#HLMBB Notebook – Postseason

#HLMBB Notebook – Postseason

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INDIANAPOLIS – Four #HLMBB teams are scheduled to participate in postseason tournaments highlighted by HL tournament champion Northern Kentucky set to take on Houston in the opening round of the NCAA championship on Thursday at 9:20 p.m. ET on TNT. Regular season champion Youngstown State will host Oklahoma State in the first round of the NIT, while Cleveland State and Milwaukee will head to Daytona Beach, Fla. to participate in the Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational.

#HLMBB NEWS & NOTES

  • The Norse won the Horizon League tournament for the third time in five seasons and returns to March Madness for the first time since 2019 after the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic.

  • NKU is 0-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament falling to No. 2 Kentucky 79-70 in 2017 and No. 3 Texas Tech, 72-57, in 2019.

  • Northern Kentucky punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament on March 7 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum as it edged Cleveland State 63-61. Marques Warrick was voted tournament MVP after scoring a game-high 18 points, while Sam Vinson added 16 points and Trey Robinson 12. In the game’s final minutes, NKU held on to a 54-50 lead with Cleveland State attacking the basket. NKU got back-to-back blocks by Robinson and Chris Brandon that led to a jumper by Vinson and a Cleveland State timeout. CSU’s Yahel Hill answered with a corner 3 out of the timeout to slow NKU’s momentum but then NKU’s Xavier Rhodes hit the biggest shot of the night. Rhodes heaved a deep 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring that put NKU ahead 59-53 with 1:52 to go.

  • NKU earned a spot in the tournament final for the fifth time in seven years. Marques Warrick scored 22 points while Sam Vinson scored 17 points and Chris Brandon grabbed 17 rebounds. NKU, the top defensive scoring team in the League, had a 21-5 edge in points off turnovers and made 28 free throws compared to Youngtown State’s 11.

  • Northern Kentucky earned a top-4 seed in the Horizon League championship for the seventh consecutive season, having only been outside the top-4 in its first season in the HL.

  • The Norse advanced to the semifinals for the fourth consecutive season with their third-straight quarterfinal home win defeating Oakland, 81-74. Northern Kentucky’s Marques Warrick, an All-League Second Team performer, led all scorers with 22 points on 5-of-7 shooting from distance. Chris Brandon registered a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds for NKU, while All-League Third Team selection Sam Vinson and Sixth Man of the Year Trevon Faulkner tallied 12 points apiece.

  • Three NKU players made All-League teams with Trevon Faulkner earning Sixth Player of the Year, Marques Warrick tabbed to the second team and Sam Vinson being named to both the third team and the All-Defensive team. Faulkner came off the bench in all but two games for the Norse during League play this season and averaged 10.0 points shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and 37.2 percent from 3-point range. Warrick averaged 18.7 points per game, 3.0 assists, 2.0 boards and 1.2 steals per contest. Vinson is 12th in the nation with 2.4 steals per contest to go along with 12.1 points and 3.4 assists per game in League play.

  • NKU was the No. 1 scoring defense during HL play at 62.3 points per game. The Norse were also tops during League play in steals (9.5), ranking sixth in the country, and turnover margin (+4.8).

  • Youngstown State will play in the NIT for the first time in program history by virtue of claiming its first regular-season league title. The Penguins won the league championship with a 15-5 conference record.. The Penguins are the Horizon League’s highest ranked team in the NET with a 24-9 record, setting the school’s Division I regular-season wins mark and the program’s record with 15 conference wins.

  • Youngstown State reached the semifinals of the Horizon League championship for the first time since the 2016-17 season and for just the second time overall after a 71-66 victory over No. 8 Detroit Mercy. All-League Third Team selection Adrian Nelson totaled a team-high 20 points with seven rebounds. All-League First Team honoree Dwayne Cohill scored 17 points and Brandon Rush added 15.

  • YSU placed four players on All-League teams along with Jerrod Calhoun being named Coach of the Year. Dwayne Cohill jumped up to the All-League First Team after earning third team honors a season ago as he led YSU with 19.1 points on 50.6 percent shooting, a League-high 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game, all top-15 rankings during HL play. Adrian Nelson and Brandon Rush were named to the third team. Nelson ranked second during HL play with 9.5 rebounds, while also top-15 in points per game (13.9), field goal percentage (49.8) and steals (1.8). Rush averaged 14.5 points per game in League play, shot 48.8 percent from the field and hit almost 2.3 3-pointers per game. John Lovelace, Jr. earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team as he appeared in all 20 League games for YSU and averaged 4.1 points on 50.0 percent shooting and grabbed 2.2 rebounds per game.

  • The Penguins have one of the top offenses in the country ranking top-20 in the nation in points per game (6th - 82.5), points per possession (7th - 1.129), field goal percentage (9th - 49.1), free throw percentage (10th - 77.7) and effective field goal percentage (14th – 55.6). The ‘Guins are one of the most balanced scoring attacks in the HL as four players were ranked inside the top-15 in scoring during HL play led by Dwayne Cohill with 19.5, followed by Brandon Rush with 14.5, Malek Green at 14.0 and Adrian Nelson at 13.9. All four are also ranked inside the top-10 in field goal percentage.

