Welp, The UIC Flames are unofficially but pretty officially leaving the Horizon League for the Missouri Valley Conference– and yours truly, Horizon Boy, is losing his local HLMBB watching hub. No, I’m not dying, but I feel like a fella from the 1800’s waving off his pals as their ship disappears into, ironically, the horizon.
The conference change is great news for the Flames’ program and I believe they have the tinder for success in the Valley. We’ve all seen what the Loyola Chicago Ramblers have done since their Horizon League departure in 2013. No, UIC doesn’t have a 102 year old nun on their side like their neighbors up north. However, they do have Sparky, a magical dragon mascot with potentially limitless power. Even if Sparky’s juju doesn’t lead to a Final Four appearance within the next 5 years, Flames fans should also look to Valparaiso’s Valley transition as a “Beacon” of hope. The Beacons have been nothing short of competitive in each of their MVC seasons since leaving the Horizon League in 2017.
Besides Sparky, the Flames have the staff, the talent, and the facilities to follow suit with Loyola and Valparaiso. Suit-donning Coach Yaklich is what I’d call a pro’s pro. You have to love a coach who still has the decorum to rock the full suit (it’s okay to dress down too, Coach Kampe), but still dances around with his team after victories. While results have varied, Coach Yaklich has proved his program to be an effective destination in the transfer portal. Talented transfers like Damaria Franklin, Kevin Johnson, and Zion Griffin are now the Flames’ top three scorers. I think the transfer trend will only improve once playing on the Valley stage. The Flames facilities are there too. Credit 1 is a big beautiful stadium in a big beautiful city. The program has been no stranger to empty seats, but like Loyola and DePaul, all it takes is a spark.
As I sat in Credit 1 Union Arena on Saturday night, watching UIC host Wright State, I couldn’t withhold my mixed thoughts of nostalgia. I couldn’t help but wonder what was running through Coach Yaklich and his squad’s minds. I thought about Tarkus Ferguson, Jordan Blount, Michael Diggins, Dikembe Dixson, and all the other bright Flames over the past decade. I thought about the UIC fans I’ve met on Twitter and grabbed a beer with at games. They all must be excited. New stage, new rivals– all the smoke signals point towards future Flames success.
UIC has been a warm home-base for Horizon Boy over the past 4 years. As a fan of none and a fan of all Horizon League teams, it was quite the pleasure to catch as many teams as possible on their annual trips to Chicago. Thanks and a premature farewell, UIC, as you disappear into the horizon. Horizon Boy wishes you nothing but the best.
As They Leave For The Valley In The Shadow Of Horizon Boy’s Death: Farewell Flames!
Vikings upend Penguins and Colonials
Continuing to win games when you are going through a rut on one side of the floor is the sign of a veteran squad who knows how to finish when crunch time hits. While the Cleveland State Vikings have not played their best offensively over the last few weeks, they continue to find ways to win league games with their defense and timely scoring. The Vikings currently hold a 0.5 game lead over Oakland in the conference standings following wins over Youngstown State and Robert Morris, two games where CSU’s offensive output was suboptimal at times.
While the Vikings outshot YSU in their rematch at The Wolstein Center, it was 21 Cleveland State turnovers that kept the Penguins in the game. The Vikings showed their depth in this one as both Yahel Hill and Chris Greene came off the bench and poured in 15 and 12 points respectively. Most impressively however, the two combined to shoot 7-11 from beyond the three point arc.
Having the luxury of being able to bring two veteran players like Hill and Greene off the bench is a major credit to Dennis Gates’ recruiting and team building as most teams do not have as many seniors as the Vikings do on their bench bridge. For the Vikings to be still able to come out victorious in a game where Torrey Patton and D’Moi Hodge were held in check by the opposition speaks to the overall will to win that this group has.
Cleveland State’s second rematch of the week came against a undermanned Robert Morris squad that was missing starting guard Cam Ferris. The Vikings very much played down to their competition in the first half, as the Colonials took a five point lead into the halftime break.
Unlike the YSU game where it was the bench that lifted the Vikings, the senior stars took their games to a different level on Sunday afternoon. Patton, Hodge, and Tre Gomillion combined for 62 of Cleveland state’s 75 points which helped propel them to the victory. While the only other scorer of note was Broc Finstuen who finished the game with 9, it was terrific to see the team’s leaders take the game into their own hands. If Cleveland State is going to repeat as conference champions, they will need Patton, Hodge, and Gomillion at their best and we began to see the team break out of their collective offensive funk in the second half against RMU.
In response to the recent offensive struggle, Dennis Gates began to turn to some new faces while searching for scoring. Nate Jack was used over Finstuen and Jayson Woodrich, but Finstuen’s productivity agains Robert Morris should elevate him back into a regular rotational spot. Jack and Woodrich should stay ready, as you never know when Gates will call their number if shots are not falling for the starters. However, Gates would be wise to continue to explore the Finstuen, Patton, Hodge, Gomillion, Johnson lineup that had so much success in the second half against the Colonials on Sunday.
Up next for the Vikings, a pair of tricky road games against Wright State and Northern Kentucky. Wright State is currently in third place in the Horizon League as the Raiders are playing much better basketball than they were when they made the trip to Cleveland earlier this year.
