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Horizon League Women’s Basketball Power Rankings – Week 10

John Parker
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Horizon League Women’s Basketball Power Rankings – Week 10

The One Where Norse Fans Hate Me

A week after Milwaukee remained undefeated in Horizon League play with a sweep of IUPUI, Northern Kentucky returned to action and returned the favor by staying undefeated with a pair of wins against Milwaukee. With that said, NKU still won’t be appearing in this week’s rankings because the team has played less than half of its Horizon League games.

Outiside of Detroit Mercy – which suspended its season – nobody else is out of this week’s rankings.

Here’s where things stand:

TeamRankLWChange
Milwaukee Panthers11–
IUPUI Jaguars22–
Green Bay Phoenix33–
Wright State Raiders44–
Cleveland State Vikings58+3
Oakland Golden Grizzlies65-1
Youngstown State Penguins76-1
Robert Morris Colonials87-1
UIC Flames99–
Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons1010–

With NKU still sidelined, Milwaukee remained at the top of this week’s Power Rankings. Each of the other three teams in the top four has lost multiple games to teams Milwaukee already swept – or has been swept by Milwaukee – in recent weeks.

IUPUI remains in second place in the power rankings after earning a split with Green Bay last weekend. The Jaguars are just 1-3 in the team’s last four games, but a losses to Green Bay and Milwaukee are much more understandable than losses to Cleveland State and Robert Morris with how unbalanced the league has been all season.

Green Bay solidifies its place in this week’s Northern Kentucky-less power rankings with the win over IUPUI. The Phoenix already had a lead on Wright State last week after the Raiders were unexpectedly swept while Green Bay wound up with a surprise split. Green Bay’s quality victory widened that gap on a weekend where Wright State couldn’t do much to counteract it.

As mentioned, Wright State probably didn’t have anywhere to move but down last weekend because each of the teams above the Raiders has already absolutely clobbered winless Purdue Fort Wayne. The Raiders won both games, maintaining what should be a fairly solid fourth place among teams eligible for this week’s rankings.

With a weekend sweep of Oakland after beating Green Bay the Saturday prior, Cleveland State makes the biggest move in this week’s rankings despite its sub-.500 record. The Vikings replaced a weekend series against Detroit Mercy with an impromptu game against Mercyhurst, while Youngstown State and Oakland both play teams in the bottom three of the rankings. As a result, there probably won’t be enough information to move anybody currently below CSU up next week.

Despite an 8-6 record in Horizon League play, Oakland dropped below 5-7 Cleveland State after being swept by the Vikings last weekend. Four wins over Detroit Mercy and Purdue Fort Wayne coming into that series don’t move the needle for the Golden Grizzlies.

Youngstown State is 6-1 in its last 7 games, but agains strength of schedule needs to be considered. Four of those wins were against UIC and the loss is to 3-9 Robert Morris. Oakland is the only team with a winning record YSU beat in that stretch, and OU beat the Penguins a day before the current run started.

Robert Morris seems to be on a mission to prove me so right they end up making me look foolish for underselling them all year. All season I felt I had to argue about why I had a team that had been winless so high in the power rankings. In the last two weeks the Colonials have gone gone 3-1 against 6-4 Youngstown State and 11-3 Wright State. If RMU can find a league opponent to replace next week’s scheduled league games against Detroit Mercy a .500 finish is technically still in play, and none of the scheduled games would be against the top teams in the Horizon League.

UIC‘s last four Horizon League results were all double-digit losses to Youngstown State with deficits between 10 and 16 points. We might get more information this week about whether UIC’s four-point win over Detroit Mercy a month and a half ago is carrying too much weight this weekend when Purdue Fort Wayne takes on the Penguins. For now, 1-9 is better than 0-14

Purdue Fort Wayne remained winless in Horizon League play, but for the third week in a row managed to put up a game more competitive than any it played in during its first month of Horizon League play. While Friday’s 77-50 loss to WSU was par for the course, a 69-59 result on Saturday was arguably the Mastodons’ best game yet. We’ll see what the team can do with a seemingly slightly weaker opponent in Youngstown State this weekend.

Mastodons drop two at home against Oakland

Will Baptist
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Mastodons drop two at home against Oakland

Purdue Fort Wayne is on a four-game losing streak after falling to Oakland with glaring defensive issues. With an 81-66 loss on Friday, followed by an 82-75 loss on Saturday. This drops the Mastodons to 5-9 in conference play and 6-9 overall.

Purdue Fort Wayne’s lack of size and inability to get to the foul line is catching up to them. While the Horizon League has been able to exploit their interior defense, they haven’t been able to combat the struggles on offense.

The Mastodons are the epitome of “live by the three, die by the three”. They rely heavily on their outside shooting, as one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country. Recently, this has not been able to carry them to a victory. Defenses are forcing them to take contested three-point shots, and keying in on Jarred Godfrey.

Godfrey has slowed down quite a bit after his stellar start to the season. On Friday, he had 12 points on 4-9 from the field, while grabbing nine rebounds. On Saturday, he couldn’t get anything going with 10 points and six assists, but was forcing his shot quite a bit, shooting 5-13 and 0-7 from deep.

Bobby Planutis had his best weekend of the season. He drilled four three-pointers on Friday, and totaled a season-high 16 points and six rebounds. He followed that up with another great shooting night, hitting 5-8 on three’s with 15 points on Saturday. The Mastodons need Planutis to knock down triples on a consistent basis, as he seems to be gaining confidence.

Jalon Pipkins, who has come into his own as the second star for the Mastodons, struggled with foul trouble and couldn’t get into a rhythm with only six points on Friday. Saturday’s loss was a completely different story. Pipkins went for a season-high 21 points on 9-13 from the field. But the Mastodons struggle to get consistency as a team on a game-to-game basis.

On nights where Pipkins is unstoppable, Godfrey struggles mightily, and vice versa. Free throw differential and defensive breakdowns continue to haunt the Mastodons. They were 10-14 from the line between both games, while Oakland was 38-52. That is insurmountable, and regardless of how great of a three-point shooting team they are, they need to focus on attacking the rim and forcing officials to blow the whistle.

The Mastodons will hit the road and take on a red-hot Detroit Mercy team this weekend, as they look to leave their losing ways at home. The Mastodons will have their hands full trying to slow down Antoine Davis and Bul Kuol. Godfrey and Pipkins need to put the team on their backs as they look to right the ship and get back in the win column.

