Wright St

Horizon League First Round: Predictions & Poll

Greg Mengelt — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:37:22 -0500

The higher seed hosts Horizon League first round games. The top 2 seeds (Cleveland St & Valpo) have a bye.

#8 Wright State (13-18, 7-11) at #5 Butler (18-13, 11-7)

7 p.m. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 6 – Butler 63-62*; Feb. 2 – Butler 64-53. RPI: Butler 117; Wright State 212. Analysis: The Horizon doesn’t want to see Butler start rolling. Line: Butler -11. Pick: Butler 68, Wright State 49.

#10 Loyola (7-22, 1-17) at #3 Detroit (18-13, 11-7)

7 p.m. Regular-season meetings: Dec. 31 – Detroit 65-54*; Jan. 25 – Detroit 67-52. RPI: Detroit 148; Loyola 306. Analysis: The Titans have as much talent as anyone in the Horizon. They’ll play like it, at least for one round. Line: Detroit -14. Pick: Detroit 78, Loyola 53.

#7 Green Bay (15-14, 10-8) at #6 Youngstown State (15-10, 10-8)

7:05 p.m. Regular-season meetings: Jan. 22 – Youngstown 77-47; Feb. 14 – Green Bay 71-65. RPI: Youngstown 173, Green Bay 143. Analysis: The two teams have identical records, but the Penguins have the better team. Line: Youngstown State -2. Pick: Youngstown State 72, Green Bay 57.

#9 Illinois-Chicago (7-22, 1-17) at #4 Milwaukee (19-12, 11-7)

8 p.m. Regular-season meetings: Dec. 3 – Milwaukee 73-71 (OT); Feb. 23 – Milwaukee 72-61*. RPI: Milwaukee 119, Illinois-Chicago 296. Analysis: After losing 4 of 5 from Jan. 28-Feb. 12, the Panthers are rolling again with four straight wins. Line: Milwaukee -14. Pick: Milwaukee 75, Illinois-Chicago 54.

*Road win

Wednesday Preview: Cincinnati at Wright State

Raphielle Johnson — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:39:19 -0500

Thanks to the events of Saturday afternoon and their aftermath a dangerous road trip is now even tougher for Cincinnati (5-3), who will be shorthanded on their trip to Wright State (4-6). Yancy Gates, Cheikh Mbodj and Octavius Ellis are all suspended six games for their roles in Saturday's brawl at Xavier while Ge'Lawn Guyn sits one game, meaning that even with the Raiders having lost five of their last seven they've got every chance to defend their home floor successfully. So who steps up for the Bearcats? It will likely have to be three guards who have started all eight games thus far.

Cashmere Wright (8.6 ppg, 4.4 apg) runs the show while Dion Dixon (13.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and Sean Kilpatrick (14.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg) will be the likely primary options with the Bearcats lacking an interior game offensively. There is Justin Jackson, and athletic big man who can run the floor and block shots, but to expect him to pick up where Gates left off scoring-wise would be unrealistic. One would have to think that freshmen Jermaine Sanders and Kelvin Gaines, both of whom haven't played much to date, would get a chance early to prove that they can contribute and the return of JaQuon Parker means one more weapon on the perimeter.

As for the Raiders they've struggled mightily on the offensive end of the floor, shooting 36.9% from the field on the season. Billy Donlon's team averages the same number of possessions per game as Cincinnati (66) but they're averaging only 55.5 points per game, a number that ranks 333rd nationally. So with a leading scorer (guard Julius Mays) who averages just 10.2 points per game, how has Wright State found a way to win four games? Defense.

Wright State's allowing just 59.6 points per game and they make opponents battle for everything they get offensively, which could be an issue for Cincinnati given the personnel losses. Opponents turn the ball over on 25.4% of their possessions, and they're third in the Horizon League in points allowed per possession. The field goal percentage defense (42.5%) doesn't jump off the stat sheet as much as the number of turnovers they force per game (16.2), and with both teams averaging more turnovers than assists per game things could get sloppy in Dayton.

How will Cincinnati deal with the possible adversity that comes with being shorthanded on the road? We'll find out, but given losses to Presbyterian and Marshall already on the resume, Mick Cronin's team can't afford to drop this one. Losses in games like this one tend to come back to haunt teams in March. Also on the schedule Wednesday is a rare afternoon game with Iona visiting Richmond, and it will be interesting to see how much energy remains in the legs of Tim Cluess' Gaels. Iona hasn't played a home game all month, and even with the Spiders getting used to life without Kevin Anderson and Justin Harper there's still talent at Chris Mooney's disposal.

Tim Floyd's young UTEP squad heads west to take on a UNLV team that's dropped two of their last three games, and sophomore guard Mike Perez has emerged in recent games as a good scoring option for the Miners. Perez is averaging 18.5 points over the last two games, and with a squad that has five players averaging between seven and ten points per game UTEP needs someone to step up. Also of note is Tennessee visiting Charleston days after losing at home to Austin Peay, and Bobby Cremins' team will be a very tough test for Trae Golden and company. In fact Antwaine Wiggins and company should be expected to defend their home floor, so the Volunteers had better be ready from the moment they walk into the gym.

