Post by Commissioner on Mar 3, 2016 12:55:21 GMT -5
Horizon League Tournament Opening Round: Youngstown State
When: Saturday, March 5, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit. Given the size of the Joe, don't worry if you didn't buy tickets in advance. There will be tickets at the door.
TV: ESPN3
Radio: Oops! Look, if you're in the Detroit area, get your butt down to the Joe.
Pre and Post Game:
Tommy’s Detroit Bar & Grill, 624 Third Street, Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 965-2269
The Anchor Bar, 450 West Fort Street, Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 964-9127
Both bars will run shuttles to the Joe prior to the Titan game.
So the Horizon League launches its new neutral site tournament, starting Friday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Games start at noon when Cleveland State faces Green Bay, and the cavernous Joe will probably feel like a mausoleum, with no more than a couple thousand in attendance. By evening attendance should be better, but there's real reason to expect more than three or four thousand fans tops, which will still seem pretty empty in the big arena.
The Horizon is going to have to get over the dictates of ESPN if this is going to work. This year, by the time the new location was committed it may have been too late, but in the future the league needs to:
1) do away with the double bye format
2) have teams 7-10 play at campus sites on Tuesday
3) Have the remaining 8 convene for 3 days of basketball on Friday-Sunday, or worse cases on Thurs-Sat/Sun or Sat-Mon.
Meanwhile, we'll hope for the best, because a successful tournament will be good for the league, good for Detroit, and good for the Titans.
The Titans first round opponent is Youngstown State, whom the Titans have defeated twice this season, 96-87 in Detroit, and 94-92 in Youngstown. The Penguins enter the tournament having lost 7 of their last 9, the wins having come at home being a 92-91 overtime victory over last place UIC and a 94-75 stomping of Northern Kentucky in the regular season finale. Both games were at home. The Penguins are 11-20 overall, 3-11 in true road games and 1-1 at neutral sites.
In the first game against Detroit, at Calihan, YSU took a 43-37 lead into the locker room at halftime after shooting 52% from the floor and holding an 11-3 advantage in turnovers. The Titans came out fast after the break, taking the lead at 52-51 about five minutes in and quickly pushing it to double digits, then cruising home. YSU continued to shoot well (52% again) but the Titans flipped the turnover numbers in their favor for the half, and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds in the half. Overall the Titans grabbed more offensive rebounds than YSU got total rebounds. Anton Wilson had the best game of his career with 34 points and 9 rebounds, and Jalethal Hogan scored 17 points on 7-7 from the floor and 3 of 4 from the line.
In the game at Beeghly the Titans Bass led the Titans with 20 points despite some foul trouble. Wilson had another good game with 18 and Josh McFolley had one of his best all-around games with 16 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. This was a close game with 24 lead changes and 12 ties, and the Titans needed a late flagrant foul call on Penguin freshman Jorden Andrew to help wrap it up. YSU shot 60% in the second half, but the Titans hit 54% themselves. In this game the Guins held their own, 24-24, under the boards. Flint's Cameron Morse has been a real thorn in the Titans' side, scoring 24 points in the first game and 30 in the second.
The old cliche is that it is hard to beat a team 3 times in a season. I tend to think that's not terribly true unless the teams are evenly matched. Well, the Titans are better than Youngstown, but are we enough better to ignore the cliche? Naturally, of course, I wanted to look it up, too.
With the Horizon Tournament, the Titans always play at least 1 team three times. The last time we played a team three times after a season sweep (for either team) was 2012, when the Titans faced Valpo in the conference final after losing 73-71 and 78-73 during the season. The Titans rallied from a big deficit to crush the Crusaders at Valpo, 70-50. But those two teams were pretty evenly matched, I think. (The Titans had split in the regular season with YSU and Cleveland State, their prior tournament opponents). In 2011 the Titans also faced Valpo after being swept by the Crusaders in the regular season. Valpo won 78-68 and 82-74 during the season. They threepeated in the tournament, played in Milwaukee, 88-78.
