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Loyola Chicago ‘Exposes’ CSU in Vikings’ First Loss

Kyle Rossi
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Loyola Chicago ‘Exposes’ CSU in Vikings’ First Loss
Chris Kielsmeier postgame

A reckoning of sorts arrived for Cleveland State on Tuesday night inside the Wolstein Center, ushered in by Loyola Chicago. The Ramblers, a former Horizon League program that presently plays in the Missouri Valley Conference, used a 15-0 run spanning the first and second quarters to walk away with a comfortable 66-52 result in the final contest for both teams before Christmas break.

For the Vikings, the loss shattered the team’s unbeaten mark in 2021-22, as CSU dropped to 9-1 in all games, while remaining 4-0 in the Horizon League. It also snapped winning streaks of ten games overall and 13 games at home, both of which began last season.

“I think a lot got exposed tonight that had really been there for quite some time, we’ve just been able to get away with it,” Vikings head coach Chris Kielsmeier said. “This was coming at some point if we didn’t change and start to play more consistently offensively, and stop making so many mistakes defensively.”

There was no shortage of ugly statistics on the Cleveland State side of things. The Vikings were held to an abysmal 4-for-23 from beyond the arc, with sharpshooter Gabby Smith accounting for 1-for-7 of that number, finishing with only five points. Loyola scored a whopping 42 points in the paint, many of them from Allison Day (who finished with a game-high 19) and with the defense well out of position.

“Offensively, we’ve got to play better,” Kielsmeier said. “We’ve got to hit more shots. We’ve got to coach better and get them better shots. You can’t go 4-for-23 from the three-point line and expect to win the game. A lot of those shots were open shots.”

“Defensively, we are just making too many mistakes, and tonight it really got exposed,” he added. “We made some bad mistakes, left uncontested layups where everyone in the building was going ‘what the heck are they doing?'”

Those lapses always seemed to appear at the most inopportune moments for the Vikings, particularly during a couple second half comeback attempts. Loyola’s deadliest blow, however, came much earlier than that.

After a Destiny Leo three gave the home side a 9-4 lead with 5:39 left in the opening quarter, CSU did not score a single point for the next 8:10 of game time; during that stretch, 9-4 became 9-19, and the Vikings were never closer than eight points to the Ramblers afterwards.

Leo, despite the good start, struggled for a lot of the contest. She was held to just nine shot attempts from the floor – though she still ended up with 16 points – and turned the ball over five times.

“They really crowded her and jammed her on ball screens, they got really physical with her,” Kielsmeier said. “And she kind of pressed, you could tell she wanted to try to do more, but the kid was gassed. She didn’t really have her legs underneath her, she was just a little bit off with her explosiveness downhill. I think the break really hurt her.”

Nadia Dumas took advantage of the Ramblers’ fixation on Leo and CSU’s other shooters, and found frequent-enough openings underneath to finish with 16 points and six rebounds. Deja Williams also had a solid game, which included running the point for a lot of the second half while Leo played off the ball. After Day, Loyola was led by Bre Hampton-Bey (15 points, nine rebounds) and Sitori Tanin (12 points).

With the non-conference schedule now complete, Cleveland State will head back into conference play following nine days off, as the Vikings’ next game is on December 30th at Robert Morris. It’s a break that is frustrating in some ways, nobody wants to stew over a tough loss for a week and a half, but one that also provides an opportunity to adjust and recuperate.

“What these kids have gone through over the last two, three weeks has been a lot,” Kielsmeier said. “And we certainly looked completely out of sync tonight. We looked like we hadn’t practiced much lately, and that’s the tough thing about the game. It’s a tough sport to play, and it’s very much a rhythm, timing, in-sync offense.”

“Now that it got exposed and it really pushed it out, we’ve got to respond.”

Vikings season on pause following OT thriller

Alec Kwait
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Vikings season on pause following OT thriller

Cleveland State’s season was put on a temporary pause following a slugfest overtime loss versus Oklahoma State from the Big 12 conference due to COVID-19 issues within their program. Multiple players tested positive for the virus forcing the temporary shutdown. This is unfortunate news for a team that was playing extremely efficiently on the offensive end and was looking forward to a road clash against one of the top teams in the country, Duke. While the Vikings would have been underdogs headed into Cameron Indoor Stadium, it would have been a highlight of the season for the entire team to compete against Coach K’s group in his final season.

Right before the pause, the Vikings were able to do battle with Oklahoma State in Stillwater in what turned out to be perhaps the most exciting game of the season so far for the Vikings, despite the undesired outcome. While the Vikings took the loss 98-93 in overtime, they played with no fear against a “power five” conference school in their gym. This is something that CSU fans should have expected with the senior leadership on the team. Dennis Gates’ group should be very proud of their effort against the Cowboys despite the unfortunate final few possessions of overtime.

D’Moi Hodge had undoubtedly his most complete game of the season so far, after an up and down start shooting the basketball. The senior finished with 31 points on 50% shooting, in addition to two steals. Hodge converted on multiple three pointers in crucial moments when the Vikings absolutely needed points. Despite the masterful performance, Hodge took a quick three pointer off of a time out in the waining seconds of overtime before allowing the designed play to develop. Perhaps a better look could have been had if Hodge let the screener make the pick. All things considered, this was a terrific learning experience for a team that should continue to remain one of the premier teams in the Horizon League.