Top 25 Games
7:30 PM USC Upstate at (2) Ohio State (BTN)
8:00 PM Bethune-Cookman at (7) Baylor (ESPN3)

NCAA Division I Games
3:00 PM Iona at Richmond
7:00 PM Louisiana-Lafayette at Ole Miss (ESPN3)
7:00 PM Marietta at Ohio
7:00 PM Morgan State at UMBC
7:00 PM Long Island at Norfolk State
7:00 PM Princeton at Rider (Comcast)
7:00 PM Cincinnati at Wright State (ESPN2)
7:05 PM Charleston Southern at Citadel
7:30 PM FIU at Maryland (ESPN)
7:30 PM Towson at Coppin State
8:00 PM Louisiana College at Rice
8:00 PM Huston-Tillotson at Lamar
8:00 PM McNeese State at Louisiana Tech
8:05 PM Seattle at Arkansas State
8:05 PM Campbell at Houston Baptist
8:05 PM Chicago State at Wichita State
9:00 PM West New Mexico at New Mexico State (ESPN3)
9:00 PM Tennessee at Charleston (ESPN2)
9:00 PM DePaul at Northern Illinois
9:05 PM Denver at Northern Colorado (Altitude)
9:30 PM USF at Auburn (ESPN3)
10:00 PM Menlo College at Cal Poly
10:00 PM UC Santa Cruz at UC Riverside
10:00 PM UTEP at UNLV (The Mtn.)
10:30 PM Eastern Washington at UCLA

Jon Teitel's "Coaching Greats" Series: Former Wright State coach Ralph Underhill

Jon Teitel — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:41:51 -0400

In the latest installment in his "Coaching Greats" interview series CHN writer Jon Teitel spent some time with both former Wright State head coach Ralph Underhill and his long-time assistant Jim Brown (Underhill was dealing with some medical issues at the time of the original interview). In 18 seasons at the Dayton school, Coach Underhill won 356 games, a Division II national title and led the Raiders to an appearance in the 1993 NCAA Tournament.

Jon Teitel: Your team was known for pressing opponents for 40 minutes a game ("We were going to press them when they got off the bus"), running a structured fast break, and scoring up to 100 points per game. How did you develop that style, and why was it so successful?

Jim Brown: He was a high school coach in Kentucky, where he had some success with the press. My very successful high school coach John Ross and I started the program at Wright State from scratch in 1970 with no scholarships at first. I told Ralph that it might be hard to do a full-court press against good teams, but he was adamant about it. We played a game one year against D-I Miami (OH), and we did not really benefit from the press for the majority of the game (we were a D-II team back then). In the final 45 seconds we worked the press to perfection and our scoring margin went from six points down to up three, and that convinced me that it was a good idea after all. It became more difficult to press after we moved up to D-I, so we did it less often. The motion offense had become popular in the 1970s, so we went to Indiana and watched Bobby Knight coach it in practice, but after trying it out on a European trip we decided to scrap it.

Ralph Underhill: My high school coach liked the fast break, as did my college coach. John Wooden was also going pretty hot at that time, so I read some of his books and attended some of his clinics. A few other schools ran as well in those days (Kentucky, Cincinnati, etc.).

JT: In 1977 you won a D-II title as an assistant coach at UT Chattanooga. What did you learn from that experience as an assistant that helped you as a head coach in the future?

JB: I could tell right away that Ralph was a very confident person and knew that he could recruit. He said that we would end up winning a national title, and he was able to back it up. In 13 years we went from having no program to winning a title, which is amazing. Some people would call him flamboyant, but once you got to know him you could see that he is very down-to-earth. Dayton is a good location for basketball and we had a new gym, so that worked in our favor.

RU: I worked there for six years under Ron Shumate, who was an excellent coach. We should have won two titles in a row, as we were runner-up in 1976 to Puget Sound. Ron and I played under the same coach at Tennessee Tech (John Oldham), who liked my style of pressing. A lot of our kids were from Louisville because I had coached there in the past.

1983 Division II Tournament

JT: Anthony Bias made two free throws to clinch a two-point win over Kentucky Wesleyan. Did you think Bias was going to make those free throws, and did you have the sense that you were going all the way?

JB: Kentucky Wesleyan was a huge rival for us. Back in the day you kind of bought the right to host the regional games, but our gym could only seat 2,500, so we would often lose out to schools with bigger gyms. Our 1981 team was ranked #1 in the country the entire season, but we got upset in the first round of the regional because it was on the road, whereas we probably would have won if we could have hosted it. We played Kentucky Wesleyan earlier that season and came back from a double-digit deficit with three minutes left, which turned our entire season around. Anthony was the kind of guy who thrived on that type of pressure situation. We ran a pick and roll for Anthony, who passed it down low to our big guy for the game-winning shot, but the refs blew their whistles and spent almost 10 minutes figuring out what call to make. Coach Ross was on our sideline and told me that Anthony was going to make the shot...and he hit nothing but net.

RU: They kept calling timeouts to try to freeze Anthony, and then the officials had to stop the clock for some reason, so he just sat on the floor! As soon as they were finally ready, he stood up and knocked them both down.

JT: You beat defending national champion UDC to win the title by slowing down the pace of the game over the final 10 minutes. Why did you use the slow-down strategy, and what did it mean to you to win the title?

JB: That was a strange game. UDC was great, as they had a future first-round draft choice on their team (Earl Jones). Our plan was to play very conservatively, so we pressed a little just to bother them not to gamble. We had the lead at halftime despite being a tremendous underdog. When we increased our lead to almost 10 points midway through the second half, Ralph turned to me and said that he was going to slow down the offense, but I thought it was too early to start doing that. We called a timeout, spread the court, and the UDC coach absolutely panicked and started yelling at his guys to start fouling us. We made our free throws, and it ended up being a blowout.

