#HLMBB Weekly Notebook - January 29
#HLMBB Standings | #HLMBB Statistics | #HLMBB Weekly Release
INDIANAPOLIS – The first half of the #HLMBB season is in the books with Northern Kentucky holding a two-game lead over Wright State and Oakland in the race for the regular-season title.
#HLMBB NEWS & NOTES
• Week 6 of the #HLMBB season gets us into February with WSU and UIC kicking the month off with a nationally-televised game on Friday. The first game between the two teams happened in Week 1 and came down to a last-second shot in overtime with the Flames coming out on top. The Raiders will look to avenge their loss and keep their four-game winning streak alive, while UIC will look to pull back to .500 on HL play.
• Northern Kentucky made it 13-0 at home this season and boosted its winning streak to six games over the weekend to remain in first place in the #HLMBB standings. NKU is first in scoring defense (69.2) during HL play and second in scoring offense (81.7) as the Norse are ranked No. 20 in the College Insider Mid-Major top-25 poll.
• Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis is just the third Horizon League freshman to surpass 500 points in a season and has already set the program’s freshman scoring record with 545 points through just 21 games. He trails only UIC’s Dikembe Dixson on the HL freshman scoring list who scored 594 in 2015-16. He is also chasing Stephen Curry’s NCAA freshman record of 122 3-pointers in 2006-07. Davis currently ranks second in the country in scoring at 27.3 points per game and leads all of Division I with 96 total 3-pointers.
• Oakland finished the first half of the HL season tied for second place with a record of 6-3. The Golden Grizzlies boast the highest scoring teammates during #HLMBB play at 37.3 points per game with Jaevin Cumberland ranking third in the HL with 19.4 points and Xavier Hill-Mais ranking sixth in scoring at 17.9. They have also proved to be one of the best in the nation at holding on to the ball and sharing it. The Golden Grizzlies are 18th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.43, 12th in assists per game at 17.6.
• Green Bay’s Sandy Cohen III is the only player in the Horizon League that ranks in the top-10 in points, rebounds and assists. Cohen also ranks second in steals with 2.0 and is top-10 in blocks and minutes played. UIC’s Tarkus Ferguson is the only player during HL play to rank top-3 in both assists (5.1) and rebounds 7.7).
• #HLMBB teams have been prolific from long range this season as nine out of 10 teams are ranked in the top-100 in total 3-point field goals made with Oakland pacing the HL with 232, good for sixth in the NCAA.
• Detroit Mercy’s Davis, Wright State’s Loudon Love and Northern Kentucky’s Drew McDonald were selected to the 2018-19 Lou Henson Award Mid-Season Watch List, presented annually to the nation’s top mid-major player in Division I College Basketball.
• McDonald has also been selected to the Naismith Hall of Fame’s Karl Malone Award Watch List, presented to the nation’s top power-forward and one of 30 of candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. He has moved into the top-25 all-time in Horizon League scoring with 1,853. McDonald is one of only 17 active players to record 1,500 points and 600 rebounds and among active Division I players ranks sixth in double-doubles, ninth in rebounds and 19th in points.
RESULTS
| DATE |
GAME |
RECAP |
| Thursday, Jan. 24 |
IUPUI 73, Oakland 71 |
Box Score |
|
Northern Kentucky 87, Green Bay 65 |
Box Score |
|
UIC 79, Detroit Mercy 67 |
Box Score |
|
Wright State 56, Milwaukee 54 |
Box Score |
| Saturday, Jan. 26 |
IUPUI 80, Detroit Mercy 65 |
Box Score |
|
Oakland 80, UIC 67 |
Box Score |
|
Northern Kentucky 73, Milwaukee 60 |
Box Score |
|
Wright State 87, Green Bay 75 |
Box Score |
|
Cleveland State 72, Youngstown State 62 |
Box Score |
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
GAME OF THE WEEK
Wright State at UIC, Friday, Feb. 1, 9 p.m. ET, ESPNU
It’s a rematch from Week 1 of the #HLMBB season on national television as Wright State heads to the Windy City to take on UIC at 9 p.m. ET on ESPNU. The Raiders are riding a four-game winning streak and will look to avenge an overtime loss against the Flames on Dec. 28 that saw UIC’s Travell Washington hit a 3-pointer in the corner as time expired for the 75-72 decision. WSU is led by Loudon Love who is the reigning #HLMBB Player of the Week and is top-10 during League play in points (16.2) and rebounds (7.9). UIC will look to get back to .500 in HL play with a win led by Marcus Ottey scoring 16.7 points per game in League games and Tarkus Ferguson averaging 13.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in HL play.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
| DATE |
GAME |
Time (ET) |
TV/Live Stream |
| Thursday, Jan. 31 |
Cleveland State at Detroit Mercy |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Youngstown State at Oakland |
7 p.m. |
ESPN3 |
| Friday, Feb. 1 |
Northern Kentucky at IUPUI |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Milwaukee at Green Bay |
8 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Wright State at UIC |
9 p.m. |
ESPNU |
| Saturday, Feb. 2 |
Youngstown State at Detroit Mercy |
1 p.m. |
ESPN3 |
|
Cleveland State at Oakland |
3 p.m. |
ESPN3 |
| Sunday, Feb. 3 |
Wright State at IUPUI |
1 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
Northern Kentucky at UIC |
4:12 p.m. |
ESPN+ |