UIC joining the Missouri Valley in 2022
The MVC’s interest in the Flames piqued after Loyola’s departure
UIC is leaving the Horizon League for the Missouri Valley starting in 2022, announcing its departure from the Horizon League at an 11am CT press conference on Wednesday. The move confirms rumors that had been swirling since early December, which began after Loyola left the MVC for the Atlantic 10. The Flames will join the conference alongside Belmont and Murray State.
In past rounds of Missouri Valley realignment, UIC and other Horizon League schools were left in the cold due to a lack of on-court production and a desire from conference members to have an even number of public and private schools. Based on the latest additions, both of those previous rules seem to have gone out the window. UIC hasn’t had the type of consistent on-court success of recent MVC additions like Valparaiso or Belmont. Additionally, both UIC and Murray State are public schools. With Loyola leaving the conference and Belmont joining, the MVC already would have had an even number of public and private schools, so this move shifts the balance toward the public schools by a count of seven to five.
For UIC, all indications are that the team’s Chicago location is the primary factor in its inclusion this time around. Before Loyola’s departure, the Flames weren’t mentioned as an expansion candidate when Belmont’s addition pushed the MVC to 11 teams. Heading into this season, the Flames had gone 63-62 in men’s basketball, and 38-32 in Horizon League play, since the round of MVC realignment where Valparaiso joined the conference in 2017. With this year’s results pulling that overall record under .500, it’s obvious the team isn’t being added for its prowess on the court.
Following UIC’s departure, the Horizon League finds itself with an odd number of teams that likely won’t work long-term with the league’s travel partner scheduling strategy. As a result, the Horizon League is likely to pursue expansion of its own. The league could follow the MVC’s lead and maintain a Chicago presence with Chicago State, it could try to pick off the last Summit League school west of the Mississippi with Western Illinois or it could try to kick the Ohio Valley Conference while it’s down and add Morehead State or Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
Alternatively, the Horizon League could make an aggressive move and work to add Northern Kentucky’s former Division II rival Bellarmine, who has been on a stronger trajectory in the ASun than the Norse were after moving to Division I. According to Matt Brown of Extra Points the league has a list of candidates ready in the event that it needed a new member to join, so don’t be surprised if it’s back to 12 members shortly.
The Titans at the halfway point of the HL season
The Detroit Mercy Titans are halfway through league play and what at one point looked like they could put themselves into the driver’s seat in the HL. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Instead, two very close losses to Purdue Fort Wayne (they will always be IPFW to me) and CSU, where it looked like the Titans had a good chance to get the win and they did not have the shots to put the Vikes away.
Then Detroit Mercy went to Green Bay and lost to a team that they should have run out of the gym. No disrespect to Will Ryan but that’s a bad basketball team. I missed the game I was sick and slept through it. UDM was without Matt Johnson, Antoine Davis did not shoot well, and DJ Harvey had one of those nights where he can’t get anything going.
The Titans avenged the Thursday loss by beating Milwaukee. It was a very ugly game. Until Antoine took over last in the second half. With 13 points in the final minutes helped with two Noah Waterman free throws and a Willy Isiani three. Before he could take over; the Panthers had an over 8-minute run where they went 0-17 from the field and had five turnovers. They still led by one when they finally made a field goal. Something I feel like the Titans needed to capitalize on.
A positive for Detroit Mercy lately is that Donnie Marsh’s defense is working, and if it keeps working it could help the Titans climb back to the top of the league and in the Horizon League tournament.
Keys to the rest of the season
Obviously, if the Titans win out that would be wonderful. I don’t expect that.
1. Beat Oakland. Don’t give Kampe the satisfaction of winning again. Figure out Cain and Moore. In turn, get to a place in the standing where you don’t have to play OU until the conference championship game.
2. Beat CSU. Detroit had them at the Buzzer and made mistakes down the stretch last time out. Davis has done well vs CSU the last two years. Splitting the season series will go a long way if the Titans have to play them in Indy.
3. Split the season series with Wright State. This is not the WSU team of the last few years, but they are still good. They lack depth but their inside-outside game is strong, and they are better in the post than the Titans.
4. Don’t lose to teams you are way better than and play to the team’s potential.
5. Waterman is back but he needs to step up and be good for at least 10-15 a game regularly.
6. The Matt Johnson from last year needs to come back. Johnson has shown flashes of his old self. If he can contribute strong defense and 10 points a game it will help the Titans a ton.
7. Figure out Harvey and Jordan Phillips’s roles.
8. Figure out what Shaw and Koka can add to the team every night. They have been used sparingly and had some flashes but what can they do every night.
9. Kevin McAdoo needs to be consistent and play with confidence. Kevin looks good in spurts a little more consistency and he will be a big help to the rotation.
If a few of these things can happen the Titans could be a Darkhorse in the Horizon League tournament.
One step forward, two steps back; Bobby Mo drops back to back contests minus Kam Farris
Just when you thought things were possibly taking a turn for the better for the RMU Colonials, well, you thought wrong. Coming off their first Horizon League win and playing a better brand of basketball, RMU took an absolute drubbing from Purdue Fort Wayne and then lost a fairly closer battle to league stud Cleveland State.
The Colonials, losing the previous 76-70 in a very competitive game, Robert Morris took one on the chin Friday, losing 86-62. Now yes, the Colonials were without Kam Farris, but that is NO excuse for this this performance. RMU was a mere 7-21 in the first half from the field while allowing the Mastodons to shoot almost 60%, making 17-29 shots. Playing defense is all about heart and “want to” and quite frankly, on Friday, The Colonials looked like it would rather be anywhere else but Memorial Coliseum. Coming on the few previous games where things really started to look like they would be taking a turn for the better, you can’t have this type of performance, you just can’t.
