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Jarred Godfrey is the league’s overlooked star

John Parker
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Jarred Godfrey is the league’s overlooked star

Purdue Fort Wayne’s go-to-guy is a Player of the Year candidate

In 2020, Jarred Godfrey averaged 15.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on his way to being named Honorable Mention All-Summit League as a sophomore. He helped lead the Mastodons to a somewhat underwhelming 6-10 record in Summit League play.

Following second-leading scorer Brian Patrick’s transfer and third leading scorer Matt Holba’s graduation it seemed likely that Godfrey’s workload would increase this season, at least while former role players got used to being relied on to produce regularly. After leading the team in assists in his first season as the Mastodons’ primary ball handler, it also seemed possible he’d settle in as a distributor in his second season at point guard.

Nonetheless, he got little respect from league voters or in preseason publications. He wasn’t selected as a member of the official Preseason All-Horizon League team, nor did his name come up in publications making All-League predictions. Only one person voted for him in the HoriZone Roundtable Preseason All-League picks (and I’ve been waiting for the moment to post this all season after how he’s started)

Godfrey is the only player who earned some sort of All-League (or All-Conference) honors last year who didn’t wind up a Preseason All-Horizon League pick. While some of that could be attributed to Purdue Fort Wayne being new to the league, that didn’t stop voters from identifying Robert Morris forward AJ Bramah’s obvious All-League potential. More than likely, voters projected Purdue Fort Wayne to finish near the bottom of the league and underestimated how much of Patrick and Holba’s workload would go to Godfrey.

A week after he was finally held in check during Horizon League play – scoring just 14 total points all weekend against Northern Kentucky after surpassing 20 in each of his first four Horizon League games – Godfrey more than made up for it with a performance that’s sure to make him the Horizon League Player of the Week.

With a 41-point outing, Godfrey blew away his previous career-high of 28 points in Friday’s win over shorthanded UIC. It’s the second best scoring outburst for a Horizon League player this season behind D’Moi Hodge’s 46-point performance against Godfrey’s Mastodons. Not only did Godfrey score 41 points on an efficient shooting night, but he added 9 rebounds and 4 assists in a game where Purdue Fort Wayne needed every bit of production that he had to offer.

The Mastodons led 43-36 at halftime and withstood a UIC rally to pull ahead 81-70 on a Godfrey 3-pointer with 2:57 left in regulation, but a string of missed shots – including three free throws – allowed UIC to make a furious 11-0 rally and force overtime. Heading into the extra session, Godfrey and Teyvion Kirk seemed to be in a battle to determine which would be the favorite to win Player of the Week, with Godfrey scoring 33 in regulation and Kirk putting in 29.

After trading baskets with Kirk all night, Godfrey took control in overtime. He single-handedly matched UIC’s offensive output with eight points, while his teammates combined for seven points to secure the 96-89 win.

Godfrey didn’t have the same gaudy stats in Saturday’s victory, but a big part of that is that it was such an overwhelming win over a UIC squad missing four key players that he didn’t need to. He wound up the Mastodons’ leading scorer with 16 points despite playing just 25 minutes and being subbed out for good with about five minutes to play and Purdue Fort Wayne up by nearly 30 points. The Mastodons went on to win 88-55. It’s just the third time Godfrey has been held under 20 points in Horizon League play, and this time it was because his team was so dominant they let him rest before he had a chance to hit that mark.

A big part of the reason for Godfrey’s jump from his sophomore year to his junior year is his shooting. Even with 0-for-8 shooting from 3-point range to start 2021 against NKU, Godfrey is hitting 45.4 percent of his long-range shots in Horizon League play. He entered the season making 30.6 percent of his 3-pointers in his career. He’s also hitting 87.8 percent of his free throws on the season – good for third in the Horizon League – after making less than 70 percent from the charity stripe heading into the season.

This dramatic jump in shooting has led to Godfrey averaging 20.5 points per game in league play, a jump of nearly five points per game over his 2020 scoring average. It’s helped him more than make up for the fact that his assist-to-turnover ratio has actually dramatically decreased in his second season as one of the team’s primary ballhandlers.

If Godfrey can keep these performances up and help Purdue Fort Wayne remain relatively competitive in the league, a First Team All-Horizon League pick seems likely. If the team can find itself near the top of the jumble of teams that’s forming in the middle of the league, he could emerge as a strong Player of the Year candidate.

A View From the Top

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Bob and Matt talk about Cleveland State’s perfect start to the Horizon League schedule and what to look forward to from the Vikings moving forward. They also discuss Wright State’s recent stumbles, which includes Youngstown State’s upset of the Raiders on national television, as well as Oakland’s woes against Green Bay and Milwaukee’s strong showing against IUPUI.

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Horizon League Women’s Basketball Power Rankings – Week…5?

John Parker
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Horizon League Women’s Basketball Power Rankings – Week…5?

While the Power Rankings on the men’s side have been a headache, things are much more clearcut for the women. For the second time in league play, every single series of the weekend ended in a sweep. The biggest difficulties so far are that some teams have played schedules that might have their records misrepresenting their abilities and that taking last week off makes coming up with this week’s title a little confusing.