Horizon League Power Rankings – Week 10

John Parker
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Horizon League Power Rankings – Week 10

Weekend sweeps don’t bring stability

One of the really nice things about the Horizon League Women’s Power Rankings is that frequent sweeps resulted in very clearly drawn lines through most of the league. Apparently the occasional weekend full of sweeps isn’t having the same impact on the men’s side. Despite five out of six matchups this weekend ending with one team winning both games, there was significant change from last week’s Power Rankings.

At least the top two teams in the league are doing their part to make things easy on me?

We’re not the only ones noticing the volatility in the middle of the league this year. Our friends at Norse Report put out their power rankings on Monday and they look drastically different from ours.

Once again, every team in the league was able to take the court, and as a result everyone appears in this week’s rankings.

#LWSchool
11Wright State Despite failing to catch Cleveland State in the league standings, Wright State arguably widened its lead on Cleveland State in the Power Rankings with a pair of comfortable wins over Robert Morris.  

Friday’s 9-point win was the closest victory in Horizon League play for the Raiders, but the other game of the weekend was a dominant 86-56 beatdown where only one RMU players scored double-figures
22Cleveland StateWhile things weren’t quite so neat for the Cleveland State, the Vikings did manage to hold onto a one-game lead in the Horizon League standings with two wins over Green Bay.  

CSU apparently likes to terrify its fans, once again giving up a sizable lead in the second half, but 12-2 in league play is 12-2 in league play.
34OaklandOU is 5-1 in its last six games, with its only loss coming to a Detroit Mercy team that’s also been hot of late, and that the Golden Grizzlies have beaten three times this season.

While a series against league-leading Cleveland State looms large the Golden Grizzlies are on a great run and are one of just three teams with a winning league record outside of the two heavy favorites.
46Detroit MercyLike Oakland, Detroit Mercy is 5-1 in its last six. Unlike Oakland, the Titans did it coming out of a COVID-19 related stoppage.

I can’t rank the Titans above the Golden Grizzlies because of the 3-1 head-to-head advantage for OU that is also the reason Greg Kampe’s team is the one with a winning league record, but as the scores in those games indicate the gap isn’t large.
58Northern KentuckyNKU bounced back nicely from being swept by IUPUI with a second straight 2-0 weekend. In a normal year, the Norse would be effectively tied with Oakland for third in the league at 7-5 to OU’s 8-6.

I might still be too low on Northern Kentucky, but that IUPUI series is a tough one to comprehend.
63Milwaukee One game after becoming the first team with no shot at a Horizon League Title to beat Cleveland State, the Panthers turned around and lost to IUPUI.

By earning a weekend split, the team kept its league record above .500 and kept itself in the top half of the Power Rankings.
75UIC With early-season star RayQuawndis Mitchell still working his way back up to his normal workload, UIC has hit a rough patch in league play.

An easy schedule was mostly able to mask that for the last couple weeks, but the Flames finally played a team strong enough to deal them two losses.
87Green Bay It’s difficult to knock the Phoenix too bad for a pair of competitive losses to the team at the top of the Horizon League standings.

With the last five options combining for one victory, Green Bay gets the edge here. Heading into this week, the team was 5-2 in its previous seven games after a slow start.
99Purdue Fort WayneWith Jarred Godfrey in a slump, Purdue Fort Wayne has struggled recently. The Mastodons have lost four straight after being .500 at the midway point of the Horizon League season.

If Godfrey can get back to efficiently dropping 20 points per game, the inconsistency of most of the teams above PFW could allow a big jump. For now, the once promising season seems likely to wind up with the Mastodons about where they were projected in the preseason.
1010Youngstown StateAfter two more close losses, Youngstown State is 1-7 in its last eight games. There’s an argument to be made that YSU could be even lower in these rankings, but for now they’ll stay tenth.

With Darius Quisenberry out for most of the season and seemingly hobbled when he was available, the Penguins have fallen well short of preseason expectations.
1112IUPUI IUPUI matched its 2020 Horizon League win total with a third victory over a team currently ranked in the top half of the Power Rankings.

The Jaguars are still heavily dependent on ridiculous performances out of star guards Marcus Burk and Jaylen Minnett, but it’s clear the team is more competitive than it was a year ago.
1211Robert Morris This weekend added insult to injury for the Colonials. Not only did RMU’s record fall to the worst in the league after the sweep against Wright State, but A.J. Bramah didn’t even travel with the team after “going into a pause.”

That seems to indicate Bramah won’t be available next weekend either. Considering this weekend marked the first time anybody but Bramah led the team in scoring or rebounding against a Division I opponent, that doesn’t bode well for RMU.

Vikings take two against Phoenix

Alec Kwait
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Vikings take two against Phoenix

Cleveland State’s ability to hold onto leads in the second half was tested this past weekend in their series versus Green Bay. The Vikings blew large leads in both games of their previous set against Milwaukee, which resulted in a split series. It seems CSU has learned their lesson regarding playing with the lead late, as the Vikings took two hard fought contests from the Phoenix over the weekend. The wins also keep Cleveland State at the top of the Horizon League Standings with a 12-2 record in conference.

Game one of the set saw one of the most balanced offensive performances of the season for the Vikings, as all five starters scored in double figures. Senior point guard Craig Beaudion led the way with 16 points, six assists, and three steals on the night. Beaudion is playing his best basketball of the season right now, as the Chicago native has scored in double figures in four straight contests.

Beaudion’s much improved outside shooting has been a welcomed sight for the Vikings, as the senior is shooting over 44% from behind the arc, which is good for best on the team. While the Vikings certainly hang their collective hats on the defensive end of the floor, Beaudion’s recent offensive emergence adds another dangerous weapon to an already deep Cleveland State team.

Green Bay was led all weekend by sophomore standout Amari Davis, who had two of his three highest scoring output games versus the Vikings. Game one saw Davis drop 27 points, and he followed that up with 29 in game two.

Following the conclusion of Friday’s 74-68 Cleveland State win, head coach Dennis Gates had this to say regarding Davis, “He’s an all league guy. A great player. Quick first step…went 8-9 from the free throw line.” When asked how the Vikings defended Davis and Green Bay better in the second half of Friday’s victory, Gates went on to say, “I thought we went into that second half we defended their team, from the standpoint of contesting three pointers…they made one three pointer in the second half, I thought that was crucial with what we needed to adjust.” The Vikings held Green Bay to just 30 points in the second half, which was enough to ensure the victory.

Cleveland State’s composure was put to the test in game two of the weekend doubleheader, as the Vikings took an 18 point leader into halftime only to see the Phoenix chip away for the entirety of the second half. A Josh Jefferson layup made the score 44-36 with just over 14 minutes to play in regulation. While CSU fans might have been saying “here we go again”, the Vikings, led by Craig Beaudion, Tre Gomillion, and Algevon Eichelberger, who all scored 16 points, helped put the Phoenix away when it counted most with timely baskets in the second half.