In 2010 the Titans faced Green Bay in the first round of the tournament after losing 74-72 and 64-62 during the season. The Titans won 62-53. As the regular season scores indicate, the two teams were pretty evenly matched, and finished with nearly identical records (21-12 for Green Bay, 20-13 for Detroit). In the second round the Titans played Wright State, which had swept the regular season 61-59 in Calihan and 70-53 at the Nutter. The Raiders finished the sweep, in Indianapolis, 69-50. And in 2009 the Titans played their first round at Cleveland State, which had swept the season 53-44 and 66-49. The Vikings won 56-43.
So in Ray's history at Detroit, the Titans have played teams 5 times after a regular season sweep, with the regular season winner coming out ahead 3 times and the loser twice.
Continuing on back:
2008: Wright State won regular season 66-57 and 59-58, won tournament first round 60-37.
2004: Detroit beat Cleveland State 75-53 and 77-55. Won tournament first round 62-36.
2004: Milwaukee beat Titans 82-74 and 85-68 in season, won tournament final 59-58.
2003: Butler beat Titans 76-68 and 66-63 in season, won tournament final 58-55.
2002: Titans swept Cleveland State 53-50, 72-62, and 67-63 (first round).
2001: Titans beat Green Bay 91-74, 58-46, and 66-58 (first round).
That takes us back to 2000 (when there were no qualifying games), and that seems far enough. If you're not keeping a tally, that means in 9 of the 11 times since the 2000 season that the Titans have faced a team a third time after sweeping or being swept in the regular season, the regular season winner has won in the tournament. The two times it did not happen, it was the Titans who won after being swept in the season.
Anyway, now I've totally jinxed the Titans, but this little sample certainly doesn't show much support for the "tough to threepeat" meme.
The word around Youngstown is that the Penguins next defeat will be Coach Slocum's last game. You know, one of the depressing things about every conference having a tournament, when you think about, is that virtually no coach (or player, for that matter) gets to end his college career with a win. Anyway, I wouldn't be so sure. Nothing has been announced. While Slocum's record would get him fired at any school that cared about winning in basketball, Youngstown doesn't seem to care about winning in basketball. And things are not hopeless looking forward--YSU will return more minutes next year than any other team. They typically start 1 junior, 3 sophs, and a freshman, and if you tend to think that the freshmen and sophs are most likely to improve (I do) that bodes well. They can shoot, that's for sure, and it makes them a very dangerous team, as Oakland found out earlier this season when the Penguins ambushed them up at the McRena.
The Titans need to get somebody in the shirts of YSU's two big guns, Morse and three point shooter Matt Donlan (5th in the nation in 3 pt. %). If we hold YSU below 80, we'll win. Above that, it could be very dicey in the Motor City on Saturday.
Key YSU Players:
PG - Francisco Santiago, 6-1 Soph. (8.8 ppg, 4.4 apg)
SG - Cameron Morse, 6-2 Soph. (20.1 ppg, 41.9% 3P%)
SG - Jordan Andrews, 6-5 Fr. (8.0 ppg, 36.6 3P%)
F - Matt Donlon, 6-7 Jr. (13.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 46.8 3P%)
F - Sidney Umide, 6-7 Soph. (7.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg)
---
C - Jorden Kaufman, 7-0 Jr. (often starts) (6.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
G - Brett Frantz, 6-3 Jr. (3.2 ppg)
PG - Latin Davis, 5-11 Fr. (3.3 ppg)
F - Bryce Nickels, 6-9 Fr. (3.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
F - Devin Haygood, 6-7 Fr. (1.6 ppg)
Final notes: Anton Wilson needs 22 points to reach 1000 points for his career. Let's just win and move on to another game, and then there won't be much doubt about him joining the 1000 point club. Although, come to think of it, a 22 point game would go a long way toward a Titan win on Saturday. Wilson's next three pointer will tie him with Desmond Ferguson (1999) for the 4th highest single season total in Titan history, and with Jon Goode for 4th highest career total. He has no chance of catching the #3 in either category, however. Also, the Titans need a win to clinch a winning season for the first time since 2013.
