Horizon League Tournament Preview
MILWAUKEE – For the third year in a row, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will be the host school for the Horizon League tournament.
Since the league adopted the new format three years ago, giving the regular season champion hosting rights, the response has been terrific. Ticket sales have been solid for all the tournament games that have been played at the U.S. Cellular Arena in downtown Milwaukee. The last two championship games have drawn over 10,000 fans – league tournament records.
Going into this year’s tournament, the favorite again is the host Panthers. UWM breezed through the Horizon League in 2004-’05 with a 14-2 league record and a 22-5 mark overall. The Panthers have quickly become the powerhouse of the league ever since Bruce Pearl took over the reigns four years ago.
After three first round games played on Tuesday, March 1, which saw Illinois-Chicago, Loyola and Wright State advance, quarterfinal action will begin on Friday, March 4 at the U.S. Cellular Arena.
The first game has the third-seeded Detroit Titans, who received a first-round bye, squaring off against Wright State. The Titans and Raiders split the season series with Detroit capturing the most recent victory, a 71-49 blowout in Detroit on Feb. 10.
The other quarterfinal game will be a battle of the Windy City. Loyola and UIC, who also split the season series with each other winning on the other’s home floor, will be a terrific match-up. UIC, who were predicted to finish second in the league in the pre-season, have struggled just one year removed from a NCAA tournament appearance. Loyola under first-year coach Jim Whitesell has been one of the pleasant surprises in the league this year with a 12-16 overall and 8-8 league record entering play on Friday.
The Saturday semifinals will feature the host state schools of UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee. After a solid start, the Phoenix limped into the postseason, finishing 3-6 over the last nine games. But they were still able to lock-up the number two seed with a 10-6 league record. The Phoenix will play the winner of the Detroit-Wright State game.
The champion Panthers will play the “nightcap” on Saturday and will face the winner of the Loyola-UIC game. Pearl has indicated that there is no one team he would like to face because he has said all year long that there is great parody in the league and that anyone can win on any given day. But if there is any team that he would “like to get back at” it would be UIC, as the Flames danced on the Panthers’ home floor last year after winning the title game, 65-62.
And going into the tournament, there is a lot of talk surrounding whether the Panthers deserve an at-large bid even if they do not prevail in the league tournament. The best chance of that happening would be if UWM got to the title game for a third straight season.
The championship game will be played at the highest remaining seed on Tuesday, March 8 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