Game two versus the Phoenix saw a breakthrough performance from senior big man Al Eichelberger, who has been sidelined at multiple points this season due to injuries to his foot and leg.

Following the conclusion of Cleveland State’s 73-65 victory on Saturday night, Gates had this to say about his graduate student, “Well, this was his season high in minutes this year…(29) I give our trainer Max Benton credit for getting him prepared and put in a situation where he can log these minutes. It’s tough going through a pandemic, it’s even tougher going through that with a foot sprain that Al had. And he had a knick knack on his knee. That’s what you have to look at when you’re trying to get him back into shape…we’re allowing him to have more rest during the week for rehab…to put him in a situation where he’s confident playing through those bumps and bruises.”

While the Vikings have certainly grown accustom to playing without their preseason all league selection big man, this performance on Saturday should give the CSU graduate student confidence in his abilities to contribute going forward. Up next for the Vikings, a pair of challenging road games against Oakland, which has always been a tough place for opposing teams to win. Tip off for game one of the two game weekend set is scheduled for Friday, February 5 at 7:00pm.

Horizon League Weekend Recap

John Parker
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Horizon League Weekend Recap

Standings steady at the top, chaotic throughout

This weekend, the Horizon League’s men’s basketball teams seemed to be following the lead that has been set on the women’s side for much of the season. Of the six series this weekend, five ended in sweeps. Because of this, things remained steady at the top of the league, but across the board there were significant shakeups.

Here’s a rundown of what happened this weekend:

Standings

Nothing changed at the top of the Horizon League standings, with both Cleveland State and Wright State getting through the weekend unscathed. Oakland and Northern Kentucky rode undefeated weekends to league records above .500. Milwaukee remained a game above .500 with a weekend split. Detroit Mercy continued its dramatic rise since ending a COVID-19 related stoppage, while UIC was swept by NKU to drop to .500. After being swept, both Green Bay and PFW are officially out of the running for a Horizon League Regular Season Title.

SchoolRecord
Cleveland State12-2
Wright State11-3
Northern Kentucky7-5
Oakland8-6
Milwaukee6-5
Detroit Mercy5-5
UIC5-5
Green Bay5-9
Purdue Fort Wayne5-9
IUPUI3-7
Youngstown State4-10
Robert Morris2-7

Weekly Award Predictions

Antoine Davis of Detroit Mercy put up a pair of strong performances that make him my pick for Horizon League Men’s Basketball Player of the Week. He averaged 24.5 points, 6 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game with an effective field goal percentage of 53.6.

Oakland’s Trey Townsend should be an easy choice for Men’s Basketball Freshman of the Week. The 6-foot-6 forward averaged 15.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game for Oakland to help the Golden Grizzlies to a pair of wins over Purdue Fort Wayne.

On the Women’s side, Carissa Garcia‘s 21 points per game against previously 12-0 Milwaukee were pivotal for Northern Kentucky pulling off a weekend sweep and confirming it’s still a force in the Horizon League despite a long pause due to COVID-19. The strong performance should make her the obvious choice for Women’s Basketball Player of the Week. Cleveland State’s Destiny Leo averaged 19.5 points on efficient shooting to help lead the Vikings to a sweep of Oakland in an effort likely to see her named Freshman of the Week.

Cleveland State vs. Green Bay

The Vikings moved to 12-2 in Horizon League play with a weekend sweep of Green Bay. On Friday, the Vikings trailed for most of the first half before a Tre Gomillion 3-pointer took them to the break up 39-38. From there, the Vikings held the lead for the entire second half, but could never break away from Green Bay. CSU eventually came away with a 74-68 win. On Saturday, it looked like the Vikings would take a page out of Wright State’s playbook. Cleveland State led 41-23 at the half in a game that looked to be on its way to being a blowout before a gradual Green Bay Rally brought them within three points at 56-53 with 5:15 to play. From there, Green Bay’s rally fell short and the Vikings pulled away for a 73-65 win.

While he wasn’t the star of the weekend for CSU, Al Eichelberger’s performance on Saturday is undoubtedly an encouraging one for the Vikings. Eichelberger scored 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting and grabbed five rebounds in the win. The Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team pick has been hampered by injuries this year. He’s been playing from off of the bench all season and currently averages 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Saturday was the first time all year he reached double-figures. If he can build off of this game, Cleveland State could be even deeper than it has been down the stretch.

With the loss, Green Bay dropped to 5-9 in the Horizon League. Amari Davis did still manage to star for the Phoenix, averaging 28 points on 62.5 percent shooting from the field. Davis is averaging 18.6 points per game in Horizon League play. This weekend, he went 2-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc. On the season, he’s shooting slightly better than that from long range after going his entire freshman season without making a shot from deep.

Wright State vs. Robert Morris

With Robert Morris star A.J. Bramah out of the lineup, Wright State rolled with relative ease to a 2-0 weekend. On Friday, the Raiders beat RMU 79-70 in a game televised nationally on ESPNU. RMU started the game hot, taking a 12-2 lead before Wright State charged back to take the lead at 18-17. Wright State maintained the lead but couldn’t shake the Colonials until the final 10 minutes. From there, RMU never got within possessions when it had the ball for the rest of the game. The nine-point win was Wright State’s first single-digit victory in league play. On Saturday, the Raiders played like the team has following a loss in league play, jumping out to a double-digit lead in the first 10 minutes of the first half and never looking back in an 86-56 win.

While the Raiders had enough to get through the weekend unscathed, a major difference in the two performances was the offensive play of Loudon Love. In Friday’s win, Love struggled with shooting more than he has all season. He shot 3-for-12 from the field, scoring just seven points. He more than made up for it on Saturday with a 15-for-22 shooting night and a new career-high 34 points.

With Bramah sidelined, Kahliel Spear stepped into the lineup for the Colonials. He immediately shined on Friday, shooting 7-for-9 from the field and scoring 18 points. Like the rest of the team, he struggled offensively on Saturday. He finished with just five points and five rebounds on 2-for-7 shooting from the field. Given that the verbiage that has come out about Bramah’s absence seems to point to something related to COVID-19, Spear may need to play like he did on Friday for the Colonials next weekend.