Because UIC had to cancel last week’s games due to COVID-19 protocols and Youngstown State still hasn’t played half of its league games, the Flames and Penguins will be left out of the rankings this week.

  1. IUPUI Jaguars (8-1 overall, 6-0 in Horizon League play)

    The Jaguars once again cruised to a pair of wins over a league opponent, this time Robert Morris. IUPUI won 71-49 on Friday and 74-53 on Saturday to move to 6-0 in Horizon League play. With other developments in league play, the list of teams that seems capable of knocking off IUPUI appears to be shrinking even further.

    For awhile, it looked like Macee Williams might have some unnecessary competition for her third straight Horizon League Player of the Year award because IUPUI was running up the score so quickly she was hardly playing in the fourth quarter. She came up with a solution IUPUI fans are sure to love this week: rack up double-doubles with over 20 points before the end of the third quarter. Her efforts won her Horizon League Player of the Week.
  2. Milwaukee Panthers (9-1 overall, 6-0 in Horizon League play)

    Milwaukee easily beat Detroit Mercy twice in one of the better showings of balance that we’ve seen from any team this week. The Panthers used a dominant second half on Friday to win 64-43 after trailing by two at halftime. The Panthers blew away the Titans on Saturday, winning 77-38. This time, Milwaukee’s halftime score was enough that they could’ve forced overtime without a point in the second half.

    Despite an average margin of victory of 30 points, only two players reached double-figures for the Panthers all weekend. Freshman backup Angie Cera led the team in scoring both days, with nine points on Friday and 13 on Saturday.
  3. Northern Kentucky Norse (4-5, 4-0 in Horizon League play)

    Despite having its series against UIC canceled this weekend, Northern Kentucky kept itself in the power rankings with a last-minute matchup with second ranked Louisville. While the Norse didn’t come away with a win, the 74-64 loss to one of women’s basketball’s elite programs only solidifies NKU’s status as one of the top teams in the Horizon League this year.

    Lindsey Duvall shined against her former team, scoring 20 on 7-for-14 shooting. Duvall has burst onto the scene for Northern Kentucky. She leads the team with 15.1 points per game. In Horizon League play, that number jumps to 17.8 points per game with an effective field goal percentage of 58.8. If the Norse can once again shock the college basketball world and beat IUPUI, Duvall could go from a strong favorite to be First Team All-League to a Horizon League Player of the Year candidate.
  4. Green Bay Phoenix (3-4, 2-2 in Horizon League play)

    2020 was the first year since the Horizon League was still called the Midwest Collegiate Conference that Green Bay lost more than 3 games in Horizon League play. On Friday, the Phoenix nearly dropped to 0-3 when Oakland’s game-winning 3-pointer rimmed out at the buzzer. Saturday’s rematch was much smoother sailing than the 78-76 final on Friday, as the Phoenix cruised to a 92-61 win.

    Preseason All-League pick Caitlin Hibner’s 15 points and 10 rebounds per game on 75 percent shooting from the field are a big part of the reason that the Phoenix don’t need to win 16 straight games to avoid another Horizon League season with more than three losses.
  5. Wright State Raiders (5-3, 5-1 in Horizon League play)

    Raiders completed a weekend sweep of Youngstown State in the Penguins’ first action of the 2020-21 season. Despite the 5-1 Horizon League record, Wright State was unable to escape its own series against Oakland undefeated, so it’s hard to punish Green Bay too hard for a worse league record considering they lost to a team above both WSU and the Phoenix.

    Destyne Jackson won Horizon League Freshman of the Week after averaging 13.5 points and 4 rebounds per game over the weekend. Jackson had an effective field goal percentage of 61.36 on a weekend where she took over one third of the shots in her young career.
  6. Cleveland State Vikings (2-2, 2-2 in Horizon League play)

    So far, Cleveland State has played all of its games against Horizon League foes – two easy wins at last place Purdue Fort Wayne and two blowout losses at league-leading IUPUI – making it difficult to narrow down what the Vikings bring to the table this year. This weekend, the Vikings beat Purdue Fort Wayne 85-51 on Friday and 72-57 on Saturday.

    Mariah White – a Second Team All-League pick a year ago – scored a career-high 36 points on Friday. White is averaging 24 points per game through three contests this year and looks like a strong candidate to live up to her Preseason First Team All-League billing.
  7. Oakland Golden Grizzlies (3-6, 3-3 in Horizon League play)

    If Oakland had managed to beat Green Bay on Friday, it would’ve joined Cleveland State as a very difficult team to rank for completely different reasons. While the Vikings have played up to expectations so far, Oakland would have a loss to what would be a bottom three team in the league and two wins over teams in the Top 5. After failing to win Friday and coming back down to earth on Saturday, the Golden Grizzlies will remain below the Vikings.

    Junior forward Kayla Luchenbach averaged 13.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game against Green Bay. Luchenbach hit over 70 percent of her shots on the weekend, and her perfect shooting night on Sunday played a big part in the Golden Grizzlies’ narrow loss.
  8. Robert Morris Colonials (0-6, 0-6 in Horizon League play)

    RMU’s brutal entry into the Horizon League continued with a pair of losses to IUPUI. While the team is 0-6 in league play and has struggled to have a single player hit double-figures on multiple occasions, the team has also played exclusively teams that are a combined 16-0 in Horizon League play.