  • For the third-straight season, Cleveland State will appear in a postseason tournament and it marks its first-ever appearance in the CBI. The Vikings previously played in the NIT last season and the NCAA Tournament in 2021.

  • The Vikings made their third #HLMBB championship game appearance in the last six seasons, including two out of the last three with a tournament title in 2021, after a 93-80 victory over No. 2 seed Milwaukee on Monday. Tristan Enaruna led Cleveland State with 24 points and eight rebounds with Tae Williams adding 18 points and seven rebounds. Cleveland State built a 46-28 halftime lead behind a staggering 25-9 advantage in fast break points. The rout continued from there, with the lead growing to 62-34 just four minutes into the second half.

  • Cleveland State finished tied for second in the standings at 14-6 and were the No. 3 seed, finishing in the top-2 in the standings for the third-straight years, having shared the regular season title the last two seasons.

  • CSU reached the semifinals for the third year in a row as it picked up its third-straight -home win in the quarterfinals over RMU in overtime, 75-70. Tristan Enaruna, an All-Horizon League First Teamer, scored a game-best 23 points for Cleveland State on 10-of-17 shooting and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Deante Johnson posted 15 points and Drew Lowder chipped in 11.

  • Three Vikings landed on All-League teams led by Tristan Enaruna being named to the First Team in his first season at CSU. Enaruna paced the Vikings with 17.4 points and 6.8 rebounds during HL games, including six 20-point performances, while ranking fourth in field goal percentage at 54.3. Deshon Parker and Deante Johnson made the All-Defensive Team. Parker makes his first appearance on the All-Defensive Team ranking in the top-15 in the League with 1.2 steals per League contest, while Johnson earns all-defensive team honors for the third consecutive season averaging 1.4 blocks per HL game, ranking third during the League play.

  • CSU was one of the top defenses during Horizon League play ranking top-3 in scoring (70.3), defensive field-goal percentage (43.1), steals (7.4) and blocks (3.4). CSU was also third in turnover margin and assist-turnover-ratio as Parker holds a nearly 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio with over 3.5 assists per game.

  • Milwaukee will play in the postseason for the first time since 2014 as it competes in the CBI for the second time in program history.

  • The Panthers reached the 20-win plateau for the 11th time in the school’s NCAA Division I era, and also finished an impressive 15-3 in home games, tying the program mark for most victories on their home court (15-0 in 2004-05).

  • Milwaukee returned to Indianapolis for the second time in the past three seasons with a win at home at the Klotsche Center over No. 7 Wright State 87-70. All-League Second Team honoree BJ Freeman scored a game-high 29 points for the Panthers and All-Freshman Team selection Elijah Jamison recorded 19. Kentrell Pullian totaled 15 points and Jalen Johnson chipped in 10 on 5-of-7 shooting.

  • MKE placed three players on All-League teams including Ahmad Rand being named the Defensive Player of the Year as he leads the Horizon League with 66 total blocks, an average of 2.1 per game that ranks him in the top-20 in the country. BJ Freeman was named to the All-League Second Team as he finished sixth in the League with 18.9 points per game in League play to go with 5.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists. Elijah Jamison was voted on the All-Freshman Team averaging 7.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game to end the regular season, shooting 47.4 percent from the floor and 48.1 percent from 3-point range.

  • The Panthers were tops during HL play in defensive field goal percentage and 3-point defensive field goal percentage as they rank third in the nation in blocks per game with 5.6. Offensively, Milwaukee is seventh in the country in bench points per game at 29.8.

  • There have been 39 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.
2023 BARBASOL HORIZON LEAGUE MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
DATE GAME RECAP
Tuesday, Feb. 28 No. 6 RMU 67, No. 11 IUPUI 64 Box Score
No. 7 Wright State 77, No. 10 Green Bay 57 Box Score
No. 8 Detroit Mercy 81, No. 9 Purdue Fort Wayne 68 Box Score
Thursday, March 2 No. 1 Youngstown State 71, No. 8 Detroit Mercy 66 Box Score
No. 2 Milwaukee 87, No. 7 Wright State 70 Box Score
No. 3 Cleveland State 75, No. 6 RMU 70 (OT) Box Score
No. 4 Northern Kentucky 81, No. 5 Oakland 74 Box Score
Monday, March 6 No. 4 Northern Kentucky 75, No. 1 Youngstown State 63 Box Score
No. 3 Cleveland State 93, No. 2 Milwaukee 80 Box Score
Tuesday, March 7 No. 4 Northern Kentucky 63, No. 3 Cleveland State 61 Box Score

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (all times ET)
Wednesday, March 15
Youngstown State vs. No. 1 Oklahoma State (NIT), 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

Thursday, March 16
No. 16 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 1 Houston (NCAA), 9:20 p.m. ET (TNT)

Sunday, March 19
No. 9 Cleveland State vs. No. 8 Eastern Kentucky (CBI), 11 a.m. ET (FloHoops)
No. 11 Milwaukee vs. No. 6 Stetson (CBI), 5:30 p.m. ET (FloHoops)