#HLMBB Weekly Notebook – February 21

#HLMBB Weekly Notebook – February 21

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#HLMBB Standings | #HLMBB Statistics | #HLMBB Weekly Notebook
INDIANAPOLIS – The last week of the #HLMBB regular season starts on Tuesday with seeds 1-11 all to be determined over the final three days of League play leading into the start of the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship on Feb. 28 and March 2 on campus before culminating at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis March 6-7.

#HLMBB NEWS & NOTES

  • Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis is looking to become the most prolific scorer in NCAA history. The Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year sits second all-time with 3,543 points, 124 away from Pete Maravich’s NCAA record of 3,667. He is the NCAA record holder with 140 consecutive games in double figures and on Jan. 14 broke the NCAA’s all-time 3-point record with a school-record 11 triples and sits at 569 3-pointers in his career. He is also just the second player in NCAA history to amass 3,000 points and 500 assists. On Dec. 1 he became the Horizon League’s all-time leading scoring, surpassing the previous record of 2,914 points set by Loyola’s Alfredrick Hughes (1981-85) and then on Dec. 10 became the 11th player in NCAA history to surpass 3,000 career points.

  • Davis currently leads the nation in scoring (27.9), total points (809), total 3-pointers (140), 3-pointers per game (4.83) and total field goals (263). His 27.9 points on the year would be a Horizon League record, breaking the 27.6 by Loyola's Alfredrick Hughes in 1983-84. He also broke the program’s single-season marks in points and 3-pointers. This year, he has a League-best 24, 20-point games, 12, 30-point outings and four 40-point outbursts, with the four 40-point games the most since Campbell's Chris Clemons had four in 2018-19. If he gets one more, it would be the most since Gonzaga's Adam Morrison's had five during 2005-06.

  • Davis has been named to eight national awards including the John R. Wooden Award® Late Season Watch List comprised of 20 student-athletes who are front-runners for the sport's most prestigious honor. Other lists this season include: John R. Wooden Award Midseason and Preseason Top 50 Watch List, Naismith Award for the Player of the Year, Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason, the Bob Cousy Award for the nation’s top point guard and the Lou Henson National Player of the Year.

  • Youngstown State sits in the driver’s seat to claim its first-ever Horizon League regular season title at 14-4. With one win this week, YSU will claim at least a share of the regular season championship, while a 2-0 week would clinch the No. 1 overall seed and an outright regular season title. The Penguins are the Horizon League’s highest ranked team in the NET with a 22-7 record, setting the school’s Division I regular-season wins mark and the program’s record with 14 conference wins. The Penguins have one of the top offenses in the country ranking top-15 in the nation in points per possession (5th - 1.139), points per game (5th - 83.8), free throw percentage (9th - 78.0), field goal percentage (9th - 49.1) and effective field goal percentage (15th – 55.8).

  • The ‘Guins are one of the most balanced scoring attacks in the HL as four players are ranked inside the top-15 in scoring led by Dwayne Cohill with 17.9, followed by Brandon Rush with 14.2, Malek Green at 13.8 and Adrian Nelson at 13.2. All four are also ranked inside the top-10 in field goal percentage, while Nelson is tops in the League with 9.8 rebounds per game and 12 double-doubles.

  • The Vikings sit in second place in the HL, just one game out of first place, after an impressive 2-0 week at home with a win over Wright State in front of a national television audience on ESPNU and then a one-point victory over NKU in a battle of two teams that entered the game with 12-5 records. Cleveland State has secured a top-4 seed and will host a quarterfinal game at the Wolstein Center for the third consecutive season.

  • CSU is one of the top defenses during Horizon League play ranking top-3 in scoring (70.0), defensive field-goal percentage (43.4) and blocks (3.4). Tristan Enaruna leads the Cleveland State offense that is shooting 47.1 percent from the floor during League play with 17.2 points per game and a 53.2 shooting percentage. CSU is also second in turnover margin as Deshon Parker holds a nearly 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio with over three assists per game.

  • Despite dropping consecutive games in League play for the first time this season, MKE has already guaranteed itself a first-round bye and is one win away from securing a home game in the quarterfinals. The Panthers are tops in the HL play in defensive field goal percentage and 3-point defensive field goal percentage as they rank fourth in the nation in blocks per game with 5.7 led by Ahmad Rand who is 20th in blocks per game with 2.1. Offensively, Milwaukee is fifth in the country in bench points per game at 31.5.

  • BJ Freeman has been one of the driving forces for Milwaukee during League play as the Selma, N.C. native is averaging 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game since the calendar flipped to 2023 including 10 20-point performances and two double-doubles.

  • Northern Kentucky comes into the final week with a 12-6 record, tied for third place, and is one win away from clinching its third-straight quarterfinal home game. NKU is the No. 1 scoring defense heading into the last week of HL play at 61.8 points per game. The Norse are also tops during League play in steals (9.8) and turnover margin (+5.8). Northern Kentucky is fourth in the country with just under 10 steals per contest led by the reigning Freshman of the Year Sam Vinson who is 10th in the nation with 2.4 swipes per game.

