It’s the halfway point of the Horizon League schedule, and Bob and Matt talk about some of the surprises and disappointments throughout the conference. This includes Wright State’s odd pattern of dominating one game and losing another for three weeks in a row, Youngstown State’s continuing struggles, and the almost clockwork emergence of a logjam in the middle of the HL standings.
The NKU guard might earn All-Freshman honors after all
During the off-season, I put together my best guess on what the Horizon League All-Freshman team might look like. While I acknowledged Northern Kentucky’s Marques Warrick, I thought the incoming and returning backcourt talent at NKU would have proven too much for Warrick to get major minutes right away despite him being one of the highest regarded freshmen in the league. With star rankings having less to do with early success than opportunity at the mid-major level, I thought he’d need to wait his turn to break out.
Whoops!
Warrick is second on NKU in scoring with 13.9 points per game, one of just two players averaging double-figures for the Norse. He has taken home four of the Horizon League’s six Freshman of the Week awards to date. Barring injury, he might not even need to play as well as he has so far in the next 12 games to come away with the Horizon League Freshman of the Year award. The only other freshman averaging double-figures in the league is Youngstown State’s Shemar Rathan-Mayes at 10.8 points per game, and he hasn’t been nearly as efficient as Warrick to date.
In defense of this whiff, I’d like to put part of the blame on another off-season whiff of mine. After Carlos Hines blew up into a strong floor general and secondary scoring option at Northern Arizona, the 6-foot-4 guard seemed like a no-brainer candidate to wind up in the starting lineup and become one of Northern Kentucky’s top players. Hines averaged 12.9 points and 4 assists per game at NAU in 2019. That type of production at another Division I program seems like it should easily translate to success. As a result, I projected him as a member of the nonexistent Horizon League All-Newcomer Team. But this year hasn’t gone as expected for Hines whatsoever. He missed Northern Kentucky’s first six games, and has played just 7.8 minutes per game in his five contests this season. He’s currently averaging 1.6 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The difficult transition is especially interesting considering Karl Harris — a former NAU backup — was able to see more playing time in 2020 despite Northern Kentucky’s lineup featuring three 2020 All-League performers and current leading scorer Trevon Faulkner.
With a player that was expected to be a major contributor failing to pan out as expected there were a lot of minutes available, but Warrick still had to overcome a backcourt rotation full of talented upperclassmen. Beyond Faulkner, the team had Bryson Langdon returning and likely to take up significant minutes as the presumed starting point guard. Adham Eleeda and Paul Djoko were also returning for their respective senior and junior seasons, and incoming wing Darius Harding was ranked as the number 81 Junior College recruit in the nation.
The other issue Warrick seemed to face heading into this season was that two of the three major departures from the team this offseason — Jalen Tate and Dantez Walton — would likely be playing almost exclusively in the frontcourt for NKU’s undersized roster if they were on the team for another year. Warrick could be the best freshman on the team, but if he hadn’t beat out the upperclassmen guards he might still be playing less than some of the others because a 4-out 1-in offense with 6-foot-7 Adrian Nelson playing 40 minutes is completely unrealistic.
Ultimately, none the obstacles mattered. Unlike several players who should garner consideration for the All-Freshman team by the end of the year — including his NKU teammate David Böhm — Warrick didn’t even need to work his way into the lineup as the season progressed. It was obvious in practice that he needed to be a Day 1 starter.
As if my prediction immediately blowing up in my face wasn’t bad enough, it might get even worse. Warrick scored more than 20 points three times in his last four games. Even with a terrible 3-for-15 shooting night one week ago in a game where league-leading Cleveland State gave everyone on NKU fits, his effective field goal percentage during this run is 54.1. When you only include the three games where he scored over 20, that percentage jumps to 64.1. If this is a sign of things to come rather than a hot streak, his postseason honors might not be limited to the ones that only freshmen are eligible for.
The Horizon League’s ESPN games just got even more fun
Last week, our friends at Phear the Phoenix came up with a great way to lessen the blow of 10 months away from fellow fans with a Green Bay Phoenix-based drinking game. Hopefully the direct link and a very upfront acknowledgement that we’re stealing the idea will lessen the blow of us COMPLETELY stealing the idea for a Horizon League-wide version.
Starting tonight when the first place Cleveland State Vikings face off with the second place Wright State Raiders (or…third place by win percentage I guess? This season is weird) on ESPNU, we’ll host the first of a weekly drinking game aimed to bring fans closer together at a time when we can’t be together.
We’re still figuring out the best way to run this, but for the time being follow along on Twitter to make sure you don’t miss out. Be sure to use the hashtag #HLMBBWTO…and let us know if we miss a drink!
Let’s get into it.
The Rules:
Take 1 drink every time the Raiders sub in a bench player for the first time.
In competitive games, Wright State has operated with a very short bench.
(Double) Bonus: Take 2 drinks if it’s WSU’s fourth bench player (or greater) to come into the game.
No, seriously. Wright State has operated with a VERY short bench. The Raiders haven’t even used a third bench player in three out of eight Horizon League games this year.
Take a one drink every time Cleveland State subs in a bench player for the first time (a small one if needed, we’re not trying to kill you)
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Vikings have used at least five bench players in every Horizon League game this season, topping out at NINE bench players used during a 87-69 win over Youngstown State on December 26.
Take one drink every time Loudon Love misses a shot.
I swear the writer coming up with the rules has no skin in this game, but right now a Wright State blowout will be painful while a close game will be boring. Let’s have some fun!
Take one drink if Torrey Patton scores over 10 points.