Northern Kentucky vs. UIC

Northern Kentucky entered the season with serious question marks about size, while UIC’s frontcourt figured to be a strong point since before Luke Yaklich reloaded the Flames’ roster. As a result, it’s beyond surprising that NKU wasn’t overwhelmed in the paint and was able to come away with a pair of close victories. The Norse took the lead for good just a little over halfway into the first half on Friday, but despite jumping out to a 37-23 lead early in the second half the game was anything but decided. UIC battled back and the two teams traded baskets into the final minute before NKU survived a free throw shooting contest to win 72-68. There were a lot of similarities between Friday’s game and Saturday’s. On Saturday, NKU trialed for just a minute and a half after the 12:56 mark in the first half, winning 69-67 thanks to Bryson Langdon’s heroics – and his game-winning shot – with a second to play.

Trevon Faulkner led the Norse in scoring in both games over the weekend. He averaged 20 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. While Faulkner is currently first on the team in points and steals and second in rebounds, one thing that is holding him back from being acknowledged as one of the Horizon League’s biggest stars is his efficiency. If Faulkner can improve on his effective field goal percentage of 45.7 or his assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.73.

Despite the losses, Maurice Commander’s momentum from a strong game two Saturdays ago carried into this weekend’s games against NKU. Commander averaged 13.0 points and 3.0 assists with an effective field goal percentage of 63.9. With Rayquawndis Mitchell seemingly working his way back into the rotation, Luke Yaklich’s first UIC team might be able to pick up where Steve McClain’s last one left off as a strong candidate to build up some steam late in league play.

Oakland vs. Purdue Fort Wayne

Purdue Fort Wayne’s once promising start to Horizon League play continued to go in the wrong direction as Oakland completed a weekend sweep of the Mastodons. OU took the lead with 15:16 to play in the first half and never looked back, stretching it to 24-11 in what would eventually be an 81-66 victory. Oddly, although Saturday’s game was a closer competition the Golden Grizzlies took a permanent lead even earlier, scoring the basket that would put the team ahead for good just over three minutes in.

Jalen Moore led the OU in points and assists in both games, averaging 20 points and 6.5 assists per contest. It wasn’t his most efficient weekend of the season, with an effective field goal percentage of 46.0. Nonetheless, it should help him maintain his status as a top candidate for a First Team All-League selection.

With another pair of losses, Purdue Fort Wayne dropped to 5-9 in Horizon League play amidst its current four-game slide. One common theme in each of its last four games – as well as its previous two losses before the current losing streak – is a lack of scoring from Jarred Godfrey. Godfrey – who began his first season in the Horizon League on an absolute tear – averaged an inefficient 11.0 points per game this weekend. If Godfrey can’t find his shot anytime soon, it could be a difficult end to the season for the Mastodons.

Milwaukee vs. IUPUI

Even if you don’t agree with Matt’s take on last weekend’s podcast that nobody in the league would beat a team four times in one regular season, surely it’s understandable that a team wasn’t going to be able to hold Marcus Burk to four underwhelming performances in one regular season. As a result, it’s probably not a shock that Milwaukee and IUPUI came away with the lone split series of the weekend. The Jaguars jumped out to a three-possession lead early on Friday and forced Milwaukee to play a game of catch-up that the Panthers weren’t able to win, with IUPUI eventually prevailing 73-68. Saturday looked like it might be heading in the same direction as IUPUI got out to an early 19-6 lead. But this time Milwaukee did have a chance to battle back, completing the comeback with a go-ahead free throw at the 12:22 mark in the second half to lead 51-50. Milwaukee ballooned the lead out to six points at 59-53, and never trailed again. The teams traded baskets down the stretch, with the Panthers eventually prevailing 83-76.

This weekend, the Panthers went as far as DeAndre Gholston could take them. When Gholston went 3-for-8 from the field and scored 10 points, it resulted in a disappointing loss to an IUPUI team that would otherwise be in sole possession of last place. When he went 8-for-15 from the field and scored 24 points, that meant a bounce-back victory on Saturday. In his first season for the Panthers, Gholston has been a very consistent performer. He’s scored double figures in 11 of 13 games this season.

IUPUI’s star Burk was on the opposite end of a similar situation as Gholston this weekend. On Friday, he erupted for 26 points on 10-for-18 shooting to carry the Jaguars to a win. He scored 19 points on Saturday, but did it while shooting 5-for-18 from the field in the loss. This season, Burk is averaging 20.0 points per game with an effective field goal percentage of 54.7. Burk’s current play is worthy of at least a repeat selection as Second Team All-League, but if the Jaguars can tally a few more wins First Team might not be out of reach.

Detroit Mercy vs. Youngstown State

Detroit Mercy and Youngstown State continued to see their seasons head in opposite directions this weekend as the Titans swept the Penguins. Both games played out fairly similarly, with the Titans jumping out to a multiple-possession lead in the middle of the first half before a back-and-forth contest that was up in the air until the final moments. On Friday, the Titans got the lead for good at 76-73 with 48 seconds to play before winning 78-75. On Saturday, the go-ahead bucked dropped with 43 seconds to play and Detroit Mercy ahead 73-72 en route to a 77-72 win.

As previously stated, Davis should be on his way to a Horizon League Player of the Week award following an outstanding weekend. Three weeks ago his season might’ve warranted some consideration for Third Team All-League, but not much else. After six games where he’s averaged an efficient 27 points per game, he’d likely be at least a Second Team All-League selection if the season ended today. If he keeps playing like this and the Titans keep winning, First Team All-League is still very much in play.

Following the sweep, Youngstown State has officially lost more Horizon League games in 14 attempts than it did all last year in 18. The absence of Preseason First Team All-League guard Darius Quisenberry undoubtedly impacted the team’s season, but with Naz Bohannon stepping up into a player whose production would warrant First Team All-League consideration on a better team it’s still a shocking turn of events. Both the HoriZone Roundtable and the Horizon League picked Youngstown State second in the preseason. Bohannon’s well-rounded offensive arsenal was on display again this weekend, even though he struggled to assert himself offensively on Friday. He averaged 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the weekend.

Basile and Love score career-highs as the Raiders have a historic weekend sweep

Nick Lorensen
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Basile and Love score career-highs as the Raiders have a historic weekend sweep

Wright State would once again start the weekend out on national television, playing against new Horizon League team, Robert Morris.

To the surprise of everyone, Colonial star AJ Bramah did not travel with the team due to a pause in team activities for the weekend.

It seemed like his absence made little difference early, as the Colonials got out to an early 12-0 start.

Wright State would slowly chip at it for the first twelve minutes of the first half, before a Tanner Holden layup at the under-8 media timeout tied it up. That basket was part of an 18-5 Raider run, where they never looked back.

The Raiders would take a 31-28 lead at the half without Loudon Love being on his A-game. Love began 0-8 from the field, making his first basket at the 1:57 mark in the first half. Grant Basile would pick up Love’s struggles, scoring 10 by the break and becoming a force on defense.