When: Saturday, March 5, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit. Given the size of the Joe, don't worry if you didn't buy tickets in advance. There will be tickets at the door.
TV: ESPN3
Radio: Oops! Look, if you're in the Detroit area, get your butt down to the Joe.
Pre and Post Game:
Tommy’s Detroit Bar & Grill, 624 Third Street, Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 965-2269
The Anchor Bar, 450 West Fort Street, Detroit, MI 48226 (313) 964-9127
Both bars will run shuttles to the Joe prior to the Titan game.
So the Horizon League launches its new neutral site tournament, starting Friday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Games start at noon when Cleveland State faces Green Bay, and the cavernous Joe will probably feel like a mausoleum, with no more than a couple thousand in attendance. By evening attendance should be better, but there's real reason to expect more than three or four thousand fans tops, which will still seem pretty empty in the big arena.
The Horizon is going to have to get over the dictates of ESPN if this is going to work. This year, by the time the new location was committed it may have been too late, but in the future the league needs to:
1) do away with the double bye format
2) have teams 7-10 play at campus sites on Tuesday
3) Have the remaining 8 convene for 3 days of basketball on Friday-Sunday, or worse cases on Thurs-Sat/Sun or Sat-Mon.
Meanwhile, we'll hope for the best, because a successful tournament will be good for the league, good for Detroit, and good for the Titans.
The Titans first round opponent is Youngstown State, whom the Titans have defeated twice this season, 96-87 in Detroit, and 94-92 in Youngstown. The Penguins enter the tournament having lost 7 of their last 9, the wins having come at home being a 92-91 overtime victory over last place UIC and a 94-75 stomping of Northern Kentucky in the regular season finale. Both games were at home. The Penguins are 11-20 overall, 3-11 in true road games and 1-1 at neutral sites.
In the first game against Detroit, at Calihan, YSU took a 43-37 lead into the locker room at halftime after shooting 52% from the floor and holding an 11-3 advantage in turnovers. The Titans came out fast after the break, taking the lead at 52-51 about five minutes in and quickly pushing it to double digits, then cruising home. YSU continued to shoot well (52% again) but the Titans flipped the turnover numbers in their favor for the half, and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds in the half. Overall the Titans grabbed more offensive rebounds than YSU got total rebounds. Anton Wilson had the best game of his career with 34 points and 9 rebounds, and Jalethal Hogan scored 17 points on 7-7 from the floor and 3 of 4 from the line.
In the game at Beeghly the Titans Bass led the Titans with 20 points despite some foul trouble. Wilson had another good game with 18 and Josh McFolley had one of his best all-around games with 16 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. This was a close game with 24 lead changes and 12 ties, and the Titans needed a late flagrant foul call on Penguin freshman Jorden Andrew to help wrap it up. YSU shot 60% in the second half, but the Titans hit 54% themselves. In this game the Guins held their own, 24-24, under the boards. Flint's Cameron Morse has been a real thorn in the Titans' side, scoring 24 points in the first game and 30 in the second.
The old cliche is that it is hard to beat a team 3 times in a season. I tend to think that's not terribly true unless the teams are evenly matched. Well, the Titans are better than Youngstown, but are we enough better to ignore the cliche? Naturally, of course, I wanted to look it up, too.
With the Horizon Tournament, the Titans always play at least 1 team three times. The last time we played a team three times after a season sweep (for either team) was 2012, when the Titans faced Valpo in the conference final after losing 73-71 and 78-73 during the season. The Titans rallied from a big deficit to crush the Crusaders at Valpo, 70-50. But those two teams were pretty evenly matched, I think. (The Titans had split in the regular season with YSU and Cleveland State, their prior tournament opponents). In 2011 the Titans also faced Valpo after being swept by the Crusaders in the regular season. Valpo won 78-68 and 82-74 during the season. They threepeated in the tournament, played in Milwaukee, 88-78.
