Home Blog Page 213

When 0-7 isn’t so bad

Matt Dudek
-
0
When 0-7 isn’t so bad

At the beginning of the season, Greg Kampe was asked what he thought Oakland’ record would be after their non-conference games. He predicted 0-7, and he wasn’t lying. Was this coachspeak, trying to temper expectations with a tough schedule or was this just the reality of what he was asking his team to do?

To take a team on the road for the first seven games of the season would be tough any year. For the Golden Grizzlies, this isn’t uncommon though. They like to use an over top tough non-conference schedule to prepare the team for the conference schedule A schedule that originally also included Ohio State pre-pandemic was paired down to an MTE hosted by Xavier with a few “winnable” other matchups, 3 Big Ten teams and the first game in a series with Oklahoma State that is slated to bring OSU into the Orena in the near future. This is the kind of scheduling that Grizz fans have come to expect.

The question still remains, how can an 0-7 start to the season including a 52 point opening game loss on National TV to Xavier have positives?

The biggest positive for OU comes in checks cashing. From the seven games they played, Oakland made $350,000 dollars for the athletic department. With Kampe not exercising the clause in his contract where he would usually receive one guaranteed game’s check, this was a good payday at a time when many other schools are cutting sports and really trying to find corners to cut within athletics. RPI and KenPom be damned, the men’s basketball team went out and made sure to bring home some money.

The Golden Grizzlies also were able to figure out who they are going to be this season against top notch competition. Nobody would have believed that OU, who is not known for their defensive prowess most years, would be among the leaders in the nation in steals running a zone defense they haven’t used in 15 years. It also wasn’t expected that Oakland would be running out two freshman in their starting lineup with Trey Townsend and Micah Parrish but both have proven to be very useful in the early stages of the season. A lot of their time seeing the floor has come because of a lack of practice time that forced OU to implement the zone defense, and the role both have been able to play in that along with trying to add some much needed rebounding.

Maybe the biggest thing to come out of this treacherous start to the season is they have solidified their backcourt and it is very good. While Rashad Williams was predicted as a Horizon League second team member this preseason, it’s looking like that may have been a severe underestimation. He went for 32 points against Oklahoma State and followed that up with 36 against Michigan State. He has been easing back into things off injury but it’s looking more and more like he’s really ready to go. Pairing him up with the JUCO All-American transfer Jalen Moore is looking like a great combination. Moore is finding his place within the OU offense including going for 26 points in the MSU game. While he has struggled a little bit to finish at the rim, that should get a bit easier in conference play.

One other big advantage that Oakland now has is they are much closer to the minimum number of games needed to qualify for the NCAA tournament this year. The minimum number of games a team will have needed to play is 13 so the Golden Grizzlies arealready just over halfway there. In this weird COVID season, it’s hard to tell week to week which games are really going to happen.

For Oakland, they really only need three weekends of games to go off and then they have reached the magic number. While begin shut down for COVID early was less than ideal for the product on the floor, it has proven to help a little as they’ve now played their entire slotted non-conference schedule as intended.

The Michigan State coaching staff warned their team that Oakland was the “best 0-6 team in the history of the world” and now all OU can do is hope that extends to 0-7 teams too. While they have learned a lot about who they are, what works for them, and cashed some paychecks along the way, the one thing this team hasn’t learned yet is how to win. For many teams, this is tough lesson and one that OU must now learn in conference play. Hopefully it’s not a lesson they regret not learning earlier in the season.

Horizon League Women’s Basketball Power Rankings – Week 3

John Parker
-
0
Horizon League Women’s Basketball Power Rankings – Week 3

Five weekend sweeps make the picture much clearer

This bizarre season just went from providing next to no information due to a lack of non-conference games to providing a ton of relevant information as teams dove into Horizon League play in the third week of the year. An interesting development from the first weekend of Horizon League play is that no team split its first series. As a result, there are several clear tiers already beginning to form within the league.

This week’s power rankings are going to be a little more harsh than weeks past. With a pair of schools that have yet to play a game this season, both Cleveland State and Youngstown State will be left out of the rankings because things are too far along to be relying purely on preseason expectations.
  1. IUPUI Jaguars (4-1, 2-0 in Horizon League play)

    IUPUI opened up league play against its old Summit League rival and new Horizon League member Purdue Fort Wayne. The two teams are projected to be on opposite ends of the league, so it wasn’t a surprise that the Jaguars cruised to a pair of wins.