The most eye popping stat is what PFW was able to do from three point range, shooting 62% and making 15 threes. When you score 86 points an about half of them come from three point range, boy, that will be an easy, fun day at the office, huh? Purdue Fort Wayne also only shot a total of 3 free throws the whole night, that shows you what they were able to create outside and the lack of effort RMU gave to allow this. Three free throws in a NCAA basketball game where the refs love nothing more than calling fouls? If I was able to create such clean looks from outside, I would not want to bother with the paint either.
Robert Morris was led by Kahliel Spear again, scoring 26 points, but PFW saw 4 players score in double figures, with Damian Chong Qui, scoring a game high 20. Michael Green III scored 14 points, but only on 1-of-7 shooting, making 11 of 11 free throws.
RMU moved on to face Cleveland State on Sunday, after almost taking down league giant a couple weeks ago, dropping the contest on Sunday, 75-68. Coming off the embarrassment that was Friday, Robert Morris actually came out Sunday with slightly better effort and actually grabbing a 35-30 lead in the first half. Like most of this season, the Colonials were not able to finish a complete 40 minutes and dropped their ninth league contest.
RMU held Cleveland State to 40% shooting in the first half but reverted back to their old ways in the second half, with CSU shooting 50% while also going to the line 28 times. That would be the other story of the second half, where both teams combined to shoot 43 free throws, FORTY THREE, in 20 minutes. Boy, that just makes for a brutal flow to the game.
Robert Morris was lead by Brandon Stone, scoring 14 points, followed by Enoch Cheeks and Green, scoring 13 each. RMU lost Spear briefly to an injury but he did return and ended up seeing 36 minutes of action, but only scoring 4 points on 2 of 6 shooting. Cleveland State was lead by D’Moi Hodge, scoring a game high 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Robert Morris moves to 1-9 in league play while Cleveland State moves to 9-1, escaping two potential upsets from the Colonials. RMU has a few days off before welcoming Milwaukee and Green Bay to the UPMC Events Center Thursday and Saturday. I have no idea what to expect the rest of the way for RMU, but it is time for them to figure something out. This “hot and cold” stuff with effort is getting old, its time for guys who WANT to be here to play for guys who don’t want to be here, to leave. Andy Toole is going to get a good look at who “wants it” in the coming weeks.
Regrouped Vikings rout Dons twice in series sweep
The Cleveland State women’s team (12-3 overall, 7-2 Horizon League) swept its Thursday-Saturday home-and-home series with travel partner Purdue Fort Wayne (5-13, 4-7), as the Vikings ran their winning streak to three.
Purdue Fort Wayne 59 at Cleveland State 85
Birthdays can signify many things to people. For kids, it’s a present haul rivaled only by the holiday season. For those in their 20s, it often means a night they won’t remember. Beyond that, it’s a date many don’t want to acknowledge, it’s merely a marker representing the passage of time.
For Nadia Dumas, who turned 23 on Thursday, it was an opportunity to have arguably the best game of her career. Dumas, a redshirt senior nursing major, tied a career high with 19 points and added seven rebounds to lead the way as the Vikings used a big third quarter to put away the visiting Mastodons at the Wolstein Center.
Are the two things connected?
“No, not really,” Dumas said. “I did get in my head a little bit in the beginning because I was kind of nervous. But once the game tipped off, it was just another game on the schedule that I have to play and it so happens to fall on my birthday.”
“It’s certainly a special day for her,” Vikings head coach Chris Kielsmeier said. “She’s just a worker. She’s got some limitations, she’s barely six foot, and she should be successful around the basket against some people, but she finds a way.”
“She loves the game, and comes ready to play really physical, and she moves her feet defensively. She’s a really good basketball player on both ends of the floor.”
On the opposing side, Purdue Fort Wayne was paced by Sylare Starks, a Detroit Mercy transfer, who scored 20 points on a sizzling 8-for-16 line, including 4-for-8 from three-point range. Shayla Sellers – an Aurora, Ohio native – added 15 points on a similarly-robust shooting percentage (6-for-11 and 3-for-5) to combine with Starks for more than half of the Mastodons’ points. Sellers also contributed a game-high nine rebounds.
The two Dons guards propelled their team to a 16-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, and though CSU took the lead for good on a 12-2 second-quarter run highlighted by four of Dumas’ points along with three-pointers from Destiny Leo and Isabelle Gradwell, PFW managed to linger within four at the half thanks to a pair of Starks buckets in the final 93 seconds before the buzzer.
After the break however, Cleveland State ran riot, outscoring Purdue Fort Wayne 30-12 in the third quarter to authoritatively lock the game down. The stretch, fueled by an aggressive defense that smelled the blood of a turnover-prone opponent, began in earnest when a Barbara Zieniewska steal ended in a Dumas three-point play to put the Vikings ahead by seven with 7:43 to go. That helped launch an 11-0 CSU run that included a second Dumas and-one, and though Starks and Amellia Bromenschenkel eventually replied, Zieniewska negated each of them with a triple within 20 seconds to push the score to 52-37.
“We work like that all the time,” Dumas said of the team’s ability to turn opponents over and run the floor. “Even in practice we work like that with each other, we’re really hardworking, which shows up in the game. We knew in the first half that we weren’t playing our game and doing what we do well but in the second half we really demanded those things out of each other. We knew that we could get steals and rebounds to be successful.”