Patton scored 15 total points in 3 non-league games, but has scored in double figures in each of Cleveland State’s eight Horizon League games.
Take one drink every time Loudon Love or Deante “Spider” Johnson gets a block.
WSU’s Love and CSU’s Johnson are tied for the league lead in blocks per game at 1.55.
Take one drink every time announcers Jordan Bernfield and David Padgett mention Wright State’s hairstyles.
Wright State’s Loudon Love, Grant Basile and Tim Finke have experimented with…”eccentric” hairstyles this season. From cornrows to man buns to 1970s tennis pro stylings to…just kind of looking like a pirate, the WSU frontcourt has tried it all.
Take one drink every time Bernfield and Padgett mention Meechie Terry.
Terry is a walk-on freshman who gained fame for a unique hairstyle of his own and his defense on LaMelo Ball, the eventual third overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets.
Take one drink every time Bernfield and Padgett mention Instagram
“Bald Head” Terry achieved Instagram stardom after his stellar defense on LaMelo, his jawing with LaVar Ball, and…if we’re being honest, a hairstyle Lebron has been fighting off for almost a decade. Terry has over 127,000 Instragram followers.
OPEN A NEW DRINK AND FINISH IT IF CLEVELAND STATE WINS!!!
If you’re a Wright State fan, you’ll need to. If you’re a Cleveland State fan, you’ll want to. If you’re a fan of any other school, you’re way too confused about CSU’s massive Horizon League lead right now not to listen to me. SO LET’S GO!
Like I said in the introduction, a big part of this game is about trying to find a way to bring people together in a time when that’s difficult to do. We’re going to start this on Twitter, but if there’s enough demand for another platform we’re more than open to changing things up. Let us know in the comments, on Twitter or on Facebook if you’d like to use a different platform.
We’re also accepting ideas for rules for your favorite team (but please try not to kill our readers). Next Friday, the Vikings are back on national TV against Milwaukee on ESPN2. We’ll take rule suggestions for anybody in the league, but those two schools in particular would be great!
Now I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve talked about Youngstown State men’s Basketball. Don’t you worry, though, I’m back and better than ever.
Let’s start with last week
It was so disappointing to see YSU (7-5, 3-5 Horizon League) lose to a previously winless UW-Green Bay (3-9, 3-5 HL).
It seems as if the story keeps being written all the same. Youngstown State just can’t seem to get any momentum going when it needs to the most. Despite that, YSU has won both first games of its last two series. But, the Penguins not only lost the second games of both series but gave GB its first win and got dominated by Wright State (8-3, 6-2 HL) in embarrassing fashion.
Bohannon’s brilliance
YSU rode the coattails of Naz Bohannon and he led it where it wanted to go in the Green Bay series. Behind a 32-point, 12-rebound performance, the Penguins won 84-77. Garrett Covington, Darius Quisenberry and Shemar Rathan-Mayes all scored in double figures in the win.
Defense was the main show in this game outside of Bohannon. YSU held UWGB to just 41 percent shooting and outrebounded it, 41-30.
Off the bench, Geoff Hamperian and Myles Hunter combined for 16 points and 11 rebounds to help pace the second unit.
After a game two loss to Green Bay, 79-69. YSU shot 27.8 percent from three and just 52.6 percent from the free throw line.
Quick League intermission
Immediately after the Green Bay series, YSU hosted NAIA Carlow University out of the Pittsburgh area. This was nothing more than a preseason game in the regular season. The Penguins didn’t get the young guys a ton of play before league play and needed something.
The game featured none of the usual starters as William Dunn led YSU with 21 points.
Bohannon continues his brilliant season
YSU then traveled to Southwest Ohio to take on Wright State. The Raiders (8-3, 6-2 HL) were the consensus number one team in the conference to start the season. WSU has lived up to that billing so far.
The first game was something that showed incredible grit and determination out of the Penguins. Without point guard Darius Quisenberry, YSU was short-handed but that didn’t bother it.
The game was nationally televised on ESPN2 and YSU didn’t disappoint. Naz Bohannon didn’t either.
Yet again, Bohannon was great. With 28 points and eight rebounds, it was one of his two assists that was the most important part of the game.
Tied at 72 with about 10 seconds remaining, Bohannon got the ball at the top of the key looking as if he’s going to take a long two. Garrett Covington found space behind the Raiders defense as leaked from the right corner to the hoop as Bohannon found him for the game-winning layup.
It’s in those moments that Bohannon shows he’s not just a guy that can rebound and score. He’s a guy who came to Youngstown to win games and try and win this conference.
Game 2 was fake…. Well not really
Game two didn’t actually happen folks. Whatever score you saw, wasn’t real. People say Wright State wob 93-55 in the second game of the series but that didn’t happen. No, I only kid around. It was real and it was an ass kicking.
No better way to put it than that. It didn’t really matter though as the Penguins showed it can compete with the best of this conference even without full health.
The only bright spots were Alex Vargo with a career-high 16 points and Myles Hunter with a career-high 13 points off the bench.
MOVING ON
Next on the schedule is the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (3-12, 3-5 HL). The Penguins will have to have its best game because Oakland has always played YSU tough all these years.
Last year, YSU won both matchups with the Golden Grizzlies. Another sweep of Oakland would put YSU back at .500 in the league and could get the Penguins back on track.
It happened! Somebody other than IUPUI took over at the top of the Power Rankings!
…because IUPUI was forced into a COVID-19 stoppage and won’t be appearing in this week’s rankings. The timing likely stole a second straight Horizon League Player of the Week award from Macee Williams, who has been posting better numbers than the ones required to take the award this week even when she spends most of the fourth quarter resting for the next game because the Jaguars are up by 25.