    Macee Williams led the way for IUPUI in both games. She tallied 13 points and 7 rebounds in just 21 minutes in an easy 75-36 victory on Saturday, then went for 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 80-59 win that IUPUI led by just two after a quarter on Sunday.
  2. Milwaukee Panthers (5-1, 2-0 in Horizon League play)

    The Panthers continued an extremely impressive start to the 2021 season with a pair of wins at in-state rival Green Bay. Milwaukee now has five wins against projected Top 3 teams in the MAC, Missouri Valley, Big East and Horizon League. The 2-0 weekend marks the first time since 2005-06 that Milwaukee has completed a regular season sweep of Green Bay. Milwaukee unquestionably has the best resume to this point, but very different results against a shared opponent with IUPUI –plus last week’s heartbreaking loss to Bowling Green – keeps the Panthers out of first place. Milwaukee needed a late run to put away Ball State, while Macee Williams spent most of IUPUI’s contest against the Cardinals trying to single-handedly keep pace with the team.

    Sophomore forward Megan Walstad starred for the Panthers all weekend at Green Bay on her way to being named the Horizon League Player of the Week. She scored 16 points and 8 rebounds in a 61-59 victory on Saturday, then 19 points and 13 rebounds in Sunday’s 59-51 victory. She hit 54 percent of her shots for the weekend. Walstad is averaging a double-double with 12.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per game for Milwaukee after missing last season with an injury.
  3. Wright State Raiders (2-2, 2-0 in Horizon League play)

    Cancellations and scheduling make it difficult to get a great read on the Raiders at this point. Wright State went 0-2 in the non-conference, with one of the losses coming to a nationally ranked Michigan team that even IUPUI likely needs a lot of luck to beat. Its two Horizon League contests were against perennial league bottom-feeder Detroit Mercy, which currently sits at 0-6 on the season. A 66-61 home loss against Bradley is the only game on WSU’s schedule and all it indicates is that the Raiders might be a bit worse than a Milwaukee team that beat the Braves.

    Backup guard KK White paced the Raiders in both contests. She scored 18 points on 7-for 13 shooting in a 75-55 win on Saturday. Interestingly, despite a 73-43 win in which two Detroit Mercy players hit double figures, her nine points were a team best for WSU on Sunday.
  4. Green Bay Phoenix (1-4, 0-2 in Horizon League play)

    Early returns on Green Bay’s effort to acclimate itself to the Horizon League’s odd schedule by playing North Dakota State on back-to-back days weren’t great. The Phoenix lost both games against the Bisons, then returned home to lose a pair to arch-rival Milwaukee. Making matters worse, next weekend’s games against Cleveland State were cancelled due to positive COVID-19 tests. A weekend in Fargo that was supposed to give the Phoenix a leg up on the Horizon League will now just allow the team to keep pace in terms of experience with the year’s odd scheduling.

    Last week, Green Bay’s Caitlyn Hibner and Jasmine Kondrakiewicz were named the Horizon League Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week. The duo took turns leading the way for Green Bay against Milwaukee this weekend, but couldn’t combine efforts to take down the Panthers. Kondrakiewicz led the Phoenix with 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting on Saturday, while Hibner tallied 18 points on Sunday.
  5. Northern Kentucky Norse (2-4, 2-0 in Horizon League play)

    While it didn’t actually impact the team’s status in the Power Rankings at all thanks to Youngstown being left out of this week’s results, Northern Kentucky’s commanding pair of wins over Horizon League newcomer Robert Morris drew a clear line in the rankings. It’s going to take a lot for the Norse to fall behind the Colonials based on this weekend’s games.

    Louisville transfer and former 5-star recruit Lindsey Duvall rewarded coach Camryn Whitaker for inserting her into the starting lineup with a 22 point, 13 rebound performance as the Norse dominated 62-33. She added four assists with no turnovers, just for good measure. 2020 All-Freshman team pick Ivy Turner led the way on Sunday with 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting in a 62-50 win.
  6. Robert Morris Colonials (0-2, 0-2 in Horizon League play)

    It feels strange putting RMU just one spot behind a team that nearly doubled it up three days ago, but with two other teams that are expected to be about in this range still waiting to play a single game it’s necessary. Rest assured NKU fans who read past your blurb, there’s a solid divide between 5 and 6 on this ranking. Whether it was difficulty adjusting to a new league and life after star Nneka Ezeigbo’s graduation or rust from not having played once during non-conference play, RMU wasn’t particularly competitive in its first weekend of Horizon League play.

    Isabella Posset’s six points were the best any Colonial could muster in Saturday’s blowout loss. Nina Augustin scored 10 points and became the team’s first player to crack double figures in the more competitive loss on Sunday.
  7. Oakland Golden Grizzlies (2-2, 2-0 in Horizon League play)

    Despite a Golden Grizzly resume that popped less than Oakland’s first league foe UIC’s did, the team had little difficulty establishing that it doesn’t belong in the cluster at the bottom of the Horizon League in the opening weekend of league play. Oakland established a 12-point halftime lead and refused to let it slip away in Saturday’s 76-70 win, then clobbered the Flames 81-55 on Sunday.