    Freshman Sol Castro scored a career-high 14 points on Saturday, the second time she’s hit double-figures in her career so far. Castro is averaging 6.7 points per game for the Colonials so far this season.
  9. Detroit Mercy Titans (1-9, 1-5 in Horizon League play)

    Detroit Mercy was unable to convert its first win of the season into positive momentum against Milwaukee this past weekend. The Titans competed for a little over one half of basketball before becoming overwhelmed by the Panther defense.

    Kaela Webb led the Titans in scoring in both games. but was held below her season scoring average and her season shooting percentage both times. The 5-foot-6 junior averaged 13 points per game while shooting just 27.5 percent from the field.
  10. Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (0-8, 0-6 in Horizon League play)

    Purdue Fort Wayne finally got a chance to play a team that has lost in Horizon League play and…it didn’t go any better for the team. With a 39-point loss to end the weekend, it’s clear that a transition to a weaker league wasn’t enough to keep Purdue Fort Wayne from a low finish.

    Shayla Sellers was a bright spot for the Mastodons, averaging 12.5 points, 3 assists and 2 steals per game. Despite the overall shooting woes that Purdue Fort Wayne faced, Sellers knocked down 55.6 percent of her shots for the weekend.

Horizon League Power Rankings – Week 6

John Parker
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Horizon League Power Rankings – Week 6

Wright State isn’t invincible, but still leads the pack

After the early season made it seem like the league’s best players might need their career performances to overlap with Wright State being on the schedule in order for the Raiders to lose league games, WSU took an unexpected loss and now the team isn’t even the last undefeated in Horizon League play. And while it could’ve been a lot more complicated if a few shots went differently in a couple contests, the league is every bit the mess we all thought it would be before the season.

This last paragraph before the rankings seems to get more confusing every week. Going forward, the teams left out will be any team that cause COVID-19 protocols to kick in (so Milwaukee should’ve been in the rankings last week) and any team that has played less than half of its league games. This week that means no Detroit Mercy, IUPUI, Robert Morris or UIC.

  1. Wright State Raiders (7-2 overall, 5-1 in Horizon League play)

    Despite an 81-71 loss to Oakland on Saturday, Wright State remains the clear team to beat in the Horizon League. The team’s overall resume is by far the strongest, and a 90-51 win in the weekend’s other game suggests that losses shouldn’t be a frequent occurrence for the Raiders.

    Tanner Holden averaged 20 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for the Raiders, but his two performances demonstrated much of the difference in outcomes for the Raiders. On Friday, he scored 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting while playing just 27 minutes. He played virtually the entire game on Saturday – tallying 39 minutes – and while 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting isn’t a bad game by any stretch, it shows how much more difficult points were to come by in the loss.

  2. Cleveland State Vikings (6-3 overall, 6-0 in Horizon League play)

    With UIC still out of commission and Cleveland State now above Wright State in the league standings, the Vikings remain in second place this week. CSU moved to 6-0 with a pair of wins over IUPUI. Friday’s matchup was a back-and-forth affair that ended with Cleveland State taking the lead for good with just under two minutes to play in a 65-62 win. Saturday’s game was much more straightforward, with the Vikings taking the lead for good just over a minute into the second half.

    Torrey Patton remained a steady contributor for the Vikings, averaging 13 points and 7.5 rebounds per game over the weekend. Patton has now hit double-figures in every Horizon League game so far. With star Al Eichelberger still working his way back into the lineup, Patton’s reliable play has been a big part of why CSU is at the top of the league standings.
  3. Northern Kentucky Norse (5-4 overall, 3-1 in Horizon League play)

    NKU was back in action against Purdue Fort Wayne over the weekend, and came away with a pair of hard-fought wins. The Norse trailed with six minutes to play on Friday before using a 9-0 run to take a commanding lead that the team refused to give up, prevailing 75-68. Saturday’s action was an even more impressive win, with NKU needing to overcome a 11-point second half deficit and hitting the game-winner in the final two seconds of play.

    Marques Warrick collected another Horizon League Freshman of the Week award in what was easily his best week of play to date. The 6-foot-2 guard set and then tied a career high with 22 points in each of Northern Kentucky’s wins. He was pivitol in a late comeback against the Mastodons and made the game-winner with two seconds to play on Saturday. Warrick now has three of the six Horizon league Freshman of the Week awards in a season where the Norse have been forced out of action on multiple occasions. Even if this weekend was a fluke, he seems destined for Freshman of the Year as long as he stays healthy.
  4. Oakland Golden Grizzlies (3-10 overall, 3-3 in Horizon League play)

    After several near-misses, Oakland finally earned a win over a team perceived as much stronger than it on Saturday. The win over Wright State is likely going to make Oakland a mainstay in the top half of the rankings for several weeks, but we can’t ignore Friday’s result. A 39-point loss tempers expectations for the first team to prove it can beat the Raiders.