RU: It was not necessarily a slow-down strategy: we just quit running. I told my assistant that we were going to pull the cork on this, so we started running an offense called "Octopus" that just let us work the ball around the perimeter and take our time. Gary Monroe hit a ton of free throws in the second half. Everybody expected UDC to win, but our press bothered them a lot in the first half. Jim said it might be too early to start pressing, but I told him to try it and we would just see what happened.

JT: It was rumored that you had one of the highest budgets of any D-II school in the country, and you brought in guys from all over the country (whereas most other teams had predominantly local kids). How big was your budget, and how big an advantage was your ability to recruit nationally?

JB: I do not know how our budget compared with other programs, but we had a good budget. We were in a really good basketball location, so we sold out our gym for a lot of our games and won a lot of our games. We decided to go after carefully selected JC players. One advantage of D-II is that while the kids have to get a minimum number of credits, they do not have to graduate. Our best player on the 1983 team was tourney MOP Gary Monroe, who was a JC transfer who was unsure if he could graduate on time. Anthony was also a JC transfer, but he was a really good student. We never had a football team at Wright State, so spending money on recruiting or bringing in teams to play at our place was never something we had to worry about. Ralph was an unbelievable scheduler because he was so personable and had a lot of friends.

RU: When I got there they only had about 200 people attending games, but we later ended up getting over 2,000 people at our games. I do not think our budget was that much bigger: we just worked harder than everyone else. As a former high school coach, I had a lot of contacts that came in handy. We later recruited internationally to get guys like Vitaly Potapenko. I would also attend AAU tournaments in the summer in Las Vegas that featured 200-300 teams, but our basic area was Louisville and Lexington. We had great assistants (not just good ones) and our summer basketball camps were fantastic, which was good because I made more money from those than I did from my coaching salary!

JT: You played a series of games against European teams in 1984 (long before such collegiate off-season trips became common) where you befriended Vladimir Heger, the coach for the Czech national team who eventually helped you recruit Potapenko. What was the best part of the European trip, and where does Potapenko rank among the best players you ever coached?

JB: Ralph wanted to take a team to Europe, and had a good friend named George Spencer who brought foreign teams to the US for exhibition games. We raised $17,000 and had a phenomenal 24-day trip. The friendship with Vladimir just started by us mailing him some Street & Smith NBA yearbooks, and Vladimir told us that there were players in Europe who we could get. The first guy we ever signed was Mike Nahar from Holland. Vladimir sent us a fax about Vitaly, but when I called Vitaly's house a couple of times his mother answered the phone and did not speak any English, so I would just hang up. I looked around our campus to see if I could find anyone who spoke Russian, and after I failed I was able to find a woman at Dayton who said she could speak Russian and would be happy to help us make the call. Ralph took a red-eye flight to Kiev, and when he showed up at Vitaly's house, his dad brought out some vodka to welcome him. We went to the Dayton airport to go pick up Vitaly, and I saw a huge guy who I thought might have been an NBA player: it turned out to be him. He is by far the best player I ever coached, and he was also the hardest worker we had. I do not know if I would let my own kids go 5,000 miles away to a foreign country to play basketball, but he was obsessed with making it to the NBA. Last year he got hired as an assistant coach for the Pacers. If he was American, he would have been recruited by a big-time school like North Carolina or Kentucky, but back then we had no competition for him.

RU: In terms of big men, he has to be right at the top, but we had some great guards who also got drafted into the NBA. It was fun to just bond with the team, as there was no pressure to win the games. We would always beat the European teams when they played us in the US, but we would occasionally get spanked when we played in Europe because they would play at full-strength with a bunch of their all-stars.

JT: In 1991 your program went from an Independent to the MCC. How did you feel about the switch, and what was the biggest difference?

JB: We were kind of forced into it because we made the move to D-I. It was the right move, but the problem was that even though we had the talent we did not have all the necessary resources to compete with the other big schools in our neighborhood like Dayton and Xavier (who had secretaries, strength coaches, etc.). Ralph did not even have a contract for part of that time. Our AD might have just been spoiled by our success.

RU: We had played a lot of MCC teams while we were an Independent, so that was not a huge change for us. It helped us because we were able to schedule a lot of good non-conference games.

JT: What are your memories of the 1993 NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis (Calbert Cheaney had 29 points in 21 minutes in the Indiana victory)?

JB: That was a funny game. We went over to practice the night before the game, and took the court right after the Hoosiers practiced while there were well over 30,000 people who were still there. The score was not indicative of the game because we cleared our bench with 5 minutes left and Indiana made a run. It was a tremendous experience for our program and rewarding for our kids.

RU: Our star player Bill Edwards shot 6-23 FG that night, so that hurt us a bit. We were doing okay in the first half, but in the second half their subs beat the hell out of our subs. Our kids were not afraid of them, as we had played other big-time teams like Ohio State and Kentucky. Indiana was playing loosey-goosey because they had a huge home-court advantage.

JT: You allegedly came close to signing Dirk Nowitzki (who was scheduled to travel from Germany to visit Wright State with his family), but in 1996 you were fired after getting caught leaving a store with several bottles of vitamins in your pockets. How good would Nowitzki have been in the NCAA, and how did you feel about getting fired?