Zieniewska played arguably her best game of the season, as she wound up with 11 points, seven rebounds, and four steals – the latter number including a pair of interceptions on early Mastodon backdoor cut attempts, stifling a key part of PFW’s offense.
“The zone, when it fires, and it’s forcing turnovers and kind of dictating how that ball gets moved, it’s pretty special and we get turnovers and get shots in transition off of it,” Kielsmeier said. When we’re not doing that, against a team that shoots it well from the perimeter, they’re going to get open shots and opportunities to score. What you saw tonight was both of those things.”
However, the positive side to the zone won out in the end. After 16 Purdue Fort Wayne turnovers in roughly 14 minutes of game time spanning the final two quarters, and the 18-for-28 shooting effort that largely stemmed from the Vikings’ defensive prowess, CSU was able to put things in cruise control for the final five minutes of the game en route to a 26-point victory. The margin was the Vikings’ largest against a Division I opponent since the 81-54 win over East Tennessee State in the season opener on November 9th.
Cleveland State 80 at Purdue Fort Wayne 58
While Saturday’s rematch in Fort Wayne’s Hillard Gates Sports Center offered some tension, particularly late in the third quarter when the Mastodons drew within 46-40, Cleveland State’s 60.4 percent shooting clip for the contest and 13 steals proved too much for the home team to overcome.
Early in the game, Dumas once again factored heavily, this time in tandem with Amele Ngwafang, as the Vikings attempted to exploit mismatches down low. In the first half, each scored seven points while combining for 11 rebounds. Ngwafang keyed one first quarter stretch when she scored a traditional three-point play to give CSU a lead they would ultimately hold for the remainder of the afternoon, then added another of her trademark crashing buckets two possessions later for a 9-6 Viking advantage. Gradwell’s hybrid game was also clicking, as the senior scored a team-high nine first-half points, en route to 11 for the game.
While CSU pounded it inside to the tune of an eye-popping 52-20 advantage in paint points, the Dons’ sharpshooting that kept them in most of Thursday’s contest deserted them. Starks and Sellers combined for 5-for-26 from the floor, and 3-of-18 from three-point range. Sellers, however, had more than scoring on her mind, as she took over point guard duties from standout floor general Riley Ott, who broke her wrist during Thursday’s game.
“She didn’t score it today, but she handled point guard duties for 38 minutes and only had one turnover,” Mastodons head coach Maria Marchesano said. “And she guarded the best guard in the league in Destiny Leo and she gave her fits all game long, and then still handled the ball and only had one turnover.”
“Shayla really stepped up as our point guard tonight, she only had one turnover, which is insane for someone who’s just now taking on the role of being a point guard,” Bromenschenkel added.
Sellers’ work on Leo involved holding the Vikings star to just two points on 1-for-5 shooting in the first half. Nevertheless, CSU built a reasonably comfortable ten-point lead by halftime, though it was 13 until Aubrey Stupp hit a long three just before the buzzer.
“I didn’t know what to do, and I just felt it and was like you know what, we’re going with it,” Stupp said of her shot, which she called “probably” the longest one she’s hit in a game. “I was feeling confident.”
Stupp’s shot signaled a little bit of a shift in the third quarter, as the Dons began to connect from distance. Starks bounced back to knock down a pair of threes during the frame, while others came from Stupp and Bromenschenkel, who finished with a team and career high 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting. With 2:15 remaining, Starks’ second three pulled PFW within six. However, after a pair of missed free throws cost a chance to draw even closer two possessions later, Cleveland State quickly righted itself thanks to an immediate Leo jumper, then a Gabriella Smith three with six seconds left to push the Vikings lead one point beyond its halftime size by the end of the quarter.
“It was a six-point game, and we were on the line for two free throws. We could’ve cut it to four,” Marchesano lamented.
“Then they score five points, we don’t take advantage of our free throws…that was a huge swing. That was our opportunity to get back in the game, cut it to four, and go into the fourth quarter with a really tight game. Instead of cutting it to four, it stayed at six, and they pushed it to 11 within a minute. That was tough. That was a big blow. I really felt like that was our opportunity to get back in it.”
With the Mastodons’ most promising surge turned aside, CSU re-opened the feeding frenzy in the fourth, closing the game with 29 points in ten minutes to turn the briefly-tight scoreline into a rout, thanks to a bevy of easy buckets off of turnovers (Smith had three steals in the quarter), or while running downhill after breaking PFW’s press. Leo was a primary finisher for the Vikings during those run-and-gun sequences, winding up with 21 points despite the quiet first half. Smith also contributed offensively, scoring nine of her 14 points in the last 10:06 of the contest.
“[Cleveland State’s] athleticism and skill top to bottom is impressive, I think they’re a team to compete with in this league,” Marchesano said. “At the end of the day, you can’t beat any team giving up 60 percent in field goal percentage, and credit to them, they got downhill on us, and they got in the paint.”
Next week, Cleveland State will finish what ended up as a stretch of six road games of seven total with trips to play UIC – likely the last regular-season meeting as conference opponents between schools that have shared the Horizon League since 1994 – and title contender IUPUI. The matchup with the Flames will tip on Thursday at 7:30 PM ET, while the Vikings and Jags will square off at 2:00 PM ET on Saturday.