Joining IUPUI on the sidelines due to COVID-19 protocols this week are fellow Horizon League undefeated Northern Kentucky as well as Robert Morris and UIC. Also, we’re calling it Week 7. It’ll get too confusing otherwise.
Milwaukee Panthers (11-1, 8-0 in Horizon League play)
With the other undefeated Horizon League schools out of action this week, Milwaukee is a no-brainer for the top spot in the Power Rankings. The Panthers once again put forward an excellent defensive performance, sweeping Purdue Fort Wayne. While the team has generally started to buckle down early in the third quarter, on Friday the suffocating defense was on display practically from tipoff. Milwaukee took a 36-20 halftime lead and cruised to a 20-point win. The Panthers were back to their normal style on Saturday, holding the Mastodons to 13 second half points for a 64-33 victory. If not for a Purdue Fort Wayne basket in the final minute, Milwaukee would’ve doubled an opponents score for the second time in Horizon League play
Preseason Second Team All-League pick Brandi Bisping managed to outshine Megan Walstad and win Horizon League Player of the Week. Bisping averaged 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne. Bisping has taken a backseat with the return of Walstad – Milwaukee’s leading scorer and an All-Freshman Team pick in 2019 – but after having trouble staying. out of foul trouble early in the season she’s emerged as an even better scorer in 2021 on what is already a stronger team.
Green Bay Phoenix (5-4, 4-2 in Horizon League play)
Green Bay finally got its record above .500 with a weekend sweep of Detroit Mercy. The Phoenix have won four straight league games since a pair of losses to Milwaukee to start the Horizon League season. On Friday, the Phoenix jumped out to an early lead and coasted through the second half to win 64-49. Despite a similar final score on Saturday, the game had a completely different flow. The Phoenix actually trailed at the half, took a two point lead at the end of the third quarter, then flipped a switch to put forward a dominant 20-9 fourth quarter and win 61-48.
Jasmine Kondrakiewicz averaged 12.5 points per game, raising her overall scoring average to 11.3 points per game on the season. The Horizon League’s first Freshman of the week wasn’t able to secure the award this week, but put forth another strong week toward earning postseason honors for her first year with the Phoenix.
Wright State Raiders (7-3, 7-1 in Horizon League play)
Wright State moved to 7-1 in Horizon League play with a weekend sweep of Cleveland State. Despite the impressive league record, Wright State remains behind Green Bay for now thanks to a worse record among common opponents. In both games this weekend, the Raiders took a commanding first quarter lead and rode that early success to a comfortable win. WSU held a 18-8 lead after one quarter on Friday and a dominant 15-4 lead on Saturday.
2020 All-Defensive Team pick Tyler Frierson was a force on both sides of the ball this week. She averaged 10 points and 7.5 rebounds for the Raiders over the weekend. She led the team in scoring on Friday and in rebounding for both games.
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (4-7, 4-4 in Horizon League play)
In a women’s basketball season where everything has seemed so clearcut, the biggest question marks lie between teams four and six in this week’s rankings. This week, Oakland and Youngstown State split, with each team having a convincing win over the other. While it’s entirely possible things will change, for now Oakland gets the benefit of the doubt largely because the team has been able to play all of its league games. The Golden Grizzlies knocked off Wright State and nearly pulled off a win over Green Bay.
Preseason All-League guard Kahlaijah Dean’s results overlapped strongly with Oakland’s. Dean led Oakland in scoring with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting in Friday’s 71-61 win. A night later, she scored just six points despite taking one more shot in a 2-for-10 shooting night in the 72-57 loss.
Cleveland State Vikings (2-4, 2-4 in Horizon League play)
On the other end of the Wright State series, Cleveland State struggled on offense on its way to being swept. The Vikings are a tough team to get a good read on at this point in the season. The teams CSU has lost to are a combined 13-1 in Horizon League play, while their wins are both against 0-8 Purdue Fort Wayne.
Mariah White – a Preseason First Team All-Horizon League pick who earned Second Team All-League honors in 2020 – was the only Viking to score in double figures in both games. She averaged 15 points per game, but shot just 31.4 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from the free throw line. White currently leads the Horizon League with 21.0 points per game, but is shooting just 38.4 percent from the field. Arguably more concerning is that her shooting percentage is that low when one of her five outings was a 15-for-23 night where she scored 36 points.
Youngstown State Penguins (1-3, 1-3 in Horizon League play)
One of the best things about writing the power rankings this year has been how easy it’s been due to all the sweeps. Four weeks into league play, we almost had our third week where each team went 2-0 or 0-2, with the lone exception being the Youngstown State-Oakland series. For now, Youngstown State is below Oakland and CSU because they haven’t had as many chances to prove themselves.
Nneka Obiazor averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Penguins against Oakland on her way to Horizon League Freshman of the Week. While it’s still early, the fact that the freshman forward is currently the leading scorer on a team that features 2020 First Team All-Horizon League guard Chelsea Olson and 2019 First Team All-Horizon League forward Mary Dunn.
Detroit Mercy Titans (1-11, 1-7 in Horizon League play)
It shouldn’t be a surprise that Detroit Mercy was unable to hang with annual contender Green Bay for a full 40 minutes. Nobody on either roster was alive the last time Green Bay had as many league losses as Detroit Mercy finished the weekend with, and we’re not even halfway through Horizon League play.