Another Viking who had a terrific performance versus the Cowboys was Broc Finstuen. Having played against Gonzaga multiple times throughout his time at Pacific, Finstuen is no stranger to the big stage and he delivered for Dennis Gates in a huge way. The guard led the Vikings in rebounds with ten, and in steals with three. The transfer also amassed 19 points, good enough for second on the team. Perhaps most impressively, Finstuen shot 7-9 from the field, as he was able to score as both a cutter and permitter shooter, two things he does extremely efficiently.

Tre Gomillion battled foul trouble for some of the game, and had he not he could have come very close to attaining a triple double. The senior finished with six points, eight rebounds, and six assists, as he played a very complete game on both sides of the ball. While there were a few situations where he fouled that he would like to have back, Gomillion’s tenacity and hustle are two of the traits that make him as good of a player as he is.

One final Viking that deserves recognition for his performance as of late is reserve big man Anderson Mirambeax. Despite being infrequently used so far this season, the big man has made multiple plays the last few times his number has been called. Against the Cowboys, the junior college transfer was utilized as a passer from the high post on back to back possessions, both of which resulted in assists for Mirambeaux. While Deante Johnson is surely the centerpiece for the Vikings down low, Mirambeaux could see more minutes coming up as his back to the basket post game gives the Vikings something they do not have with the big men on their roster.

While the next step for the Vikings is to get everyone who has the virus healthy, they can now look ahead to resuming conference play on December 30th when CSU will travel to IUPUI, followed by a New Years Day battle with UIC in Chicago. The Vikings will return home on January 5th to face Purdue Fort Wayne before hitting the road for a pair of games.

Scheduling in the Time of COVID: How CSU’s Tenth Straight Win Materialized

Kyle Rossi
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Scheduling in the Time of COVID: How CSU’s Tenth Straight Win Materialized

Here are some news and notes from what’s been, to say the least, an unconventional two weeks for Cleveland State women’s basketball.

CSU Buries OCU to Remain Unbeaten

With its 104-51 win over NAIA school Ohio Christian on Saturday, Cleveland State climbed to an official 9-0, and 7-0 in games that actually took place. While a three-ball-loving OCU squad offered some pushback, particularly late in the first quarter when a Rachel Bolyard layup cut the CSU margin to just 18-15, Deja Williams immediately followed with a buzzer-beating three to signal the beginning of the end of the Trailblazers.

The victory, paced by Gabby Smith’s 23 points, along with Nadia Dumas’ 17 points with seven rebounds, was the 13th time in program history that the Vikings exceeded 100 points. CSU also tied a program record with 31 assists (on 42 made field goals), and extended its winning streak to ten, one shy of the program record set during the 2019-20 season.

COVID and the fact that forfeits typically aren’t counted towards winning streaks cost the program the distinction of holding the longest winning streak in the country, a claim it was able to make earlier this season. Nevertheless, the Vikings remain one of only seven unbeaten teams in the country headed into its Tuesday night contest against former Horizon League rival Loyola Chicago.

Of those other six, top-ranked South Carolina is scheduled for a showdown with Stanford on Tuesday, while North Carolina puts their record on the line against Alabama State.

A Routine Crisis

Assistant coach Bob Dunn had quite the week after finding out that Hofstra, the Vikings opponent initially scheduled for Saturday, would be unable to make the trip to Cleveland due to COVID protocols. Dunn, who handles the team’s scheduling, was forced into emergency action on Tuesday or Wednesday when finding out that the Pride had been shut down.

It’s a situation that’s unfortunately become common in COVID times – in fact, of five games involving Horizon League teams scheduled for Saturday, only two went off exactly as planned. Sometimes, the circumstances dictate that the game be declared a washout with no substitute necessary, as has happened for three CSU games this season. Other times, coaches and staffers need to scramble to find something, anything.

Even in this second COVID season, there really isn’t an established playbook for scheduling a game on short notice. Coaches sometimes take to Twitter and throw their game request out into cyberspace, which stands a decent chance of working if you’re someone with the profile of Rick Pitino and offering a game at Madison Square Garden, but typically communications are more of an off-the-record volume game.

“[Dunn] did an incredible job with it,” head coach Chris Kielsmeier said. “The next day or two [after learning of Hofstra’s situation], we focused on all NCAA Division I, Division II schools and weren’t looking at anybody else. After we were striking out left and right, every which way possible, the next day, Thursday morning, Coach Dunn sent an email to every NAIA school in the state of Ohio, asking them if they were available to play this weekend.”

Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. At the same time Cleveland State was asking around, so was IUPUI. The Jaguars, like CSU, had a COVID stricken opponent for Saturday (Eastern Michigan) and undoubtedly, the outreach of the schools in neighboring states overlapped at least once. IUPUI did not end up playing a game on Saturday.

However, by practice on Thursday afternoon, roughly 48 hours out from the game, Dunn had two yes answers, with Ohio Christian eventually making the trip up from Circleville. Kielsmeier estimated that they received a no from 100 different schools (to say nothing of the undoubtedly large volume of messages with no response).

“We were looking at anything. It’s not like we were targeting somebody, we were looking for anybody who would play us, and it made sense,” he said. “You can only travel so far, and were we going to travel coming off of [COVID pause] and the world we’re living in right now? There are so many factors that go into it, but at the end of the day, there’s no factors that go into it if nobody will say yes.”