“In the first half they (Robert Morris) were desperate, and we were confident,” said Scott Nagy.

That confidence would seem to continue as Wright State began the second half on a 7-0 run. Love began to show a little life, getting a big putback, as the Raiders made six of their first eight shots.

Robert Morris would continue to clip away but could never get it within less than three.

At the 6:32 mark, Basile would reel in a double-double, in possibly the most impressive game of his young career. Along with his double-double, he scored a career-high 29 points.

“It’s somebodies’ night every game, we have a ton of talented players,” stated Basile postgame.

As he balled out, Loudon Love did not play the final 10:39 of the game. He was getting double teamed for most of the game but had a nice three assists.

Wright State would win Friday’s game by a score of 79-70. Their first single-digit win of the season.

Along with Grant Basile, Tanner Holden and Jaylon Hall both scored double digits.

On Saturday, Wright State would look for their fourth sweep of the season. They would have to do it without Jaylon Hall who sat out in concussion protocol.

Loads of turnovers early would make it close at the first media timeout, but an 8-0 Raider run stretched it out to double digits at the second media timeout.

They would continue to run away with it, leading by as much as 21 in the first half, leading 42-23 at the break.

Love would already surpass his total points that he scored on Friday, scoring 15 through 20 on Saturday. He reflected with Nagy about his play this year, not all that enthralled.

“He’s been frustrated with his play most of the year, and to see the way he played today, I’m happy for him,” stated Nagy on Saturday.

Robert Morris would get hot out of the half, cutting the Raiders lead down to 11, but never down to single digits.

Wright State would stretch that lead back out 28, as Love reeled in a double-double at the 9:15 mark. He would finish with a career-high 34 points, along with 11 rebounds. Love also set the Wright State career rebounding record, surpassing Symone Simmons at 1,053.

“The offense is just coming so easy for everyone,” said Love postgame.

A 19-2 run would give the Raiders a 32-point lead, as they ultimately won by a score of 86-56. Holden, Tim Finke, and Basile each scored double digits along with Love.

For the sixth year in a row, the Raiders picked up double digit Horizon League wins. The weekend also doubled their career wins against Robert Morris, moving to a record of 4-0.

The Raiders will return to action on Friday at UIC. Tip-off is at 8:00 and it will be streamed on ESPN+.

The Formula

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John Parker fills in for Matt, and talks with Bob about the Horizon League’s tournament format and the formula the conference will use for seeding. They also discussed what happened over the weekend, which will likely not make the HL’s seeding calculations that much easier.

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#HLMBB Weekend Tip(sy)-off: RMU @ Wright State

John Parker
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Even as a Milwaukee alum, I can admit it’s a good thing the Panthers decided to wait until Saturday to beat Cleveland State. Play-by-play man Jordan Bernfield leaned heavily into the rules on Friday, while Te’Jon Lucas scored 31 points to lead the Panthers to a dramatic overtime win over CSU that definitely would’ve resulted in several drinks “awarded”. If Saturday’s game had been the one on ESPN2, even Wisconsinites’ livers would’ve struggled to survive.

This week, Horizon League Player of the Year sleeper A.J. Bramah takes on Wright State and it’s frontcourt full of League Player of the Year candidates at 9:00 PM Eastern on ESPNU.

Let’s not delay any longer, here are this week’s rules:

The Rules:

If you’re a neutral observer, pick a team. If you’re a WSU/RMU fan, keep reading. Take 5 drinks if your team (or your adopted team) falls behind by 10 for the first time.

  • Milwaukee came back to make a game of it after falling behind 23-2, but if things go off the rails we’re gonna need something to make the game a little more palatable.

Take one drink if announcers Jordan Bernfield and David Padgett talk about how little they know about UFC.

  • OK, putting this rule in after the Poirier-McGregor fight is a massive failure, but we only had one week of #HLMBBWTO to realize it’d be a staple in their calls. I can absolutely relate to the duo, because I’m putting this rule in with the hope that ESPN will continue to promote UFC during our games and no actual knowledge that there’s a fight big enough to make it happen!

Take one drink if the announcers mention realignment.

  • Robert Morris is in its first season in the Horizon League after leaving the Northeast Conference, where it had played since the NEC’s founding in 1981.

Take one drink if the announcers mention the Horizon League Tournament format

  • The league announced the basics format on Thursday, while Bob and Matt hypothesized about it (correctly) on last weekend’s HoriZone Roundtable podcast.

Take one drink for every player Wright State subs in for the first time

  • This was a good rule two weeks ago that didn’t get to realize its full potential. The Raiders really don’t go deep into the bench unless there’s a blowout.

(Double) Bonus: take two drinks if two or more players have already entered for the first time before this substitution.

  • The Raiders have still had a tendency to avoid using more than two or three bench players in competitive games.

Take one drink for every shot Jaylon Hall makes

  • Hall began the year as a starter, but has since been moved to the bench. As long as he doesn’t replicate the 7-for-9 performance that he had against Green Bay in late December, this rule shouldn’t hurt too much. He’s usually good for between one and four made baskets per game.

Take one drink every time A.J. Bramah makes a shot from a step inside the 3-point line

  • The deep 2-pointer is an important part of Bramah’s game to the point that if an advanced metrics fan watched him play for the first time on a night where the shot wasn’t falling, they would flat out despise him.

Take one drink every time Dante Treacy makes a shot.

  • The 2020 NEC Tournament MVP looked like a potential breakout star heading into this season. Unfortunately for the Colonials, that hasn’t worked out because he can’t get his shot to fall consistently.

Open a new drink and finish it if RMU wins.

  • Once again, we’re sticking with the underdog rule. At least WSU has shown a tendency to lose TV games unexpectedly!

Horizon League Women’s Basketball Power Rankings – Week 9

John Parker
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Horizon League Women’s Basketball Power Rankings – Week 9

The monotony has been broken

It happened! Somebody other than IUPUI took over at the top of the Power Rankings!

…because IUPUI was forced into a COVID-19 stoppa-

…wait, what? Milwaukee took over the top spot because they swept IUPUI?

Well, that’s enough to say that this weekend broke what has otherwise been a very straightforward Horizon League Women’s Basketball season. But that was far from the craziest result of the weekend. The Jaguars may have been undefeated in league play and the unanimous favorite to win the league in the Preseason Poll, but the Panthers entered the weekend 10-0 in Horizon League play. After the top five teams in the league had dominated all season, the bottom half of the league came through strong with three massive upsets.