In 2010 the Titans faced Green Bay in the first round of the tournament after losing 74-72 and 64-62 during the season. The Titans won 62-53. As the regular season scores indicate, the two teams were pretty evenly matched, and finished with nearly identical records (21-12 for Green Bay, 20-13 for Detroit). In the second round the Titans played Wright State, which had swept the regular season 61-59 in Calihan and 70-53 at the Nutter. The Raiders finished the sweep, in Indianapolis, 69-50. And in 2009 the Titans played their first round at Cleveland State, which had swept the season 53-44 and 66-49. The Vikings won 56-43.
So in Ray's history at Detroit, the Titans have played teams 5 times after a regular season sweep, with the regular season winner coming out ahead 3 times and the loser twice.
Continuing on back:
2008: Wright State won regular season 66-57 and 59-58, won tournament first round 60-37.
2004: Detroit beat Cleveland State 75-53 and 77-55. Won tournament first round 62-36.
2004: Milwaukee beat Titans 82-74 and 85-68 in season, won tournament final 59-58.
2003: Butler beat Titans 76-68 and 66-63 in season, won tournament final 58-55.
2002: Titans swept Cleveland State 53-50, 72-62, and 67-63 (first round).
2001: Titans beat Green Bay 91-74, 58-46, and 66-58 (first round).
That takes us back to 2000 (when there were no qualifying games), and that seems far enough. If you're not keeping a tally, that means in 9 of the 11 times since the 2000 season that the Titans have faced a team a third time after sweeping or being swept in the regular season, the regular season winner has won in the tournament. The two times it did not happen, it was the Titans who won after being swept in the season.
Anyway, now I've totally jinxed the Titans, but this little sample certainly doesn't show much support for the "tough to threepeat" meme.
The word around Youngstown is that the Penguins next defeat will be Coach Slocum's last game. You know, one of the depressing things about every conference having a tournament, when you think about, is that virtually no coach (or player, for that matter) gets to end his college career with a win. Anyway, I wouldn't be so sure. Nothing has been announced. While Slocum's record would get him fired at any school that cared about winning in basketball, Youngstown doesn't seem to care about winning in basketball. And things are not hopeless looking forward--YSU will return more minutes next year than any other team. They typically start 1 junior, 3 sophs, and a freshman, and if you tend to think that the freshmen and sophs are most likely to improve (I do) that bodes well. They can shoot, that's for sure, and it makes them a very dangerous team, as Oakland found out earlier this season when the Penguins ambushed them up at the McRena.
The Titans need to get somebody in the shirts of YSU's two big guns, Morse and three point shooter Matt Donlan (5th in the nation in 3 pt. %). If we hold YSU below 80, we'll win. Above that, it could be very dicey in the Motor City on Saturday.
Key YSU Players:
PG - Francisco Santiago, 6-1 Soph. (8.8 ppg, 4.4 apg)
SG - Cameron Morse, 6-2 Soph. (20.1 ppg, 41.9% 3P%)
SG - Jordan Andrews, 6-5 Fr. (8.0 ppg, 36.6 3P%)
F - Matt Donlon, 6-7 Jr. (13.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 46.8 3P%)
F - Sidney Umide, 6-7 Soph. (7.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg)
---
C - Jorden Kaufman, 7-0 Jr. (often starts) (6.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
G - Brett Frantz, 6-3 Jr. (3.2 ppg)
PG - Latin Davis, 5-11 Fr. (3.3 ppg)
F - Bryce Nickels, 6-9 Fr. (3.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
F - Devin Haygood, 6-7 Fr. (1.6 ppg)
Final notes: Anton Wilson needs 22 points to reach 1000 points for his career. Let's just win and move on to another game, and then there won't be much doubt about him joining the 1000 point club. Although, come to think of it, a 22 point game would go a long way toward a Titan win on Saturday. Wilson's next three pointer will tie him with Desmond Ferguson (1999) for the 4th highest single season total in Titan history, and with Jon Goode for 4th highest career total. He has no chance of catching the #3 in either category, however. Also, the Titans need a win to clinch a winning season for the first time since 2013.