“Our administration is just phenomenal,” Kielsmeier added. “I don’t have to sit down and ask ‘what can we do, what can we give them, what is this, what is that,’ it’s just ‘go get it done, and work with [deputy athletic director Kelsie Gory Harkey] for facilities and staffing.’ So I’ve got one person I’ve got to talk to about the game, and everybody else is just standing by like ‘tell me when, where, and let’s go.'”

“This wasn’t ideal, but we got them back on the floor.”

The Other Side of the COVID Lottery

Of course, a lot of the urgency driving the idea of getting some sort of replacement on the schedule came from the fact that CSU was coming off its own COVID pause. Positive tests in the Vikings program postponed a game at Akron that had been set for December 12th. They also wiped out any sort of organized team activities for ten days of the period between the team’s last contest – December 3rd at Northern Kentucky – and Saturday.

The Vikings only returned to practice on Thursday, just in time for Dunn to burst into the gym to show off an email from OCU on his phone.

“We had no contact with [the players],” Kielsmeier said. “We could give them workouts and stuff, and they could go to the rec center and work out on their own. They were committed to doing that because when they came in on Thursday, we looked like we could play a game on Saturday. And if they didn’t look like that, then we wouldn’t have played it, because of the risk of physical harm.”

While the coach declined to give precise numbers (and probably isn’t even allowed to do so), he did say that some of the Vikings’ positive tests were breakthrough cases, and that his program is “super close to 100 percent [vaccination],” a phrase that probably speaks for itself.

Whatever the case may be, CSU seems to be through the worst of it, at least this time around. Saturday sort of represented an unofficial recalibration for everyone ahead of a tough non-conference finale and, of course, the re-start of Horizon League competition.

“It’s one thing to run up and down the floor, and it’s another to be good at drills, but when you get in your system stuff, regardless of who you’re playing, you’ve got to be able to do some things and function,” Kielsmeier said. “And you’re probably pretty fatigued, and that’s what our players were dealing with [on Saturday].”

“These last two days were hard on everybody.”

Leo Misses OCU Contest

It may mean something, and it may not, but leading scorer Destiny Leo sat out of Saturday’s game against Ohio Christian.

If there was ever a situation to rest a star point guard that takes on loads of physical and mental responsibility in Cleveland State’s system, it’s against an NAIA fill-in opponent that the Vikings can still beat by 53 points without her. Then again, given the COVID-altered logistics of the last two weeks, and the expressed urgency of getting everyone back on the court, that explanation doesn’t make a ton of sense.

Kielsmeier declined comment on Leo’s status, but Tuesday is likely to tell a lot more of the story.

#HLMBB Power Rankings — Week 6

John Parker
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#HLMBB Power Rankings — Week 6

A light schedule didn’t move the needle for me

No, YOU’RE mailing it in before the holidays!

Just kidding! While it might not be the most popular opinion, I genuinely believe that this week’s results supported last week’s decisions. The results most likely to shake things up either fell short of another school’s result against a common opponent (hello, Cleveland State!) or were followed up by a frustrating result that made it more likely that things could move in the wrong direction (hello, UIC!)

I could just link to last week’s rankings, but instead I’ll try to make arguments about why the power rankings look like this based on new results:

TeamRankPreviousChange
Oakland11–
Cleveland State22–
Wright State33–
Youngstown State47–
Detroit Mercy54–
UIC66–
Milwaukee78–
Purdue Fort Wayne85–
Northern Kentucky99–
Green Bay1010–
Robert Morris1111–
IUPUI1212–

Oakland had the week off and there’s still no reason to knock them from the top spot.

Cleveland State nearly made a case to dramatically close the gap between Oakland and the field when it took on Oklahoma State on Monday, but the Vikings couldn’t finish what the Golden Grizzlies could and fell to the Cowboys in overtime 98-93. Still, the strong performance in a loss bolstered their standing instead of hurting it. D’Moi Hodge went off for 31 points with an effective field goal percentage of 59.1 in a performance I believe should earn him Horizon League Player of the Week.

Alright, I know this one is controversial but I’m keeping Wright State where they were in the rankings despite a 1-1 week where the team lost 66-48 to Akron and struggled before eventually putting away Tennessee Tech 72-63. Just like last week, they’ll keep this spot because of a lack of confidence that anyone below them would fare better. The Zips rank higher than the Cleveland State team that just rolled WSU in both the NET Rankings and on KenPom, so a loss isn’t shocking in the slightest. And for as much as the Raiders struggled to finish off Tennessee Tech, the score wasn’t within a single possession for more than six minutes to end the second half. Tanner Holden averaged 17 points and 5 rebounds to lead the way for the Raiders.

Youngstown State‘s only game of the week was against Division III Westminster (PA). For the purposes of these rankings, that’s effectively a bye. I’m keeping the Penguins below Wright State for now because the team’s schedule has been brutally weak. The only teams YSU has defeated that haven’t lost multiple games to a historically weak Horizon League are a St. Thomas team in its first year transitioning up from non-scholarship Division III, Milwaukee, and Green Bay. Considering where the Phoenix and Panthers are in these power rankings, that’s not great. I have no reason to assume a team that couldn’t be SIU-Edwardsville would be racking up a bunch of Top-200 wins. Luke Chicone was one of two Horizon League freshmen to score double figures in a game this week, with 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting in the 83-54 win.