#HLWBB Power Rankings — Week 11
Travel Partner Week, despite offering some drama (thanks to three games in particular, we’ll get into that obviously), ultimately tasted very chalky with the favorites going unbeaten.
| Team | Rank | LW | Change |
| IUPUI | 1 | 1 | – |
| Youngstown State | 2 | 2 | – |
| Northern Kentucky | 3 | 3 | – |
| Cleveland State | 4 | 4 | – |
| Oakland | 5 | 5 | – |
| Green Bay | 6 | 6 | – |
| Milwaukee | 7 | 7 | – |
| Robert Morris | 8 | 8 | – |
| Wright State | 9 | 10 | +1 |
| Purdue Fort Wayne | 10 | 9 | -1 |
| UIC | 11 | 11 | – |
| Detroit Mercy | 12 | 12 | – |
There’s not a ton of terribly fresh insight to offer this week on IUPUI, as the Jaguars (or “Jagwires,” as at least two HLWBB teams’ ESPN+ play-by-play announcers call them) clocked a pair of very-much-expected blowouts over UIC by a total of 59 points. It’s probably worth mentioning that IUPUI’s leading scorer last week was not named Macee Williams, Rachel McLimore, or Rachel Kent, as Natalie Andersen – a player who always seems to knock down a ton of big shots whenever I watch the Jags – took her star turn. Andersen put up 15 and 18-point games, bolstered by a combined 5-for-9 line from three, to lead the way as IUPUI improved to 9-3 in the conference. Between Williams, McLimore, Kent, Andersen, Anna Mortag, and Madison Wise, Austin Parkinson has no shortage of players who can deliver in a big moment, a strength that will continue to serve them well.
Without a doubt the biggest moment of the week, and possibly the year when all is said and done, came from Youngstown State’s Megan Callahan. Callahan, who played at Robert Morris for four years of course, returned to the UPMC Events Center for the first time as a Penguin on Thursday and daggered her old team with a buzzer-beating game-winning three (see below). The final bomb was part of a 13-point encore in Hoop Township, while Lilly Ritz offered her usual 16 and 10 to the effort. If there was any concern about YSU being taken to the wire by a team with a losing record (though a deceptively good one), it was erased two days later at the Beeghly Center when the Guins broke free after halftime and coasted to a 61-44 victory, again largely fueled by Ritz (17 points, 18 rebounds). YSU will host Detroit Mercy and Oakland this week, with the resurgent Golden Grizzlies offering a strong test.
As mentioned, Travel Partner Week didn’t offer any upsets, but it did offer three extremely close calls, with the second of those causing a mild panic among Northern Kentucky fans. After encountering little resistance in a 77-59 win over Wright State on Thursday, a game highlighted by Norse freshman Khamari Mitchell-Steen’s 23 point, seven rebound breakout, NKU nearly stumbled in their return trip to the Nutter Center. The Norse led 62-48 halfway through the third quarter before the Raiders surged thanks largely to Ohio transfer Deesh Beck, who logged her first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds (as well as a pair of blocks). While NKU never faced a lose-win possession, as Youngstown State did prior to Callahan’s winner, they still needed Lindsey Duvall to knock down a couple free throws with six seconds left, as well as a final defensive stand, to secure the win.
While Chris Kielsmeier largely took a pass when I asked him if things felt normal again during Cleveland State’s pair of blowout wins over Purdue Fort Wayne, the simple fact is that they do kind of seem that way, at least from the outside. The Vikings have bounced back from a three-game losing streak bookended by COVID pauses and have now won three in a row in an impressive enough fashion to get the two opposing coaches involved – Kyle Rechlicz and Maria Marchesano – to declare CSU one of the conference’s front-line favorites. Nadia Dumas had arguably the best weekend of her career against the Dons, clicking for a personal-best-tying 19 points on her birthday on Thursday, then contributing to a staggering 52 points in the paint for the Vikings on Saturday. Destiny Leo offered a quiet 21 points in that second game as well, and both Barbara Zieniewska and Isabelle Gradwell showed well after struggling for large chunks of the season. CSU has a big opportunity for further validation this week when they travel to face UIC and IUPUI.
Oakland very nearly experienced complete disaster on Saturday, as the Golden Grizzlies were confronted by a heavily-motivated but winless Detroit Mercy team that went blow for blow with OU throughout the second Metro Series meeting and led by six early in the fourth quarter before the visitors pulled out a 66-62 win. Nevertheless acting coach Ke’Sha Blanton has continued to get improved production from all over the roster. Breanne Beatty helped down the Titans’ upset bid with 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting, while Aaliyah McQueen led four players in double digits with 15 during Oakland’s 30-point win over UDM on Thursday. The Grizzlies were also boosted by the return of all-league guard Kahlaijah Dean on Saturday. While Dean mostly just dipped her toes in the water in her first action since December 30th, it will be interesting to see if the group effort that carried the load during her absence can sustain itself or if things will fall back into the early-season pattern.
Speaking of complete disaster, is there any other way to describe Green Bay’s schedule at this point? I feel like I’ve beaten it to death already but just to recap things yet again, the Phoenix defeated Wisconsin on December 12th. They’ve played exactly three games since then: at home against Central Michigan on December 20th, then a road swing through IUPUI and UIC on January 6th and 8th. While Kevin Borseth’s team did endure a COVID pause wiping out two of their scheduled games, largely Green Bay’s opponents have been the issue, with Milwaukee last week becoming the latest culprit. The state system rivals did manage to reschedule their installments of Travel Partner Week for February 7th and February 21st, but UWGB will still have to go into this week’s trip to Wright State and Northern Kentucky off of seven more idle days.