JB: Ralph called me from Europe and told me that he had just seen "the next Larry Bird". I had a couple of phone conversations with Dirk and he was very cordial, but just did not want to leave Germany. I remember watching the 1998 NBA draft, and when they announced Dirk's name I sat straight up in my chair and called Ralph to tell him. Milwaukee actually drafted Dirk, but when they were unable to sign him they ended up trading his rights to Dallas. Another time I got a call from an agent who wanted to find a school for Zydrunas Ilgauskas, as we were one of the few schools in the US that already had a Russian player on our roster. We started the paperwork, but Zydrunas broke his foot over the summer and never ended up coming to Wright State. We hired a new president, and when he heard that Ralph had gotten a DUI he tried to get rid of him so that he could hire a new coach. Ralph had just finished a preseason press conference and went to the store to get some supplements and other medicine. He purchased a few different things, and put some of them in his pocket and forgot to pay for them. From what I know of him, he would never knowingly steal anything.

In my opinion, Ralph got some bad advice from an attorney who told him not to talk to anyone. It gave the president a last straw to fire him, although Ralph ended up getting acquitted and settling with the store. I was named the replacement head coach, but did not have a great relationship with the AD, had an impossible schedule, and lost Vitaly to the draft, so we started three freshmen and won seven games during a miserable season. It was a terrible way for his career to end, but his positive attitude is the single most important reason why the program has reached such great heights today. We started out as the stepchild for Dayton and Miami (OH). Ralph had chances to leave before that, but never left and took them to a national level.

RU: We came a hair's breadth away from signing Dirk, as Coach Ben Braun was the only other guy recruiting him at that time. As soon as Germany moved Dirk up to the national team at age 18, that is when some of the bigger schools in the US started to take note. I think that if I had Vitaly and Zydrunas then I would have also gotten Dirk, but he decided to go pro instead. I backed my players so strongly over my 18 years there. I was never convicted of the crime. It was a hung jury. They hired someone to replace me on the same day they told me that I was innocent. It is something that I never like to look back on, as I was set up by a couple of security guards. The room they took me into had a sign that said cameras were always watching you, but the cameras did not work. I try not to have sour grapes about it. I have never had anything like that happen before or after, and I was upset that the new university president did not back me. I knew all the recruiting rules, and I never got in any trouble for recruiting.

JT: In 1999 a basketball club in Zagreb contacted you looking for an American coach to work with the staff of its youth teams, so you moved to Croatia and helped the boys' team win the Croatian club championship. Why did you decide to take the job, and is that the ultimate sign of a great coach?

JB: That all happened due to the relationships he developed when first recruiting Vitaly. They wanted him to keep coming back to Croatia, but he wanted to be with his daughters back in the US.

RU: I was friends with some of the Croatian coaches who had come to the US before to play. George Spencer convinced me to go, as he was a good friend of mine. They wanted me to show their guys how to implement a press, and their kids just took to it like ducks to water. A lot of those kids are now playing on senior teams in Croatia, and one went to Spain to play for $1 million. All the kids understood English and really loved America.

JT: Last spring you had your left leg amputated at mid-calf due to complications from diabetes. How is your recovery going so far?

JB: I talked with him after he first got home from the hospital. He goes to dialysis three times a week. Now that he spends his days in the wheelchair, he says he has gained a great appreciation for the obstacles that disabled people have to overcome. He has to wait for the amputation to heal before he can get a prosthetic leg, and he is still waiting to find a kidney donor.

RU: I slipped in the bathroom two winters ago and cut the bottom of my foot, but did not realize how bad it was at the time. They amputated my little toe to start, then the rest of my toes, then decided to cut off my leg at the calf. I spent 3½ months in the hospital, but I am now back at home. Once I am fully-healed, I will be able to get a prosthetic leg and then get a new kidney.

Coach Underhill is also on Jon's list of best coaches in Horizon League history.

Butler: Tony Hinkle (1926-1970) 558-394, 1 NCAA tourney, 3 conference titles
Cleveland State: Kevin Mackey (1983-1990) 142-69, 1 NCAA tourney, 2 conference titles, 2-time conference COY
Detroit: Bob Calihan (1948-1969) 306-237, 1 NCAA tourney
Green Bay: Dick Bennett (1985-1995) 187-109, 3 NCAA tourneys, 2 conference titles, 2-time conference COY
Illinois-Chicago: Jimmy Collins (1996-2010) 218-208, 3 NCAA tourneys, 1 conference title, 1-time conference COY
Loyola Chicago: George Ireland (1951-1975) 318-255, 4 NCAA tourneys, 2 conference titles, 1 NCAA title
Valparaiso: Homer Drew (1988-2002, 2003-2011) 356-288, 7 NCAA tourneys, 8 conference titles, 4-time conference COY
Milwaukee: Rob Jeter (2005-present) 101-89, 1 NCAA tourney, 2 conference titles, 1-time conference COY
Wright State: Ralph Underhill (1978-1996) 356-162, 1 NCAA tourney, 1 conference title, 1 D-2 title, 1-time national COY
Youngstown State: Mike Rice, Sr. (1982-1987) 75-67

#119 Wright St: 2010-11 Basketball Preview

Joel Welser — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:21:37 -0400

Overall Rank: #119

Conference Rank: #3 Horizon League

2009-10: 20-12, 12-6

2009-10 postseason: none

Coach: Billy Donlon (First year at Wright State, 0-0 overall)

After leading Wright State to four straight 20 win seasons, Coach Brad Brownell left for Clemson. The Raiders should not feel too much of an effect though since new coach Billy Donlon has been preparing for this moment while assisting Coach Brownell for quite some time. The bigger issue is replacing most of the frontcourt.