Detroit Mercy retains its spot by dealing Central Michigan its third loss to a Horizon League school in three games. The Titans took the lead over the visiting Chippewas with just under six minutes to play in the first half and never looked back, winning 89-75. Madut Akec continued his impressive season for Detroit Mercy with 25 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 7-for-12 from the field.

UIC started its week with a solid argument to move up, with a 72-66 loss to DePaul. Sadly, the league is still in such rough shape near the end of non-league play that “quality losses” are a quality argument for a Top 3 spot. And it might’ve happened if the Flames hadn’t turned around and nearly given away the game in a 61-60 win over KenPom number 322 Northern Illinois. Damaria Franklin once again starred for the Flames, averaging 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds for the week.

In Milwaukee‘s lone game of the week, the Panthers were run off the court at Panther Arena by Rhode Island. As has been the case for much of this list, it’s hard to hit Milwaukee too hard for an 82-58 loss to a team that’s in the Top 100 on both KenPom and in the NET Rankings. That’s especially true once you hit the bottom half of the Horizon League in a year that might go down as its worst non-league performance of all-time. DeAndre Gholston had 16 points and 7 rebounds for the Panthers in the loss.

Purdue Fort Wayne had the week off and didn’t move in the rankings this week.

Northern Kentucky‘s brutal season continued with an 81-68 overtime loss to Eastern Kentucky. Yes, you read that right: the Norse lost a 5 minute overtime session by 13 points. With a win, NKU could’ve had some kind of argument to shake up the Power Rankings after Milwaukee lost to Eastern Kentucky at home earlier this year. Hubertas Pivorius might’ve locked up Horizon League Freshman of the Week by being the lone freshman to score double figures against a Division I opponent this week. He tallied 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting with three 3-pointers.

Green Bay had the week off and nobody around them did anything that warranted moving the Phoenix.

Robert Morris became the third Horizon League team to play Bowling Green this week, and in the process became the third Horizon League team to lose to Bowling Green. Unlike some of the other teams that have played three Horizon League opponents, Bowling Green’s results match the power rankings. The Falcons squeaked past Oakland 73-72, soundly beat Milwaukee 82-68, and absolutely destroyed Robert Morris 100-74. In his third game back from an injury, Michael Green had a strong performance off the bench. He had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 5 steals on the night. He added some solid efficiency, shooting 6-for-10 and tallying an effective field goal percentage of 65.0.

IUPUI lost to Chicago State. For most of the game it wasn’t very close. They’re last place and the gap is large. B.J. Maxwell had 20 points, but only one other Jaguar hit double figures. If things don’t improve, this is probably the worst Horizon League team ever.

#HLWBB Power Rankings — Week 6

Kyle Rossi
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#HLWBB Power Rankings — Week 6

There were ten games scheduled across Horizon League women’s basketball last week. Of those, six were completed as planned, while two others were added to replace canceled games. In all, seven teams played at least one game (UIC played two), while five sat idle.

Welcome to late-December scheduling, with the 32nd wave of COVID thrown in for funsies.

TeamRankLWChange
Cleveland State11–
Youngstown State22–
IUPUI33–
Northern Kentucky44–
Milwaukee56+1
Green Bay65-1
Oakland77–
Robert Morris88–
Purdue Fort Wayne99–
Wright State1012+2
UIC1110-1
Detroit Mercy1211-1

Cleveland State has had quite a ride over the last two weeks with a COVID pause on their end and another on Hofstra’s end that wiped out a scheduled game Saturday (more on that tomorrow). However, things ended on a positive note when the Vikings managed to pull in NAIA opponent Ohio Christian on short notice and thump the Trailblazers 104-51 to remain among a dwindling group of unbeaten teams nationally (the list is seven schools long as of this writing). Discounting forfeits, CSU has now won 10 straight games dating back to last season, one shy of the school record. While Destiny Leo sat out against OCU, the Vikings proved that they have plenty of firepower without her.

Following their first loss of the season, Youngstown State bounced back in a big way on Friday night at the Beeghly Center, rolling Division II squad Davis & Elkins 71-27. It was a solid get-right affair that allowed John Barnes to empty his bench, leading to the first bucket of Haley Thierry’s career during the final minutes. Earlier in the contest, Lilly Ritz was dominant with 14 points and eight boards in only 16:22 of work while YSU’s defense, led by Mady Aulbach’s efforts on Senators leading scorer Dream Cherry, held D&E to the second lowest point total by an opponent in school history. A YSU-CSU showdown looms on New Year’s Day, though each team has two more games before that happens.

IUPUI had its only game of the week, a highly-winnable matchup against Eastern Michigan, taken out by COVID issues on the Eagles side of things. The Jaguars were unable to find a replacement game, so they’ll head into their final non-conference matchup – against the likes of Caitlin Clark and Iowa on Tuesday – nearly two weeks removed from game action.

Northern Kentucky was one of the five HLWBB teams that didn’t play a game this past week, but one of only two that did so by design (Purdue Fort Wayne was the other). Both schools will rectify that situation quickly, with Lindsey Duvall and company heading down to Wofford on Monday to close their out-of-conference account for the regular season.