For a very brief moment, Milwaukee held the title of Horizon League COVID champs, as the Panthers men’s team is the only conference member yet to go into protocol while on the women’s side, UWM was one of the last two teams left standing (with Youngstown State). That all went away last week, and unfortunately we’ll have to wait a little longer to see this season’s installments of a fantastic rivalry between teams that play very similarly to each other. Before that happens, Milwaukee will join Green Bay in the Cincinnati-Dayton area this week for games with NKU and WSU.
Robert Morris already has something that could probably be seen as a signature win, Cleveland State on December 30th, to its name, so the Colonials’ heartbreak against YSU on Thursday could simply been seen (by me anyway, though you’re more than welcome to join in) as the latest sign that RMU is a very solid squad hiding in a 6-10 team’s body. The Colonials play fantastic defense, and while they struggle on the other end quite frequently, the points they do get can come from a lot of different places (in the first game with the Penguins, Natalie Villaflor, Esther Castedo, Simone Morris, and Ashya Klopfenstein all tied for the team scoring lead with 12 points each). Once the schedule backs down a bit and doesn’t force RMU to play YSU three times and IUPUI once in a 15-day stretch, I fully expect the Colonials to string a few more wins together.
After nearly stunning NKU on Saturday, it’s sort of become fashionable to call Wright State one of those teams that nobody will want to face come conference tournament time, and there’s probably something to that. The Raiders still don’t have any real depth to speak of, but between Jada Roberson, Destyne Jackson, Channing Chappell from three, and now Beck they do have four players capable of blowing up at some point and if WSU can get three of them to hit at once…well, they were just on the verge of taking down an absolute wagon of a Norse team when that happened. Ideally of course, the Raiders will stack a few wins before the tournament to make their road to Indy a bit easier (and, it has to be said, overcome their four forfeit losses this season as much as possible), but the tools are in place for an honest run at it.
In Thursday’s loss to Cleveland State, Purdue Fort Wayne was hit with just about the last thing the team needed: a broken wrist to veteran point guard Riley Ott. While Ott often takes a back seat to the Dons’ other shooters like Shayla Sellers (who assumed point duties in Ott’s absence) and Sylare Starks, PFW runs a lot of sets that demand the organization of a strong ballhandler. Given the Mastodons’ personnel issues right now, which also includes an injury to Ott’s sister Ryin, it seems like PFW’s fate is to ride out the rest of this season as well as reasonably possible while continuing to build for the future. That future likely includes sophomores Amellia Bromenschenkel and Aubrey Stupp, both of whom had outstanding games on Saturday. One of the more mindblowing stats I saw last week came from Stupp, who played 29:40 in that 22-point loss, yet was a plus-2 during her time on the floor.
UIC’s pair of games against IUPUI is probably summed up best by Jaida McCloud’s stat line. The standout sophomore did not have a particularly good time while matched up with Williams during a lot of her minutes, totaling just 13 points and two rebounds over the weekend, and fouling out of the latter contest. The Flames, it should be said, did play reasonably well in stretches during their home game on Sunday, managing to stay within eight at the half, then clawing back within 10 midway through the third quarter on a Justice Gee jumper (it’s not much admittedly, but hey, they lost to the Jaguars by 38 on Friday). Is UIC ready for the MVC? No, but nobody’s paying me to make those decisions.
If nothing else, you really have to respect Detroit Mercy’s compete level. After getting absolutely clobbered by rival Oakland on Thursday, LaTanya Collins’ squad regrouped and very nearly pulled off what probably would’ve been the most stunning result of the conference season in the Calihan Hall half of the series, behind strong games from Irene Murua, Daija Moses, and Brandi Washington. Additionally, leading scorer Sydney Searcy has missed UDM’s last four games after a presumed injury against Purdue Fort Wayne on January 8th and it’s not hard to argue that she could’ve put her team over the top against OU. Unfortunately for the Titans, obvious opportunities to notch that elusive win this season are running low. A contest coming up on February 4th at UIC represents the next best chance in my estimation, as UDM took the Flames to overtime in their first meeting.
Midway Blues
Halfway through the conference schedule (sort of), Bob and Matt break down the week’s actions, including Milwaukee’s upset of Oakland, Cleveland State’s free throw woes, and IUPUI’s incredibly shrinking roster. They also discuss Wright State’s resurgence, Youngstown State’s decline, and Purdue Fort Wayne’s move into the top for of the HL.
—
Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/horizonert/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/horizonert/support
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Without half of the roster, Wright State splits close road matchups
Last Thursday was going to be a great day, I had just gotten off of work and had tickets to the newest Scream movie with my partner. We had gotten tickets that allowed us to watch a live Q&A with the cast right after the 2-hour showing, something we were both looking forward to as immense fans of the series. I had remembered thinking to myself that yeah, Wright State was going to be playing during the movie and all, but it was against Robert Morris, a team that by far had failed to establish any sort of identity or fear factor and had dropped the last six against Horizon League competition, I’ll rewatch it when I get home.
Then I took to Twitter.
I thought I was going to start screaming like Drew Barrymore. Six players?! Who all was missing? Before the movie could begin, I was frantically looking for more information. It got progressively worse as I found out more: Trey Calvin and AJ Braun were both out, two vital starters to the squad. Trey Calvin has blossomed as of late into the most reliable scorer not named Tanner Holden on the squad, able to make points wherever he is or dish it to someone who can get underneath for the assist. AJ Braun has solidified the center post and has given opposing teams fits trying to defend him with his size.