    Preseason Second Team All-League pick Kahlaijah Dean had an impressive weekend. Her 28 points led the way for OU in its more competitive contest. Her scoring took a backseat on Sunday as she scored just eight points but stuffed the rest of the stat sheet with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
  8. UIC Flames (1-4, 0-2 in Horizon League play)

    Once again, two teams are next to one another in the rankings despite a large gap being established between them in the league’s opening weekend. UIC showing it can beat an Eastern Michigan team projected for a higher finish in the MAC than Oakland is picked to finish in the Horizon League keeps the Flames above the other two teams that have grown accustomed to the bottom of their respective conferences’ standings.

    Freshman Kennady Schenck had a solid weekend scoring the ball. She hit double figures in both contests, scoring 10 on Saturday and leading the team with 17 on Sunday. While turnovers were a serious issue for Schenck and the young Flames, she knocked down 11 of her 23 shots for the weekend.
  9. Detroit Mercy Titans (0-6, 0-2 in Horizon League play

    Detroit Mercy is still looking for its first win of the season after a pair of blowout losses against Wright State. Interestingly, Providence transfer Kaela Webb was the leading scorer in both games over the weekend despite Wright State outscoring the Titans by 50 points. Webb scored 22 points on Saturday and 17 on Sunday.
  10. Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (0-4, 0-2 in Horizon League play)

    Predictably, nothing changes for Purdue Fort Wayne after being dramatically overmatched in its opening weekend of Horizon League play. Shayla Sellers led the team in scoring on Saturday with eight points when IUPUI more than doubled Purdue Fort Wayne’s scoring total, then finished second on the team with 15 points in the Mastodons’ more competitive performance.

Raiders dominate MAC Preseason Favorite, Bowling Green, as Loudon Love makes history

Nick Lorensen
-
0
Raiders dominate MAC Preseason Favorite, Bowling Green, as Loudon Love makes history

Wright State would take a short two-hour trek north to Bowling Green, to face MAC Preseason favorite, Bowling Green. The teams last faced in 2015, when the Raiders dominated the Falcons, 83-47. BGSU leads the series all-time, 7-8.

The Raiders would get off to a hot, 13-2, start and not look back. They’d lead by double-digits for the remainder of the game.

“Obviously the first half was good for us. About as good as we could play.” said Coach Scott Nagy postgame.

As per usual throughout the past four seasons, that play relied around Senior Loudon Love. He would have a double-double in the first half, and with 11:08 remaining in the first frame, he grabbed his 908th career rebound. Good for most in Wright State history.

He finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds.

“It means a lot to be in the record books, now I can stop crashing.” said Love.

The Raiders would finish out the first half with an impressive, 54-21 lead. They shot 22-33 from the field in the first half, good for 66.7%. Having a big rebounding half, they ended up 48-29 on that half.

Wright State would start the second half on a 5-0 run, stretching the lead out to a game-high, 38.

Bowling Green would slowly fight the lead back down to as little as 14, but the lead was insurmountable.

All five Raiders starters scored in double-digits on the day, along with Grant Basile who scored 12 of the 16 WSU bench points.

Wright State starts conference play on Saturday, December 19th at Detroit Mercy. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 P.M. and the game will be streamed on ESPN3.

CSU falls To Buckeyes

Alec Kwait
-
0
CSU falls To Buckeyes

Coming off of a historic loss at the hands of Ohio University, Cleveland State was searching for answers. In a week with limited preparation due to final exams, the Vikings were left with an extremely tall task on Sunday afternoon; a tilt with in state giant Ohio State and Chris Holtmann’s Buckeyes, the 22nd ranked team in the country.

Both teams were missing arguably their best players, as the Vikings were once again without the services of Algevon Eichelberger for the third straight game with a foot sprain, and the Buckeyes were missing E.J. Liddell, who is out indefinitely with a non COVID-19 related illness.

Despite a slow shooting start from the Vikings, Cleveland State was able to keep the game close throughout. Junior college transfers D’Moi Hodge and Chris Greene led Cleveland State with fourteen and twelve points respectively. Torrey Patton also contributed with eight points and fourteen rebounds. While the Vikings were able to give the Buckeyes all they could handle in the second half, the veteran led Buckeyes proved to be too much, in a 67-61 ballgame.

With the loss, the Vikings conclude the non conference portion of their schedule with an 0-3 record. Despite this, there are multiple positives to take away from the opening slate of games. Firstly, the Vikings out rebounded their opponent in two of the three games to start the season.

