.

Heat Check Report: Conference Tournaments Begin--Bracket Busters

Heating Up

Robert Morris

Photo: Robert Morris Athletics

02/23/26 KenPom: 157th

03/02/26 KenPom: 146th

The Colonials are HOT right now. They closed out the season winning seven games in a row, including taking down the conference champions twice in Wright State. This week, they took care of business against Detroit Mercy 73-62 and Cleveland State 83-64.

While their offense has been a tremendous driver of their success this season, their defense has been the true turning stone that helped them finish at 21-10 and 13-7 in the Horizon League. During this seven game winning streak, the Colonials did not let a single team score more than 69 points while scoring 72+ and 80+ in four games. They rank 136th in offensive adjusted efficiency and 182nd in defensive adjusted efficiency.

The combination of Ryan Prather Jr. and Desean Goode is going to be lethal in the conference tournament and whichever postseason tournament they land in. Prather Jr. is averaging 15.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on the season while shooting 43.8% overall and 36.9% from three-point. During this winning streak, he’s averaging 17.4 points, 5.4 assists, and 3.7 rebounds. Goode is averaging 15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists on the season while shooting 63.3% overall and 59.3% from three-point on 59 attempts. During the winning streak he has two double-doubles and he’s averaging 16.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals.

The Colonials secured the two-seed in the Horizon League Tournament which kicks off this week. They’ll take on Youngstown State in the first round on Wednesday. During the regular season they swept the Penguins with an 80-77 home win in overtime and a 72-66 road win.

On Fire

Conference Roundup

Wright State bounced back this week, taking down Purdue Fort Wayne 74-70 and Northern Kentucky on an incredible late comeback 92-71 on the road. The Raiders finished the season 20-11 and 15-5 in the Horizon League as they clinched the regular season title. They’ll play the winner of Cleveland State and IU Indy on Wednesday.

IU Indy vs. Cleveland State Prediction, Odds for Horizon League Championship Play-In--Sports Illustrated
Forde Minutes: Big East Bubble Burst and Small-Conference Tournament Previews--Sports Illustrated

The Little Dance, Part I

Ball knowers know—this is the good stuff. The two weeks before Selection Sunday are as much fun as the real thing, with more than 300 teams still alive and hoping to go as far as they can. As always, The Minutes is here for a sprint through the conference tournaments—half of them this week, and the other half next week.

Horizon (21)

When: March 2–10.

KenPom conference rating: 19th out of 31.

Inspiration: Butler’s back-to-back runs to the final game in 2010 and ’11. Among the current membership: Cleveland State 1986 made the Sweet 16, shocking Indiana in the first round.

Best player: Purdue Fort Wayne guard Corey Hadnot II is the league’s only 20-point scorer (20.6 points per game) while also contributing 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

Best March coach: Oakland’s Greg Kampe has won four single-bid tournaments with the Grizzlies, most recently in 2024 with a team that went on to stun Kentucky in the first round of the Big Dance.

Top seed: Wright State (20–11, 15–5). The Raiders finished two games clear of second-place Robert Morris.

Dark horse: Oakland. Never underestimate the fourth-seeded Grizzlies, who usually win games in this tourney.

Minutes pick: Robert Morris (22). The No. 2 seed is on a seven-game winning streak, including a 13-point win at Wright State. This is an odd tournament played in five stages over eight days, so buckle up.

Game 30: No. 11 Detroit Mercy Travels to No. 10 Milwaukee in 2026 Barbasol #HLWBB Championship Play-In Game Action--detroittitans.com

Local 5 Sports previews the postseason college hoops happening in Green Bay--WFRV Local 5
Phoenix Set to Host Purdue Fort Wayne in Horizon League First Round--greenbayphoenix.com

MEN'S BASKETBALL TO OPEN POSTSEASON PLAY AT NO. 10 CLEVELAND STATE--iuindyjags.com

Wright State mounts a 20-point comeback and wins on the final play over NKU Men’s basketball--The Northerner

Deuce Hamilton, son of Pistons legend, commits to Oakland basketball--Detroit Free Press
Son of Pistons legend commits to play basketball at Oakland--The Detroit News
Grizzly Grit: Oakland Overcomes Defensive Lapses to Stifle Panthers--The Oakland Post
Kampe Named Finalist for 2025-26 Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award--goldengrizzlies.com

Monday's College Notebook: Fort Wayne's Pickett named Horizon's top freshman, more--Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
'Dons Set For #HLMBB First Round at Green Bay on Tuesday--gomastodons.com

Peaking at the perfect time: The most dangerous teams entering March--Busting Brackets

With how wild the Horizon League has been this season, Robert Morris has emerged as a model of consistency in the conference. After sitting with a losing record in league play at the end of January, the Colonials closed the regular season on a seven-game winning streak to secure the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Tournament. During that stretch, RMU defeated the three other of the top four teams in the conference, including two wins over top-seeded Wright State. After losing nearly all of their production from last year’s Horizon champion team to the transfer portal, what head coach Andy Toole has done this season, and especially down the stretch, is extremely impressive.

Robert Morris’ DeSean Goode named Horizon League Player of the Year--Tribune-Review
Robert Morris sophomore DeSean Goode named Horizon League Player of the Year--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
How Did Former RMU Transfers Perform with Their New Players This Season?--Robert Morris Sports Now
Robert Morris Well Represented in Horizon League Awards--Robert Morris Sports Now