    Nobody embodied the difference between Oakland’s two performances better than Rashad Williams. On Saturday, Williams was Oakland’s second-leading scorer with 18 points while knocking down both half of his 3-pointers and half of his shots from the field. He was held scoreless after going 0-for-9 from the field in Friday’s blowout loss.
  5. Milwaukee Panthers (3-2 overall, 2-1 in Horizon League play)

    Milwaukee was on the other end of a mid-weekend cancelation. While it’s entirely possible the team will be ruled out before the weekend and its scheduled matchups with a Detroit Mercy team that has already opted not to play a series it wasn’t comfortable with, for now the Panthers appear ready to play next weekend. In the Panthers’ lone contest this weekend, Milwaukee fell to a short-handed Robert Morris 67-64.

    Te’Jon Lucas continued to struggle from the field for the Panthers, shooting 1-for-9 from the field in the two-point loss. While Lucas has still been able to find other ways to contribute – as he did with six assists compared to just two turnovers on Friday – the team’s ceiling is going to be much lower if the Preseason All-League pick doesn’t start making shots.
  6. Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (2-5 overall, 1-5 in Horizon League play)

    Despite being one of two teams with five league losses, Purdue Fort Wayne seems like a team that’s better than its record. The Mastodons three opponents are a combined 11-2 in Horizon League play, with the two eligible for this week’s rankings being place second and third. Despite the strong opponents, the Mastodons have only been taken out of the running in one game so far. If the team can figure out how to close out games, Purdue Fort Wayne has a chance to exceed preseason expectations despite falling into an early hole in the standings.

    The NKU series might’ve had a wildly different outcome if Jarred Godfrey continued his run of 20-plus point performances in Horizon League play. After averaging over 23 points per game through his first two weekends in the league – which featured a pair of games against first place Cleveland State – Godfrey had just 14 points total in the two matchups with NKU.
  7. Youngstown State Penguins (6-4 overall, 2-4 in Horizon League play)

    Youngstown State’s struggles continued this weekend, with a split against previously winless Green Bay. The Penguins overcame an early slow start on Friday en route to an 84-77 victory where the team led for most of the second half. Saturday was a back-and-forth battle until the final three minutes, when the Phoenix ran away with the victory. They also beat Carlow University of the NAIA 109-56 on Monday but unlike West Virginia Tech, Carlow was easily defeated with a lineup full of backups.

    Naz Bohannon won Horizon League Player of the Week after averaging 27.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for the weekend. The catalyst to a weekend scoring average that was two and a half points higher than his previous career high scoring outing was a 33-point performance in Friday’s victory. Bohannon scored at will against Green Bay’s Terrance Thompson just a week after Thompson’s defense frustrated Loudon Love into several forced shots.
  8. Green Bay Phoenix (1-9 overall, 1-5 in Horizon League play)

    Saturday’s victory marked the first of Will Ryan’s Division I head coaching career. Impressively, he did it with Josh Jefferson back on the sideline following a brief return on Friday.

    PJ Pipes starred for the Phoenix all weekend, nearly reaching his career high with 21 points on Friday, then blowing his old scoring high of 22 out of the water with a 30-point outing on Saturday. Pipes scored nine points in the final minute and a half in the win. If Pipes can build off of this weekend to become a higher volume shooter going forward, the Phoenix could be a sneaky dangerous team when back at full strength.

Frustrating Robert Morris season continues following win and shutdown

Chris Cappella
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Frustrating Robert Morris season continues following win and shutdown

Robert Morris’ frustrating season continued in the program’s second weekend of Horizon League action with a gutsy win sans three starters on Friday followed by a third shutdown due to COVID-19 on Saturday. 

The Colonials, now 3-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play, have lost a total of seven scheduled games on the season with two more – an upcoming weekend series against IUPUI – in jeopardy. An announcement about the upcoming games is expected to be handed down through Horizon League offices by Wednesday or Thursday. 

The stop and start nature of RMU’s season is putting the team in a tough spot. 

Head coach Andy Toole has had little time to determine his best lineups and rotations, a difficult task to begin with as the team welcomed three freshmen guards – Kam Farris, Enoch Cheeks and Trayden Williams – plus two new big men – transfer Khaliel Spear and freshman Pat Suemnick – into the program. Toole is typically tinkering with his lineups and rotations throughout the non-conference section of the season. That obviously could not happen this year. 

Though we’re only talking about three games, forward AJ Bramah has played like one of the five best players in the Horizon League. Through the season, he’s averaged 21.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game. Bramah is a force that has not come around Robert Morris too often. Toole has coached his fair share of great players, many of which either transferred up or graduated and played professionally overseas. None of them have ever averaged 20 points per game through a full season. 

And despite the NCAA offering an extended year of eligibility for all players, Bramah is still a senior, will be 22 in May and might be ready to start the next phase of his life, whether that’s professional basketball or something else. It is turning into a real shame, for all parties involved, that Bramah and Robert Morris will not even approach a full slate of games. 

If you’re beginning to read a sense of urgency, you would be right. Robert Morris, in theory, has the perfect setup to compliment a team engine by the strong, athletic forward. 

