#HLMBB Notebook – Semifinals

#HLMBB Notebook – Semifinals

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INDIANAPOLIS – The 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship shifts to Indianapolis and the Indiana Farmers Coliseum for Monday’s semifinals as the top-4 seeds, Youngstown State, Milwaukee, Cleveland State and Northern Kentucky look to advance to Tuesday’s championship game.

#HLMBB NEWS & NOTES

  • Youngstown State won its first regular-season conference championship in program history en route to becoming the No. 1 seed for the first time. The Penguins are the Horizon League’s highest ranked team in the NET with a 24-8 record, setting the school’s Division I regular-season wins mark and the program’s record with 15 conference wins.

  • Youngstown State will play in 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 (5th - 83.1), points per possession (6th - 1.133), field goal percentage (10th - 49.2), free throw percentage (13th - 77.6) and effective field goal percentage (16th – 55.8). 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.

  • Milwaukee is the No. 2 seed, its highest seed since the 2010-11 season, following a win in its regular season finale and earned 20 wins for the for the eighth time in the school’s Division I.

  • Milwaukee returns 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 fourth in the nation in blocks per game with 5.5. Offensively, Milwaukee is seventh in the country in bench points per game at 30.0.

  • Cleveland State finished tied for second in the standings at 14-6 and are 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 reaches 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.

  • 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).

  • 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.
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

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (all times ET)
Monday, March 6
No. 1 Youngstown State vs. No. 4 Northern Kentucky, 7 P.M. (ESPNU)
No. 2 Milwaukee vs. No. 3 Cleveland State, 9:30 P.M. (ESPN2)

Tuesday, March 7
Championship Game, 7 p.m. (ESPN or ESPN2)