+4
Ball State and IPFW continue to be among the biggest surprises in the state.
Notre Dame is getting used to upsetting Top 10 teams at home. For the second straight week the Fighting Irish knocked off a highly rated Big East foe, this time it was #9 Connecticut who fell 73-70.
Ben Hansbrough had 21 for the Fighting Irish while Tim Abromatis had 19 as Notre Dame held Kemba Walker to 8 of 23 shooting. After Tyrone Nash gave Notre Dame the lead early at 4-3 the Irish never looked back.
Nash finished with 11 points while Scott Martin had 13 to keep Notre Dame’s scoring balanced.
Cleveland State was the last Horizon League team to defeat Butler, doing so at Hinkle Fieldhouse in the championship game of the 2009 Horizon League Tournament. 22 games later, butler’s dominance of the league is over.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who came in at 7-8 overall and 2-2 in league play, trounced the Bulldogs Monday night in Milwaukee 76-52. The Panthers placed four players in double figures led by 22 from Anthony Hill and 20 from Tony Meier.
Butler was never really in this one, falling behind 7-0 early and trailing 37-29 at the half. The Panthers poured it on in the second half, hitting 55% from the field. Wisconsin-Milwaukee also owned a 34-21 advantage on the boards
After winning 22 straight games against Horizon league competition, it appears the Butler Bulldogs will finally be handed a loss in league play. Wisconsin-Milwaukee leads Butler 70-46 with 4:30 left in Milwaukee. Butler has shot just 37% from the field while the Panthers have hit on 55% of their field goal attempts. Wisconsin-Milwaukee (7-8, 2-2) has also outrebounded the Bulldogs by 10.
Both Notre Dame and Butler made strides last week towards returning to the NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Irish dominated Georgetown at home to help stake their claim to a top four seed. Butler held serve at home against Valparaiso to set themselves up as the dominant team in the Horizon League once again. Their 76-59 win over the Crusaders moved them to 2-0 in conference play, and it was their 22nd straight against Horizon League Competition. The Bulldogs still trail Cleveland State, who is already 4-0 in the league, but they will have their say when the Vikings come to town on Friday.
Here is a look at the schedule for each state team this week.
Butler
The Bulldogs travel to Wisconsin-Milwaukee tonight (8-7, 2-2), but their biggest game is on Friday against Cleveland State. The Vikings are 15-1 overall and 4-0 in the Horizon League. Their lone loss was an 11 point defeat at West Virginia, and with a win at Hinkle Fieldhouse they can take full control of the conference. Butler has probably done enough to be in the at large discussion if they win the regular season title, but Cleveland State lacks a quality win. A victory over Butler would have them in the at large discussion as well.
If Butler prevails as expected tonight they will enter Friday's game on a seven game winning streak.
Notre Dame
The Big East schedule doesn't get any easier as the Irish face their third straight top 10 foe when Connecticut visits South Bend on Tuesday. Notre Dame continues to get balanced contributions from Tim Abromatis, Ben Hansbrough, Scott Martin, and Carleton Scott. The quartet is each averaging in double figures, but they now must face one of the nation's top scorers in Kemba Walker. Walker is averaging 26.7 points per game.
Notre Dame then hosts St. John's on Saturday ina tougher than expected game. The Red Storm is off to a 9-3 start and is a surprising 2-0 in Big East play.
Louisville
The Cardinals are one of the last teams to begin conference play when Seton Hall visits the KFC Yum! Center on Wednesday. Like Notre Dame, Louisville has balanced scoring from four players. Peyton Siva, Preston Knowles, Terrence Jennings, and Chris Smith each score more than nine points per game. Seton Hall (7-7, 1-1) has been up and down all season long, but Louisville can't afford to take anyone lightly after losing to Drexel.
Ball State
Surprisingly the Cardinals are 7-4 and they host Southern Illinois -Edwardsville tonight at Worthen Arena. The Cougars, who are a transition D-I independent, are one of the worst Division I teams in the country. Ball State then opens MAC play at Northern Illinois on Saturday. The Cardinals currently have the best record in their division of the MAC, making them an early favorite in the MAC race.
Valparaiso
The Crusaders had a chance to move ahead in the Horizon League, but were dominated at Butler. Valparaiso has a late Friday-Sunday week, playing Youngstown State (6-7, 1-3) and Cleveland State at home in both games. Brandon Wood and Cory Johnson are each averaging 15.8 points for Valpo, who needs a weekend sweep to stay in contention in the conference.
IPFW
The Mastodons are tied for the Summit League lead at 4-0 and 9-4 overall. They host Western Illinois on Thursday before their rivalry game with the IUPUI Jaguars. Ben Botts and Frank Gaines led them to wins over Oral Roberts and Centenary on the road last week.
IUPUI
The Jaguars can help IPFW with a win Thursday night at league leader Oakland. The Golden Grizzlies have lost only once in the last two years in the Summit League, and that came at the hands of the Jaguars in Indianapolis last year. Oakland got revenge in the conference title game to take the NCAA bid though. The Jags then faces IPFW in Fort Wayne on Saturday, so a tricky weekend against the leagues leaders awaits the Jags (8-8, 2-1)
Evansville
The Purple Aces split their conference openers last week, losing at Wichita State before beating rival Indiana State at home. Sophomore Colt Ryan has been impressive with 17.1 points per game. Evansville travels to Northern Iowa on Wednesday, who was the conference favorite before starting 0-2. Friday brings a trip to Missouri State, who is off to a 2-0 start in the league under former Purdue player Cuonzo Martin.
Indiana State
The Sycamores, like Evansville, went 1-1 last week, beating Bradley before losing at Evansville. The Trees have a pair of home games this week against Illinois State on Tuesday and Northern Iowa on Friday. Dwayne Lathan had 18 in the win over Bradley and continues to lead the Sycamores in scoring.
College Basketball: #23 Louisville Crushes Seton Hall 73-54
Louisville, KY (Sports Network) – Peyton Siva and Mike Marra each scored 14 points to lead the Louisville Cardinals to a 73-54 victory over the Seton Hall Pirates in a Big East Conference showdown at the KFC Yum! Center.
Stephan Van Treese grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds in the win for Louisville (12-2, 1-0 Big East).
Seton Hall (7-8, 1-2) was led by 18 points from Fuquan Edwin, while Jeff Robinson added 14.
Louisville held a commanding 36-21 advantage at the intermission after holding the Pirates to a miserable 22.6 percent shooting from the floor in the opening half.
The Cardinals cruised to victory in the second stanza after keeping Seton Hall in check once again as the Pirates connected on a mediocre 35.5 percent of their shots.
Louisville made its presence known around the net, winning the battle on the boards by a 46-35 margin.
Jan 06 7:56a by Matt Grecco - 0 comments