2019 Big East All-Freshman Team pick Kaela Webb was the Titans’ only player to score in double figures. She averaged 18.5 points per game and despite all the attention that comes with being Detroit Mercy’s unquestioned focal point she was fairly efficient. If Webb can come close to this level of efficiency on a regular basis, the Titans could steal some victories with a little more production out of the supporting cast.
Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (0-11, 0-8 in Horizon League play)
Purdue Fort Wayne can’t catch a break in its first season in the Horizon League. The combined Horizon League record of its four sets of opponents so far this season is 20-4, with all four of the losses from Cleveland State. Next up, the Mastodons take on perennial Horizon League powerhouse Green Bay. About the only good news for PFW is that the team isn’t currently scheduled to play Wright State, which holds a 7-1 league record.
In another weekend of offensive struggles for Purdue Fort Wayne, Riley Ott was able to put forth a solid outing on Friday. She scored 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting. It was the Mastodons’ lone double-digit scorer on Friday.
After Wright State spent most of the early season positioning itself as the clearcut favorite we all thought they were in the Horizon League, last week’s upset loss at the hands of Oakland was a shocker. After the Raiders lost again and the Golden Grizzlies got swept by a 1-9 Green Bay team, WSU is looking as vulnerable as could be heading into a pair of games against Cleveland State that could indefinitely change the Power Rankings. Chaos ensued in the middle of the rankings, to the point that I’m leaving it up to chance and making arguments in favor of (and sometimes against) the rankings on the backend.
Robert Morris and Detroit Mercy are left out of this week’s rankings. RMU fails to meet the threshold of half of Horizon League games played, while Detroit Mercy will have gone three weeks between games if they’re available to go this weekend.
Cleveland State Vikings (8-3, 8-0 in Horizon League play)
Uhh…I don’t really know what to say here. I didn’t see that coming?
Following a weekend sweep of Northern Kentucky and Wright State’s nationally televised upset loss at the hands of Youngstown State, there’s really no argument for anybody but the school that leads the Horizon League by two games to be in first right now. CSU absolutely suffocated the Norse on Friday in a 58-44 victory. Saturday proved much more competitive, with the Vikings needing to overcome a 7-point deficit to force overtime. NKU nearly ran “Pacer” (of Bryce Drew fame) to perfection, but had the game-tying shot to force double overtime rim out for a 74-71 Cleveland State win.
Torrey Patton continued to be one of the most consistent players in the league, averaging 16 points and 10 rebounds for the weekend. Patton’s play is arguably the embodiment of the Vikings as a team so far. His 15 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in Horizon League play haven’t resulted in any eye-popping single-game performances, but you can’t deny the reliability. Patton has scored in double-figures in each Horizon League game so far.
Wright State Raiders (8-3, 6-2 in Horizon League play)
Wright State was stunned on Friday in a nationally televised game against Youngstown State. A defensive breakdown left YSU’s Garret Covington wide open under the hoop to put the Penguins ahead for good 74-72. Wright State turned around and took their frustration out on YSU with a 93-55 beatdown on Saturday. In the early stages of the season, it looked like a number of teams in the league might not be on the level required to knock Wright State off. Now the Raiders have 2 losses to teams currently sitting below .500 in Horizon League play.Potentially further complicating things, WSU has typically used a very short bench. The strange setup of this season could turn that into a disadvantage as the season goes on. The Raiders will have a golden opportunity to take back the top spot this weekend when Cleveland State comes to the Nutter Center.
While it’s not a huge difference on paper, Tanner Holden’s shooting was once again a key indicator of how the games went. Holden scored 24 points while shooting 62.5 percent from the field in Saturday’s blowout win, but had an effective field goal percentage of 47.1 in the two-point loss on Friday. The Raiders are now 7-0 in games where Holden shoots over 50 percent from the field, 1-2 in games where his effective field goal percentage is under 50 and 0-1 when it’s exactly 50.
Green Bay Phoenix (3-9, 3-5 in Horizon League play)
In a stunning turn of events, Green Bay skyrockets to third in this week’s rankings. To be fair, that’s because this is the point in the rankings where things get weird. With every team from here to ninth place fatally flawed in its mediocrity, I pulled names out of a hat to figure out the middle of the league rather than taking a sanity break for a week like I would’ve done last year. Green Bay is coming off of a 2-0 week and is currently on a three-game win streak, so this isn’t the worst outcome. The Phoenix ripped Oakland’s heart out on back-to-back nights, first with an 84-81 overtime win where the Phoenix trailed by 4 with under a minute to play, then with an 87-78 win where Green Bay had to overcome a 12-point second half deficit.
The story of the weekend for Green Bay was Josh Jefferson’s strong return. After playing limited minutes the previous Friday against Youngstown State then missing Saturday’s game entirely, Jefferson returned to action to score a career high 25 points in Friday’s win over Oakland. His weekend average of 22 points also surpasses his previous career high, and he did it with incredible efficiency. Jefferson had an effective field goal percentage of 86.4 against Oakland, surely a welcome sight for a player who had been struggling with his shot since transferring from Illinois State.
Oakland Golden Grizzlies (3-12, 3-5 in Horizon League play)
A week after the declaration that it’d take a lot to drop Oakland from the top half of the Power Rankings at this time, picking names out of a hat came through in the clutch to make sure that prediction stayed true. Honestly, the combination of a Wright State loss to Youngstown State playing without 2020 All-League point guard Darius Quisenberry and Oakland’s pair of losses to Green Bay are exactly the crazy circumstances it would’ve taken to knock OU out of the top half of the Power Rankings, but the hat disagreed.
