@Valpobasketball Valpo Men's Basketball #Valpogameday
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2016-17 Valparaiso University Men’s Basketball 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 2016-17 Schedule and Results Valparaiso (7-1, 0-0 Horizon) Date Opponent Time/Result Game #9 - Wednesday, Dec. 7 - 7 p.m. CT Nov. 5 Hillsdale (exhibition) W 78-63 Nov. 11 Southern Utah ! W 79-65 at #6/7 Kentucky (7-1, 0-0 SEC) Nov. 12 Trinity Christian W 89-75 Rupp Arena (23,500) - Lexington, Ky. Nov. 14 Coppin State ! W 78-58 Nov. 17 at #4/4 Oregon L 76-54 Next Up in Crusader Basketball: Fresh off of its fi rst victory over a national- Nov. 21 vs. Alabama ! W 68-60 ly-ranked opponent in over 18 years, the Valparaiso University men’s basketball Nov. 23 vs. BYU ! W 92-89 team faces another stern test Wednesday evening, as the Crusaders make the Nov. 27 Ball State W 79-73 trip to Lexington, Ky. for the fi rst time to face #6/7 Kentucky. The matchup is Nov. 29 #21/25 Rhode Island W 65-62 Valpo’s third with a top-25 team in the season’s fi rst nine games. Dec. 7 at #6/7 Kentucky 7 p.m. Dec. 10 at Missouri State 7:05 p.m. Last Time Out: In the midst of many victories at the ARC over the last 28 Dec. 17 Indiana State 7 p.m. years, one thing has eluded the Valparaiso University men’s basketball team Dec. 22 Santa Clara 7 p.m. since beating Notre Dame in December of 1988: a home victory over a na- Dec. 28 Chicago State 7 p.m. tionally-ranked opponent. But that changed Tuesday night at the ARC, as the Dec. 30 at UIC * 4 p.m. Crusaders – behind 27 points and a game-sealing blocked shot by senior Alec Jan. 6 Oakland * 8 p.m. Peters – took down #21/25 Rhode Island in front of a raucous home crowd by Jan. 8 Detroit Mercy * noon Jan. 12 at Youngstown State * 6:45 p.m. a 65-62 fi nal. Jan. 14 at Cleveland State * 2:30 p.m. Jan. 16 Green Bay * 7 p.m. Following the Crusaders: TV – SEC Network – Tom Hart (PxP), Tony Delk Jan. 22 UIC * 2 p.m. (Analyst) and Tara Petrolino (Sidelines) Jan. 27 Wright State * TBD Radio – Valpo Sports Network [WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso); WVLP (103.1 Jan. 29 Northern Kentucky * 1:30 p.m. FM, Valparaiso)] - Todd Ickow (PxP) and Aaron Leavitt (Analyst) Feb. 2 at Milwaukee * 7 p.m. Links for the video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com. Feb. 4 at Green Bay * noon Feb. 9 Cleveland State * 7 p.m. Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich is in his fi rst season at the helm of Feb. 11 Youngstown State * 7 p.m. the Valparaiso University men’s basketball program in 2016-17 after being Feb. 17 at Oakland * 6 p.m. named the 22nd head coach in program history on April 7. Lottich previously Feb. 19 at Detroit Mercy * 1 p.m. served as an assistant coach for the last three seasons, helping Valpo earn 78 Feb. 21 Milwaukee * 7 p.m. victories - including a school-record 30 last season - and a pair of Horizon Feb. 24 at Wright State * 6:30 p.m. League regular season titles. Feb. 26 at Northern Kentucky * noon Mar. 3-7 at Horizon League Championship Series Notes: The only previous meeting between the Crusaders and the (Detroit, Mich.) Wildcats came in the fi rst round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament - an 83-68 Kentucky victory. Raitis Grafs paced Valpo with 21 points and eight rebounds All times Central. in the losing effort, while the Wildcats were led by 21 points and six rebounds Home games in bold and played at from Keith Bogans. Athletics-Recreation Center. ! – Men Who Speak Up Main Event * - indicates Horizon League game @ValpoBasketball Valpo Men’s #ValpoGameday Basketball #GoValpo 2016-17 Valparaiso University Men’s Basketball 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... – including his second consecutive 11-for-12 effort from the foul line. ...and the @HorizonLeague - Hammink scored in double fi gures for the sixth time in seven games, fi nish- - Valpo was picked to win the Horizon League in preseason polling, earning ing with 16 points, while Williams added 14 points and Tevonn Walker 11. 