I’m putting Milwaukee ahead of Green Bay this week because although the Panthers lost to Northwestern on Tuesday, I was impressed with their defense and ability to make the game ugly against a quality team. It almost worked too: Milwaukee held their Big Ten opponent to 18 points in the first half and led the game most of the way until late in the third quarter. Megan Walstad proved that she’s a force of nature regardless of the other sideline and the venue with 20 points and 13 rebounds and, with some more consistent shooting from elsewhere, the Panthers still have what it takes to make a big move up over the second half.

Chicago State’s entry into COVID protocol canceled Green Bay’s only planned game for the week, which is probably a good thing for the Phoenix’s NET. Like most of the teams that were idle last week, UWGB jumps back into things quickly with a tilt against Central Michigan on Monday.

I’m not even sure what’s left to say about Oakland at this point. The Grizzlies were initially scheduled to have the week off before playing in an MTE in Las Vegas on Monday and Tuesday. However Campbell, one of OU’s scheduled opponents, had to pull out of the event due to COVID. That led to Oakland and Bowling Green (another team in Vegas set to play Campbell) connecting for a game on Sunday, creating the awkward reality of two schools roughly two hours from each other by car hooking up a couple thousand miles west. BGSU won the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic opener 72-60, a game where Kahlaijah Dean was once again human electricity (28 points on 10-for-17 shooting). However, she received very little offensive help, while the Grizzlies struggled to turn the Falcons over and generate essential quick points. OU was also hit with the loss of head coach Jeff Tungate, who had to undergo emergency spinal surgery last week and will be on leave at least until February.

Robert Morris joined Cleveland State and Wright State on the list of Horizon League teams with COVID outbreaks this month, forcing the cancellation of the Colonials’ final two non-conference games. The timing is a bit unfortunate, in part because one of those games was a home rematch with St. Bonaventure and the idea of playing an out-of-league opponent twice in one season was kind of fun to me. It also means that RMU will have to go into their Horizon League opener against CSU on December 30th cold from a COVID pause and Christmas, and 18 days removed from their last game action.

As mentioned, Purdue Fort Wayne was one of the two HLWBB teams with a week off on purpose, along with NKU. The major news for the Mastodons last week was an update on the status of star freshman Ryin Ott, who fractured her wrist on December 9th against Southeast Missouri State and will be out for at least a few weeks. PFW closes its non-conference slate against Indiana State on Monday.

Wright State finally emerged from its COVID pause and returned to game action on Wednesday, beating the brakes off Division II squad Lake Erie by a 91-60 count, for Kari Hoffman’s first win as the Raiders’ head coach. It would be extremely shaky logic to extrapolate much of anything from a DII game, but WSU has to be encouraged by the fact that they shot 14-for-25 from three, led by Channing Chappell’s 4-for-6 effort, while Jada Roberson, Destyne Jackson, and KK White each connected three times. The Raiders only used eight players, including newcomer Jordan Stanley, but five of them scored in double figures.

I really want to believe in UIC, because there’s a lot that I like about the Flames, but sometimes you just have to throw your hands up and cite the results. Those results included two absolute shovelings last week, at the hands of Indiana State (76-50) and Saint Louis (75-47) to drop the league’s Chicago entry (for now, cue ominous music) to 2-7 overall. The two wins, by the way, came by four points each against the teams ranked 301st and 341st in NET, Valparaiso and Detroit Mercy, the latter in overtime. Like I said, there are certainly bright spots to the Flames, Jaida McCloud is one of the more underappreciated players in the entire league, Keona Schenck is a ridiculously pure shooter, and freshman Ky Dempsey-Toney has started to come into her own. But ball don’t lie, as they say.

Detroit Mercy’s only game of the week was the latest in a long line of close contests where the Titans just weren’t able to finish the job. On Saturday against North Dakota, UDM trailed 40-23 at the half, then roared back to very briefly take the lead on an Imani McNeal three with 7:48 to go in the fourth quarter, before eventually falling by ten. Sydney Searcy – who absolutely should be considered for the league’s Player of the Week award – was largely responsible for the comeback effort with 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting (4-for-6 from three), but it wasn’t enough to stop the Titans from falling to 0-10 overall. The good news? A trip to Valparaiso and their aforementioned sub-300 NET ranking awaits on Tuesday, representing a very serious chance to break into the win column.

The End (of the Non-Conference Schedule) Is Near

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With the non-conference schedule wrapping up, Bob and Matt wade through what to make of the Horizon League at this point. First, they delve into whether or not IUPUI is careening towards a level of futility not seen since the 2003-04 Cleveland State squad lost its final 21 games. Then, before the HL slate gets into full swing, they make their predictions who the top four teams in the league will be.

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#HLMBB Special Edition Tip(sy)-off: GAME OF THE CENTURY – Chicago State-IUPUI

John Parker
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#HLMBB Special Edition Tip(sy)-off: GAME OF THE CENTURY – Chicago State-IUPUI

It’s not like you’re doing anything else tonight

And we’re back!

…with a special edition of the Horizon League Weekend Tip(sy)-off that’s taking place in the middle of the week. For a non-league game. That isn’t nationally televised. Between two of the five lowest rated teams on KenPom.