On the surface, Daniel Oladapo’s weekend was a spectacular one, as he averaged 19 points and 13 rebounds per game. But in a pair of close losses, his 44.4 percent shooting from the field might’ve been the difference between winning and losing. The good news for Oakland fans is that these shooting performances were an outlier for Oladapo. They mark the first two times in eight Horizon League games that the Oakland forward has been held under 50 percent from the field.
Youngstown State Penguins (7-5, 3-5 in Horizon League play)
You’ve gotta give the hat some credit. Despite things being completely random, it made sure to keep both teams that have defeated Wright State in the top half of the Power Rankings. Like Oakland last week, it’s difficult to overreact to the upset considering they got obliterated in the weekend’s other matchup.
Naz Bohannon was the obvious key to the weekend for YSU. The Penguins need each of his 28 points and 8 rebounds to pull off the upset on Friday. When he was neutralized on Saturday, Youngstown State couldn’t compete. Saturday’s 3-for-9, 7 point performance marked just the second time all season Bohannon failed to score in double-figures.
UIC Flames (5-4, 2-2 in Horizon League play)
At full strength, UIC looked like one of the better teams in the Horizon League. With four players down, the Flames were swept by a Purdue Fort Wayne team that entered the weekend 1-5 in Horizon League play. While I’ll reserve the right to bump UIC back up above this mess in the middle of they perform differently at 100 percent, for now they’re at the mercy of the hat. On Friday, Teyvion Kirk did his best to keep pace with Horizon League Player of the Week Jarred Godfrey, but couldn’t maintain that scoring into overtime and the Flames fell 96-89.
Kirk’s weekend is a pretty good representation of UIC’s play overall. While he couldn’t quite keep up with the Purdue Fort Wayne Star, his 31 points marked a new career high on Friday. He didn’t have the same energy on Saturday, and his play was nowhere near as polished. He finished with eight points and nine turnovers in 30 minutes in the blowout loss.
Northern Kentucky Norse (5-6, 3-3 in Horizon League play)
In giving Cleveland State a statement victory on Friday, NKU arguably showed how much potential it has as a team on Saturday with the near-miss on double-overtime against the Vikings. With freshmen as such a significant piece of this year’s team, the Norse might wind up with some very high highs and some very low lows this year.
Marques Warrick won Horizon League Freshman of the Week again, but this time he did it with some flair. On Friday, the idea of a player who scored just seven points on 3-for-15 shooting winning one of the league’s weekly awards seemed impossible, but no other freshman did anything to become a no-brainer candidate…until Saturday. Warrick eclipsed 20 points for the third time in four games and set a new career high with 25 points, nearly forcing double overtime on a deep 3-point heave that missed by inches. If recent games are any indication, it looks like Warrick might be stepping up into a starring role with the Norse.
Milwaukee Panthers (5-2, 4-1 in Horizon League play)
With four teams tied at 3-5 in the Horizon League after 8 games, it might seem unfair to put Milwaukee’s name and its 4-1 record through five league games into that hat. If you look a little deeper, it seems like the right call. The Panthers’ four league wins have all come against teams that were winless heading into the game, while it’s lone loss was to a team playing without three starters. This week, Milwaukeecompleted a weekend sweep of IUPUI. Milwaukee cruised to a 94-70 victory on Friday, then struggled a bit more on Saturday before putting the Jaguars away 71-63.
On Saturday, Tafari Simms matched what would’ve been his career high with six points despite fouling out in just 17 minutes. The reason it *would’ve* matched his career high is that he had a ridiculous 32-point outburst on Friday. With just 12 total points in the five games leading up to Friday’s performance, it’s safe to say that came out of nowhere. While it’s unlikely that Simms has that type of game again anytime soon, the Panthers undoubtedly hope it’ll give him the confidence to be a reliable post player in any game where he stays out of foul trouble.
Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (4-5, 3-5 in Horizon League play)
Okay, so Purdue Fort Wayne should probably be higher than this except that I left it up to chance. At the end of the day, the gap between these schools looks tiny right now and a pair of wins can easily change everything.
Jarred Godfrey was the star of the show on Friday, where he put in 41 points and turned himself into the clear frontrunner for Horizon League Player of the Week. His play on Saturday wasn’t quite on the same level, but it didn’t need to be. He still led the Mastodons with 16 points in the 33-point win, enough to easily secure Player of the Week honors.
IUPUI Jaguars (0-4, 0-4 in Horizon League play)
With Detroit out of the rankings, there’s really no way to rank anybody but winless IUPUI in tenth place. The Jaguars seem to have some intriguing new pieces, but the team’s currently in the spot that most of the rest of the league was in a month ago: trying to figure out how to incorporate newcomers into the rotation. One thing is obvious for IUPUI: they’ll need a lot more production out of post players not named Elyjah Goss. The Jaguars’ other five frontcourt players (Dimitar Pandev, Jonah Carrasco, Acton Shirley, Dimitri Georgiadis and Sawyer Stoltz) are combining to average roughly what 2020 graduate Zo Tyson averaged by himself for an IUPUI frontcourt that received plenty of criticism for its lack of depth beyond Goss.
This weekend, the success of IUPUI star Marcus Burk dictated how competitive the Jaguars could be against Milwaukee. Burk shot just 3-for-17 from the field in Saturday’s 24-point loss, tallying nine points. He had an effective field goal percentage of 53.6 in Saturday’s much more competitive loss. While IUPUI’s backcourt depth looks stronger than it was a season ago, the Jaguars still seem like they’ll go only as far as Burk, Goss and Jalen Minnett can carry them.