On tipoff, the full breakdown of the squad that was set to play was clear:
- Tanner Holden* – 20.2 PPG
- Grant Basile* – 18.3 PPG
- Tim Finke* – 9.6 PPG
- CJ Wilbourn^ – 2.1 PPG
- Keaton Norris^ – 2.9 PPG
- Andy Neff – 1.1 PPG
- TJ Nagy – 0 PPG
CJ Wilbourn would once again take over AJ Braun’s role in his absence, something he had done during his last absence against the Wisconsin squads when they visited the Nutter Center. Keaton Norris would also hop off the bench to start in full capacity, taking over Calvin’s spot for the weekend at the point. While the Raiders were still able to keep the league’s best scoring duo in Basile and Holden, the bench looked incredibly bleak.
Andy Neff and TJ Nagy have seen very little time on the court even as bench members, and their presence as the team’s sole relief meant that Riley Voss, Alex Huibregtse, James Manns, and Andrew Welage were all also out for the weekend. The goal for the trip to the eastern stretches of the Horizon League immediately became clear: Survive. The starters were going to have to play at their very best and would have to play as many minutes as possible while minimizing fouls.
Robert Morris and Wright State traded blows all the way through to the end of the first half, shot for shot being answered by the two squads. The highest lead of the half was Robert Morris with 18-13, where it seemed like the Raiders had started to resign to their fate as they looked sluggish on the floor. However, Wright State turned it around off of two Finke rockets from behind the arc and two easy layups by Tanner Holden to put the Raiders up 23-22. Wright State kept it close as the half ended with the score tied at 37-37, but Tanner Holden had racked up three fouls, a serious threat to a squad already low on available players.
The two squads kept trading points coming out of the half until a 10-2 run allowed the Raiders to gain a 57-50 advantage over the Colonials off of some key blocks from Basile. The Colonials then responded in kind with a run of their own, running up the floor and scoring 14 points over 4 minutes while holding Wright State to a pair of free throws. With Robert Morris lead now at 71-67, all they had to do was continue the scoring pace they had set for themselves throughout, and keep that energy in the final four minutes of the game. Unfortunately for RMU, they would continue their collapsing streak and let the Raiders get a clutch three pointer from Grant Basile, then let the Horizon League leader in free throws go to the strip and score 5 more to end the game 75-73.
This short-handed squad had done it, they had extended their winning streak to seven and had done so with what can be described as a skeleton squad. Finke, Basile, and Norris all clocked in a full forty minutes for the contest, with Holden only taking a few minutes off to sit out his first half foul trouble. Basile and Holden scored the majority for Wright State with 23 and 18 points respectively, but they were also getting a lot of help from Tim Finke. Finke contributed 19 points on 8-13 shooting, a season high, and his performance allowed Wright State to keep this game as close as it was throughout, since Holden was held by the Colonial defense to 33% shooting.
Norris also had an incredible game, going perfect where he could shoot, grabbing four rebounds and assists, and not allowing the Colonials to get the ball away from him at all. I’ve mentioned before that Norris has amazing awareness and a basketball IQ to match, but this game showcased it. Wilbourn and Andy Neff took up the flex spot on the squad, adding six points of their own, and TJ Nagy got some time in due to Holden’s foul trouble.
After the win in Pittsburgh, the Raiders moved back to Youngstown, Ohio to take on the Penguins. The Penguins had entered Horizon League play sweeping the Wisconsin teams, taking a loss to undefeated Oakland, and taking care of business against RMU in the final minutes. Then they went home and took loss after loss, going into the final night of the homestead on a three game losing streak.
The game began as most games do for the Raiders, with both teams having their way with scoring, waiting for someone to trip up. By the under 12 mark, the score was 24-22 YSU, and it looked to be another race like the game against RMU. Then the cracks in Youngstown State’s defense showed and Wright State was able to pick up offensive rebounds like they were candy, allowing the team to get 12 points in just the first half on second chances. While Wright State separated themselves on a pair of YSU lulls, the Penguins fought back through to the end of the half and were only down 46-40.
Youngstown State defended Holden very well during the first half, holding the HL First Teamer to 7 points on 2-9 shooting. They didn’t have very good answers for Basile or Finke who shot 17 and 15 points respectively, with Finke shooting 3-4 from behind the arc and showing off the brilliance he has from three. Wilbourn and Andy Neff were both in foul trouble however, ending the half with two and three fouls, respectively. Losing members of a squad is never pretty during normal NCAA matches, but when it’s the COVID-wracked variety, it’s all the more bitter.
Pop quiz: Do you know what happens if your NCAA squad for some reason or another has less than five players available due to fouls? In the NBA, you must play five players at all times so you can continue play with a player that has fouled out. If said player commits a foul, from then on its a personal foul and a team technical foul. In the NCAA, however, you play with only the members that haven’t fouled out, turning into something akin to a hockey power play, and you continue play until the game ends or the squad consists of one person. Proud of the NCAA for realizing that a 1v5 basketball game is just cruel and calls it a loss if you get to that desperate point.
YSU entered the half and blazed through Wright State’s defense to erase the deficit and get as close as 1 before the Raiders once again pulled away with a double digit lead. The Penguins scored only six points in 10 minutes midway through the half, allowing the Raiders to get some breathing room on their opponent. With six minutes left in the final half and Wright State up 74-66, it looked like the Raiders were going to be able to run away from this weekend completely unscathed, but then Youngstown State woke up.