Northern Kentucky remained out after failing to take the court and falling under the 50 percent threshold of Horizon League games played, but it sounds like the Norse will be back in action this weekend.

  1. Milwaukee Panthers (15-1, 12-0 in Horizon League play)

    Milwaukee proved its defense was no joke over the weekend, stifling the odds-on favorite for Horizon League Player of the Year on its way to a weekend sweep of the unanimous league favorite IUPUI. While the Panthers have a pair of difficult weekends scheduled against Northern Kentucky and Wright State, the fact that the team was able to remain undefeated in league play and sweep an IUPUI team that hasn’t been able to play all of its games puts Milwaukee in a very strong position going forward.

    Megan Walstad earned her third Horizon League Player of the Week award after averaging 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds against a frontcourt featuring the favorite to win her third straight Horizon League Player of the Year award in Macee Williams. Beyond her strong counting stats, there’s no denying her importance within a Milwaukee defense that continued to stifle opponents to secure wins.
  2. IUPUI Jaguars (8-3, 6-2 in Horizon League play)

    While getting swept technically knocked IUPUI to fourth in a traditional set of standings – third among teams in this week’s Power Rankings – the Jaguars seem destined to be favored against Wright State and Northern Kentucky in any future matchups. This is essentially where I would’ve seen Wright State men’s basketball if the Raiders didn’t cough up a couple games to lesser foes and instead got swept by Cleveland State in close contests.

    The biggest reason IUPUI finished last weekend 0-2 was Milwaukee’s defense on Macee Williams. Williams averaged 14 points and 11 rebounds per game – better numbers than some players who starred for teams that won this weekend – but her efficiency took a massive dive. Williams entered the weekend averaging 19.4 points on 59.4 percent shooting from the field and left the weekend averaging 18.5 points on 51.0 percent shooting from the field thanks to a weekend where she hit just 10 of her 39 attempts.
  3. Green Bay Phoenix (8-5, 7-3 in Horizon League play)

    The next shocking result of the weekend was Green Bay splitting with Cleveland State. Ever since a pair of narrow losses to Milwaukee to open the season, Green Bay has seemed to be just a step behind the Panthers when comparing common Horizon League opponents. While Milwaukee had some difficulty putting away CSU two weekends ago, a 60-48 loss to the Vikings is more than a couple steps behind a tough win. Fortunately for the Phoenix, they weren’t the biggest victim of an unexpected upset.


  4. Wright State Raiders (9-5, 9-3 in Horizon League play)

    Despite playing all of its Horizon League games and coming away with an excellent league record heading into the weekend, Wright State’s schedule made it difficult to get a good read on the team. Cancellations caused the Raiders to play Robert Morris two weeks in a row. One week after sweeping RMU, Wright State was swept by the Colonials. I’ve felt that these two teams in particular had league records heavily influenced by this year’s imbalanced schedules at the midway point of the year, and the last two weeks seem to support that. Nonetheless, after the results last weekend this is arguably the biggest shock of the weekend.

    Tyler Frierson scored double figures in both games this weekend. She averaged 13 points and 9 rebounds per game. On the season, the 6-foot-4 center is fourth in the league with 8.6 rebounds per game. While her 8.6 points per game don’t jump off the page, they’re enough to leave the 2020 All-Defensive Team pick second on the team in scoring.
  5. Oakland Golden Grizzlies (8-7, 8-4 in Horizon League play)

    With another pair of wins, Oakland remains in a strong position in the Power Rankings. The Golden Grizzlies are tied for the third longest win streak in Horizon League play, but because the team’s last four games were against two teams that are a combined 1-21 in Horizon League play that’s not the greatest accomplishment. This weekend Oakland disposed of Purdue Fort Wayne relatively easily, winning both games by double figures.

    Kahlaijah Dean was dominant for the Golden Grizzlies. She averaged 18.5 points 9.5 rebounds and 9 assists per game. She led the team in all three categories in both victories. Dean leads Oakland in points and rebouds, and leads the entire Horizon League in assists. Given Oakland’s strong standing in the league right now, she’s positioned very well for postseason All-League honors.
  6. Youngstown State (5-3, 5-3 in Horizon League play)

    Like Oakland, Youngstown State is riding one of the longer win streaks in Horizon League play. Also like Oakland, four of those games came against opponents near the bottom of the league standings. In a bizarre situation brought about by COVID-19 cancellations, the Penguins have won four consecutive games all against UIC. While an argument could be made that YSU deserves to be above Oakland because the game immediately preceding those four wins over the Flames was a win over OU, that was also Youngstown’s only non-UIC win. For the second weekend in a row, the Penguins easily disposed of the Flames for a pair of double-figure wins.

    Nneka Obiazor reclaimed Youngstown State’s scoring lead after averaging 19.5 points per game over the weekend. Her 10.5 rebounds per game also helped her maintain the team’s rebounding lead. The freshman is averaging 14.3 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. If YSU can avoid anymore COVID-19 stoppages and Obiazor can keep playing at about this level she looks to be on her way to winning Horizon League Freshman of the Year, among other postseason accolades.
  7. Robert Morris Colonials (2-8, 2-8 in Horizon League play)

    Due to COVID-19 protocols, Robert Morris was forced to play Wright State for a second straight weekend. Fortunately for the Colonials, this weekend went much better than last and RMU came away with a sweep. Last week I wondered if they might have to wait for the final weeks of the season to get some wins despite probably being a better team than their record indicated. This week they proved they were that team.

    Sol Castro came through this weekend with an absolutely unexpected offensive outburst for a team that’s been desperate for scoring. Castro posted a career high 23 points on Friday and added 20 on Saturday on her way to being named HOrizon League Freshman of the Week. She posted an effective field goal percentage of 56.7 along the way. Because of all of the cancellations RMU has dealt with, this weekend boosted Castro’s scoring average by more than three points to 9.2 points per game.
  8. Cleveland State Vikings (3-7, 3-7 in Horizon League play)

    Cleveland State pulled off what looks to be the biggest individual upset in the Horizon League all season with its win over Green Bay. With the exception of a weekend playing Purdue Fort Wayne, the Vikings are in a similar spot to Robert Morris in that the team has primarily played the top teams in the league. As a result, it’s difficult to get a good read on the Vikings. With that said, this weekend showed the potential upside of CSU as a team that could play spoiler in the Horizon League Tournament.