This is especially impressive, considering they are without the presence of last season’s rebounding leader Eichelberger. Junior Deante Johnson has stepped up in Eichelberger’s absence, averaging seven rebounds per contest through three games. Another positive was the improved game Sunday from D’Moi Hodge, who made his debut in the team’s second game against Ohio University. Hodge has great scoring potential, and for the Vikings to make a jump once league play begins, he will have to continue to show flashes like he did against the Buckeyes.

One area in which the Vikings will need to greatly improve on the defensive end will be defending without fouling. The Vikings have gotten in foul trouble in their two close games this season, an area that can greatly hinder who is on the floor when the game matters most.

When asked about defending without fouling, Coach Gates stated, “It’s a sign of a young team versus an experienced team (Ohio State). We just gotta continue to watch film. It’s part of the process. We’re in the infant stages of our growth and our team’s gotta learn how to play without fouling…This is a category that is common, especially at all levels that carries over and shows how young you really are.” This is an area that if the Vikings improve, they showed on Sunday against Ohio State they can be more than capable on the defensive end.

Up next for Cleveland State, a pair of road games against Horizon League newcomer Robert Morris on December 19th and 20th. The Colonials have played just one game this season due to COVID-19 related issues, yet CSU head coach Dennis Gates is preparing as if the games will be played according to schedule.

Horizon League Power Rankings – Week 3

John Parker
-
2
Horizon League Power Rankings – Week 3

With just a few games remaining between now and the start of Horizon League play, things are going about how many predicted before the year. Wright State remains the overwhelming favorite to repeat as Horizon League Champion with size that should give most of the league fits, and everything else is completely up in the air.

Several Horizon League schools have shown flashes of incredible promise – though not enough promise to pull off a massive non-conference upset – along with frustrating stretches of undisciplined play. In other words, most of the league has shown itself to be full of flawed rosters with top-end talent capable of taking over and stealing wins.

With no Division I games played to date, Robert Morris will be left out of this week’s rankings. These rankings are already operating on far too little data, attempting to compare Division I results to NAIA results is too crazy even for me.

  1. Wright State Raiders (2-1, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Wright State took another nice step toward shaking off a season-opening 80-64 loss to Marshall by crushing projected MAC Champion Bowling Green 85-67. The Raiders had five double-digit scorers who all had effective field goal percentages over 50 percent while holding Preseason First Team All-MAC pick Justin Turner to just 13 points on 4-for-13 shooting.

    The problems that the Raider frontcourt will pose for league opponents was on full display on Sunday. Loudon Love, Tanner Holden, and Grant Basile combined for 31 points while knocking down 64.5 percent of shots. With so many teams lacking in size, the trio could overwhelm league opponents frequently this year.
  2. UIC Flames (3-2, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    UIC moves up in the Power Rankings despite losing its only contest of the week 77-66 to former Horizon League rival Loyola-Chicago. Unfortunately, it’s less because of what the Flames did and more because of what the Golden Flashes did. Kent State obliterating both Detroit Mercy and Northern Kentucky allowed UIC to jump back into second in the Power Rankings.

    With everyone but Wright State now showing glaring flaws against Horizon League-caliber opponents, the Flames move back up because…well, somebody has to and Youngstown State’s win over Binghamton isn’t very inspiring. UIC’s two-point win over Central Michigan lost its luster when the Chippewas lost by 18 to Flagler University. Its win over Valparaiso took a hit when Central Michigan turned around and added another loss to Valpo’s record. UIC’s resume is ho-hum, but its pieces are incredibly intriguing.

    Teyvion Kirk – a HoriZone Roundtable pick for the nonexistent All-Newcomer Team – has been stuffing the stat sheet despite turning the ball over too often and struggling to find his shot. He leads the Flames in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals to date. Rayquawndis Mitchell had been the team’s leading scorer until Kirk edged him out, and he’s knocking down 38.7 percent of his 3-pointers on the young season. Braelon Bridges, Michael Diggins, Rob Howard and Zion Griffin make UIC the team that appears to have the best shot at counteracting Wright State’s size. The Flames have a large crop of newcomers that haven’t played together much, but it’s easy to see the pieces fitting together.
  3. Detroit Mercy Titans (1-3, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Despite a 12-point loss to Kent State, Detroit Mercy avoids falling too far in this week’s rankings because…well, somebody has to be third. The Titans have looked at least on-par with most of the league despite a 1-3 overall record. Oddly, the double-figure loss to the Golden Flashes was Detroit Mercy’s worse loss to-date despite it’s other losses coming to Notre Dame and fourth ranked Michigan State.

