Green Bay

[Raider Country]

WSU is now 0-5 in the state of Wisconsin under Biancardi.

[Wolf]

January 19, 2006 (News Release/Men's Basketball)

Men Fall at UW-Green Bay
The Wright State men's basketball team led by seven at the half and had the advantage through much of the second half, but UW-Green Bay ended the game with a 18-3 run over the final 7:20 run to post a 57-44 win in Horizon League action Thursday night at the Resch Center, handing the Raiders their first League loss of the season.

The Raiders led by as much as nine late in the first half in taking a 24-17 halftime lead and were still up 41-39 after a DaShaun Wood jumper with 7:20 to play. The Phoenix, however, followed by scoring 13 of the next 14 points, eight by Ryan Evanochko, to take the lead for good.

Wright State shot 36 percent from the field for the game, but just 33 percent in the second half, while the Phoenix hit for 46 overall, 59 percent the final 20 minutes. UWGB was also seven of 13 from three-point range while the Raiders were only three of 17.

Only one WSU player scored in double figures in Jordan Pleiman, who had 12 along with six rebounds. Wood finished with eight as did Tyrone Scott off the bench.

Evanochko paced all scorers with 22 points for UW-Green Bay (9-9, 3-3 Horizon), all but two coming in the second half, while Mike Schachtner added 10.

Wright State, now 8-7 overall and 4-1 in the Horizon League, faces another tough road assignment Saturday night at League-leading UW-Milwaukee. Game time is 8:00 Eastern.
www.wsuraiders.com/cgi-bin/athletics/news.cgi?action=features&id=2568

[wsu97]

Raiders fall apart late, lose road tilt
Game was tied at 41, then Green Bay closed with 16-3 run
By Marc Katz

Dayton Daily News

GREEN BAY, WIS . | It was nearly 50 degrees outside, so that was different. The Packers and Brett Favre recently ended a horrible NFL season, so that was different.

But Thursday night, Wisconsin-Green Bay beat Wright State 57-44 at the Resch Center in a Horizon League game.

Some things never change.

Green Bay guard Ryan Evanochko made three straight baskets, the first with 5:50 to play to give the Phoenix their first lead in the second half, and the Raiders never recovered on the way to their first loss in five Horizon League games. Evanochko scored a game-high 22 points.

In the last 10 minutes, the Raiders made only 1-of-10 shots, and what had been a steady game for them, turned into a blowout against them. Green Bay outscored the Raiders 16-3 in that time.

"We couldn't make any shots," said co-captain DaShaun Wood, who scored eight points. "We've got a lot more games to play. As bad as this loss was, it can be just as good if we win on Saturday."

That would be at Milwaukee, where the Panthers also have only one league loss — to Green Bay, last Saturday. Wright State (8-7) also had a four-game winning streak terminated. Green Bay improved to 9-9 and 3-3.

Wood was right about WSU's shooting. The Raiders hit 36 percent from the field, 17 percent from 3, and 5-of-11 on foul shots.

Jordan Pleiman led WSU with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocks.

Contact Marc Katz at 225-2157.

www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0120wsubb.html

[wsu97]

WRIGHT STATE NOTES

Taylor entrusted with taming other team's top scorer
By Marc Katz

Dayton Daily News

GREEN BAY, Wis. | Senior guard Jaron Taylor has always been willing to do what Wright State coach Paul Biancardi wants, whether taking a 3-point shot or guarding the toughest guy on the other team.

Lately, he has been doing a little of both.

Taylor was the lead defender against Youngstown State's Quin Humphrey last week, helping to hold the Penguins' top player to 14 points, about half his league average at the time. Two games before that, Taylor helped hold down Loyola-Chicago's Blake Schilb, who had 15 when he had been averaging in the 20s.

Against Wisconsin-Green Bay Thursday night, Taylor caused two early Terry Evans turnovers that don't show up on the scoresheet, but certainly showed up on film, which the Raiders watched after the game.

What ultimately did show was Green Bay's sudden turn for the better with 5:50 to go on the way to a 57-44 victory. Wright State led 24-17 at the half and was up 42-41 when the Phoenix turned it on and flew away.

Taylor, by the way, started the first eight games last season, then became the team's sixth man. This season, he started the first four games, became a reserve for six games and has been a starter the last five.


Waste of time

A loud-mouthed fan sitting behind the WSU bench derided coach Paul Biancardi for calling a time out with 44.1 seconds left in the first half to set up a play. The Raiders wasted so much time once play restarted, Drew Burleson's shot was too late to count before the shot clock expired, and it came up short, anyway.

"Nice play," the fan yelled. "You called time out for that?"