  • Northern Kentucky’s Marques Warrick is the third-leading scorer in the Horizon League with 19.1 points per game and is top-5 during HL play at 18.9 points per game hitting over 2.7 3-pointers per game. Chris Brandon is grabbing 9.3 boards per game against HL opponents including nine double-digit rebound efforts and four double-doubles.

  • Oakland sits in fifth place in the standings at 10-8 and currently hold the final first-round bye of the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Championship. Jalen Moore is the second-leading scorer during Horizon League play at 21.7 points per game with a League-best 141 made free throws while also tops in assists (5.4) and steals (2.7). Moore has 11 20-point games against HL opponents including a pair of 30-point performances. Trey Townsend fills up the stat sheet for the Golden Grizzlies as he is top-10 in the League in points (16.6), field goal percentage (51.9), rebounds (8.8) and blocks (1.1).

  • Earlier this season, Oakland head coach Greg Kampe became the fourth coach in League history to earn 100 Horizon League victories and sits third all-time in HL wins. He is in his 39th season at the helm of the Oakland men’s basketball program. Kampe is the second-longest tenured active coach in Division I, only behind Jim Boeheim (Syracuse, 45 seasons) who faced one another on Dec. 6. Kampe’s 674 career wins ranks 13th among active Division I coaches.

  • Detroit Mercy, RMU and Wright State are all tied for sixth place in the standings at 9-9 and are looking this week to clinch hosting duties for the first round on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

  • The Raiders are the No. 2 scoring offense in the Horizon League and 20th nationally at 80.7 points per game led by Trey Calvin who is the No. 2 scorer in the HL at 20.3 points per game, including averaging 21.2 against HL opponents. WSU is one of the most efficient offenses in the country as it is one of only three teams in the country shooting over 50 percent or better as a team. Four-time Freshman of the Week honoree Brandon Noel is tops in the League with a 60.7 shooting percentage and is also grabbing a League-best 10.3 rebounds during League play.

  • RMU lifted itself back to .500 in Horizon League after a 2-0 week at home including knocking of Milwaukee on Saturday. Kahliel Spear is tied for the League lead with seven double-doubles this year as he is averaging 16.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game during League play and is also No. 2 in field-goal percentage shooting 55.2 percent from the floor vs. HL opponents

  • Purdue Fort Wayne is still in contention to host a first round game after a dramatic finish on Sunday as Damian Chong Qui hit a near half-court buzzer beater to snap a four-game losing streak in the ‘Dons final regular season home game.

  • Purdue Fort Wayne’s Jarred Godfrey has set a pair of program records this season as he is now the all-time leading scorer with 2,107 points and is the career leader in games played with 150. He is the only active player in Division I with 2,000 points, 600 rebounds, 400 assists, 200 3-pointers and 200 steals. This season he is averaging 18.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game in League play, all top-15 in the Horizon League, while shooting 91 percent from the foul line.

  • There have been 33 40-point performances in Division I this season and the Horizon League boasts seven of them. No other conference has more than two. Detroit Mercy’s Davis leads the way with four, posting a season-high 42 twice this season. NKU’s Warrick is tied for the fifth-highest scoring mark this season with 45 against Tennessee Tech followed by Wright State’s Calvin with 44 at Youngstown State and YSU’s Cohill registered 41 on the road at Wright State.
RESULTS
DATE GAME RECAP
Wednesday, Feb. 15 Oakland 85, IUPUI 81 Box Score
Thursday, Feb. 16 Youngstown State 87, Milwaukee 58 Box Score
RMU 71, Green Bay 56 Box Score
Friday, Feb. 17 Northern Kentucky 63, Purdue Fort Wayne 50 Box Score
Detroit Mercy 96, Oakland 74 Box Score
Cleveland State 85, Wright State 68 Box Score
Saturday, Feb. 18 Youngstown State 95, Green Bay 65 Box Score
RMU 80, Milwaukee 60 Box Score
Sunday, Feb. 19 Detroit Mercy 81, IUPUI 68 Box Score
Purdue Fort Wayne 77, Wright State 75 Box Score
Cleveland State 64, Northern Kentucky 63 Box Score

NIKE #HLMBB PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (all times ET)
Tuesday, Feb. 21
Youngstown State at RMU, 7:00 P.M. ET (ESPN+)

Thursday, Feb. 23
Northern Kentucky at Detroit Mercy, 7:00 P.M. ET (ESPN+)
Wright State at Oakland, 7:00 P.M. ET (ESPN+)
RMU at IUPUI, 7:30 P.M. ET (ESPN+)
Purdue Fort Wayne at Milwaukee, 8:30 P.M. ET (ESPN+)
Cleveland State at Green Bay, 9:00 P.M. ET (ESPN+)

Saturday, Feb. 25
Wright State at Detroit Mercy, 1:00 P.M. ET (ESPN+)
Northern Kentucky at Oakland, 3:00 P.M. ET (ESPN+)
Purdue Fort Wayne at Green Bay, 5:00 P.M. ET (ESPN+)
Youngstown State at IUPUI, 7:00 P.M. ET (ESPN+)
Cleveland State at Milwaukee, 8:00 P.M. ET (ESPN+)