Men's Basketball Game Notes @Valpobasketball Valpo Men's
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2015-16 Crusader Men’s Basketball Game Notes Contact: AARON LEAVITT Offi ce: 219.464.6953 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] Cell: 219.476.6680 Athletics-Recreation Center www.valpoathletics.com 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 2015-16 Schedule and Results Valparaiso (6-2, 0-0 Horizon) Date Opponent Time/Result Nov. 3 Indianapolis (exhibition) W 75-67 Game #9 - Thursday, December 3 - 7 p.m. Nov. 13 IPFW W 78-64 Belmont (5-3, 0-0 Ohio Valley) Nov. 15 Iona ! W 83-58 Nov. 17 at Rhode Island W 58-55 Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind. Nov. 18 IU Kokomo ! W 78-40 Nov. 19 Trinity Christian ! W 89-42 Next Up in Crusader Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball Nov. 22 at #25/rv Oregon L 73-67 team looks to get back on the winning track Thursday evening, as the Crusaders Nov. 24 at Oregon State ! W 63-57 host Belmont at 7 p.m. at the ARC. Thursday’s matchup is the fi rst matchup Nov. 28 at Ball State L 69-66 in a home-and-home series this season between Valpo and the Bruins, as the Dec. 3 Belmont 7 p.m. Crusaders will return the trip at the end of the month. Dec. 9 at Indiana State 6 p.m. Dec. 11 at Chicago State 7:05 p.m. Last Time Out: Valpo, behind a combined 31 second-half points from Alec Dec. 19 Missouri State 1:30 p.m. Peters and E. Victor Nickerson, nearly erased the entirety of an 11-point sec- Dec. 28 at Belmont 7 p.m. ond-half defi cit at Ball State Saturday afternoon, but the Crusaders would come Jan. 2 UIC * 1 p.m. up one shot short, as a last-second 3-point attempt was off the mark to give the Jan. 8 at Oakland * 6 p.m./8 p.m. Cardinals a 69-66 win. Peters led all players with 28 points, while Nickerson Jan. 10 at Detroit * 2 p.m. scored all 16 of his points in the fi nal 20 minutes. Jan. 14 Milwaukee * 7 p.m. Jan. 16 Green Bay * 7 p.m. Following the Crusaders: Video - ESPN3.com - Todd Ickow (PxP) and David Jan. 18 at Youngstown State * 6:05 p.m. Huseman (Color) Jan. 22 at Wright State * 6 p.m. Audio – WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso) Jan. 24 at Northern Kentucky * noon Links for the video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com. Jan. 28 Cleveland State * 7 p.m. Jan. 30 Youngstown State * 7 p.m. Feb. 6 at UIC * 3 p.m. Head Coach Bryce Drew: Bryce Drew (100-44) is in his fi fth season at the helm Feb. 11 Northern Kentucky * 7 p.m. of the Crusader men’s basketball program in 2015-16. In his fi rst four years, Feb. 13 Wright State * 7 p.m. Drew has led Valpo to three Horizon League regular season titles, two Horizon Feb. 16 at Cleveland State * 6 p.m. League tournament championships and four postseason berths, including a pair Feb. 19 Oakland * 7 p.m. of NCAA Tournament appearances. The 2012 and 2015 HL Coach of the Year, Feb. 21 Detroit * 1:30 p.m. Drew ascended to the head coaching position on May 17, 2011 after spending Feb. 26 at Milwaukee * 6 p.m./8 p.m. six seasons as an assistant and associate head coach with the Crusaders. Feb. 28 at Green Bay * 1 p.m. Mar. 5-8 at Horizon League Championship Series Notes: Valpo holds an 8-1 advantage in the all-time series over Belmont, (Detroit, Mich.) including a perfect 5-0 record in games played at the ARC. The most recent matchup between the two squads came in December of 2002 in Valparaiso, an All times Central. 83-65 victory for the Crusaders. Four Valpo players fi nished in double fi gures Home games in bold and played at in the scoring column that night, led by 19 points from Raitis Grafs, as the Athletics-Recreation Center. Crusaders shot 57% from the fi eld. ! – Beaver Showcase (Campus sites) * - indicates Horizon League game @ValpoBasketball Valpo Men’s #ValpoGameday Basketball #GoValpo 2015-16 Crusader Men’s Basketball Game Notes Contact: AARON LEAVITT Offi ce: 219.464.6953 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] Cell: 219.476.6680 Athletics-Recreation Center www.valpoathletics.com 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 @ValpoBasketball... - The Crusaders have won 17 consecutive home games dating back ...and the @HorizonLeague to December of 2014. - Valpo has been picked to win the Horizon League in preseason - The Crusaders posted a 15-1 record at the ARC last season, the polling, earning 36 of the 43 fi rst-place votes. second-most home wins in a single season since the building opened. - The Crusaders have not fi