Then Green Bay had a chance with 12.1 seconds, but kicked the ball away.

"Nice play," said WSU assistant coach Brian Donoher as he walked to the locker room.


Long, sad trip

Trainer Tony Ortiz will drive back to Dayton today to attend good friend Dick Tatem's funeral Saturday morning, then drive back to Milwaukee, where the Raiders have a game Saturday night.

Tatem, of Beavercreek, died early Sunday morning after a long illness. He was 81. A long-time advocate of the Dayton Amateur Baseball Commission, an award will be established soon in his honor.

Ortiz remembers long drives with Tatem, Lefty McFadden and former Dayton Journal Herald and Dayton Daily News sports editor Ritter Collett driving to baseball games in Cleveland.

"Those guys could really tell some stories," Ortiz said. Sadly, he's the only one left.

Contact Marc Katz at 225-2157.
www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0120wsunotes.html

[wsu97]

Posted January 20, 2006

Men's basketball: UWGB again beats a league leader

By Rob Demovsky
[e-mail]

ASHWAUBENON — For a supposed seventh-place team, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men's basketball team is starting to look a lot like a championship contender.


That's what back-to-back wins over first-place teams will do for the Phoenix.


Five days after knocking off previously undefeated UW-Milwaukee, the upstart Phoenix handed league-leading Wright State its first Horizon League loss with a methodical 57-44 victory on Thursday at the Resch Center.


For a team picked to finish above only two teams in the preseason poll, UWGB might have to be considered a factor in the race for the regular-season title.


"After what they've done," Wright State coach Paul Biancardi said, "I would say so."


Junior guard Ryan Evanochko, who put on another spectacular shooting display and scored a game-high 22 points, didn't need to be convinced of that.


"Why not?" Evanochko said. "We've played the best teams in our league tough. Our league is kind of funny because you never know how it's going to unfold. I think we're going to be in good shape as long as we take care of business at home, and we've got to get it rolling on the road."


A crowd of 5,316 watched UWGB put up its eighth home victory in nine tries this season — with the only loss coming against nationally ranked Michigan State — and put together its first three-game winning streak of the season.


In many ways, it was a milestone victory for the Phoenix because it evened its overall record at 9-9 — the first time it's been at .500 since it was 1-1 — and lifted its conference mark to 3-3 after starting with three straight losses on the road.


More importantly, in a span of just eight days, the Phoenix went from last place to a three-way tie for third place with Butler (2-2) and Cleveland State (3-3), which comes here Saturday to close out the four-game home stand.


"Hopefully, this tells (the Horizon League) that we're dangerous," Evanochko said.


If nothing else, it should tell the rest of the league how dangerous Evanochko is. He has to be considered an early-season candidate for conference player of the year. He topped the 20-point mark for the third straight game, and had perhaps his best half of the season in the second half against the Raiders (8-7, 4-1).


After scoring only two points in the first half and giving away a chance to cut into Wright State's 24-17 lead on the final possession before halftime, Evanochko got rolling in much the same fashion he did when he scored 30 points against Illinois-Chicago and 29 against UWM in consecutive games last week.


The Phoenix's leading scorer hit a baseline jumper on the first possession of the second half, and his 1-for-6 shooting first-half was all but forgotten. He hit all eight of his second-half shots and scored 20 of 22 points after the intermission. He finished the night 9-for-14 shooting and didn't ignore his point-guard duties by handing out five assists to only one turnover. He also had a team-high nine rebounds.


Evanochko nailed a 14-foot jumper from the right elbow to give the Phoenix a 43-42 lead with 5:50 remaining, and Wright State never regained the lead. UWGB held the Raiders to only one basket in the final 7:20.


Evanochko's perfect second half helped his team shoot 59.3 percent in the final 20 minutes after making only 7 of 23 shots (30.4 percent) in the first half. Freshman forward Mike Schachtner (10 points) was the only other UWGB player to score in double figures.


Meanwhile, freshman guard Terry Evans put the defensive clamps on Wright State point guard DaShaun Wood, and the Phoenix managed to keep big man Jordan Pleiman (12 points, six rebounds) under control in the second half.


Wood, who came into the game ranked third in the league in scoring (16.6 ppg), picked up two first-half fouls, both on charges, and sat the final 10½ minutes before halftime. Wood still managed to play 27 minutes, but Evans limited him to just eight points on 3-for-8 shooting.


"Terry Evans is quickly becoming one of the best defensive players in the league," UWGB coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "By becoming that, it allows us to save some energy from Ryan Evanochko. That's an unbelievably valuable tool for us right now."

www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060120/GPG020101/601200501/1225/GPGsports

[Big D]

RAIDER CONNECTION

No WSU player could answer Green Bay star's surge
By Marc Katz

Dayton Daily News

GREEN BAY | There are several ways you can break down games. First-half play and second-half play. First 10 minutes, last 30 minutes. First 30 minutes, last 10 minutes.

