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Post by Wolf on Feb 28, 2009 22:37:21 GMT -5
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Post by Nutt House on Mar 1, 2009 7:09:30 GMT -5
Diebler sparks Crusaders' rallyMarch 1, 2009 By Mark Lazerus VALPARAISO -- Jake Diebler chased after the bouncing ball and dove for it. Head-first, of course. He got to the ball first, of course. And he saved the possession for Valparaiso. Of course. After the whistle blew, Diebler put his hands on his knees, leaned over to catch his breath, looked over to VU coach Homer Drew and winked with a cartoonish smirk on his face. Just one last taste of ARC hardwood -- one he knows so well, but won't ever taste again. It was that play -- of course -- that sparked the Crusaders to rally from an eight-point second-half deficit to a 67-59 victory over Youngstown State on Senior Night. The victory didn't change VU's ninth-place finish in the Horizon League, but it was crucial nonetheless. The win sends VU to Wright State for Tuesday's Horizon League Tournament opener. A loss would have pitted the Crusaders against Cleveland State -- a team that has proven to be a terrible matchup for VU over the past two years, including Thursday night. Of course, since VU (9-21, 5-13) has a 1-11 road record and no Horizon League team has ever won four games to win the championship, nothing will be easy. "We're excited to play Wright State," Drew said. "We're just excited to play anywhere, because we're playing our best basketball. We've won three of (six) and even in our losses, we feel we've really improved." As big as Diebler's hustle play was -- it was followed by his second 3-pointer of the game -- and as solid an all-around game as Igbavboa had (12 points, nine rebounds, six assists), it was actually the next generation of Crusaders who won this one for the veterans. Like freshman Cameron Witt, who had 12 points and kept the Crusaders in the game in the first half, when nobody else could get a shot off. Like sophomore Michael Rogers, who also had 12 points and whose steal (his fourth of the game) and dunk with 2:50 to go was the exclamation point on the game's key stretch. Like sophomore Howard Little, who rebounded from a scoreless game on Thursday with a game-high 13 points and three steals. Like forgotten freshman point guard Erik Buggs, who broke out with 10 points, three steals and three assists -- all in the second half. His steal-and-dish from the floor set up a three-point play for Howard Little that tied the game at 33-33 with 15:22 to go. VU never trailed again. And Buggs' back-to-back coast-to-coast layups, one off a steal and one off an inbounds play, put the game away at 58-49 with two minutes to go. It was a monster second half for Buggs, a starter for most of the year who had only played 17 minutes total in the previous two games. "It was kind of frustrating, but I knew if I had a chance, my teammates believed in me and Coach Drew believed in me," Buggs said. "And it it wasn't enough motivation to go all-out to get these two seniors to go out on top, then I wasn't ready to play. They were my motivation, really." Diebler sure didn't mind the help. Besides, he'll benefit from the maturation of the underclassmen the next two years -- he'll be a graduate assistant coach. "I'll take it anyway we can get it," he said. "It can be those guys the rest of the way, as long as we keep winning." Following the game, Diebler and Igbavboa took the microphone and thanked the coaches, the team and the fans. "Obviously, I'd like to thank my team," Igbavboa said. "We all stick together, we're a family and it's going to be that way forever." Added Diebler: "It's been the privilege of my lifetime to play on this floor." And to dive on it, of course. Over and over and over again. www.post-trib.com/sports/1455018,vugamer.article
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Post by Sixth Man on Mar 1, 2009 15:17:12 GMT -5
Raiders to host Valparaiso in Horizon League First Round Feb. 28, 2009 The Wright State men's basketball team will host Valparaiso Tuesday, March 3 at 7 pm in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament. WSU finished the year 18-12, 12-6 after defeating Green Bay Saturday night 65-64. The Crusaders are 9-21, 5-13. Other games Tuesday include Detroit at Cleveland State, UIC at Youngstown State and Loyola at Milwaukee. The next two rounds will be held at Butler University Friday and Saturday with the championship game set for Tuesday, March 10, at the higher remaining seed. Tickets can be purchased at the Nutter Center Box Office Monday morning or at ticketmaster.com. Call 775-4242 for further ticket information. wsuraiders.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/022809aaa.html
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Post by Sixth Man on Mar 1, 2009 15:18:46 GMT -5
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Post by fizztharaider on Mar 1, 2009 15:51:20 GMT -5
I should have realized that losing the tie-breaker with CSU would put us on Buter's side of the bracket. Well Damn.