nished worse than their preseason pro- - Valpo’s .938 home winning percentage last year was also the jection in the last fi ve years. second-best since the ARC opened. - Junior Alec Peters was named to the preseason First Team All- - Over the last 21 years, the Crusaders own a 254-57 (.817) winning League for a second straight season. percentage on their home court. - Seniors Vashil Fernandez and Darien Walker and sophomore Tevonn Walker all earned spots on the preseason Second Team. @BelmontMBB - Belmont enters Thursday’s game at 5-3 on the season, most recently ...looking back at last year taking down Lipscomb on Tuesday night, 105-89. - Valpo won a program-record 28 games en route to the Horizon - The Bruins are one of the nation’s top offensive teams, ranking League regular season and tournament titles. fi rst in 2-point pct., fi fth in effective fi eld goal pct. and 24th in - The Crusaders advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the ninth offensive effi ciency. time since 1996 and the 14th time overall. - Belmont is led by Evan Bradds, who averages 19.5 points and 8.1 - Valpo has won two of the last three Horizon League Championships rebounds per game on 73.9% shooting from the fi eld. and three of the last four HL regular season titles. - Craig Bradshaw adds 17 points per game and hits at a 48.1% clip - The Crusaders are one of just four programs in league history to from behind the 3-point line. capture at least three regular season titles in a four-year span. - Bryce Drew was named Horizon League Coach of the Year for the See You Again second time, as well as NABC District Coach of the Year. - It’s a rarity to play the same team twice in the same season in - Alec Peters was a First Team All-League selection and an NABC non-league action, but Valpo will do so for the fourth time in the First Team All-District choice. last decade this year with Belmont. - Vashil Fernandez was named HL Defensive Player of the Year and - The home-and-home was set up as part of a scheduling partnership a member of the All-Defensive Team. between Belmont and the Horizon League when the Bruins joined - Jubril Adekoya claimed Sixth Man of the Year honors, while the league as an affi liate member in men’s soccer. Tevonn Walker earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team. - Ironically, Valpo’s last two single-season home-and-homes outside league play were both against UCF. ...notes from Ball State - The Crusaders and Knights both split series in 2013 and 2008, with - Alec Peters led all players with 28 points, matching his career high both teams winning on their respective home courts. with 10 fi eld goals (10-18) and setting a season high with fi ve 3’s. - The last time Valpo swept a single-season non-league home-and- - E. Victor Nickerson scored all 16 of his points in the second half, home was in 2006-07 against Chicago State. combining with Peters for 31 of Valpo’s 43 second-half points. - No other Crusader fi nished in double fi gures, as Valpo set a season Century Mark for Bryce low with just four points off the bench. - The win over Oregon State gave Valpo head coach Bryce Drew his - Valpo lost despite matching a season-best by committing just 100th career victory, both overall and at the helm of the Crusaders. seven turnovers. - Drew is one of just three coaches in Crusader history to reach 100 - The Crusaders shot a season-worst 61.9% (13-of-21) from the foul wins, joining his father Homer, as well as J.M. Christiansen. line and missed three front ends of one-and-ones. - Bryce Drew is just two wins shy of Christiansen’s total of 102 for second place in program history. ...looking ahead - To put it into perspective, Bryce Drew reached 100 wins in just - The Crusaders play a pair of road games next week, heading to 143 games - Christiansen needed 196 games to reach 100, while Indiana State (Dec. 9) and Chicago State (Dec. 11). Homer Drew needed 230 games. - Valpo then returns home for fi nal exam week before hosting its fi nal home game of the 2015 calendar year, Dec. 19 versus Missouri State. Defense and Rebounding - In a couple fundamental parts of the game, the Crusaders have had ...at the ARC success in the early portion of the 2015-16 campaign. - Valpo has 15 regular season home games scheduled for the Ath- - Valpo’s scoring defense (57.3 ppg) ranks seventh nationally, while its letics-Recreation Center in 2015-16 and is already 4-0 at home fi eld goal percentage defense (36.2%) is good for 19th in the nation.