Robert Morris is 13th in the country in 3-point shooting percentage (40.2 percent) and at least provided a glimpse of its defensive potential in Friday’s victory against Milwaukee, limiting solid Milwaukee players like Te’Jon Lucas and Josh Thomas into poor offensive performances. 

The Colonials still have issues to work out, but solid 3-point shooting, a star forward, veteran guard play and improving defense with a top-tier coach is a great formula to potentially win any game on any night. 

The big question, obviously, is if Robert Morris will continue to have the opportunity to work out at all. 

It would be a shame if RMU’s season gets essentially derailed due to COVID-19 protocol. On Friday night, with senior guard Jon Williams and junior guard Dante Treacy out due to COVID-19 and forward Charles Bain out with a leg injury, the Colonials started five players who didn’t play a minute for the team last season. Although Bramah came off the bench early in the contest and recorded a game-high 36 minutes, RMU also relied heavily on the freshmen trio of Trayden Williams, Farris and Cheeks to man the backcourt. 

Aside from Bramah, Spear (25 minutes), Olisa Ngondai (13 minutes) and Suemnick (10 minutes) combined with Cameron Wilbon (32 minutes) – a redshirt sohpomore who does a little bit of everything for the Colonials – to patch together a rotation worthy of competing. Even walk-on sophomore Terrell brown played five minutes in the game. 

It was a matchup Robert Morris had every excuse to lose. Despite relatively low expectations for Milwaukee, the Panthers did only lose to Kansas State by one, swept their opening conference weekend against Green Bay, and are actually ranked ahead of the Colonials in KenPom rankings. 

Yet in typical fashion, Robert Morris grinded out a hard-fought victory, winning a defensive battle that RMU fans have been treated to so many times before. 

Winning conference basketball games are difficult, and even more difficult when a team defends to the level RMU was defending and rebounds to the level RMU was rebounding. The Colonials were getting smashed in both categories, allowing well over 1.0 points-per-possession (and in most cases around 1.20) with defensive rebounding percentages among the worst in the country. 

To not just defeat Milwaukee, but to hold them to 0.96 points per possession and dominate the glass to the tune of a 47-32 margin – all with a number of star players out and inexperienced freshmen in – showed the type of toughness that all good teams have. 

For the first time in a long time, Robert Morris has a team where everyone on the roster can play without being overwhelmed. That’s a credit to Toole and his staff for recruiting the talent they did. That’s not to say all of these players are flawless. There’s still a lot to learn about shot selection, running offense and the switching aspects of RMU’s defense. 

Friday night’s victory was about maturity, toughness and overcoming adversity. Only time will tell if Robert Morris gets the opportunity to build off of that win and begin carrying real momentum through the team’s tough stretch of conference play. 

Second half struggles haunt Purdue Fort Wayne

Will Baptist
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Second half struggles haunt Purdue Fort Wayne

Purdue Fort Wayne lost a couple of close games against Northern Kentucky, where they held a lead at halftime in both, but struggled to put them away. The first game of the weekend for the Mastodons resulted in a 75-68 loss, where they squandered a six-point lead at half and were outscored 43-30 in the second half.

Deonte Billups had the best scoring game of his young career on Friday, but it wasn’t enough to hang on. He notched a career high 22 points while hitting 6 of 8 beyond the arc. While the leading scorer on the season for the Mastodons, Jarred Godfrey, struggled mightily to get anything going. Godfrey picked up two fouls 19 seconds apart near the 4-minute mark in the first half and never seemed to get into a rhythm after that. Godfrey ended the game with five turnovers and shot 2-7 from the field.

Purdue Fort Wayne played stifling defense, which kept them in this game. They forced 20 turnovers and held Northern Kentucky to only six three-pointers for the whole game. They have really struggled on the defensive end throughout the season, so this was encouraging to see. In the first half alone, they scored 23 points off turnovers.

But this changed dramatically in the second half, while they only recorded two points off turnovers. Their defensive woes came back to haunt them in the second half. Northern Kentucky was able to get out and run and get to the foul line all half and Purdue Fort Wayne was unable to put a stop to it and fell short in a seven-point loss.

The turnovers were insurmountable for Purdue Fort Wayne because even though Godfrey had a tough outing, they were still able to shoot 53.2% from the field. Whenever Purdue Fort Wayne had some momentum they turned the ball over and couldn’t overcome it.

Jalon Pipkins and Demetric Horton were able to step up and play a big role in this game. 13 points and four steals for Pipkins and 16 points and three steals for Horton off the bench. Moral losses do not amount to much, but it is good to see the offense play so well when the leading scorer couldn’t get anything going.

Closing has become as issue for the Mastodons

Saturday’s 70-68 loss was back and forth the entire game. There were 10 lead changes and the score was tied 9 times. Northern Kentucky was able to win on a game winning layup with two seconds remaining by Marques Warrick. Turnovers were still an issue for the Mastodons, but the poor free throw and three-point shooting was the main issue of the night. Purdue Fort Wayne was 5-18 from three-point range and 13-22 from the free throw line. If they had shot the ball better, this game would have been drastically different.