Then there was Wright State's Thursday night game at Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Wright State led 24-17 at the half while Green Bay tried to figure out how to score.

Wright State led 42-41 with six minutes to play, holding off a Green Bay rally.

Then WSU disappeared, and Green Bay, led by junior Ryan Evanochko's 22 points — 20 of them in the second half — pulled away.

"For 20 minutes, we played well," WSU coach Paul Biancardi said. "For 14 minutes, we played so-so. The last six minutes were not very good. We fell apart."

Biancardi praised Evanochko, who had been averaging more than 16 points a game. He made three straight baskets from which the Raiders would not recover. With 5:50 to play, he hit a short jumper to give Green Bay its first lead of the second half, 43-42. With 4:55 to play, he scored in the lane to make it 45-42. With 4:28 to play, he drove for a layup on the right side to make it 47-42.

In between, the Raiders were throwing up missed 3-point shots, from William Graham, then Tyrone Scott, then DaShaun Wood.

Wood, WSU's go-to guy, has had marvelous games during his three years. Usually, though, when he's on, he's on for a whole game. It's rare to see one of the WSU players take over a game in the late stages as Evanochko did, and just elevate the team.

"He's a good player," Biancardi said of Evanochko. "In the first half, he was 1-for-6. In the last six minutes, he stepped up. He did a nice job rebounding, too (a game-high nine)."

The Raiders have several candidates to take over a game, especially in the late minutes. So far, through, no one has done it.

The Raiders are correct when they say there are plenty of games left, that the Horizon League portion of the schedule isn't yet a third finished.

But Saturday, they will face their toughest test. They will be at Milwaukee, the toughest team in the league. Milwaukee (13-4, 6-1) slipped last Saturday at Green Bay, taking its first Horizon League loss, but rebounded with a two-point victory at Detroit on Wednesday.

Butler lost at Chicago-Loyola on Thursday, so Wright State and Milwaukee are the only two teams with just one league loss. Milwaukee holds the league lead now by virtue of playing more games. Whichever team wins Saturday will have the lead alone.

Wright State needs to have somebody step up.

www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0120raiderconnection.html?cxntnid=rc-012006

[Big D]

WSU lost early in the year for 3 reasons. 1) We were missing 2 players for the first 4 games of the year who were suspended. 2) We had 6 new players this year. Those guys were not getting their offensive/defensive assignments earlier in the year. As they have gotten more comfortable with our system they have played better. 3) We started the year playing 3 out of our first 4 games and 4 out of our first 6 games on the road. We didn't win any of those road games and started the year 1-5. By comparison, Green Bay hasn't won an away game yet this year. Your only win that wasn't at home was a neutral court game.

I think WSU can finish in the top 3 this year, not because we are a great team. Mainly because the HL isn't very good again this year. If we could play the entire 40 minutes of a game with the same defensive intensity and control the tempo of the game, I would think we had a legit shot at winning the conference. We haven't shown that consistency this year. Since Boyd left WSU after last season, we don't have a lights out legit 3 pt shooter. That really has prevented us from getting back into games once a team gets a significant lead. Against Green Bay, once you guys got up by 7, we panicked and forced bad shots that we know we can't make. Last year we wouldn't have had to do that with Boyd available.

[Deleted]

this'll be a good series between the two schools. the 3 games that still irk me are @ Butler, @ LU and @ WSU. our 17-game winning streak at home will definitely be tested tonight.

[Wolf]

WSU is a 5 point favorite for round 2.

www.kenpom.com/sked.php?team=Wright%20St.&t=p

[Raider Country]

Wright State game notes:
www.wright.edu/athletics/stats/notes/1138978221.pdf

[Class of '83]

Raiders can't look past Phoenix
Late collapse in Green Bay ended 4-0 league start
By Marc Katz

Dayton Daily News

FAIRBORN | Wright State has a lot going on tonight at the Nutter Center.

There will be a $1 million fan shootout at halftime.

There will be the induction of 10 former players — five men, five women — into the school's basketball Wall of Fame.

Most importantly, there will be the chance of completing the payback of the two Horizon League Wisconsin teams' sweep earlier this month.

Already, the one-day celebration over beating league-leading UW-Milwaukee 59-54 on Thursday is over. UW-Green Bay visits tonight, and the Raiders insist they will not overlook an 11-12 Phoenix team that has lost three of its last five games.