But on the bright side, our guys should make it to game 7 vs. Butler. And do we owe Butler a win. Maybe our chances are better because we are yet to beat them this year (I know it sounds a little like an oxymoron). Power of the underdog.
NO TEAM HAS EVER WON FOUR GAMES IN THE HL TOURNAMENT?
That will change eventually.
But let me be clear, I don't think its gonna happen for us, realistically.
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Post by Sixth Man on Mar 2, 2009 7:39:26 GMT -5
Raiders, No. 4 seed, host ValpoBy Marc Katz Monday, March 02, 2009 FAIRBORN — In the draw for this week's Horizon League men's basketball tournament, Wright State, as the No. 4 seed, looks to be in a good position. The Raiders host No. 9 Valparaiso in the first round Tuesday, March 3. If successful, they head to Indianapolis for a second-round game Friday against the winner of Tuesday's Wisconsin-Milwaukee vs. Loyola of Chicago game. The second-round winner earns a date with No. 1 Butler on Saturday. Wright State might have earned the No. 3 seed after finishing tied with Cleveland State for that position with identical 12-6 league records. The teams split their season series. But the next tiebreaker is head-to-head games against the rest of the league, starting at the top. That's where Youngstown State's loss at Valparaiso Saturday night hurt the Raiders. It dropped YSU into a sixth-place tie with Illinois-Chicago, although the Penguins won the tiebreaker with the Flames for the No. 6 seed. That seeding did not help WSU, which beat YSU twice. Even though CSU lost once to the Penguins, the games against UIC also counted in the tiebreaking procedure. Cleveland State beat UIC twice and WSU beat the Flames only once. In that tiebreaking round, WSU and CSU remained tied, as it did through the rest of the standings. Tiebreaker three is what nipped the Raiders. The Horizon League uses the RPI formula to break ties, and CSU went into weekend games ranked No. 73 to WSU's 112. The league checked with the NCAA and found WSU would not catch up regardless of what happened Saturday, so CSU was awarded the No. 3 seed. Horizon League tournament Tuesday's games Game 1: #10 Detroit at #3 Cleveland State, 7 p.m. Game 2: #7 UIC at #6 Youngstown State, 7 p.m. Game 3: #9 Valparaiso at #4 Wright State, 7 p.m. Game 4: #8 Loyola at #5 Milwaukee, 8 p.m. Friday's games (At Indianapolis) Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 6 p.m. Game 6: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 8 p.m. Saturday's games (At Indianapolis) Game 7: Game 5 winner at #1 Butler, 7 p.m., ESPNU Game 8: Game 6 winner vs. #2 Green Bay, 9 p.m., ESPNU Tuesday, March 10 (At highest remaining seed) Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 9 p.m., ESPN www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2009/03/02/ddn030209spwsubreakout.html
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Post by Retired Coach on Mar 2, 2009 7:51:34 GMT -5
WSU gets everyone involvedBy Marc Katz Monday, March 02, 2009 FAIRBORN — Wright State coach Brad Brownell always thinks his team is going to win. It's the way any good coach feels, especially with time running out and the game in the balance. Brownell also knows a coach only puts the ball in a player's hands, as the coach steps out of the picture. "Players make plays," Brownell said Sunday morning, March 1. Just a few hours before, N'Gai Evans' layup with 9.2 seconds to play and Cory Cooperwood's subsequent block of Wisconsin-Green Bay's final shot clinched a 65-64 win for the Raiders. "At the end of the day, it's the players who decide the games." Last season, in a similar situation only with less time on the clock against Miami, Brownell gave the ball to Vaughn Duggins, who raced down court, found an open Todd Brown in the corner, and Brown made the basket at the buzzer that won the game. Thirteen days ago, in a tie game at Illinois-Chicago, Will Graham was given the ball, found Cooperwood open in the lane and fired a perfect pass. Cooperwood's layup rolled off the rim. The Raiders lost in overtime. Ultimately, the loss to UIC cost WSU a No. 3 seed in the tournament, which begins Tuesday with the Raiders hosting Valparaiso. But the victory over Green Bay kept the Raiders from dropping to a No. 5 seed. In a game in which the lead changed 17 times and was tied eight times, Green Bay made up a four-point deficit in the final 21 seconds to take a 64-63 lead. Brownell wanted Evans, a 6-foot-1 sophomore who started about half the games this season, to have the ball. "We