Key Losses: G Todd Brown, F Cory Cooperwood, F Scott Grote, F Ronnie Thomas

Key Newcomers:

The Raiders picked up a much needed experienced big body in Johan Mpondo. The transfer from New Orleans is eligible immediately and was a part-time starter last year. He could immediately step into a starting role with the absence of Cory Cooperwood, Scott Grote and Ronnie Thomas. Wright State will also give incoming freshmen Cole Darling and A.J. Pacher a long look for quality minutes. Darling is expected to be the better player right away, but Pacher has more size if Coach Donlon needs a bigger body to clog the lane. Guards Kegan Clark and Matt Vest will have far less pressure on them to perform, but it would be nice if at least one of them could turn into a productive player off the bench.

Backcourt:

WSU lost a lot of talent, but they return three superb players on the perimeter. Vaughn Duggins has been a star in the Horizon League for quite some time and his senior season should be a fun one to watch. Duggins led the team with 14.2 points per game last season and added 2.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals. Like Duggins, N’Gai Evans is a quality ballhandler and defender. With Evans on the floor, Duggins can work off the ball more often and that will free him up to hit the long ball. Speaking of the long ball, Troy Tabler was the sixth man last year and was the most efficient and effective three-point shooter on the team. For now he will likely crack the starting lineup, but if the Raiders can find somebody else to play on the wing, Tabler will have another great year shooting off the bench. The only other guard with any experience is Darian Cartharn. He never got much of an opportunity to show his stuff as a freshman, but that will change this year.

Frontcourt:

We have been here before. Wright State has rarely had a dominating presence in the paint, but they continue to win games. This year will pretty much be the same. The pickup of Mpondo gives them a player with experience at this level and that will help immensely, but Cooper Land is not a bad player to work with in this system either. Land is an experienced senior and should be penciled in as the starter at the power forward spot. He is not much of a scorer, but he has not been asked to do much either. Land does have the talent to put up numbers similar to what Cooperwood did last season.

Who to Watch:

The departure of Paul Darkwa puts even more pressure on the newcomers in the frontcourt. Darkwa only averaged five minutes per game during his freshman campaign, but he could have been a starter on this team if he developed as much as most hoped. Instead, Mpondo, Darling and Pacher will have to provide a starter at the five spot and the bench minutes at both forward positions.

Final Projection:

A new coach and not much of a frontcourt will keep Wright State’s expectations relatively low heading into the 2010-2011 campaign. And while there will certainly be growing pains, this team does not look too much different than Raider teams of the past. As long as Land and the newcomers can grab some rebounds and play some defense, the extremely talented backcourt will lead Wright State to another 20 win season and put them in the mix for a trip to the CBI or CIT.

Projected Post-season Tournament: CBI/CIT

Projected Starting Five:

Vaughn Duggins, Senior, Guard, 14.2 ppg

N’Gai Evans, Senior, Guard, 9.5 ppg

Troy Tabler, Senior, Guard, 8.9 ppg

Cooper Land, Senior, Forward, 5.5 ppg

Johan Mpondo, Junior, Forward, DNP last season

Next Top 144 Teams
121		122		123		124		..All

College Basketball Preview - 144 Teams in 144 Days - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews

Butler Dominates Horizon League Title Game

Bill Kintner — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:20:15 -0500

INDIANAPOLIS – Here is the key to this game: 66.7percent, 61.5 percent and 100 percent.

Those are Butler’s first half numbers from the field (14-21), from beyond the 3-point line (8-13) and from the foul line (6-6) in their 70-45 victory over Wright State in the Horizon League Championship Game.

Butler’s Shelvin Mack hit a 3-pointer at the 18:56 mark to put Butler up 3-0 and the Bulldogs never trailed in the game.

A 3-pointer by N’gai Evans for Wright State pulled the Raiders within one at 6-5 with 17:18 left in the first half but after that Butler (28-4) just kept building their lead.

The Bulldogs hit double figures for good at the 4:26 mark when Ronald Nored made two fouls shots to make it 32-21 after being fouled by Ronnie Thomas.

By halftime it was 42-28 and that 14 point spread was a close as Wright State (20-12) would get the rest of the game.

Wright State went to a zone early in an attempt to stop Butler from cutting and driving the lane as they did in the prior game they played, however that opened up the outside and Butler lit it up from 3-point land. Mack was 4-6 and Butler’s Zach Hahn went 2-2, Nored went 1-1 and Willie Veasley went 1-2.

“We’re a little thin inside with some injuries and we were hoping we might slow his (Howard) game down and force Butler to make some outside shots. The last time we played, we opened up too many driving lanes and they go to the basket and finished,” explained Wright State coach Brad Brownell. “Tonight they made threes. When they see the ball go in early like that, then you know it’s going to be tough.”

Butler coach Brad Stevens thought that the hot start his team had coupled with some shots Wright State missed set the stage for his team’s runaway.

“When one team shoots it great and the other team misses a few sometimes you feel a lot better. That was the case tonight. I thought our perimeter defense was really good in the first 30 minutes and then they missed a few they usually make, coupled together you have the final score.”

In the second half Butler just kept expanding their lead until it hit 30 points at the 2:39 mark. When Butler and Wright State empties the bench, the Raiders closed the gap back down to 25 points.

Butler’s three victories of the year may have been their three best played games this year. Stevens said it came down to respect for Wright State that drives them to prepare so well for playing the Raiders.