    For the first time in Antoine Davis’ career, it seems he has the complementary pieces necessary for a pretty successful season. Transfers Matt Johnson, Bul Kuol and Marquell Frazier are all averaging double-figures at the end of what will be the toughest four-game stretch the Titans play this season.
  4. Youngstown State Penguins (2-0, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Outside of comparing results against Point Park College with Robert Morris, it’s difficult to draw many conclusions from Youngstown State at this point. The Penguins overcame a 15-point deficit before pulling away from Binghamton late to win 79-65, but that result isn’t particularly promising.

    YSU has plenty of opportunity to earn its way back to its second place ranking in the HoriZone Roundtable Preseason Poll, but will drop for now. It’s likely an overreaction but when the Penguins’ best result was a serious comeback against a team that likely doesn’t contend in Northern Kentucky’s old Division II conference, it’s hard to do anything different.
  5. Northern Kentucky Norse (2-3, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Northern Kentucky has a roster full of incredibly talented young players and very lacking in size. That’s going to result in some tremendous highs and some devastating lows for the Norse this year. This week, NKU took perennial Atlantic 10 contender Dayton to the wire, then turned around and got routed by Kent State.

    Preseason predictions that the team’s lack of size could be more problematic than it was last year seem to be coming true, but Horizon League play could be the cure for that issue. Outside of Wright State, UIC, and possibly Milwaukee it doesn’t look like anyone in the league will be able to throw out enough post players to overwhelm NKU.
  6. Oakland Golden Grizzlies (0-7, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    The Oakland Golden Grizzlies are the best 0-7 team in America.

    Okay, that’s not much of a compliment, but the team once again put forth an effort that seemed to indicate it’s early blowout losses were the result of a lack of conditioning from COVID-19 stoppages. This week, OU competed hard with fourth ranked Michigan State before falling 109-91. Guards Jalen Moore and Rashad Williams have been leading the way for Oakland so far, but don’t be surprised to see Daniel Oladapo step up when the opponents’ big men aren’t former four and five-star centers and power forwards with NBA scouts showing up to watch them play.
  7. Cleveland State Vikings (0-3, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Cleveland State’s bizarre season continued when it bounced back from a blowout loss to Ohio where it allowed an NCAA Division I vs. Division I record 40 consecutive points with a 67-61 loss at nationally ranked Ohio State.

    The loss added to a long list of close contests between Horizon League schools and Power Conference programs. In all likelihood CSU is right in the mix with just about every team above it this season, but the Ohio game is a little too strong in our collective memories to move the Vikings up for a promising result.
  8. Milwaukee Panthers (1-1, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Milwaukee opened its season on Friday with a 76-75 loss at Kansas State without the help of potential breakout sophomore C.J. Wilbourn, then held off Western Michigan despite a foul-happy first half that had the Broncos in the bonus less than 10 minutes in.

    Normally, having a plus/minus that’s in the green after those two results would warrant a much higher ranking than eighth, but Kansas State looks like it’s in for a brutally long year. The Wildcats are technically ranked above all but one Horizon League school on KenPom, but KenPom doesn’t have a way to factor in non-Division I losses. KSU’s loss to Fort Hays State would absolutely crater the team’s ranking that’s already pretty awful for a Power Conference program.

  9. Green Bay Phoenix (0-4, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    It doesn’t feel right punishing a team we already knew was lacking size for getting pummeled by Power Conference programs that don’t have those concerns. Still, there have been several “moral victories” so far among Horizon League schools and Green Bay doesn’t have any of them. The Phoenix will have a chance to show I’m overreacting to not having enough to work with at this point when Milwaukee comes to town on Saturday.
  10. IUPUI Jaguars (1-0, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    No Jaylen Minnett? No problem! IUPUI started its 2021 season with a win over Tennessee State despite missing one of the three key pieces that many were surprised to see return to the Jaguars this year.

    Before the season a win without one of Minnett, Marcus Burk and Elyjah Goss seemed incredibly unlikely, so the fact that the Jaguars got one out of the way immediately is impressive.
  11. Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (1-0, 0-0 in Horizon League Play)

    With very little to go off of, Purdue Fort Wayne drops to last place. The Mastodons needed overtime to beat a Southeastern Louisiana team that’s currently less than 25 spots from the bottom of Division I according to KenPom, and haven’t played for weeks since that game.

    One caveat to that overtime win was that last year’s standout guard Jarred Godfrey went down with an injury just seven minutes into the game. Because the team hasn’t played since the night Godfrey went down, nothing has been reported about the extent of his injury. If the Mastodons can avoid a sluggish return to the court, a weekend road trip to IUPUI will give the team a perfect opportunity to climb out of last.