After dropping their first game of the season at Oakland, Wright State would begin their next series on national television against Youngstown State. The world would see a thriller as the two faced off on ESPN2 for game one.
The Penguins would be without their star, Darius Quisenberry. He was named to the 2019-20 All-Horizon League first team.
Scott Nagy would later go on to say, “We had a pretty good idea he wasn’t (going to play) … Really, it probably helped them. Something like that, it galvanizes a team.”
Wright State would start a stellar 3-3 from the three and keep it close through the first ten minutes. The next ten were all Penguins.
Heading into the under-four media timeout, Youngstown State went on a 12-0 run, taking a 37-28 lead. They did this through their swarming defense, especially on Loudon Love. He finished with only 12 points and 7 rebounds.
Due to this defense, the Raiders took 23 three-point shots leading to a total of six free throw attempts on the game. Completely changing the way they play.
Youngstown State would finish the first half on a 14-3 run, taking as much as an 11-point lead. They would lead 39-31 at the break, shooting 51.5%. Wright State only shot 34.3% from the field, with no free throw attempts.
The Penguins would continue their momentum into the second half, beginning on a 4-0 run, leading by 13 at the under-16 media timeout.
Right out of that break, Wright State would begin to regain momentum. Tanner Holden would hit an and-one, then a big three to cut the game to four with 13:12 remaining. He would finish with a team-high, 17 points.
Just a couple minutes later, Tim Finke would hit two big free throws, giving the Raiders their first lead since the first half.
The rest of the game would go back-and forth, but Youngstown led by three going into the final minute. A shot clock violation by the Penguins would give WSU the ball with 24.5 remaining.
Tim Finke would run into the upper corner of the court, pass it in to Loudon Love, then pass it back out to Finke to tie the game up with 13.5 remaining! That capped Finke’s career-high night of 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Right after that, Naz Bohannon would get open under the basket and Youngstown State would hit the game winning layup at the buzzer, giving the Raiders a two-game losing streak.
“That was my fault more than anyone else’s,” stated Scott Nagy postgame.
Trey Calvin would finish with 13 points and Grant Basile was a perfect 5-5 from the field, scoring 11.
Wright State would look to snap their poor play on Saturday afternoon, and did so by leading 11-4 going into the first media timeout.
An 16-2 run heading into the next media timeout would give the Raiders a lead of 23-9. They wouldn’t look back from there.
Tanner Holden scored point number 15 out of the under-eight media, giving the Raiders an 18-point lead. Holden would have 24 points on the night.
“They got us last year, then they got us last night. It was definitely like a revenge game. I just wanted to play my heart out for the team, and get the win for us,” stated Holden postgame.
The Raiders would lead by 23 at the break, 49-26. Completely different from the rest of the season.
Wright State dominated teams in the first game of the first three series, falling off in the second game. This series was different.
“I didn’t sleep last night, not well,” said Coach Scott Nagy postgame. “It was much harder to be on the other end of it.”
With 13:20 to go, the Raiders would extend their lead into the thirties, doubling up Youngstown, 66-33.
At the 6:05 mark, Loudon Love picked up his 1,000th career rebound. He would finish the game with 8 of those, along with 15 points.
Wright State would lead by as much as 42, finishing at a final of 93-55. Tim Finke and Grant Basile would each pick up double-digit points in the starting lineup. Alex Huibregste and James Manns had big games off the bench, scoring 12 and 11 respectively.
The Raiders will look to move back into first place with a weekend series against first-place, Cleveland State. Friday’s game is nationally televised on ESPNU.
The NKU Norse followed-up a two-game sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne with a two-game dud against Cleveland State.
Well, Norse fans, how about that for a come-down? Riding fairly high after a 2-0 weekend against Purdue Fort Wayne (and a 3-1 overall start in the Horizon League) some were beginning to sip that NKU-flavored Kool-aid.
Well, don’t say we didn’t warn you! NKU swaggered into the Wolstein Center on Friday night, with their 3-1 record in their pockets and the chests puffed out. Cleveland State, entering the night 6-0 in conference play and with something to prove, gave them a nice little punch in the jaw en route to a 2-0 sweep.
Now, to Northern Kentucky’s credit – they took that first punch, a 14 point loss on Friday where it never even felt that close, and came back for more on Saturday night, fighting with CSU all night and even holding the lead for a good portion of the second half, before ultimately suffering a 3-point overtime defeat
Graphic by: NKU NorseGraphic by: NKU Norse
I know, you’re a Norse fan. You’re accustomed to winning. You sure as hell aren’t used to getting swept on the weekend. It might feel like the sky is falling, but it’s not. Like literally – it’s not. Here’s why:
A good distraction
Before we dive into the real reasons that I still feel okay about this team, let’s just take a moment here to talk about how fortunate we are to have basketball right now, specifically NKU basketball. The world is insane.
We’re experiencing a more polarized country than we’ve ever been in right now – with flat out insanity happening on a daily basis. Heck, one reason it took so long for me to even get Norse Report going again was because I could not stand to be on Facebook or Twitter for more than 2 minutes during the waning months of 2020.
But isn’t that the reason that we need this? Isn’t that the reason we need Northern Kentucky basketball? This season, as crazy as it has been, from rebuilding to “day of” cancellations due to COVID-19 protocols, it has still provided the perfect escape from what is an otherwise insane world, designed to drive us crazy. (Seems like a good time to plug the Norse Report newsletter, yeah?).