He said, “It begins with a great deal of respect for their program. Our staff and players have a great deal of respect for their staff. Brad (Brownell) and their players are really good. Every time we play them we better bring our “A” game or we’re going to get beat, we know that.”

Wright State guard Vaughn Duggins thought that Butler was well prepared and that was key to their dominating win, along with his Raiders missing shots.

“Butler was well prepared. They obviously scouted our motion offense and some of our tendencies we have,” he explained. “They were on us like glue and they’re hard to shake free. The times we were able to shake free and get shots, we didn’t make them and that’s the more frustrating part, when you get open and can’t knock down a shot.”

One play that stand out late in the game was at the about the 9:38 mark and Butler leading by 25 points at 59-34, Howard dove into the front row of seats to save the ball which was grabbed by Shawn Vanzant and passed to Veasley for a layup.

Stevens pointed that play out as an important indicator of how hard Butler plays no matter what the score.

“That play will be shown for the next 20 years and the teaching point is that we’re up 20 points and he plays the right way to win the possession. I think that speaks to who he is, but it also peaks to who we all want to be everyday.”

Quote of the night:
“I apologize that we didn’t play better. We’re a better team than we showed tonight, but certainly Butler was playing at a high level.” Brad Brownell

Notes:
- Butler is 43-3 in Hinkle Fieldhouse under coach Brad Stevens.

- This is the 5th straight year for Butler and 4th straight year for Wright State that they have achieved 20 wins.

- Butler is ranked #12 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today “Top 25.” They have been ranked each year since 2006-07.

- Former college coach Pete Gillen got here early tonight and held court at the scorer’s desk about 90 minutes before game time. It seemed like almost everyone stopped by to talk with him. He is doing the game for Westwood One Radio Network.

- Brad Brownell is 15-4 all-time in conference tournament games and 5-2 at Wright State.

- The Butler ROTC color guard had four big guys that looked like they could actually defend the country as opposed to a bunch of puny guys and little girls that you see at a lot of schools.

- Wright State had a large crowd there of well over 1000 people.

- Wright State’s three worst losses were to Butler, 12 points, 12 points and 25 points.

HL Semifinals Review: Butler & Wright St Advance

Bill Kintner — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:28:13 -0500

Wright St 69 - Detroit 50

INDIANAPOLIS – When a team makes nine 3-pointers in the first half, that generally means they are in a great position to win the game. Then when they hold that team to just 18 points in the first half, that usually points to a win.

Well Wright State did all that and rolled over Detroit 69-50 in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship.

Led by 6’ 9” center Ronnie Thomas’ four 3-pointer in four tries, the Raiders led 39-18 at the half. The Titans shot just 38.1 percent (8-21) including 1-6 from 3-point land.

Wright State (20-11) didn’t set out in their game plan to set Thomas up to shoot 3-pointers, that is just what the Detroit defense allowed the Raiders to do.

Detroit coach Ray McCallum’s game plan included packing it in around the basket to stop the easy shots, which opened things up for Raiders on the outside where they were 9-14 (52.2 percent).

“We knew they were an excellent 3-point shooting team, but we wanted to take away layups. We didn’t guard the three with our capability,” explained McCallum. “We knew the shooters, we had them identified. It was a quick turn around for our guys, we weren’t able to play Detroit basketball today. “

On the flip side Wright State coach Brad Brownell didn’t draw up any plays to get Thomas shots.

He said, “We didn’t try to have him be our game plan, but Ronnie has shot shots, and had some games where he made more than others. It’s not like we told Ronnie not to shoot. Most teams guard him out there a little differently, and if you leave him open, he’s going to make some shots.”

The game started off just fine for Detroit (20-14) when Thomas Kennedy hit a jumper to put them 2-0. By the 17:26 mark Kennedy hit a 3-pointer to put the Titans up by four at 7-3. That was the biggest lead they would enjoy in the game.

Ronnie Thomas hit a 3-pointer at the 16:32 mark to get the Raiders within one at 7-6 and then Troy Tabler hit a 3-pointer to put Wright State up for good at 9-7.

Wright State got the lead up to 23 points at 36-13 with 3:03 to go in the first half. When the teams headed to the locker room Wright State led 39-18.

In the second half Wright State expanded its lead to 25 three times, the last coming at the 6:06 mark when Scott Grote made a jumper to make the score 63-38. After that Detroit went on a small 13-6 run to close the final point gap to 19 points.

Tabler with 16 points in the game felt that his team used the week off to their advantage which helped them win tonight.

“It helped getting a week with no games, so we can focus our self in practice rather than focus on a game. This week we were able to get better as a team.”

Thomas led all scorers with 18 points, Eli Homan led Detroit with 12 points.

Butler 68 - Milwaukee 59

For Butler it came down to getting stops on defense which finally caused Milwaukee to fall in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship 68-59.

Down by one at the half 29-28, Butler came out and took the lead when Matt Howard made a jump shot at the 19:22 mark. Milwaukee’s Anthony Hill made a layup to put the Panthers ahead at 31-30.

Another Jumper by Howard at the 18:41 mark put Butler ahead 32-31 and they never trailed again in the game.

When Butler’s Shelvin Mack made a layup with 11:56 left it stretched the Bulldog’s lead to nine 44-35.

But Milwaukee (20-14) wasn’t giving up. By the time Ricky Franklin hit a 3-pointer with 6:22 left, the Panthers were within a point at 50-49.

As the Butler fans got a little anxious, Butler coach Brad Stevens had faith in his players, so rather than call a time out he let them play.