Milwaukee Gets First Road Victory in Kalamazoo

Nick Tuori
-
0
Milwaukee Gets First Road Victory in Kalamazoo

Nick Tuori | Staff Writer | Tuori Sports Report

The Milwaukee Panthers finally began their 2020-21 season this weekend. They lost on Friday night to Kansas State, but they had a chance for a victory in their second game on Sunday afternoon. The Panthers were in Kalamazoo, facing Western Michigan.

Milwaukee won 71-63, behind sixteen points from Te’Jon Lucas. You can read the complete game story on Tuori Sports Report.

Cramming for Finals

admin
-
0

With all but a couple of non-conference games left to play, Bob and Matt review the crush of contests played by Horizon League teams over the past week, They also discuss the upcoming conference slate and the potential roadblocks COVID presents. Finally, they announce the return of HoriZone Gamenight, the recap show taking place after every night of competition (not to be confused with the Horizon League’s game night, which is not live and features student athletes playing actual games).

—

Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/horizonert/message
Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/horizonert/support

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Not quite the same old Titans

Karic Jones
-
0
Not quite the same old Titans

After three contests in six days, Detroit is 0-3, but not for lack of effort. Friday night, the Titans gave Michigan State all they could handle before the UDM bigs fouled out, and Detroit was forced to play small ball for an extended period of time and ultimately fell to MSU, 83-76.

Friday was the debut of a gang of new players for the Titans. Bul Kuol had 12 points and 4 rebounds in just 25 minutes of action due to foul trouble. Matt Johnson had 20 points 5 rebounds, and 3 assists and was none too pleased with the shade thrown his way post-game by Spartan coach Tom Izzo. Marquell Fraser had 11 points and 12 rebounds in his debut for Detroit and is the first Titan in 24 years to get a double-double in his debut. Antoine Davis did Antoine Davis things, putting up 24 points, but was an ice-cold 0-9 from behind the arc.

Detroit then went to Notre Dame Sunday evening and kept pace with the Irish until late in the second half when two missed Titan putbacks turned into a 12-0 Irish run that would secure the game for ND, 78-70.

Kuol had 18 points and 6 rebounds, including shooting 3-6 from downtown in his 40 minutes. Johnson had 15 points, and Fraser added 12. The Irish keyed in on Davis, holding him to 14 points and 2-10 from three-point land.

Then versus Kent State, tired legs and the Golden Flash bigs got to Detroit. Danny Pippen had 23 points 7 rebounds, with 4 made 3 pointers for the big man. UDM had no answer for him and his compatriots in the paint. Gabe O’neal had 12, all from within a foot of the basket, and Justyn Hamilton had 11 from close range.

In total, the Titans gave up 32 points in the paint Tuesday night. Kent State’s guard play was not bad at all. Michael Nuga, the transfer from Portland State, had 15 points 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.

For Detroit, Davis led in scoring with 21 points, he added 4 assists and 5 rebounds. However, continued to be ice-cold from behind the arc, and is now 4-28 on the season. Willy Isiani had his best game as a Titan, with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, including 3-4 from behind the arc and 6-6 from the free-throw line. Dwayne Rose Jr. had his best night as well, with 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.

As a team, Detroit had a bad night shooting with a 32.8% on all field goals. They simply had no answer for the Golden Flashes big men. Absent from the score sheet were Fraser, Johnson, and Kuol totaled 14 points between the three of them. Kuol, to his credit, was in foul trouble midway through the first half.

Despite being 0-3 there are some positives for the Titans. When asked what the most significant difference between this year’s team and last year’s is talent, head coach Mike Davis said that the guys they had the previous two years were good kids but could not play at this level.

It is evident watching the team they are much better. The defensive effort is the most significant change. The team is gang rebounding and playing much more up-tempo. The team also looks more confident. Notre Dame and Michigan State did not scare them; despite being much smaller than ND and MSU, the smaller Titans were only out rebounded by the bigger Irish and Spartans by a total of 7 rebounds.

Currently missing from the rotation are Chris Brandon and Noah Waterman. Waterman is waiting on his NCAA waiver from transferring from Niagara, and Brandon broke his wrist in the fall and should be back soon.

The Titans are currently running a 7-man rotation with a starting 5 of Davis, Fraser, Kuol, Isiani, Johnson with Calipari and Rose Jr off the bench. Coach Davis has played Taurean Thompson a total of 3 minutes in the first three contests, Joey Liedel played sparingly vs. ND, and he hit his first 3 point shot.

There are a few things that concern me. Conference play this year is back to back games, and coach is dead set on playing 7 guys currently. I would assume Brandon and Waterman are players 8 and 9 in the rotation. Wright State is the first conference opponent; Loudon Love will eat the Titans for dinner if they don’t fix the problems they had vs. Kent State.