But, aside from that necessary and welcome distraction, you still want a good product, right? And let’s be fair, it’s debatable if NKU has been that for us this year. I mean, let’s be real, Norse fans are used to 20 win seasons. We’re used to top 4 (honestly, top 2) Horizon League finishes, HL Tournament Championships – all of it. And it seems unlike that we we accomplish any of that this year, just based of what we’ve seen so far. But you guys… it’s really not all bad.
Who’s watching anyway?
I’ll be honest. It feels unfair to be calling anyone out here but I guess you could say I kind of am? I mean, I’m not mad at anyone this year for not watching games like I would be at this point any other season. For all of the reasons above with the current political climate, it makes sense. Add on the fact that there’s a pandemic and economic crisis.
Finally, due to the pandemic, everything is online now. Digital content is focused on pulling eyes to their content so quickly these days that it’s no wonder people still have them in their sockets. Northern Kentucky hoops now has to compete, on the same playing field, as everything else.
The biggest draw that NKU had, the ace up their sleeve, was the environment that the Athletic Department, team and fans have collectively been able to create over the course of the past 5 or 6 seasons – and we have none of that now. Fan engagement is way down; just go look at Northern Kentucky’ social media engagement. I wish there was more that could be done, but honestly – what could you do?
So, if there was ever a year to struggle a little bit, to try new things, to play guys (like freshman walk-on Jacob Evans, who has seen quality minutes the past 2 weekends), then now is the year when the eye balls are being drawn elsewhere. It also makes sense to try new things when you have a young team, which brings me to our next point.
This team is younger than you think
I know a lot of people will look at this team, see a few familiar faces and think “Oh, okay – we have some guys on the team that can step up and lead, we’re good.” Not so fast. This team has one senior (Adam Eleeda). This team has SIX freshmen. In fact, diving deeper – NKU’s youth isn’t even done justice when you look at their roster and each player’s “class” (grade).
Looking deeper, this team is even younger than it looks at the surface. See, 3 of Northern Kentucky’s upperclassmen are JUCO transfers. This means that while Adam Eleeda (senior), Darius Harding (junior) and Bryson Langdon (junior) are all upperclassmen with good college basketball experience, even they have limited D1 experience. We’ll illustrate this in the table below:
Player
Position
Class*
D1 Experience**
Adham Eleeda
G
4.0
1.0
Trevon Faulkner
G
3.0
2.0
Bryson Langdon
G
3.0
1.0
Darius Harding
G
3.0
0.0
Paul Djoko (RS)
G
3.0
2.0
Carlos Hines (RS)
G
3.0
2.0
Marques Warrick
G
1.0
0.0
Trey Robinson
G
1.0
0.0
Jacob Evans (Walk-on)
G
1.0
0.0
Adrian Nelson
F
3.0
2.0
John Harge (RS)
F
1.0
0.0
David Bohm
F
3.0
0.0
Noah Huppman (Walk-on)
C
1.0
0.0
David Wassler (Walk-on)***
C
(3.0)
(3.0)
TOTALS
G: 9, F: 3, C: 2
2.07, (2.28)
.57, (.78)
* = Actual year listed on the roster. 4 = SR, 3=JR, 2=SO, 1=FR **= Years of basketball at the Division 1 Level. 4 = SR, 3=JR, 2=SO, 1=FR ***= David Wassler is fundamentally a walk-on player. He only plays in blowout wins. Noah Huppman and Jacob Evans have found themselves involved in the game plan this season.
So what does all of this mean? Well, for starters, while our team looks like, at the surface, we have a little more experience than people are saying – we really don’t. The average class/grade of this team is 2.07, which basically means that they are, on average, a first semester Junior – barely.
But in reality, when you factor in only their years of experience at the Division I level, they score out at a .57, basically a second-semester freshman! Now ask yourself, would you ever expect a team with all Freshmen to win a championship in a season? Or would you give them some space to develop, and take all the good things that come your way?
I have always said coming into this season, that this season isn’t about hanging banners. This season is about cementing a culture, a legacy. This was the true test. Can this team be good year in and year out, even with a new coaching staff? Well, we found that out Saturday. But what about when the last of the greatest generation of players the program has ever seen graduates? We’re finding out the answer to that now.
And if you’re truly a Norse fan, not just some fairweather casual, you have to be happy with what you’re seeing overall. This is a team that fights and can win big games right now. And in a few years, when the current Freshman class are Juniors, they’ll be ready to take their place back at the top of the league, a staple. Just you watch.
It was a strange tweet from the Oakland University Men’s Basketball team. “These four balled out in the GB series.” The words were followed with graphics of four Oakland players who had very good statistical weekends. The other thing the 4 of them and the entire Oakland team had in common? Getting swept in Green Bay to a team that was 1-5 coming into the weekend.
The surprise of the season has been Trey Townsend and the numbers he has put up. He continued his campaign with a very solid week, especially for a freshman who is not looked to score often. Townsend always seems to do the little things, from winning the opening tip way more often than you’d expect from a 6-6 player to getting on the floor for loose balls. He may make plenty of freshman mistakes but they’re very rarely noticed by a casual observer. He averaged 9.5 points and 7 rebounds on the weekend. Those are numbers you have to be happy with if you’re Oakland, especially from a young role player.
Early in the second game they seemed to make getting the ball in his hands a priority and he was able to score. As the team “quit,” as Coach Greg Kampe described the second half meltdown where they were outscored 49-33, Townsend seemed to still be the player playing his most consistent game. Townsend has been a real highlight for OU all season and he continued that in the losses.