Purdue Fort Wayne held an 11-point lead at the 15:42 mark in the second half, but they just couldn’t close it out. The final five minutes of the game was miss after miss for the Mastodons and their defense wasn’t able to put the pressure on Northern Kentucky like they did in the first half.

Deonte Billups, who was the stand out in Friday’s game, was in foul trouble all game and only shot 1-2 from the field. Godfrey had a much better game, but still struggled from three-point range. He pitched in 10 points to go with six rebounds and three assists. Jalon Pipkins had a great game and was the leading scorer, he put up 16 points on 7 of 12 from the field.

The Mastodons need to cut down on the turnovers and focus on rebounding the ball to stand a chance in this conference, but their offense has continued to impress. The task won’t get much easier this upcoming weekend, since Purdue Fort Wayne will be hosting UIC, who currently sits at 2nd place in the Horizon League. Godfrey and company will look to get going in the Mastodons first season in the conference and will try to put a stop to the losing streak.

Coach speak or just the truth?

Matt Dudek
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Coach speak or just the truth?

Greg Kampe is seen by many around the league as a character. His halftime interviews and candor anytime there’s a microphone or camera nearby make him very entertaining for Oakland fans as well as those around the Horizon League. Often when he speaks though, as with all coaches around sports, you have to try to and read through what they’re saying. Is it “coach speak” or do they actually mean it?

It seems being a coach is equal parts salesman, public relations, and actually coaching your sport and probably even more so at the college level. For all the times myself and others have called coaches out, especially Kampe, for not really saying anything, I think it’s time to give a coach some credit for seemingly speaking some truth.

At the beginning of the season, Kampe was asked what he thought his record could be. He didn’t hesitate and said many times that he thought his team could start the season 0-7. Well, he was right. He didn’t predict his team could take it an extra step and drop their first two games in conference play to get to 0-9 though.

However, he did say that he didn’t care about the 0-7 start from a record stand point. He needed his team to do a few things including learn to play together. Those games were seen as a chance to figure out what they actually had. Without Rashad Williams available for a chunk of those games, it was tough to find some cohesiveness, but it also gave some players some extra minutes and when he returned they seemed to know what they had and the direction to go.

Was it trying to temper expectations for his team or a coach who simply knew his team would lose a lot early? It may have been both, and it was accurate. It’s tough to fault a coach who says his team may lose some games, but has a plan to make it a positive in the long run.

From the moment Jalen Moore committed to Oakland, we were told how special he was going to be. We kept hearing he was the point guard the team was missing all of the previous year. He was the secret to Oakland getting back to being Oakland. That’s a lot of expectations for a kid who had not even stepped foot on campus yet. Sure, he was a JUCO 3rd team All-American, but how would that translate to the floor for OU?

Kampe told us he would be able to run the offense efficiently, get others involved, could make his own shot and shoot it from 3 and could drive to the hoop and finish. While he’s still working on the finishing at the hoop part against the bigger competition, everything else has been delivered.

Moore is as good as advertised. While he has had some games where he may have struggled a bit, usually in his free throw shooting despite being a historically good free throw shooter at other levels, he has been exactly what Oakland was missing. He is currently first in the nation in assists, 6th in steals and 8th in points. That’s a lot of work for a transfer who wasn’t playing Division 1 basketball last year.

His best work may have been this past weekend in the bounceback win against previously unbeaten Wright State where he had 24 points, 12 assists with only 2 turnovers and was a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line including big ones down the stretch to seal the victory. For a coach to anoint someone the way he did was a lot of coach speak. Except, it was all true. 

At many times this year, Kampe has told fans that if they sit back and watch they will get to see a team grow in front of their eyes. After an 0-7 start, Oakland had the chance to win their first conference game at UIC. The problem was, they didn’t know how to win when it was time to finish the game. It was a deflating loss on the first game of the weekend. The team seemed to not rebound back and got beat the following day without putting up much of a fight.

The growth came the next weekend though with the unexpected rivalry matchup with Detroit Mercy. They won both games on last second shots, finding a way to win. It was something they hadn’t done yet that year. One time it was a freshman in Micah Parrish with a putback layup, the next day it was the experienced Williams with the last second 3. Both games, Oakland weathered runs, kept their heads on, and looked like a team that had learned from previous mistakes.

Coming off that high, though, they came out flat and got throttled by Wright State in their first game of the weekend. Wright State was the bigger, better, stronger and more experienced team. It was clear in the first game. The growing came in the second game. Oakland jumped out to a lead, lost it and fought back for the win. They really did seem to grow in front of fans’ eyes. 

The quote from Kampe after the game that really stood out was “One of the best wins I’ve been involved with in a long long time, as good as maybe ever.” To me, that sounds like coach speak. A happy coach after a big win who was proud of his team. However, if they can truly use that win as a springboard and continue to grow, that win could prove to be a huge win for the program.

We are seeing what makes Oakland dangerous. Can they figure out how to do that more often? That will be the key. If they can be that team, it will make Kampe a truth teller, not someone who just deals in coach speak.