The second thing that worries me is missing Brandon and Waterman from the rotation. If they can’t play, come conference play, who’s going to step up when the back to back games start.

I may have an answer for that. Tony Paul from the Detroit News reported Detroit will be getting Buay Koka, a 7-1 transfer from Tulane. It is reported he will join the Titans at the semester break with a year and a half of eligibility left.

The last thing that is starting to be alarming is how cold Antoine has been from behind the arch. Hopefully, he will get going soon. The Titans need him to go off when his supporting cast is having a cold shooting night as they did against Kent State.

Despite an 0-3 start, this is the best team Detroit has had since the 2012-13 season. The starting line up can all score in double digits; Rose has been effective off the bench once. When Detroit has everyone back, I think they are a top 4 team in the Horizon League, and it would not surprise me if this group goes back to the NCAA tournament.

Vikings Drop Pair To Start Season

Alec Kwait
-
0
Vikings Drop Pair To Start Season

In a season where COVID-19 has significantly impacted both conference and non-conference scheduling, Cleveland State began the regular season with two games against Mid American Conference foes. In the season opener, the Vikings dropped a 70-61 decision to Toledo, and found themselves on the wrong side of a 101-46 thrashing at the hands of Ohio.

The Vikings started extremely fast against the Rockets, taking a 35-23 lead into halftime. Led by freshman sharpshooter Jayson Woodrich, Cleveland State showcased a much improved three point shot in the first half against Toledo. Unfortunately, the veteran led Rockets quickly cut into CSU’s lead as the second half began. Former Viking Seth Millner led the way for the Rockets with 17 points and 7 rebounds.

Toledo also benefited from clutch baskets down the stretch from point guard Marreon Jackson. Cleveland State, for its part, was unable to find their footing in the second half.

Despite the opening night loss, there were multiple positives to take away from the season opener. Firstly, the Vikings out rebounded Toledo 44-36 on the game. While it did not lead to a victory, this is a good sign for a Cleveland State team that was missing starting center Algevon Eichelberger. Deante Johnson stepped in and provided energy for a Cleveland State team that desperately needed it down low.

Secondly, Woodrich showed flashes of brilliance against Toledo, hitting three triples in the first half. While the Vikings were unable to close to deal against the Rockets, they competed hard against one of the upper echelon teams in the Mid American Conference. 

The Bobcats, on the other hand, are a team that is showing they can compete against anyone in the country, and gave the No. 5 team in the country, Illinois, all they could handle and then some in their prior outing. Ohio came into Sunday’s clash with the Vikings riding an immense wave of momentum, and spent the entire game dominating CSU, including a 40-0 run that started at the end of the first half and ended with eight minutes left in the second, which marked an NCAA record for a Division I team against another D1 team.

The Bobcats were led by Lunden McDay who recorded 20 points, while NBA prospect Jason Preston contributed 12 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists in just 23 minutes of action. Cleveland State was led by Johnson and Woodrich, each of whom scored seven points.

Eichelberger missed his second straight game with an ankle sprain, and the Vikings clearly miss his steady presence down low. Eichelberger is a player that Cleveland State can run their offense through, making his loss even more significant. 

CSU made a lineup change against the Bobcats, as junior college transfer D’Moi Hodge made his Cleveland State debut. Hodge had a game he would like to forget about, as he finished with just six points on 1-10 shooting form the floor. Head coach Dennis Gates will be left with the difficult task of finding what combination of players work well with each other, as the Vikings have a ton of new faces that all can do different things on the court.

With this abbreviated non conference schedule due to the pandemic, Gates will not have much time to figure this out before league play begins. The Viking have just one more non conference game on their schedule; a battle with in state powerhouse Ohio State. 

As games around the country are being canceled due to positive COVID-19 tests, the Cleveland State Vikings have been able to successfully avoid being forced to put their season on hold thus far.

Gates credited the entire university’s effort when he stated, “Our resocialization committee has done a great job of not only organizing our campus, but communicating with us and obviously keeping us as safe as possible.”

It will be critical that all Horizon League teams take COVID as seriously as Gates and the Vikings seemingly are, in order for this season to be completed. 

Horizon League Women’s Basketball Power Rankings – Week 2

John Parker
-
0
Horizon League Women’s Basketball Power Rankings – Week 2

Few wins, but many interesting developments in Week 2

Another week of Horizon League Women’s Basketball yielded few wins, but made it even more clear who the team to beat in league play is. Interestingly, one of the league’s few victories of the week was over a projected Big East contender. Two-time defending Horizon League Player of the Year asserted herself as a near-unstoppable force heading into her senior year in the league.