A couple free throws by Howard, a lay up by Ronald Nored, then a free throw to complete the 3-point play after a foul by Milwaukee’s Ja’Rob McCallum at the 5:20 mark and Butler had some breathing room with a 55-49 lead.

Over the last five minutes Butler (27-4) worked its lead up to double digits, then as time ran tout Milwaukee’s Burleigh Porte hit a jumper to give Butler the nine point win. “It was a tough game, they are a very physical team. I give those guys a lot of credit, third game in five days,” said Stevens. “I thought they played with outstanding effort and they didn’t get tired.”

Hill led Detroit with 15 points.

Matt Howard led all scorers with 18 points and 13 of those came in the second half.

“They were giving me the ball in good spots. I was trying to attack and get the ball up on the rim, it was working today,” explained Howard.

Butler’s Gordon Hayward had 10 points and 13 rebounds.

That tough Butler defense had Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter saying that Butler was able to play their style, while forcing his team out of how they wanted to play and that was a big factor in his team’s loss.

“We got to this point by playing a certain style, and it was too bad we didn’t get a chance to finish that style out.”

Notes:

- Detroit is the first team to post two upsets (by seed) in the tournament since Titans did it in 1996.

- Former Wright State great Mike Grote and his brother former Michigan State player Steve Grote were in attendance tonight, along with Bog Grote, a former Raider great and father of Wright player Scott Grote. Mike Grote played on the Raiders’ national championship team. Those three are some very knowledgeable fans.

- Not to be out done by the Grote boys, Mike Nienabor, coach at Christian Brothers University, Kirk Nienabor, the all-time assists leader at Bethel University when he graduated and Mike Price, the coach of Cincinnati Oak Hills High School were also on hand for the game.

- Milwaukee made their first appearance in the semifinals since they won the 2006 championship.

- With Wright State’s win tonight the Horizon League has five 20-win teams for the first time in conference history. Only five other leagues have as many 20-game teams this season. The Big East (8), Big 12 (7), SEC (6), ACC (5) and Atlantic 10 (5). All those conferences have more teams than the Horizon League.

Finals Notes

- Wright State and Butler play Tuesday night at 9 p.m. on ESPN.

- Butler’s 20 game winning streak is the longest in the country.

- Butler won their fourth straight league title this season and is hosting the tournament for the third straight year.

- Butler is 13-0 at home and 42-3 in the last three years.

- Butler leads the all-time series with Milwaukee 30-10.

- Butler is in the Horizon League Championship game for the fifth year in a row, but lost three of the last four finals, including in 2007 against Wright State. In the HL/MCC only Xavier had a longer run of final game appearances.

- Wright State was in the Horizon League semifinal game for third time in the last four years.

- Wright State’ s baseball team yesterday beat the number one ranked team in the country, University of Virginia 2-1.

- Wright State fans outnumbered Detroit fans about 10 to 1. There were almost 1000 Raider fans in attendance.

- Wright State has reached the 20-win mark for the fourth year in a row under coach Brad Brownell.

A Night in the Horizon League: #18 Butler vs Wright St

Bill Kintner — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:47:54 -0500

INDIANAPOLIS -- It is Saturday night in the Horizon League, the crowd is big, ESPN2 is televising the game and the first and second place teams are playing.

For a college basketball fan it doesn’t get much better than this and watching this all happen in historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, almost guarantees a good night for all the 8528 fans that came out to enjoy the action.

They got quite a show as Butler shot an incredible 67.5 percent (27-40) for the game to beat Wright State 74-62.
It started out like most fans would expect a game between these two teams as Matt Howard scored the first basket on a jumper at the 18:14 mark. Then they started trading baskets with the Raiders leading by as many as three points and Butler leading by as many as four points.

This went on for the first 18:45. Then a layup by Butler’s Willie Veasely, followed by a jumper by Zack Hahn and jumper by Shelvin Mack and the Bulldogs jumped out in front by six points at 35-29 going into the locker room at halftime. There were nine ties and 10 lead changes in the first half.

That was as close as Wright State (15-9, 8-5 HL) would get the rest of the game.

Coming out in the second half Butler went on a 10-2 run and the Raiders would never get closer than 10 points rest of the game.

What was most amazing was Veasley going 9-9 from the field to lead all scorers with 19 points.

“It’s a first for me to be perfect from the field,” explained Veasley after the game. “My teammates found me when I was around the basket, so that is why I hit a high percentage.”

It wasn’t like Wright State couldn’t shoot, they shot a solid 46.9 percent (23-49) from the field.

Wright State coach Brad Brownell thought his team played well for the first 18 minutes of the game, but gave credit to Butler for overwhelming the Raiders.

“I think we played well the first 18 minutes and then got out-played the last two minutes of the first half,” said Brownell. “You can’t spot Butler that many points and expect to win. They are a very good team. They are 20-4 and have won all their league game.”

Wright State changed defenses several times and Butler ((20-4, 13-0 HL) it didn’t slow the Bulldogs down. Wright State tried pressing and it didn’t slow Butler down.

Wright State had a good crowd that came over from Dayton for the game and they were loud in the first half as the game went back in forth, but during the second half Butler’s offensive display took got them to sit back down, as they found they didn’t have much to cheer about.
Butler man-handled the Raiders under the basket too, out-rebounding them 25-16.

One bright spot for the Raiders was Vaughn Duggins, an Indiana boy that scored 18 points during the game and earned every one of them as several Butler defenders smoother him all game. Somehow he managed to wiggle free and make six baskets on 11 attempts.