NKU starts off 2021 the right way: Two-game sweep

Kyle Craven
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NKU starts off 2021 the right way: Two-game sweep

[feature photo by: NKU ATHLETICS]

March 10th was one of the best days of my life. I was courtside, on press row for HoriZone Roundtable, witnessing (as objectively as possible) my alma mater and favorite sports team, hoist their third Horizon League Tournament trophy in four years – signifying a fourth banner that would be raised at BB&T Arena in as many years (NKU was the regular season Horizon League Champs in 2018). I was already making plans for Selection Sunday, possibly even making plans to travel to our tournament location. Life was good. What could go wrong?

What could go wrong – went wrong. Not even 24 hours later, American sports games began getting cancelled, mid-game. A day later, major Power 5 conference tournaments were cancelled. The NCAA Tournament was in question. By the weekend, Selection Sunday wasn’t a thing anymore. Instead of buying tournament tickets and making travel arrangements, I was buying masks and making “work from home” arrangements. COVID-19 had arrived, and it punched college basketball in the face.

Naturally, the comedown from such a high was sobering. I wasn’t just drinking the Norse kool-aid – hell, I was swimming in it. Then it got removed from my life, cold turkey. It was a feeling I never want to have again, and getting the fire lit back under me has taken quite some time, as I’m sure it has for many fans. But this past weekend may have changed things. With seemingly nobody returning to the 2020-21 roster from last year, this team has still found a way to light that fire in many Norse fans hearts, despite not being able to watch them in person.

photo by: NKU ATHLETICS

Are you new here?

I mentioned above that the Norse returned very few players this year, and I was not lying. In fact, only five players remain from last year’s team. Six, if you count Wassler the walk-on. Moreover, it was the players that the Norse were returning that was concerning to many fans, and league-wide pundits.

Of the five returning players, only two of them started over half of the games played. Trevon Faulkner started all 32 games and Bryson Langdon started 22 of 31 possible games (missed 1 game due to injury). Adrian Nelson (3) and Adham Eleeda (1) also combined for 4 starts, while Paul Djoko did not start in a game last season. All in all, the Norse were going to have to replace over 60% of their scoring, a tall task for a lot of newcomers.

Those newcomers who would be charged with that very difficult task would consist of 3 true freshmen (on scholarship), 1 medical redshirt freshman, 1 JUCO transfer (junior), 1 Division I transfer (junior), and 2 freshmen walk-ons. In total, the Norse were looking very likely to be relying heavily on anywhere from 4-6 of these players to come in and make an immediate impact.

photo by: NKU ATHLETICS

Headlining this “youth movement” for the Norse has been Marques Warrick. “Ques” has averaged 27.9 minutes per game this season, but perhaps most importantly, he’s been the most efficient offensive player on the team, with an offensive box plus/minus of 2.7. He has been an absolute superstar.

Despite suffering a minor setback on defense early in the season that cost him his starting spot for two games, Warrick has really hit his stride recently. The freshman had already won Horizon League Player of the Week two times in 2020 and was entering 2021 eyeing his third. The Norse would end up needing him to really show up too, considering they would be down two men (Eleeda/lower leg, Hines/COVID-19 protocol) heading into a weekend set against Purdue Fort Wayne.

Warrick awarded, but a full team effort takes the weekend

With Eleeda and Hines out, and David Bohm being called upon to start, that would leave an opening for a couple of guys to really step up. And if foul trouble or injuries occurred, the Norse may have to reach deeper into their bench than you normally would during conference play. Thankfully, no injuries occurred, but as fate would have it, Langdon would indeed get into foul trouble on Friday forcing Darrin Horn to reach into his bench for someone completely unexpected during crunch time.

Walk-on Jacob Evans was called upon during crunch-time of the Friday night game to help the Norse spell an all-important Langdon. Horn employed an “offense/defense” strategy, utilizing dead balls and timeouts to sub in Evans for defense, and swap Langdon back in when he could for offense. It was a brilliant strategy that was implemented to perfection.

The box score will show 0s across the board for Evans, but it was his great defense, specifically his on-ball defense at the top of the key one play (the same play that Darius Harding forced a turnover around the 3:40 mark in the 2nd half) that was quite inspiring. Couple that with enthusiastic/energetic performances from Harding and John Harge both nights, along with a positive outing from 7’0” walk-on center Noah Huppman and there is a lot to be happy about from this past weekend.

When all was said and done, behind two 22 point performances from Warrick, including a clutch 3 to ice the game in game 1 and a last second layup for the win in game 2, the Norse emerged victorious both nights. Warrick got his Freshman of the Week honors, and the Norse got their victories.

photo by: NKU ATHLETICS

Let’s look ahead [but not TOO Far]

Looking ahead to this weekend, the Norse will face off in a 2-game road series against Cleveland State. Led by Junior Guard D’Moi Hodge (14.9 PPG including 46 against PFW, 2.6 SPG), Junior Forward Deante Johnson (1.6 BPG), Senior Forward Al Eichelberger (2019-20 All Horizon 3rd Team) and of course second-year head coach and up-and-coming superstar Dennis Gates, the Vikings currently sit atop the Horizon League throne. It certainly will not be an easy out.