wanted the ball in a guard's hands," Brownell said. "If there had been more time, we might have tried something for Todd. But N'Gai is a full-court player, and he's been in a lot of games. He's a sophomore. He needs to be able to make plays." As Evans raced up court, he looked at all his options and found everybody he saw covered. He elected to go right at the basket, driving the lane, spinning toward his right and away from defender Rahmon Fletcher, then moving toward the basket again for the right-handed layup. "You're excited at that point," Brownell said. "At the same time, they're (the Phoenix) blowing right by you and you're frantically yelling at your players to be in the right place." Troy Cotton, who had already scored 22 points, was just to the left of the lane, but Cooperwood partially blocked his shot, the ball was tipped into the backcourt and time expired. Just another play by another player. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2009/03/02/ddn030209spwsubb.html
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Post by OG Raiderfan on Mar 2, 2009 7:59:54 GMT -5
WSU has good chance at 20-win seasonBy Marc Katz Sunday, March 01, 2009 FAIRBORN — It's time for the Horizon League tournament and Wright State's suddenly realistic chance to accomplish a third straight 20-win season. With Saturday night's 65-64 victory over visiting Wisconsin-Green Bay, the Raiders moved to 18-12 overall and 12-6 in the league, good enough for a third-place tie with Cleveland State. It was not good enough to win a No. 3 seed tiebreaker in the tournament after Youngstown State lost to Valparaiso in the last game of the regular-season schedule. Even though YSU won the tiebreaker with Illinois-Chicago for the No. 6 seed and final home game of the first round, to break WSU's tiebreaker with CSU, the league coupled YSU and UIC together because they finished tied in the standings. Had only games against YSU counted, Wright State would have earned the No. 3 seed by virtue of beating the Penguins twice while CSU did it only once. However, with UIC added in, Wright State and CSU remained tied by virtue of WSU losing once to UIC and Cleveland State not at all. So it went to a third tiebreaker (the first tiebreaker was WSU-CSU head-to-head), and that was the RPI ranking, which Cleveland State won. Regardless, here's how the tournament looks for the Raiders: Tuesday, 7 p.m., vs. Valparaiso (9-21, 5-13). Although WSU beat the Crusaders twice during the regular season, both games were well contested until the end, WSU winning 64-48 at home and 68-58 at Valpo. Despite losing six of seven games, the Crusaders finished strong, beating Akron in a BracketBusters game before losing a close game to CSU and beating YSU in the final. Friday, 6 p.m. at Indianapolis. If Wright State beats Valpo, round two will be against Tuesday's Wisconsin-Milwaukee vs. Loyola of Chicago game. Milwaukee is seeded No. 5, Loyola No. 8. Wright State split games with Milwaukee, which won only two of its final seven games of the regular season. The Raiders swept Loyola, which lost eight of its final 10. Winning those two games moves WSU to 20 victories, and a date with No. 1 seed Butler on Saturday at 7 p.m. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2009/03/01/ddn030209spraiderconnectionweb.html?cxntnid=rc-030209
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Post by riceownz2 on Mar 2, 2009 11:41:22 GMT -5
I'm kind of POed that we got the 4 seed. I mean yes our second game to me is an easier matchup playing with Loyola or Milwakee. But I feel like we could much easier beat GB then Butler. Oh well it is what it is. Lets go Raiders. Lets worry about Valpo first.
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Post by Sixth Man on Mar 2, 2009 18:48:26 GMT -5
Raiders Host Horizon League Tournament Game
The WSU men's basketball team will host the first round game of the Speedway Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship against Valparaiso Tuesday night at 7 pm. Wright State, 18-12, 12-6, started the season at 0-6 record but has since gone 18-6 with half of those losses coming against nationally-ranked teams.
Tickets for Tuesday night are $12 and $6 with WSU students each receiving one free ticket with an I.D. Visit the Nutter Center Box Office, Student Union Box Office or ticketmaster.com. For more ticket information, call 775-4242. For those who purchased tickets early, they can be picked up at the Nutter Center Box Office any time today until 6 pm or tomorrow 10 am until game time.
