The first round of the Horizon League Championships is Tuesday with UIC hosting Wright State and Detroit welcoming Youngstown State. The format of the tournament has adapted a slightly different format as Milwaukee is illegible due to an academic violation.
This season, the Horizon League’s regular season champs (Valparaiso) hosts the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the tournament. The top two teams in the league (Valpo and Green Bay) receive byes to the semifinals. The league’s third and fourth best teams receive a bye to the quarterfinals. Teams seeded Nos. 5 and 6 (Detroit and UIC) host teams Nos. 7 and 8 (Wright State and Youngstown State).
Here is a team by team breakdown going into the tournament:
- Valparaiso (1)
Led by forward Alec Peters, the Crusaders finished off the regular season with a win at Cleveland State last Friday, clinching the Horizon League’s regular season title for the third time in four years. Valpo is the only Horizon League squad that holds opponents under 60 points per game. Valparaiso is by far the best rebounding team in the league with a margin of plus 7.7 per game. Valpo has three players that average over 10 points a game; Peters (16.8 PPG), Darien Walker (11.1) and Tevonn Walker (10.7).
- Green Bay (2)
Last year’s regular season champs should be hungry to redeem itself after losing in its tournament opener to rival Milwaukee on the Phoenix’s home court. Despite losing center Alec Brown, the Phoenix are every bit as good this season as last year. Green Bay is led by Keifer Sykes who is the league’s most dynamic player in recent seasons. Sykes was the league’s best scorer averaging 18.4 points a game. He will be making a nice living at the professional ranks next season. Sykes’ surrounding cast is pretty good too. Carrington Love and Greg Mays both average in double figures, and Jordan Fouse is one of the leading defenders and rebounders in the league.
- Oakland (3)
It might have been easy to overlook Oakland going into the conference play as the Golden Grizzlies had a 5-10 non-league record. But Oakland put itself in position to win the Horizon League title up until the league’s final weekend. If there is one player who could challenge Sykes, it is Kahlil Felder. Felder is leading the league in assists with 7.8 assists a game. He is also third in the league in scoring with 17.4 points a game. Oakland was the league’s most offensive team averaging 74.2 points a game. Felder has a great running mate in Corey Petros who is the league’s second-best rebounder.
- Cleveland State (4)
Had Cleveland State won last Friday versus Valpo, the Vikings would be the league’s regular season champions. One game made the difference from being the No. 1 seed and the league’s No. 4 seed. Needless to say, any team in the top four is capable of wining the tournament. Had Cleveland State kept Bryn Forbes, a guard who used a graduate transfer rule to go to Michigan State, the Vikings would have been the favorite to win the league. Without Forbes, the Vikings are one of the best defensive teams in the league. The Vikings held opponents to 61.6 points per game. Junior Trey Lewis led the Vikings with 16.9 point a game and is one of the best outside shooters in the league.
- Detroit (5)
The Titans had an impressive finish to the regular season defeating Valpo last week. Detroit played a tough non-conference schedule with three major conference teams on its schedule, not including playing top-10 Wichita State. The Titans are led by senior Juwan Howard Jr. who was second in the league in scoring with 17.8 points per game. Detroit is the best outside shooting team in the league as the Titans shoot 39.1 percent from beyond the arc. Detroit’s Paris Bass is a likely candidate to win Horizon League Freshman of the Year as he averaged 12.5 points a game.
- UIC (6)
After finishing in last place winning just one conference game last year, the Flames took a small step forward by hosting a Horizon League first round game. No one wants to be in a battle late with UIC as the Flames are the best free throw shooting team in the league. The Flames shot 73.3 percent from the line this year. Though UIC does well from the line, it does not do well from the field as the Flames shot 38.7 percent. UIC is led by senior Jay Harris who scored 14.7 per game this season. Paris Burns has been a nice addition to the Flames after transferring to the squad over the offseason. Burns averaged 10.4 points a game.
- Wright State (7)
Wright State has taken a step back this year after the Raiders went to back-to-back Horizon League finals. The Raiders have spent most of conference play without their leading scorer JT Yoho. Without Yoho, WSU struggled by losing 12 out of 13 games. This came after WSU started the season 8-3 with impressive wins over Belmont and Charleston Southern. Wright State is the worst rebounding team in the league with a minus-5.3 rebound margin. Though WSU has struggled this season, the Raiders were fourth in defensive scoring. In Yoho’s absence, freshman Grant Benzinger was WSU’s leading scorer with 9.1 points per game.
- Youngstown State (8)
At times, Youngstown State played the role of ‘Team You Don’t Want to Play in March.’ The Penguins led for much of their home game against second place Green Bay this season. YSU also nearly made an incredible comeback against Milwaukee Saturday to close out the season, only to fall short. Youngstown State is the second best scoring team in the league, but is last in scoring defense this season. Bobby Hain has given a solid season for YSU as he is in the top 10 in scoring and top five in rebounding. YSU Marcus Keene led the Penguins’ scoring attack at 15.5 points a game.
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History not a friend for Wright State
The Raiders are entering the Horizon League Championships as the No. 7 seed. Since the Horizon League changed its tournament format in 2003, the No. 7 seed has only advanced to the second round three times (3-9). Only once has a No. 7 seed advanced to the semifinals (2010). The No. 7 seed has not advanced to the league’s finals since the tournament’s reformat.
The No. 7 seed has never advanced to the championship game under any format.
Donlon in the HL Tourney
Since Billy Donlon took over as head coach of the Raiders in 2010, WSU is 5-4 in the Horizon League Championship.
Top seed is the favorite
Since the Horizon League started awarding the top two teams with double byes in 2003, the No. 1 seed has won the Horizon League Championship six times. Last year was the first time during that span the No. 1 seed did not advance to the finals. The No. 2 seed has won three times under the current format, but only once since 2005. While the Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 5 seed have won the tournament in the last 12 years, the No. 4 seed has not. The No. 4 seed has not played in a conference title game since 1998.