Playing alongside Townsend in the frontcourt has been Daniel Oladapo. It’s amazing Townsend has grabbed any rebounds with the number Oladapo is getting. Not only did Oladapo average 13 rebounds on the weekend, but he chipped in 19 ppg over the two games. Dan has been incredibly consistent during the conference slate where he wasn’t overmatched by multiple Power 5 bigs. If Oakland doesn’t find a way to win more games he will likely not get the post season accolades he deserves. He is closing in on averaging a double double in conference, something that shouldn’t be ignored, but likely will be without wins.
One half of the dynamic numbers for the Oakland backcourt come from Rashad Williams. Williams is leading the NCAA in 3 pointers made with 47 including 9 more this weekend while averaging 17.5 points. However, he has also taken 19 more attempts than the next most in the NCAA, and they’re tied for the most made. It is the volume and percentage he’s shooting that at times is hurting Oakland. He has proven he’s a shooter that has no conscious and not afraid to shoot the next shot after missing one. And Kampe wants just that. However, one has to start question the shot selection he’s taking and if it’s hurting the team in the end.
The other part of the backcourt and putting up stat stuffing numbers is Jalen Moore. He left Green Bay averaging 24 points and 8 assists. He also helped contribute to the loss in the first game with some untimely turnovers including 2 late in regulation. There’s no doubt he has been a terrific and needed piece for Oakland. He is 10th in the NCAA in assists per game, first in total assists with 104 which is 13 more than second place but not in the top 50 in assists to turnover ratio. Not doing him any favors is averaging 36 minutes per game. Running the show with the ball in his hands almost the entire offensive possession has to become mentally taxing and could be a big factor in late game blunders we have seen from him.
What does it all mean? For now, it means that they have impressive individual numbers without a lot of wins to show for it. For the players, coaches and fans, I’m sure they would gladly trade any of the stats for more wins. It just seems that all the key components are there. If a race car has a great engine, great transmission, great tires and still loses the race consistently, don’t you have to point the finger at the driver?
The Cleveland State Vikings came into this past weekend’s set against Northern Kentucky with history on their minds. CSU needed a victory in game one to tie their best start to Horizon League play in program history at 7-0. The original record was set by the 2007-2008 Vikings.
However, fast-forward thirteen years, and CSU is winning with depth and defense, two points of emphasis that were on full display in game one versus the Norse.
In what was their most dominate defensive outing of the season, the Vikings held the Northern Kentucky to just under 28% from the field as a team in Friday’s 58-44 victory. While CSU’s full court press only resulted in twelve turnovers in game one, it certainly made the Norse uncomfortable after CSU made baskets.
Despite NKU junior Trevon Faulkner leading all scorers with 17 points on the night, CSU’s bench overpowered the Norse’s bench by the score of 20-6. Cleveland State continues to showcase their depth, as only two players clocked in at over 30 minutes of game action in the first contest versus the Norse.
Additionally, senior Torrey Patton continues to be a steadying force for the Vikings, as he led the way with 14 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Patton has been Cleveland State’s most consistent offensive producer so far this season, recording double digit scoring efforts in every single Horizon League game for CSU.
One area of concern for the Vikings in game one was finishing defensive possessions with a rebound. The Norse accumulated 18 offensive rebounds on Friday night, a season high for any Viking opponent this year. While CSU did a better job of rebounding in the second half of game one against NKU, Coach Gates made defensive rebounding a point of emphasis going into game two.
Game two of the weekend series was perhaps the most anxiety producing CSU contest of the season thus far. For the first time this year, 40 minutes was not enough time to decide a Cleveland State basketball game. Despite a much better shooting night from Northern Kentucky, the Vikings were able to force 19 turnovers, including seven from leading scorer Trevon Faulkner, en route to a 74-71 overtime victory.
CSU benefited greatly from key contributions by freshman Alec Oglesby, who poured in a season high 17 points, including five three pointers. Once again, the Viking bench provided significant relief for the starters, as they outscored the Norse bench 29-14 in game two.
In addition to Oglesby, senior point guard Craig Beaudion deserves special recognition for his performance on Saturday. The Chicago native scored 14 points, dished out six assists, and was a nuisance defensively with five steals.
There are multiple reasons to be extremely optimistic about the direction this program this going down. First and foremost, the Vikings have the type of team where nearly anyone can lead them in scoring on a given night. They have plenty of capable players on their bench, including a few freshman that see minutes in Jayson Woodrich, Alec Oglesby, and Demetrius “Meechie” Terry.
Additionally, Gates truly has his team buying into the one game at a time mantra, something that has been crucial for the development of the program. When asked about the challenges presented when conveying that message to a young team like this one, Gates stated, “I think it’s very easy for us. We’re connected, and that’s part of our strength. We’re very unselfish, we sacrifice and have been sacrificing for a long time.
“We started building onto this season as soon as we got word of a pandemic and a shutdown,” Gates added. “We had meetings every day on Zoom, we had office hours on Zoom, we had team functions on Zoom…we all wanted to make sure that we locked arms together and whatever the future was gonna throw at us we were gonna be prepared for it…it speaks to the friendships that our guys have.”
Not only is Gates’ squad connected on the floor, but they seemingly are off the floor as well, something that is vital for a championship contending team.
Cleveland State is off to its best start to Horizon League play in program history with an 8-0 mark, matched only by the 14-0 start it got during the 1992-93 campaign, when CSU was a part of the Mid-Continent Conference. The Vikings will look to make it 9-0 this Friday, as they travel to Dayton to take on Horizon League power Wright State. Tip-off for game one of the weekend double header is scheduled for 7:00pm and will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
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