It’s been a rough year to cover the Horizon League, okay? We’re leaning into it.

Tonight at 7 PM EST on ESPN+, an IUPUI team that many Horizon League fans wish hadn’t been brought into the league takes on a Chicago State team that Horizon League fans are desperately hoping is never invited into the league. Chicago State is 3-7 with all three wins coming against Division I opponents, meanwhile IUPUI is 1-8 and still searching for its first Division I win. Despite that, the Jaguars are currently a spot higher on KenPom, ranked 354 (out of 358) compared to CSU’s 355. This is going to be…something!

Because we’re a Horizon League site, most of the rules will be focused on IUPUI and the Horizon League, but we’d like to give a shout-out to Cougar Pride on Twitter for helping us with some Chicago State rules.

Be sure to follow HoriZone Roundtable on Twitter to keep up with the rules and (barring tech issues) join our Space for the game.

Apologies in advance if I went a little overboard with this one, I’ve missed this!

The Rules:

Take one drink if Boston Stanton makes a 3-pointer.

  • The 6-foot-5 freshman from Denver joined IUPUI known for his 3-point shooting, but hasn’t quite found his rhythm yet in college. Stanton is hitting an average of one 3-pointer per game, but is shooting just 30 percent from beyond the arc.

Take one drink when either team reaches the bonus in a half

  • Both IUPUI and Chicago State are in the Top 30 in terms of fouls committed per game. IUPUI is 28th with 19.7 per game while Chicago State is 12th with 20.9.

(Double) Bonus: Take two drinks when either team reaches the double bonus.

  • The (Double) Bonus rule has never actually been about the Double Bonus, but today it fits!

Take one drink if Teddy Bayi Ba Mandeng misses a free throw.

  • Chicago State’s 6-foot-9 junior forward from Paris is shooting 38.75% from the free throw line this season.

Take two drinks if an IUPUI player other than B.J. Maxwell scores 10 points.

  • Maxwell leads the Jaguars with 12.5 points per game, and he’s been the team’s leading scorer in seven of its eight games against Division I competition. Second leading scorer K.J. Pruitt averages just 5.0 points per game.

Take one drink if Noah Bigirumwami attempts a 3-pointer.

  • Despite his 6-foot-10 frame the reserve forward from Santa Clarita, CA typically attempts about a 3-pointer a night for the Cougars.

Finish your drink if the broadcast speculates about Chicago State moving to the Horizon League:

  • The Missouri Valley Conference was in the process of adding schools when Loyola announced its departure for the Atlantic 10, leaving the MVC without a presence in the Chicago market. That led to UIC emerging as a top candidate to join the MVC, with presentations set for December 19. With the Horizon League potentially losing its Chicago market, don’t be surprised if the Cougars are linked to the league…much to the chagrin of Horizon League fans.

Take one drink if any of B.J. Maxwell’s former schools is mentioned.

  • IUPUI’s go-to guy is very well traveled. He’s had stops at Detroit Mercy and Abilene Christian, current conference rivals of each of the teams in today’s game. He spent last season at Division II St. Edward’s University.

Take one drink if announcers mention that Tommy Strine has coached at both schools.

  • Strine — currently an IUPUI assistant — spent last season at Chicago State.

Take one drink if Tracy Dildy is mentioned

  • The former Chicago State Head Coach and interim Athletic Director has extensive Horizon League experience, now in his fourth year as an assistant at Detroit Mercy after previously spending three seasons at UIC.

Finish your drink if IUPUI loses.

  • The Horizon League currently has three losses to teams that have lost to the perennial Division I bottomfeeder Chicago State: IUPUI against Tennessee State and both Purdue Fort Wayne and Youngstown State against Southern Illinois-Edwardsvile. Needless to say that the Cougars seem to be a bit better than they have been in recent years where a single Division I win was the norm, but a loss to Chicago State itself would still be a tough pill for Horizon League fans to swallow.

And as always, HoriZone Roundtable editorial staff (or whoever is in charge of the Twitter account) reserves the right to assign drinks based on amazing things that happen in-game that aren’t written into the rules. In this case, I feel the need to specify that things that are so bad they’re good also count.

Intercollegiate Committee gives final recommendation to Wright State

Blake Schumaker
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Intercollegiate Committee gives final recommendation to Wright State

Yesterday morning, Wright State’s Board of Trustees met with MRJ Advisors to discuss the findings of MRJ’s assessment on the state of intercollegiate athletics on campus. This meeting with the public was the culmination of four months worth of work collecting data from around campus, the Horizon League, and other Division 1 institutions to determine whether or not Wright State should move forward with any plans to retain their status as a Division 1 institution.

For anyone unfamiliar, Wright State has been under a continuous crunch due to a large number of factors, starting with a budget crisis that went unchecked for too long and then being exacerbated by other problems like COVID-19 and a nationwide fall in enrollment. The Raiders decided during the COVID period to cut the softball team and both tennis teams in an effort to keep costs down. Those three teams kept the university at the minimum required to operate at the Division 1 level and while the waiver to operate without them was approved, the waiver is due to expire at the end of this season.

While usually a budget crunch would lead to a Division 1 athletic program to retool and determine their goals with a new budget in mind, this committee was tasked with determining whether or not continuing as a program is worth the effort. While a number of institutions recently have taken the move from D2 or D3 up to D1, it is not unheard of for an institution to completely dismantle their program, such as at the University of Hartford which moved to D3 just after making the NCAA championship for the first time in their history. For Wright State, this crossroads and the decision they would make would be one of its most important.