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Post by Glory Days on Mar 2, 2009 20:05:14 GMT -5
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Post by vernardhollins on Mar 2, 2009 23:47:02 GMT -5
It's hard to beat a team three times in one season but Valpo did it to us last year and we did it to Detroit. Hopefully we'll shoot free-throws better or Will will be getting fouled with five to go if we are up on them. Will went 2 for 8 against Valpo last time we played them and the team only shot 55% for the game.
I don't expect a big crowd; perhaps 4500.
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Post by Sixth Man on Mar 3, 2009 6:50:17 GMT -5
Preview: Valparaiso (9-21) at WSU (18-12) By Marc Katz Tuesday, March 03, 2009 Time: 7 p.m. Radio: WONE-AM (980), WIZE-AM (1340) Records: Valparaiso 9-21; Wright State 18-12 Series: WSU leads 7-5. VALPARAISO Yr Ht P PPG Urule Igbavboa Sr. 6-8 F 12.1 Cameron Witt Fr. 6-9 F 4.8 Michael Rogers So. 6-5 G 9.8 Howard Little So. 6-3 G 9.8 Jake Diebler Sr. 6-3 G 7.3 WRIGHT STATE Yr Ht P PPG Cory Cooperwood Jr. 6-7 F 9.4 Ronnie Thomas Jr. 6-9 F 4.0 Todd Brown Jr. 6-5 G 11.8 Will Graham Sr. 6-3 G 5.4 N'Gai Evans So. 6-1 G 6.2 About Valparaiso Igbavboa made second-team all-league ...Valpo, with a little different lineup, beat WSU three times last season, including in the second round of the Horizon League tournament at Indianapolis ... Even though Valpo's No. 9 seeding didn't change, the 67-59 home victory over Youngstown State Saturday in the final game of the regular season dropped WSU from a No. 3 seed to No. 4. About Wright State Brown made second-team all-league, and Graham was all-defensive team ... Raiders have won first-round tournament game in each of the previous two seasons ... 6-foot-8 Gavin Horne worked out some at practice Monday, but continues to be hampered by a groin injury. FYI Four of the five teams in Wright State's half of the bracket won their final regular-season games, including WSU, Valparaiso, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Butler. Only Loyola of Chicago lost, and barely, 62-58 to Illinois-Chicago. Quote, unquote "When you're going to play four games (to win a tournament), it doesn't matter (who you play). You just have to worry about the first game." — WSU coach Brad Brownell www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2009/03/03/ddn030309spwsuprev.html
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Post by Sixth Man on Mar 3, 2009 6:51:31 GMT -5
WSU's Evans stepping up right on timeBy Marc Katz Tuesday, March 03, 2009 FAIRBORN — N'gai Evans looks at any game — and at the way he plays his game — the same way. "I always go into a game confident we're going to win," said Evans, looking forward to tonight's opening round of the Horizon League tournament with Valparaiso at the Nutter Center. "At the same time, I've never tried to overlook a team, underestimate them. Anybody in the league can beat anybody." At Wright State, apparently anybody can fill in for anybody. After all-league guard Vaughn Duggins went down early in the season and potential all-league guard John David Gardner followed him to the injury sideline 11 games ago, Evans was asked to step up. "It's unfortunate Vaughn and John David went down," Evans said. "But as a team, we have to move forward. You can't sit in your sorrow and lay down because of a couple of injuries. I'm playing for the man next to me. I don't look at it any different, whether it's 10 minutes or 35 minutes." Evans was called upon to play 34 minutes in last Thursday's 70-60 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He scored a season-high 17 points. He played another 34 minutes against Wisconsin-Green Bay, pumping in seven points, including the game-winning basket with 9.2 seconds to play. It was a play called by coach Brad Brownell for Evans, who drove the length of the court, had the option to pass, did not see anyone open and spun to the basket for a dramatic layup. "He (Brownell) had faith in me," Evans said. "That's what I like about our coaching staff. It has faith in players." Tonight, expect the attitude to be the same. www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2009/03/03/ddn030309spwsubb.html
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Post by Sixth Man on Mar 3, 2009 6:59:43 GMT -5
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vs 