The Raiders completely stalled out on offense, only making free throws for five minutes of the contest and allowed the Youngstown offense to get layup after layup off the back of Dwayne Cohill. With 30 seconds left, the Raiders tied up the contest 86-86 with a Wilbourn layup. Youngstown then took the contest away on a perfect three from the corner by Daniel Ogoro. Youngstown snapped their home losing streak to the Raiders on a heartbreaker three, ending the contest 90-87.
Holden scored 20 points in the second half to lead all scorers with 27 total at the end of the night, followed closely by Basile with 26. The two leading scorers also added double doubles, while Finke once again pitched in an incredible 18 points. Norris once again added nine points, while Wilbourn added seven points and six rebounds. While scoring was amazing for both sides, what really pushed the needle and allowed the Raiders to score was their total ownership of the offensive glass. Youngstown was simply unable to guard underneath as Wright State had nearly as many offensive rebounds as they did defensive.
This is also a double-edged sword, Wright State could not get their own act together on the defensive side of the ball during both games. While the Raiders were able to hold Robert Morris to 73 points, the only reason that the Colonials were able to score as many was due to a lack of defensive pressure. Similarly, Youngstown was able to push their way back into the game in the final moments when the Raiders let Cohill through for layups. While I’m sure Nagy would’ve loved a more defensive focus on the game, this squad is known to get its scoring taken care of and they lack of any bench members to assist pushed the needle to giving it all on the offense. Had there been better defensive pressure, the games against RMU and Youngstown wouldn’t have been as close as they were, and they may have been able to sweep the week.
Wright State picks back up with a rematch against IUPUI, who just got brutalized by Ohio State, on Thursday and UIC on Saturday in their home stadiums, and hopefully with more than just 7 members. Following those matchups, they go down to Highland Heights on January 25th to play their postponed matchup from January 10th, then return home to take on Cleveland State and Purdue Fort Wayne on January 28th and January 30th, respectively.
CSU men split week of games versus Grizzlies and Titans
The college basketball season is very much a marathon as opposed to a sprint. This is what the Cleveland State Vikings men’s basketball team needs to tell themselves in the wake of their loss at the hands of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies 70-65 in front of a large crowd at The Wolstein Center. With the victory over the Vikings in Cleveland, the Grizzlies hold a one game lead over CSU in the Horizon League standings after the two teams were victorious on Saturday afternoon. Cleveland State was able to rebound from their defeat with an exhilarating win over Detroit Mercy 72-70. With that being said, here are a few takeaways from Cleveland State’s 1-1 week of play.
Free throws continue to be an Achilles heel for Cleveland State, and if the problem continues to linger it could hinder the Vikings’ ability to repeat as conference champions. While CSU only had two players attempt a foul shot against Oakland, they shot a combined 4-12 good enough for only 33%. In the win over Detroit Mercy, Cleveland State shot 9-17 in free attempts, barely over 50%. Leaving eight points per game at the foul line is oftentimes the difference between winning and losing against upper echelon competition, and the Vikings absolutely must improve in this area in order to reach their goals this season.
Expect to continue to see multiple primary ball handlers running the Cleveland State offense as both Torrey Patton and Tre Gomillion have started to contribute more in this way without Craig Beaudion available. Patton specifically has shouldered more of a playmaking load in the last few games, as his vision and overall floor game continues to improve. In the showdown versus Oakland, Patton compiled seven assists while he dished out another seven on Saturday versus UDM. Cleveland State continues to be efficient in their assist to field goal ratio, however turnovers reared their ugly head on Saturday as the Vikes coughed it up 18 times over the course of the game versus the Titans. Turnovers combined with missed foul shots oftentimes results in a loss, which makes CSU’s grind out win over Detroit all the more impressive.
Cleveland State played extremely well in spurts on Saturday, but Dennis Gates did not receive a complete 40 minute performance against Antoine Davis and company. Davis was spectacular, as the leading scorer in school history poured in 35 points on 12-19 shooting from the field. Slowing down Davis might have been an impossible task on Sunday, but the Vikings still found a way late with the help of a game clinching D’Moi Hodge steal and pair of foul shots.
Saturday’s game was another example of pulling a game out when you are not playing your best. Despite the missed free throws and turnovers, the Vikings were still able to come out victorious. CSU still has plenty of time to clean up the mistakes made in the Oakland and Detroit games, as they do not see the Golden Grizzlies or Titans again until the very end of the regular season. With CSU having almost a full week before their next game, they will have ample practice time to clean up some of the miscues that took place in their last two contests.
One final takeaway is that senior transfer from Florida State Nate Jack may have won himself some hard earned minutes with his shooting performance on Saturday against the Titans. Jack came in off the bench and converted on four three pointers in 13 minutes of action. With the bench rotation in somewhat of a state of flux as Broc Finsteun has struggled mightily the last few times out, Jack could see the floor more in the future as hit outside shooting is something the Vikings could use to help space the floor for Torrey Patton and Tre Gomillion. Dennis Gates’ relationship with Jack goes back to his own days at Florida State.
Cleveland State’s next set of games takes place this weekend in another pair of home contests. Friday night the Vikings will due battle with Youngstown State while on Sunday they take on Robert Morris. Tip off for those games are 7pm and 3pm respectively.