The committee broke down the expenditures and contributions of the athletics program, the differences between Wright State and other Horizon schools, and the responses from the campus-wide survey. Wright State has kept their budget within operating parameters set by other Horizon schools, but is receiving a higher percentage of institutional support compared to the all but IUPUI. The contributions from ticket sales and other direct revenues have been stagnant in recent years, and rising inflation costs have caused the percentage of support from the university to grow as a result.

The campus survey revealed that just about half of the students present on the two campus strongly believe that athletics is a vital part of campus and a nationally recognized brand. Similarly, it was found that Wright State has a history of good performance in the Horizon, consistently competing for the McCafferty Trophy. Of note was the lack of awareness of athletic events that was cited as an improvement needed. Additionally, younger alumni feel a disconnect with the athletics programs and placed it as a lower importance in their evaluation of Wright State.

Given all evidence collected by MRJ Advisors, the third party contractors concluded that a move out of Division 1 would be unwise. The budget of athletics is not in a dire position and a move down to the lower divisions only offers savings that do not match the loss of opportunity. Among the reasons to stay was a determination that Wright State should avoid relocation fever and stay in the Horizon League, a position I wholeheartedly support.

A slide from the presentation on December 14th

While the budget has not grown in any significant manner, the lack of a significant growth in external contributions is the main cause of concern for the Raiders going forward. One of the points made about the contributions numbers is that they are half the amount expected of a school with a similar footprint, and considering the smaller budget, a higher contribution number would allow Wright State to lower the percentage of institutional support necessary to the athletics program.

It will be up to the athletics program to weigh the options for the three squads needed to get to the D1 minimum. The presentation from the intercollegiate meeting can be found at this link: https://www.wright.edu/board-of-trustees/meetings/meeting/414796

Prince Oduro has left Calihan Hall

Karic Jones
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Prince Oduro has left Calihan Hall

The Titans are 3-7. They have improved as the season has gone on, but they still are not at full strength and have now lost Forward Prince Oduro. Oduro played just 11 minuets versus IUPUI, and then only four against UIC. He was out for “personal reasons” against Kent State, and the link to his bio was gone from the Detroit Mercy website Monday afternoon. It is now confirmed that Oduro, the South Florida transfer, has left the Titans squad.

Oduro has played at four schools in the past five years. Starting his career at Siena before transferring to Mississippi State, then South Florida and finally Detroit Mercy. This is a clear pattern of leaving and for once in the Mike Davis era, I am not blaming Davis for running him out of town. Outside of playing time, there is not really any reason I can see for him leaving. He has a semester of eligibility left, that’s going to make it hard to transfer and play anywhere not to mention he has not had a ton of statistical relevance in over three years.

From what I understand multiple teams did not target him out of the transfer portal because there was some concern that he would not end up playing out his eligibility.

For the Titans, they are left without a true power big man. Noah Waterman is a wing despite his 6-11 frame. Can he score inside? Yes, but Waterman is a catch-and-shoot guy, and playing him inside is not where is most lethal. Madut Akec is a forward and does a lot of interior scoring but his length and athletic ability are what he leans on, he will most likely get in foul trouble if is forced to only guard the paint.

Buay Koka is an option, he’s a very lean 7-1. His best skill is shot-blocking and, in the year, he has been with the Titans he has not really played a ton. I think he will play more now, but if I am being honest, I have no clue how that is going to go. Mohamed Sylla has yet to play for the Titans.

Willy Isiani has been the replacement for Oduro so far and has done ok. While he is not going to be an all-conference player, but he understands the defense, he gives maximum effort and he’s good at drawing charges. He will need to continue to work hard on his rebounding. I think it’s safe to assume Isiani will be the primary inside forward playing on the low block with Koka spelling him. I would not shock me when we have everyone to see the titans play sets with no one staying inside and we will have a very long team.

I have been told that we will see Jordan Philips after the end of the semester. If I was a betting man, I would expect to see him when the YSU penguins come to town.

The Titans play Central Michigan Sunday. Jermaine Jackson, Jr. comes back to town as the Chips leading scorer he has come off the bench in all but two contests and is averaging 11.7 ppg. He however has not played since getting injured vs Xavier. Central is just 1-9 on the season, so this is another opportunity for Detroit Mercy to snag a win.

#HLMBB Power Rankings — Week 5

John Parker
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#HLMBB Power Rankings — Week 5

A week of non-league opponents…helped?

One of the challenges of non-league play when putting together the Power Rankings is balancing different teams playing wildly different opponents. This week actually wasn’t too painful on that front, with several games that paired Horizon League schools with opponents who had already played against the league. The week’s big winner was Youngstown State, which is now on a three-game win streak. Biggest loser — in large part because of those common opponents — is Purdue Fort Wayne, though getting blown out by a team Chicago State beat doesn’t help either.

