On The Horizon

Jim Squire

The Morning Dish – Friday, February 2, 2018--Hoopville

Side Dishes:
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Major surprise in the Horizon League, where last place and 6-18 Cleveland State knocked off league-leading Wright State 77-74. Big win for first-year coach Dennis Felton in his rebuilding job. The Raiders are very shorthanded right now and played just seven in this one, with the latest injury being valuable reserve Everett Winchester out with a head injury, per Jay Morrison of the Dayton Daily News.
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Tonight’s Menu:
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Finally, chic preseason pick Illinois-Chicago has seemed to find its stride in the Horizon, winning seven of its last eight. The only loss in that stretch was to Oakland, which now sits a game behind the Flames in the league standings but hosts them tonight (9 p.m., ESPNU).

Cleveland State beats first-place Wright State 77-74--CBS Sports
Northern Kentucky holds off Youngstown State 95-85--CBS Sports

Cleveland State upsets first-place Wright State, 77-74--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Toledo at Akron tops weekend men's basketball schedule--Cleveland Plain Dealer

On the Horizon: The league is currently a four-team race led by Wright State, one game up on Northern Kentucky via tiebreaker, followed by Illinois-Chicago (12-11, 7-3) and Oakland (14-9, 6-4). The Raiders were not expected to be very good this season, but 6-9, 275-pound redshirt freshman Loudon Love (11.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg) has made WSU an extremely tough team to beat. He has five double-doubles in league play, including two games with 17 rebounds.

It can be argued Wright State is the fourth-best Division I team in the state behind Ohio State, Cincinnati and Xavier, which are all nationally ranked. The Raiders have won five of seven conference road games following the loss at Cleveland State.

Youngstown State did not win a D1 game in the non-conference season, but has regrouped in league play by moving senior Cam Morse from shooting guard to point guard. Morse, who averaged 22.9 points a game last season and 3.1 assists, is now averaging 14.5 points and 3.7 assists. However the assist numbers in league play sit at 4.0, including games with 11 and six.

Cleveland State stumbles, then rallies to beat first-place Wright State--News-Herald
Vikings Take Down First Place Wright State 77-74--NEO Sports Insiders
Cleveland State overcomes league-leading Wright State 77-74--The Reserve News
Vikings Hit 14 Threes in Win Over League Leading Wright State--csuvikings.com

Livingston Sets Single-Game 3-Point Record With Career-High 36 Points In Win Over UDM--csuvikings.com

Titan Homestand Starts With IUPUI On Friday--detroittitans.com
Help Detroit Mercy Beat Oakland During Donor Challenge Week Feb. 5-9--detroittitans.com

Three-Point Barrage Falls Short Against Vikings--detroittitans.com

Twitter Mailbag: What teams are poised for postseason success?--Mid-Major Madness

I need to know, what mid major team do you think, that is in 4th or worse in conference standings right now, has the best chance to win their conference tourny?
— SalfEmploy (@Kassmoneys) February 1, 2018

Potential teams in 4th or worse that could get hot and play spoiler in a conference tournament:

Montana State
Missouri State
St. Bonaventure
Albany
Oakland

This list will absolutely change by this time next week. Please don’t read into it at all.