Butler coach Brad Stevens thought they would have to play their best to beat Wright State, he probably didn’t think that would include shooting close to 70 percent for the game.
Stevens thought the tough schedule they played in December helped them get to the point where they are now, having won 12 games in a row.

“We are better than we were early on this season. We were tested by our tough schedule and it allowed us to assess where we were as a team,” he said.

The game ended with Butler dribbling out the clock for the last 20 seconds of the game. The players shook hands and the Bulldogs briskly walked off the court with their win as they are accustomed to doing.

The Butler pep band kept playing after the game, the fans cheered a little more before they bundled up to head out into the snow to head home. A few fans stayed around so their children could go out onto the court and shoot a few baskets, a long time tradition at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Just another night in the Horizon League.

America East

Horizon League Preview: 2009-10

CHN — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:44:39 -0500

Butler, with legitimate Elite Eight aspirations, should be the dominant force in the Horizon. An infusion of Juco talent and returning injured players should help the quality of play throughout the league.

Conference Rank: 12th

10 year average: 15th

Conference Page

All-Horizon Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Shelvin Mack	Butler	So
G	Norris Cole	Cleveland St	Jr
G	Vaughn Duggins	Wright St	Jr
G/F	Gordon Hayward	Butler	So
F	Matt Howard	Butler	Jr

Player of the Year - Gordon Hayward Freshman of the Year - Seth Evans (Green Bay)
CHN Award Winners		Leaders
CHN All-Americans Gordon Hayward Mid-Major All-Americans Gordon Hayward (1st Team) Matt Howard (1st)		Best Scorer: Gordon Hayward Best Rebounder: Matt Howard Best Passer: Spencer Stewart

Horizon League Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

11	Butler	Horizon	1	NCAA
57	Wright State	Horizon	2	NIT
87	UWM	Horizon	3	CBI/CIT
111	Green Bay	Horizon	4	CBI/CIT
152	Cleveland St	Horizon	5
177	Valparaiso	Horizon	6
200	Illinois Chicago	Horizon	7
231	Detroit	Horizon	8
281	Youngstown St	Horizon	9
310	Loyola Ill	Horizon	10

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Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the HL?

College Basketball Preview - 348 Team Ranking - Alphabetical Ranks/Previews

Poll: Who Will Win the Horizon League?

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:04:33 -0400

Wright State Basketball Preview: #57

Joel Welser — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:24:43 -0400

Overall Rank: #57

Conference Rank: #2 Horizon League

2008-09: 20-13, 12-6

2008-09 postseason: none

Coach: Brad Brownell (63-33 at Wright State, 147-73 overall)

Wright State lost their superstar Vaughn Duggins four games into the season. Despite that major setback, the Raiders still won 20 games and managed to compete in a tough Horizon League. Now Duggins is back, as is nearly everybody else, and Wright State should have the year they were hoping to have in 2008-2009 in 2009-2010.

Key Losses: G William Graham, F Gavin Horne

Key Newcomers:

With the return of Duggins, Coach Brad Brownell does not need help from his three incoming freshmen this year. This class is more about the future, but the future is looking pretty good with Tyler Koch and Darian Cartharn coming into the backcourt. Koch is a wing with good size who can score in bunches and hit the glass. Cartharn could see some minutes this year as a backup point guard, but it might be tough to find minutes in an already crowded backcourt. Forward Paul Darkwa has the most experience after spending eight years in the Navy. The 26 year old is a good athlete and should emerge as a quality player after a year or two in the system.

Backcourt:

It was Todd Brown who really stepped up his game when Duggins went out. Brown ended the year averaging 11.7 points per game and turned into a great outside shooting threat. He even ranked second on the team in rebounding and with him and Duggins on the wings, the Raiders are in great shape. Add N’Gai Evans and Troy Tabler to the mix and Wright State has plenty of options on the perimeter. Yet, it is John David Gardner who is the unsung hero. The 6-4 senior missed part of the season with a hip injury, but he was the leader of the team on the floor, dishing out 3.1 assists per game.

Frontcourt:

The frontcourt lacks the scoring punch of the perimeter, but Cory Cooperwood has emerged as a consistent scorer under the basket. A season ago he tallied 9.5 points and a team high 5.4 rebounds and his senior season should be his best yet. Ronnie Thomas is back to start by Cooperwood’s side. Thomas is not much of a scorer, but he will do the dirty work around the basket and help out on the glass. However, the team will rely on Scott Grote and Cooper Land to help out Thomas and give Cooperwood a break when he needs a rest or runs into foul trouble.

Who to Watch:

Two years ago Duggins led the Raiders with 13.8 points and connected on nearly 40 percent of his attempts from long range. He even dished out 2.7 assists and averaged one steal per contest. Losing him unexpectedly was a huge blow to a team that had NCAA aspirations, but now that he is back, the Raiders hope to live up to those lofty expectations.

Final Projection:

If anybody is going to give Butler a run for their money, it should be Wright State. Coach Brownell has done a great job with the Raiders during his three years with the team and his fourth year could be his best yet. This group might not be able to beat out Butler, but they could hang around the bubble if they can win some big non-conference games in November and December.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

Projected Starting Five:

John David Gardner, Senior, Guard, 8.7 points per game

Vaughn Duggins, Junior, Guard, 11.8 points per game

Todd Brown, Senior, Guard, 11.7 points per game

Ronnie Thomas, Senior, Forward, 3.9 points per game

Cory Cooperwood, Senior, Forward, 9.5 points per game

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