"They beat Milwaukee at Green Bay; they beat us already," WSU junior forward Drew Burleson said. "This will be a really big game for us. We're trying to keep pace in the league."

Fellow junior DaShaun Wood feels the same way.

"They've got a lot of young players, but they play hard night in and night out," Wood said. "We've got to make sure we match their intensity. We've got to try to get them because everybody's playing for position right now in the league. You don't want to slip up at the end.

"Anytime you want to get to the top, you've got to beat whoever's at the top. We've got to keep fighting no matter who's in front of us on the way there."

Wright State was 4-0 the last time the Raiders met the Phoenix and were leading by a point with 6:09 to play. Green Bay closed out with a 16-2 run, the beginning of a four-game WSU losing streak.

"This is going to be an extremely big game for us," Burleson repeated.

Contact Marc Katz at 225-2157.

www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/wsu/daily/0204wsubb.html

[Class of '83]

Men's basketball: UWGB-Wright State preview

Who: University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (11-12 overall, 5-6 Horizon League) vs. Wright State (10-10, 6-4)

Where: Nutter Center (11,019); Dayton, Ohio

Coaches: UWGB — Tod Kowalczyk (55-54, fourth season); WSU — Paul Biancardi (39-39, third season)


Series: The Phoenix leads 19-12 and won the first meeting of the season, 57-44, on Jan. 19 at the Resch Center. UWGB's last win at Wright State came on Jan. 5, 2004.


Probable starters: UWGB — F, Josh Lawrence (6-7, jr.) 8.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg; Mike Schachtner (6-9, fr.) 10.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg; Ryan Tillema (6-8, fr.) 7.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg; G, Terry Evans (6-5, fr.) 8.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg; Ryan Evanochko (6-2, jr.) 15.9 ppg, 4.8 apg


WSU — F, Drew Burleson (6-6, jr.) 12.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg; Walt Chancellor (6-5, jr.) 2.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg; C, Jordan Pleiman (6-8, so.) 9.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg; G, Jaron Taylor (6-1, sr.) 4.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg; DaShaun Wood (5-11, jr.) 16.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg


UWGB update: The Phoenix lost Thursday at Butler, 72-66, in overtime. The last time it lost a road conference game in overtime (Jan. 2 at Detroit), it followed with a 25-point loss at Youngstown State. Thursday's loss dropped UWGB to 1-9 on the road, including 1-5 in Horizon League away games. … Tillema, who scored a career-high 20 points (including four 3-pointers) against Butler, has made 37 3-pointers this season. He needs 10 more to tie the school record for 3s by a freshman, which was set by Tony Bennett in the 1988-89 season. Tillema ranks fifth on the list behind Bennett, Chris Sager (42 in 2000-01), B.J. LaRue (39 in 1996-97) and Ben Berlowski (29 in 1992-93). … Evanochko scored 22 points in the first meeting with Wright State, but in his last three games he has averaged just 11.0 ppg while shooting 28.6 percent (10-of-25), including 15.4 percent (2-of-13) from 3-point range. … UWGB is in a fourth-place tie with Detroit, but the two teams have only one more victory than the teams behind them. Loyola and Cleveland State are 4-6, while Illinois-Chicago and Youngstown State are 4-7.


WSU update: The Raiders joined UWGB as the only Horizon League teams to beat first-place UW-Milwaukee this season. Wright State hung on for a 59-54 win at home over UWM on Thursday. Burleson and Wood each scored 17 points, while Pleiman added 11. The Raiders didn't hit a single 3-pointer, missing all eight attempts from behind the line. They have made the fewest 3s (74) of any Horizon League team and rank eighth out of nine teams in 3-point percentage (.300). … Wood, who was limited to eight points on 3-of-8 shooting in the first game against UWGB, scored 35 points in Monday's win over Youngstown State. That snapped Wright State's four-game losing streak. … Pleiman has scored in double figures all three times he has played against UWGB. He scored 12 points on Jan. 5 at the Resch Center and had games of 21 points and 10 points last year as a freshman. … The third-place Raiders trail only UWM (9-2) and Butler (6-3). Those teams play today in Indianapolis. … The Raiders are 8-2 at home this season and 27-12 at home in Biancardi's three seasons. Biancardi is 1-4 against UWGB. The victory came in the last year's regular-season finale at the Nutter Center.

— Rob Demovsky, [e-mail]
www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060204/GPG020101/602040465/1229/GPGsports

[raider fan]

I noticed that Walt is listed as a starter in place of Will Graham.......does anyone know why?

[Spicy Toast]

I suspect the GB beat writer does not know what he is talking about. Phoenix start three big guys and he decided Wright State will as well.