While the metrics show the Norse and Vikings very close to one another, one must take into account that Cleveland State has a 40-point loss to Ohio on their ledger as a major setback. In conference play, the 6-0 Vikings have managed to shoot 50.5% from the field (4th) while holding their opponents to just 41.1% (2nd). They are also holding Horizon League opponents to 65.8 points per game, which is good for 3rd in the conference. When you look at common opponents, they also have faced Purdue Fort Wayne twice this season.

Right before Christmas, the Vikings traveled to Fort Wayne, Indiana where they defeated the Mastodons by 2 points and 9 points (+11 in two games). Against the same opponent this past weekend, the Norse claimed 7 and 2 point victories (+9 in two games). So your guess is as good as mine.

A bright future could be dawning sooner than we hoped

This upcoming series against Cleveland State will reveal a lot about this NKU team. Are we a work in progress? Can we actually be competitive this season? Are we a serious contender in this conference right now? While we won’t get the full answers to these questions this weekend, these games will serve as a huge litmus test for this team, these players.

My biggest question coming into the season was this: we know the new players are talented, but are they good enough to be very good DI players. We know the answer for Bohm, Robinson and Warrick pretty early – those guys are legit. This past weekend slate gave us, I believe, our answer for Harding and Harge. Both of these two are legitimate Division 1 players. The question is, can they bring it every night? If they do – and their teammates follow, we could be in for one heck of a pleasant surprise this season.

Follow @NorseReport for more NKU-related coverage

Gates’ Vikings making history to start conference play

Alec Kwait
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Gates’ Vikings making history to start conference play

The Cleveland State Vikings came into this past weekend’s set of games versus IUPUI looking to build upon what has been a historic start to conference play. After a trio of non conference games that provided more questions than answers, the Vikings have been stellar on both ends of the floor since league play began. With a pair of victories over the Jaguars, the Vikings are off to their best start to league play since the 2007-2008 season, where they started the conference slate 7-0.

The first of two contests between Cleveland State and IUPUI was closely contested throughout. Junior D’Moi Hodge and senior Torrey Patton led the Vikings with 17 and 14 points respectively. Additionally, Friday’s game saw an increased role for senior Algevon Eichelberger, who is working his way back from a foot injury that forced him to miss the first six games of the season. The big man recorded 10 minutes of action in the first game of the set, a season high.

Following the conclusion of Friday’s 65-62 Cleveland State victory, Head Coach Dennis Gates stated, “His (Eichelberger’s) experience alone gives us some resolve. It gives us sort of a security. He came away with five rebounds but two big free throws when we were not executing from the free throw line at all. That’s what a senior grad student does…what he did wasn’t really shown in the stat sheet, but he gave his teammates confidence to see him out there.”

Eichelberger will certainly see an increased role going forward, as the CSU big man was a preseason second team all league pick going into the year. IUPUI was paced by senior guard Marcus Burk who led all scorers with 18 points. The Vikings had a tough time containing Burk in the mid range game, despite holding the first team all Horizon League preseason pick to 1-6 from behind the arc.

The Vikings were able to escape with the game one victory, despite only converting on twelve of their 26 free throw attempts. Additionally, CSU committed 20 turnovers while only dishing out 13 assists. Those two issues will have to correct themselves as the Vikings start to play some of the upper echelon teams in the Horizon League.

As was the case in CSU’s prior two game sets, the second half of the back to back provided a challenge of a different nature for the Vikings. Cleveland State got off to a sloppy start offensively, scoring just twelve points in the first twelve minutes of game action. However, their defense kept them in the game throughout, as they were able to hold the Jaguars to only 36.5% shooting over the course of the contest. Cleveland State was led by junior guard Tre Gomillion who bounced back after a rough outing the day before. The Augusta, Georgia native poured in 18 points in addition to grabbing four rebounds.

Following the conclusion of CSU’s 59-49 victory, Coach Gates stated, “Tre Gomillion is one of our most important players. The spirit about him, the unselfishness about him is very important to our culture, on and off the court. He’s a team guy, and he doesn’t wanna let anyone down; coaches, teammates, himself…ultimately we weren’t gonna win this game without him…he came away and didn’t allow some travels or early turnovers yesterday to hamper his spirit. But he came back focused.”

Combine Gomillion’s spirited performance with an even increased role for Eichelberger, and suddenly the Vikings are a lot more experienced of a team than they were at the beginning of conference play. Eichelberger led the Vikings in minutes off the bench with 20.

With the pair of victories over the weekend, the Vikings are off to their best start in conference play since the 2007-2008 season. Coach Gates is setting the culture for a Cleveland State team that also finished the fall semester with a cumulative grade point average of 3.586, the second highest for any semester in team history. This has the makings of a special group, and Cleveland fans around the city need to begin to take notice.

Up next for the Vikings, another weekend back to back; this time against Horizon League power Northern Kentucky. Tipoff for game one is scheduled for Friday January 8th at 7:00pm.

Jordan Bernfield’s Back!

admin
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Bob and Matt welcome back the Horizon League’s play-by-play announcer, Jordan Bernfield (@jordanbernfield), to talk about the conference to this point and what to look forward to on the broadcasts. They also talk about the dynamic of calling games during the pandemic, along with the ever-shifting schedule.

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