Horizon League Notebook
Player of the Week: Samuel Haanpaa, Valparaiso. The sophomore guard from Finland averaged 26 points in two Crusaders victories last week. He scored 20 points against Evansville and 32 against Chicago State. Against Chicago State, he set a school-record for 3-pointers in a game with 10. The previous record was held by current Valparaiso associate head coach Bryce Drew.
Butler Bulldogs (9-1 overall, 1-1 Horizon League)
Week record: 1-0
Recap
Dec. 15 vs. Florida State – W 79-68
The Bulldogs knocked off the ACC’s Florida State as part of a doubleheader in the Wooden Tradition Classic in Indianapolis. Purdue beat Louisville in the other game.
With the victory, the Bulldogs have gone 62 consecutive games without suffering back-to-back losses.
Seniors A.J. Graves and Mike Green had solid games, combining for 45 points. Green scored 20 points, including 11 of Butler’s final 13 points of the game. Graves became the 39th player in league history to reach the 1,500-point plateau. His 25 points gives him 1,508 for his collegiate career.
Freshman Matt Howard continued his steady play, scoring 11 points and grabbing four rebounds.
A pair of games this week are in store for the Bulldogs. Sophomore forward Avery Jukes is expected to play in either of the two games to make his season debut. Jukes sat out the first semester after transferring from the University of Alabama.
Upcoming games
Dec. 19 vs. Bradley
Dec. 22 at Florida Gulf Coast
Cleveland State Vikings (7-3, 1-0)
Week record: 0-0
Recap
No games were played last week because of final exams. But this week, highly-touted freshman Eric Schiele could make his season debut against Ohio State.
Upcoming games
Dec. 18 vs. Ohio State at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
Dec. 22 vs. Central Michigan
Detroit Titans (4-5, 0-2)
Week record: 0-0
Recap
No games were played last week because of final exams. The Titans will play a pair of games in Texas this week.
Upcoming games
Dec. 17 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Dec. 19 at Texas A&M
Illinois-Chicago Flames (6-4, 2-0)
Week record: 1-0
Recap
Dec. 15 vs. DePaul – W 85-80
The Flames beat cross-town rival DePaul for the first time in school history.
Freshman guard Robert Kreps scored a team-high 19 points with four 3-pointers in the game. Junior Josh Mayo added 18 points. The Flames improved to 6-0 this season when leading at the half.
The Flames have a pair of non-conference games against Toledo and Howard, both at home.
Upcoming games
Dec. 19 vs. Toledo
Dec. 22 vs. Howard
Loyola Ramblers (4-5, 1-1)
Week record: 1-0
Recap
Dec. 15 vs. Northern Illinois – W 76-72 (OT)
For the second game in a row, the Ramblers won in overtime, something they haven’t done in nearly five years.
Juniors Leon Young and J.R. Blount scored 16 points each, while sophomore Andy Polka added a season-high 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. Ross Forman scored 11 points off the bench.
The Ramblers will play a pair of games on the road this week, first in St. Louis before heading across the state to play the UMKC Kangaroos.
Upcoming games
Dec. 19 at Saint Louis
Dec. 22 at UMKC
UW-Green Bay Phoenix (6-4, 1-1)
Week record: 0-1
Recap
Dec. 15 vs. Wisconsin – L 70-52
The Phoenix finished off a four-game road trip with an 18-point loss to instate rival Wisconsin.
Junior guard/forward Cordero Barkley led the Phoenix with 11 points and 11 rebounds. It was the first time he had ever registered team honors in either category. The Wisconsin game was Barkley’s 72nd at Green Bay.
Junior forward Mike Schachtner finished with just eight points against the Badgers. But that was enough for him to become the 20th player in school history to hit 1,000 career points. He also still leads the league in scoring at 19 points per game.
The Phoenix will welcome Northern Illinois to town this week. They are 20-1 against its former Midwest Collegiate Conference rivals, including winning the past 11.
Upcoming games
Dec. 22 vs. Northern Illinois
UW-Milwaukee Panthers (3-7, 0-2)
Week record: 0-1
Recap
Dec. 12 vs. Wisconsin – L 61-39
The struggles continued once again for the Panthers. They lost their sixth straight game and tallied their lowest point total in three years (since a 66-37 loss to Wisconsin in 2004). However, the game against Wisconsin was played in front of 10,017 – the largest crowd for a regular season game in school history.
Things aren’t getting better for the Panthers as they will be without Torre Johnson, who was suspended from and then kicked off the team following an arrest where he allegedly struck a 23-year-old woman in the face on Dec. 15. A preliminary court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 27.
Upcoming games
Dec. 19 vs. Central Michigan
Valparaiso Crusaders (10-1, 2-0)
Week record: 2-0
Recap
Dec. 11 vs. Evansville – W 75-67
Dec. 15 vs. Chicago State – W 90-61
The Crusaders are off to their best start since joining Division 1.
Sophomore Samual Haanpaa scored 32 points in their victory over former Mid-Continent Conference rival Chicago State. He was the first to eclipse 30 points in a game for the Crusaders since Dan Oppland scored 35 at Western Illinois in Jan. 2006. In addition, Haanpaa set a new school record by hitting 10 3-pointers in the game, topping the record previously held by former Valparaiso great and current associate head coach Bryce Drew.
The Crusaders will head to Madison, Wis., to play the Badgers on Saturday. The Crusaders have won eight straight games, and the Badgers are on the upswing after winning two straight instate rivalry games over Green Bay and Milwaukee.
Upcoming games
Dec. 22 at Wisconsin
Wright State Raiders (4-3, 1-1)
Week record: 1-1
Recap
Dec. 11 vs. Bradley – L 72-65 (OT)
Dec. 15 vs. Miami (Ohio) – W 58-57
Both games last week saw teams rally from late deficits to win.
Against Bradley, the Raiders led 57-53 with 45 seconds left in regulation, but couldn’t hold on. Sophomore guard Vaughn Duggins scored 24 points in the game.
Then against Miami (Ohio), the Raiders’ Todd Brown hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win the game. It was the only time Wright State led for the entire game. It was also the second straight year the Raiders defeated the RedHawks on a last-possession shot. The Raiders trailed that game 44-28 at halftime.
The Raiders will finish a five-game homestand when they host St. Bonaventure.
Upcoming games
Dec. 18 vs. St. Bonaventure
Dec. 22 at Cal State Fullerton
Youngstown State Penguins (3-5, 0-1)
Week record: 0-0
Recap
No games were scheduled because of final exams.
Upcoming games
Dec. 17 vs. Robert Morris (Pa.)
Dec. 21 at Akron