Robert Morris will not be included in this week’s rankings after positive COVID-19 tests forced the cancellation of this week’s Horizon League debut.

  1. IUPUI Jaguars (2-1, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Despite suffering its first loss of the season, IUPUI’s spot at the top of the Horizon League is arguably stronger than it was last week after a strong performance against Notre Dame. While the Irish have plummeted out of the Top 25, a Horizon League school that’s capable of taking on the storied ACC program probably has a leg up on the rest of the league.

    IUPUI’s other game was a dominant 73-49 win over Ball State. For much of the contest, the Jaguars’ star center Macee Williams was keeping up with Ball State’s point total by herself. Williams finished with 28 points in 27 minutes. Considering that Milwaukee – another team off to a strong start in the Horizon League – needed a fourth quarter eruption to put away the Cardinals, IUPUI’s dominant win further established it as the team to beat.
  2. Green Bay Phoenix (1-2, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Green Bay took a unique approach to its non-conference schedule and challenged itself with two games against Summit League contender North Dakota State in two days. The Phoenix went 0-2 in those contests, but the interesting approach could prove fruitful entering Horizon League play this week where two games in two days will be the norm. We’ll see quickly whether the strategy gives Green Bay an advantage.
  3. Milwaukee Panthers (3-1, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Milwaukee has wins over projected Top 3 teams in the MAC, Missouri Valley Conference and Big East; so its heartbreaking loss to Bowling Green is equal parts disappointing and confusing. The Falcons are projected for an eleventh place finish in the MAC.

    There’s an argument that the Panthers might deserve a Top 2 spot right now given that the team has the best non-conference record and the best win in the league, but the schedule will sort that out easily enough when the Panthers head to Green Bay this week.
  4. Wright State Raiders (0-1, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Wright State’s first two games of the season saw the team playing opponents who have already played Horizon League foes this year, which created some pretty useful information at a time when there’s very little information available.

    While the Raiders – like Oakland before them – were totally outmatched by nationally ranked Michigan, the team seemed to put up a far better fight. On the flipside, the 66-61 home loss to Bradley allowed a Milwaukee team that beat the Braves on the road to jump WSU in the rankings.
  5. Youngstown State Penguins (0-0, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    YSU hasn’t played yet this season. That means it’s missing out on opportunities to rise in the rankings with good wins, but it’s also avoiding bad losses that drop it in the rankings.
  6. Northern Kentucky Norse (0-4, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    How does a team drop below a school that hasn’t even played yet in the Power Rankings? Losing three games in a week – two to teams projected for the bottom of the MAC – is a great way to do it.

    While NKU’s loss to Cincinnati is understandable, getting run out of the gym by Akron and Bowling Green – projected for tenth and eleventh in MAC play – is much more concerning. The Norse are now 0-4 overall despite the pair of very winnable games. With multiple teams that have yet to play, NKU’s drop could’ve been even more drastic.
  7. Cleveland State (0-0, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Cleveland State is in a tough spot, as the team opted not to play in the non-conference and has now had its opening Horizon League games against Robert Morris canceled due to positive tests on the RMU side. There’s the temptation to move CSU above a Northern Kentucky team that has struggled mightily so far this year, but with another week with no information on the Vikings coming, we’ll hold off for now.
  8. UIC Flames (1-2, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    UIC’s follow-up to a surprising victory over Eastern Michigan was a hard-fought 80-76 loss to Western Michigan. While the Broncos are picked last in the MAC, that seems to be more of a lack of optimism on how they’ll do without graduated star Breanna Mobley. WMU posted winning records in three of the last four seasons, so a team like UIC that has found double-digit wins to be a struggle shouldn’t feel too bad about the loss.
  9. Oakland Golden Grizzlies (0-2, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Oakland’s lone contest of the week – against Chicago State – was canceled. No new information means the Golden Grizzlies remain where they were last week.
  10. Detroit Mercy Titans (0-4, 0-0 in Horizon League play)

    Detroit Mercy posted another 0-2 week, with losses to Michigan State and Toledo. A low-ranked Horizon League team getting blown out by a Big 10 school isn’t a surprise, but the Titans missed on an opportunity to move up by failing to outdo Oakland in a game against the Rockets. As a result, Detroit Mercy remains two spots from the bottom in the rankings again.
  11. Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (0-2, 0-0 in Horizon Leage play)

    Purdue Fort Wayne had another game that seemingly could’ve offered a victory when it took on the Missouri Valley’s projected last-place team Evansville on Saturday. The Mastodons fell 70-60 after getting buried by a double-digit deficit in the first half. Any attempts to get out of last place will need to happen in Horizon League play, but opening league play against IUPUI might make that a tough task.
1...212213214...240Page 213 of 240