Here’s a look at this week’s rankings:

TeamRankPreviousChange
Oakland11–
Cleveland State22–
Wright State33–
Youngstown State47+3
Detroit Mercy54-1
UIC66–
Milwaukee78+1
Purdue Fort Wayne85-3
Northern Kentucky99–
Green Bay1010–
Robert Morris1111–
IUPUI1212–

Oakland finally faltered against a seemingly very beatable opponent, losing to Bowling Green 73-72. Still, the Golden Grizzlies retain the top spot because the win would’ve been the team’s sixth non-league KenPom Top 200 victory while the other 11 schools are all searching for a first. In other words, it’s hard to knock Oakland for losing a game nobody else has shown they could win. Jamal Cain’s counting statistics were fantastic in the loss, with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Given the minuscule margin, a better shooting night from the field than the 7-for-18 performance would’ve allowed OU to escape unscathed. Cain did shoot 3-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc, which allowed him to finish the game with an Effective Field Goal Percentage of 47.2, so it wasn’t a horribly inefficient performance.

Cleveland State and Wright State retain their spots in the rankings after having the week off.

Youngstown State makes a big jump in this week’s rankings after beating Central Michigan 84-77 and absolutely obliterating a Canisius team that has played three games against Horizon League opponents by a score of 71-43. The Penguins 28-point win is by far the most impressive margin of victory of the three Horizon League pairings, with Cleveland State winning by 10 and Northern Kentucky by 13. Dwayne Cohill won a share of the Horizon League Player of the Week Award after averaging 19 points and 6.5 rebounds in the two victories.

Detroit Mercy split a pair of MAC matchups, losing to Kent State 69-52 then blowing out Western Michigan 83-64. Both games were pretty comparable, but with different outcomes for the Titans. In each, the winner established itself early, went into half with a multiple possession lead and never let the opponent get back into things. Unsurprisingly, Antoine Davis starred for the Titans, averaging 19.5 points and 8.5 assists while securing the second double-double of his career (and of December 2021).

UIC got off to a hot start in the team’s lone matchup this week at Central Michigan, but ended up needing to hold off a late rally in a 71-67 victory. The Flames jumped out early, taking a 31-18 lead in the first half and going into the half up eight. Kevin Johnson had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in the victory before fouling out late.

Milwaukee lost its only game of the week, but gets bumped up a spot after looking good for 35 minutes in a 65-54 loss to Pac 12 opponent Colorado. Jordan Lathon had an impressive night for the Panthers, hitting four of his six three-point attempts and finishing with 14 points. The UTEP transfer had struggled from beyond the arc heading into the game.

Outside of Saturday’s 78-65 win over Southeast Missouri State, it was a pretty rough week for Purdue Fort Wayne‘s status in the Power Rankings. Not only did the Mastodons get blown out 80-59 by a Southern Illinois-Edwardsville team that lost to Chicago State, but the team now has common opponents with several Horizon League foes that have performed better in those same matchups. The Western Michigan team that Detroit Mercy beat previously defeated PFW. SIU-Edwardsville also beat Youngstown State, but did so on a last-second miracle heave after YSU controlled most of the game. Even the win over Southeast Missouri State wasn’t nearly as impressive as Youngstown’s 97-79 beatdown of the Redhawks in the first week of the season. For the Mastodons’ sake, at least Florida Gulf Coast easily beat Robert Morris as well. Jalon Pipkins was the x-factor for PFW this week. He shot just 2-for-11 with 10 points in the blowout loss, but put up an outstanding 10-for-14 shooting night and 24 points in the victory over Southeast Missouri State

Northern Kentucky secured its own win over Canisius, beating the Golden Griffins 75-62 on Wednesday. On Sunday the Norse easily cruised to a victory over non-Division I Alice Lloyd, another matchup that doesn’t move the needle. NKU is in a difficult spot in the rankings. Despite a victory by double figures, I can’t justify moving the Norse above a team that dominated it just a few days prior. That could change pretty quickly if Marques Warrick keeps putting up performances like he had against Canisius. After a disappointing start to his sophomore campaign, Warrick posted 30 points on 10-for-14 shooting in the win on his way to winning a share of Horizon League Player of the Week.

Green Bay lost a pair of games over the weekend, first 64-55 to Kansas City (shortly after I criticized the Kangaroos’ candidacy for the MVC, though I’m not flinching) then 82-64 Sunday afternoon against Kansas State. In both games, the Phoenix stick around until a massive run by their opponents put the game out of reach. Friday it was a 14-1 run early in the second half, and on Sunday a 17-4 run to end the first half. Kamari McGee shined for Green Bay in both games. He put up 19 points against Kansas City and 14 against Kansas State, led the team in assists in both games and had an effective field goal percentage of 59.1 on the week.

Robert Morris finally secured a win this season, but it was a non-Division I victory over Lancaster Bible College so it doesn’t move the needle. In the Colonials’ other game of the week, the team suffered an 85-74 loss to Florida Gulf Coast where it trailed by double figures in the first half. Kahliel Spear posted an impressive double-double against FGCU with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while shooting 8-for-11 on the night.

IUPUI‘s brutal season continued when it took on a Tennessee State team that was fresh off of a 10-point loss to Chicago State and lost 70-44. K.J. Pruitt became the first player other than B.J. Maxwell to lead the Jaguars in scoring against a Division I opponent, scoring 10 and adding a team-leading 5 rebounds in the loss. Next up, IUPUI will have a chance to prove that transitive property loss was a fluke and get the team’s first win of the year when it takes on Chicago State.

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