#HLMBB Weekly Notebook - February 26

#HLMBB Weekly Notebook - February 26

Bookmark and Share

#HLMBB Standings | #HLMBB Statistics | #HLMBB Weekly Release

INDIANAPOLIS – It is the final week of the #HLMBB season with a lot left to be decided with only nine games remaining on the schedule. Wright State and Northern Kentucky have secured home games during the quarterfinals of Motor City Madness with the Raiders holding just a one-game lead over the Norse in the race for the regular season title. Green Bay, Oakland and UIC are all tied for third place at 9-7 and are looking to secure the final two quarterfinal home games, with IUPUI just one game behind at 8-8.

#HLMBB NEWS & NOTES
• Wright State is riding a six-game winning streak heading into the final week of Horizon League action and holds a one-game lead over Northern Kentucky in the HL standings. The Raiders are looking for their first regular season title since the 2006-07 season when they tied Butler with identical 13-3 records and advanced to the NCAA championship. Both WSU and NKU are receiving votes in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll.

• Green Bay completed an outstanding come back on Friday at UIC in front of a national audience on ESPNU, as the Phoenix trailed by as many as 19 points, but outscored UIC 43-23 in the second period. Sandy Cohen III scored 17 points after intermission and finished with 20 for Green Bay, while Josh McNair tallied 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor. Green Bay is in a three-way tie with Oakland and UIC at 9-7 and will face Wright State and Northern Kentucky in the final two games.

• UIC bounced back on Sunday against Milwaukee to move to 9-7 in HL play and the Golden Grizzlies earned a series sweep of Metro Series rival Detroit Mercy to also improve to 9-7. They will face each other on Thursday with the winner in the driver seat to host a quarterfinal game during Motor City Madness. IUPUI sits at 8-8 and is also still alive in the race to host and will also face the Golden Grizzlies.

• Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis holds the Horizon League freshman scoring record, previously set by UIC’s Dikembe Dixson (2015-16), with 709 points this season. He also became the fastest freshman in NCAA history to reach 100 3-pointers, doing so in just 22 games, and is still working to break Stephen Curry’s NCAA freshman record of 122 3-pointers in 2006-07. Davis is third in the nation in both total 3-pointers made (121) and points per game (26.3).

• NKU’s Drew McDonald was selected to the Naismith Hall of Fame’s Karl Malone Award Watch List, named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District team and is one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. He is looking to become just the 12th player in Horizon League history to record over 2,000 points, currently sitting at 1,998. McDonald is one of only nine active players to record 1,900 points and 1,000 rebounds and among active Division I players ranks seventh in double-doubles.

• Green Bay’s Sandy Cohen III and UIC’s Tarkus Ferguson are the only players in the Horizon League that rank inside the top-15 in points and top-10 in rebounds and assists. Ferguson is second in the League in assists at 5.1, while Cohen leads the HL in steals with 1.9.

• Detroit Mercy’s Davis, Wright State’s Loudon Love and Northern Kentucky’s Drew McDonald were selected to the 2018-19 Lou Henson Award Mid-Season Watch List, presented annually to the nation’s top mid-major player in Division I College Basketball.

• #HLMBB teams have been prolific from long range this season as seven out of 10 teams are ranked in the top-100 in total 3-point field goals made with Cleveland State pacing the HL with 295, good for 11th in the NCAA. As a conference, the Horizon League ranks fifth in 3-point field goal percentage 35.5 percent.

RESULTS

DATE GAME RECAP
Thursday, Feb. 21 Wright State 87, Cleveland State 61 Box Score
Northern Kentucky 76, Youngstown State 69 Box Score
Friday, Feb. 22 IUPUI 67, Milwaukee 60 Box Score
Green Bay 63, UIC 62 Box Score
Saturday, Feb. 23 Oakland 95, Detroit Mercy 75 Box Score
Wright State 82, Youngstown State 54 Box Score
Cleveland State 83, Northern Kentucky 77 Box Score
Sunday, Feb. 24 IUPUI 79, Green Bay 68 Box Score
UIC 74, Milwaukee 59 Box Score

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

GAME OF THE WEEK
UIC at Oakland, Thursday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Week 10 of the HL season begins on Thursday with a game that will most likely decide who will host a quarterfinal game during Motor City Madness. Both teams are tied for third place in the standings at 9-7 and both teams are coming off important wins to end their weekends. The Flames are tops during HL play in field goal percent defense, holding teams under 40 percent shooting, and are the only team to have three players ranked in the top-15 in points per game. Oakland is second in League play in field goal percentage, shooting 47.3 percent from the floor, and is led by Jaevin Cumberland averaging 17.5 points per game and Xavier Hill-Mais with 16.2 points.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

DATE GAME Time (ET) TV/Live Stream
Thursday, Feb. 28 UIC at Oakland 7 p.m. ESPN+
IUPUI at Detroit Mercy 8 p.m. ESPN+
Northern Kentucky at Milwaukee 8 p.m. FoxSportsGo.com
Wright State at Green Bay 8 p.m. ESPN+
Saturday, March 2 Northern Kentucky at Green Bay 1 p.m. ESPN+
UIC at Detroit Mercy 4 p.m. ESPN+
IUPUI at Oakland 4 p.m. ESPN3
Cleveland State at Youngstown State 6 p.m. ESPN3
Wright State at Milwaukee 7 p.m. ESPN+