35 of the 39 fi rst-place votes. - The Crusaders continued to struggle shooting the 3-pointer at home this - The Crusaders have not fi nished worse than their preseason projection year, fi nishing just 4-for-17 from behind the arc, but also continued their in the last six years. tremendous early-season success at the foul line, going 21-of-25. - Senior Alec Peters was named the league’s Preseason Player of the Year, Valpo’s - Valpo scored 21 points off of the 23 Ball State turnovers, while the Car- fi rst league preseason player of the year since Lubos Barton (2001-02, Mid-Con). dinals scored just 10 points off of 14 Crusader turnovers. - Senior Shane Hammink joined Peters as a preseason All-League choice, earning a spot on the Second Team. ...looking ahead - Valpo wraps up its brief two-game road trip with a visit to Missouri State ...looking back at last year Saturday night. - The 2015-16 Crusader squad won a school-record 30 games, fi nishing - The Crusaders will then take fi nals week off from competition before the year 30-7. returning to the court at the ARC Dec. 17 versus in-state foe Indiana State. - Valpo claimed the Horizon League regular season title by going 16-2 in league play, winning the league by three games. ...on the road - The Crusaders were the fi rst Horizon League team to win the league title - Valpo enters this season having posted a winning record in true road games by at least three games since 2009-10. three of the last four years, after having not done so the previous 10 seasons. - The regular season title was Valpo’s fourth in a fi ve-year span, a feat - Last year, the Crusaders posted a 12-4 record in true road games - including accomplished only by Butler and Xavier previously within the league. an 8-1 mark on the road in Horizon League play. - Valpo set new Horizon League records in league-only play for scoring - This year’s team has just three true road games on the slate during non- margin, rebounds, rebounding average and rebound margin. league action and is currently 0-1, having fallen earlier this year at Oregon. - The Crusaders received an automatic bid into the NIT and were awarded a 1 seed as one of the First Four Out of the NCAA Tournament. @KentuckyMBB - Valpo defeated Texas Southern, Florida State and Saint Mary’s at the ARC - The Wildcats enter Wednesday’s game sixth nationally in the AP poll and to advance to the semifi nals at Madison Square Garden in New York City. seventh in the coaches poll, with an identical 7-1 record to Valpo. - The Crusaders beat BYU in a thriller at MSG before falling in the cham- - Kentucky suffered a rare home loss last time out, falling at Rupp Arena pionship game of the NIT to George Washington. to UCLA, 97-92. - Vashil Fernandez led the nation in blocked shots, was named National Defensive - Four Wildcats average in double fi gures, led by 19.9 points per game from Player of the Year and repeated as Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year. Malik Monk. Bam Adebayo adds 12 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. - Alec Peters was an AP Honorable Mention All-American and earned a spot on the All-Horizon League First Team for a second straight year. Sitting at 7-1 - Bryce Drew repeated as Horizon League Coach of the Year. - Last week’s win over Rhode Island moved the Crusaders to 7-1 this year, match- ing their best eight-game start since the 1944-45 squad won its fi rst 11 games. ...notes from Rhode Island - Valpo last started 7-1 through eight games just two years ago, as the 2014- - The Crusaders have now won 10 straight games at the ARC and 37 of 15 team won eight of its fi rst nine games. their last 39 in the friendly confi nes. - The Crusaders have alrso recently been 7-1 through eight games in 2007- - Rhode Island was the fi rst nationally-ranked team to visit the ARC since 08 [started 10-1], 1998-99 [started 8-1] and 1996-97 [started 7-1]. Purdue in December of 2010 and the fi rst ranked squad from outside the state of Indiana since Marquette in November of 2006. Taking on Ranked Teams - Alec Peters continued his early-season domination, scoring 27 points on - Valpo snapped a 40-game winless streak against nationally-ranked oppo- 8-of-17 shooting from the fi eld and 10-of-10 from the foul line while also sition last time out with the win over Rhode Island. leading the Crusaders with nine rebounds. - The Crusaders had not taken down a top-25 opponent since their win over - Peters was one of four Crusaders in double fi gures, joined by Jubril Ade- Ole Miss in the fi rst round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.