    Freshman Destiny Leo averaged 14.5 points per game over the weekend, the first of her career with a pair of double-digit scoring performances. The 5-foot-10 guard is boosted her scoring average to 8.9 points per game. She’s shooting 37.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc on the season.
  9. UIC Flames (2-9, 1-7 in Horizon League play)

    Unlike Robert Morris, UIC couldn’t take advantage of a second weekend against the same opponent to come away with a win. As has been the case for most of league play, the Flames didn’t roll over like some of the other teams near the bottom of league play. While Saturday’s 16-point loss isn’t pretty, the team did well to maintain pace after the margin stretched to about that big early in the second half.

    Jaida McCloud averaged 14.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game off the bench for the Flames. McCloud started every game for the Flames until this weekend and remains the team’s leading scorer with 14.2 points per game. It seems the move might’ve been a good idea; McCloud’s 57.1 percent shooting for the weekend was the best she’s shot for a weekend in league play by a wide margin.
  10. Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (0-14, 0-12 in Horizon League play)

    Purdue Fort Wayne’s brutal introduction to the Horizon League continued as the Mastodons were once again swept. One small sliver of hope for the team going forward is that the last four games have had dramatically better results than the first eight. After being defeated by an average of 26.5 points through the first eight games of league play, Purdue Fort Wayne has lost its last four games by an average of 12 points. Friday’s 58-49 loss was the first time PFW lost by less than 10 in a Horizon League game.

    Sierra Bell had another solid weekend, averaging 10.5 points and 7 rebounds per game for the Mastodons. Bell remains second on the team in both categories with 10.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, the latter obviously an impressive achievement for the 5-foot-7 guard.

Horizon League Power Rankings – Week 9

John Parker
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Horizon League Power Rankings – Week 9

So…most of the league is a mess, and I’m going to run out of goofy ways to rank everyone between 3 and 11 if I use them all up this early. I guess I’ll just try to rank a bunch of wildly inconsistent teams using…logic and reasoning. Lame.

This week, Milwaukee finally proving that teams could punch up at Cleveland state was the biggest story. If the Panthers can pull it off without Tafari Simms – who came out of nowhere to become one of the league’s more potent offensive threats – the Vikings perceived easier path to a Horizon League Title might not prove so easy.

All 12 teams in the Horizon League were in action so nobody will be left out of the rankings.

  1. Wright State Raiders (11-4, 9-3 in Horizon League play)

    Despite still leaving the weekend in second place in the Horizon League, Wright State retakes the top spot in the power rankings. The Raiders manhandled IUPUI twice for the team’s weekend sweep since the weekend after Christmas. On Friday, the Raiders took the lead at 8-6 with 16:25 to play in the first half and never looked back in a 95-65 victory. Saturday was a nearly identical result, with WSU taking an 8-6 lead with 15:54 to play in the first half and rolled to a 100-72 win.

    Grant Basile put up two of the best games of his career in the wins. He was the Raiders’ scoring leader in both games, averaging 22 points and 7 rebounds on an incredibly efficient scoring weekend. His effective field goal percentage for the weekend was an insane 86.8 percent. 24 points on Friday marked a new career high, and Basile did it in just 26 minutes in the dominant weekend.
  2. Cleveland State Vikings (10-5, 10-2 in Horizon League play)

    Last week, Cleveland State retained the top spot in the Power Rankings despite getting blown out by Wright State a day after scoring the game-winner with less than two seconds to play. The Vikings kept the top spot thanks to a two game lead in league play resulting from the team’s ability to avoid losses to lesser Horizon League teams. That run ended this weekend with a weekend split against Milwaukee. In Friday’s nationally televised game, the Vikings jumped out to a 23-2 lead and withstood a furious Milwaukee rally that ended with the Panthers ahead by a point early in the second half to win 64-53. Saturday looked like it was going to be a much more straightforward affair, with CSU leading by double-figures nearly the entire second half. With 2:46 to play, the Vikings led 66-52 before a furious Milwaukee rally forced overtime. After a back-and-forth overtime session, Cleveland State found itself on the opposite end of last weekend’s thrilling last-second win when DeAndre Gholston hit scored the game-winner with under three seconds to play.

  3. Milwaukee Panthers (6-5, 5-4 in Horizon League play)

    Following its win over Cleveland State, Milwaukee is now 3-1 in its last four with a serious signature victory and one of just two teams left to be ranked this week with a league record above .500. The fact that Milwaukee is ranked third is really a testament to what a mess everything outside of the top two has been this year. Nobody would be surprised if the team went out and got swept against last-place IUPUI this weekend. But for now, every team in the rest of the rankings is deeply flawed to the point where these rankings are going to be chaotic for the rest of the season.

    Te’Jon Lucas averaged 23.5 points per game over the weekend, but the differences in his two performances are a big part of why the team went 1-1. On Friday, Lucas scored 16 points on 3-for-12 shooting with two assists and five turnovers. Saturday, he put forth the type of performance that’s been missing this year with 31 points. on 11-for-19 shooting with five assists to three turnovers. If the Preseason Second Team All-League pick can get out of the shooting slump that’s plagued him for most of the year, Milwaukee might have a chance to remain near the top of the rankings. Unfortunately for the Panthers, consistency hasn’t really been in the vocabulary of teams 3-12 in the rankings.
  4. Oakland Golden Grizzlies (6-13, 6-6 in Horizon League play)

    Detroit Mercy beat Oakland for the first time in over four years on Saturday, but the Golden Grizzlies remain near the top of the rankings because the team was finally able to string together three straight wins and there was a good deal of chaos through the rest of the league. Oakland looked like it was going to run away with an easy win on Saturday, taking a 50-23 lead less than a minute into the second half. But the Golden Grizzlies couldn’t contain Antoine Davis down the stretch and nearly gave up the whole lead. Oakland led just 82-81 after a Detroit Mercy layup with 18 seconds to play, then held on to win 86-81. OU continued to find. away to figure out Davis on Saturday, only pulling within one possession for less than a minute of the second half in an 82-72 loss.

    Zion Young had by far the best game of his Oakland career on Friday, shooting 9-for-9 from 3-point range and finishing with 28 points. He broke the effective field goal percentage stat, finishing the game shooting 135%. He didn’t have nearly the same touch in Saturday’s loss, missing all four of his shots to finish the night scoreless.
  5. UIC Flames (8-5, 5-3 in Horizon League play)

    It might seem difficult to justify ranking one of the Horizon League’s four teams with a winning league record below a .500 team that the Flames already swept this season, but COVID-19 has really thrown UIC’s season out of whack. The Flames are 3-1 over the last two weeks, but both opponents are among the bottom three in the league. The last time UIC beat someone outside of the bottom three was over a month ago. This weekend, UIC needed a borderline miracle to split with tenth place Youngstown State. Friday featured one of the highlights of the Horizon League season when Michael Diggins caught a Teyvion Kirk airball and put up a Lorenzo Charles-esque game-winning putback for the 67-66 UIC win. The Flames dug too deep a hole on Saturday, trailing by as much as 18 before a late rally fell short and UIC lost 85-77.

    One major difference between the two games was the production of starting forward Rob Howard. Howard scored 15 points with an effective field goal percentage of 65.0 in Friday’s win. He was held to six points on 2-for-6 shooting before fouling out in just 19 minutes in Saturday’s loss. Howard missed last season with an injury, and foul trouble has been a serious problem for him this year. He’s averaging an astonishing 4.4 fouls per game, up almost one foul per game from his 2019 average. To be fair, COVID-19 stoppages surely aren’t helpful for a player that needs to shake off the rust of missing an entire season. If UIC can stay on the court and Howard gets a chance to…stay on the court, he should be a serious problem for opponents down the stretch. He’s averaging 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds in just 23.3 minutes per game while hitting 50 percent of his shots both inside and outside the arc.
  6. Detroit Mercy Titans (4-8, 3-5 in Horizon League play)

    Detroit Mercy is 3-1 in its last four games. Considering what a mess the league is, that’s enough for a team that was winless in Horizon League play two weekends ago to jump into the top half of the Power Rankings. Not only did the Titans escape the last two weekends with an overall winning record, they did it against teams that swept their other series in that time.

    Antoine Davis had another incredible weekend for the Titans, averaging 28.5 points and 6.5 assists with just 2.5 turnovers per game. He finished with an effective field goal percentage of 68.1. After struggling with efficiency and failing to score 20 in each of his first four games of Horizon League play, Davis has been on a tear the last two weekends. Suddenly, he’s averaging 21.8 points per game with an effective field goal percentage of 55.9.
  7. Green Bay Phoenix (5-11, 5-7 in Horizon League play)

    Green Bay bounced back nicely from being swept by Detroit Mercy by sweeping Purdue Fort Wayne. The Phoenix win what’s essentially a tiebreaker over Northern Kentucky despite the worse Horizon League record because the Phoenix were swept by a seemingly stronger opponent two weekends ago and swept Oakland the weekend before that. This weekend Green Bay joined NKU as the second team to shut down Jarred Godfrey in league play, holding the star guard who came in averaging 20.5 points per game in league play to 21 total points for the weekend. That and uncharacteristic 3-point shooting woes for the Mastodons led to Green Bay winning 77-59 on Friday and 87-72 on Saturday.

    Josh Jefferson had another fantastic weekend off the bench for the Phoenix. Jefferson averaged 18.5 points per game, and while he didn’t have his most efficient effort on Friday he did score 16 points in just 11 minutes. With Jefferson coming off the bench, the Phoenix are 4-3 – with one of those losses being his first game back where he took just 4 shots in 12 minutes – after starting 0-6 with him in the lineup.
  8. Northern Kentucky Norse (7-8, 5-5 in Horizon League play)

    While NKU is just a week removed from giving last place IUPUI its only two wins of Horizon League play, the Norse get the edge here for being the only team left to be ranked that got through the weekend 2-0. Friday’s game was a back-and-forth contest until the Norse pulled ahead midway through the second half and never let RMU get into position to catch up en route to an 81-76 victory. On Saturday NKU fell behind quickly, but successfully battled back to force overtime and pull ahead for a 79-74 win.

    Marques Warrick continued to make me look foolish for leaving him off of my All-Freshman Team picks this weekend. He won his fifth Horizon League Freshman of the Week after averaging 18.5 points per game on efficient shooting. His effective field goal percentage for the sweep of Robert Morris was 62.5.
  9. Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (6-7, 5-7 in Horizon League play)

    A cold shooting weekend knocks Purdue Fort Wayne down to the bottom of the 5-win teams in Horizon League play, but the Mastodons have a chance to make a big jump with another pair of games against a top 5 team in Oakland. Prior to this weekend, the team was coming off of a pair of sweeps: first over UIC, then Milwaukee.

    Loyola transfer Jalon Pipkins led the Mastodons in scoring both nights, though he averaged just 13.5 points for the weekend. While Godfrey gets all the attention, Pipkins has quietly been putting up a very nice season. He’s scored in double-figures in 10 of Purdue Fort Wayne’s 13 games while shooting 50 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range. He’s tied with Godfrey for the team lead in assists with 3.2 per game, but he’s committing 1.4 less turnovers per game.
  10. Youngstown State Penguins (8-8, 4-8 in Horizon League play)

    Youngstown State earned a split with UIC this weekend, but finishes tenth in this week’s Power Rankings thanks to the four straight losses preceding it. At 4-8 in Horizon League play, the Penguins are in tenth place not just in the Power Rankings, but in the league’s standings as well.

    Naz Bohannon got back on track, averaging 21.5 points and nine rebounds per game for the Penguins. While his shooting percentages were worse than how he’s typically produced this year and just one more make on Friday would’ve resulted in a YSU sweep, Nonetheless, Bohannon is positioned very well to live up to his Preseason All-League projection. If the Penguins can dig out of the bottom of the league, a First Team selection is in play.
  11. Robert Morris Colonials (3-7, 2-5 in Horizon League play)

    Because of how few games RMU has played relative to much of the rest of the league, four straight losses dropped the team from near the top of the rankings to near the bottom. The Colonials might be better than the team’s record, as they’ve lost all but one Horizon League game by five points or less.

    Once again, AJ Bramah starred for the Colonials over the weekend. He averaged 23 points and eight rebounds per game, slightly raising his scoring in Horizon League play to 22.7 points per game, but causing his rebounding numbers to drop to 10.9 per game. Like Youngstown State’s Naz Bohannon, Bramah is an excellent candidate for First Team All-League if his team can climb out of the bottom of the standings. Unlike Bohannon, he’s doing things that could get him to first team without it. Bramah has led the Colonials in scoring in every game this season, and led the team in rebounding against every Division I opponent this year. Outside of the UIC series, he’s maintained high-level efficiency along the way.
  12. IUPUI Jaguars (3-6, 2-6 in Horizon League play)

    After winning two games against Division I competition in a row for the first time in almost two years, IUPUI was tasked with taking on Wright State. The Jaguars clearly weren’t up to the task and got blown out in both games.

    A major problem for IUPUI out of the gate was that Marcus Burk was forced to miss the first half of Friday’s game due to COVID-19 protocols. He played just 17 minutes, but did manage to put up 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting. He was able to play a full game on Saturday and erupted for a career-high 34 points on 14-for-21 shooting. Unfortunately for IUPUI, it didn’t matter and they were blown out anyway.
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