2011-2012 Crusader Men’s Basketball Game Notes Contact: AARON LEAVITT Office: 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 2011-12 Schedule and Results Valparaiso (7-3, 1-0 Horizon) Date Opponent Time/Result Game #10: Saturday, Dec. 17 - 7:05 p.m. CST Oct. 29 Hillsdale ! W 73-71 Nov. 3 Augustana ! W 74-65 Oakland (6-4, 2-0 Summit) Nov. 7 at #16/16 Arizona # L 73-64 Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind. Nov. 11 at Georgia Southern W 90-81 Nov. 14 Holy Cross [Ind.] College W 88-38 Next Up in Crusader Basketball: Valparaiso looks to keep its perfect home Nov. 18 Akron # W 62-59 record this season intact on Saturday night as the Crusaders host former Mid- Nov. 19 IU Kokomo # W 79-48 Con foe Oakland at the ARC. Valpo has started the season with five straight Nov. 20 Duquesne # W 84-68 victories at home. Nov. 25 at #3/3 Ohio State L 80-47 Dec. 3 at Butler * W 77-71 (ot) Dec. 7 at IPFW L 85-76 Last Time Out: In a game which was within one possession for virtually the Dec. 10 Bowling Green W 82-79 last 10 minutes of play, it was Valparaiso which came up with the big points Dec. 17 Oakland 7:05 p.m. down the stretch, as the Crusaders went 10-for-12 from the free throw line over Dec. 20 at Northern Illinois 7 p.m. the game’s final two minutes to earn an 82-79 victory over Bowling Green Dec. 23 at IUPUI $ noon State University Saturday evening at the ARC. Ryan Broekhoff and Jay Harris Dec. 29 Milwaukee * 7:05 p.m. Dec. 31 Green Bay * 4:05 p.m. paced the Crusaders with 20 points apiece, the latter matching his career-best Jan. 6 at Detroit * TBA effort in the category. Jan. 8 at Wright State * 2 p.m. Jan. 13 Youngstown State * 7:05 p.m. Following the Crusaders: Every game this season will be available on the Jan. 15 Cleveland State * 1:35 p.m. Valpo Sports Radio Network, with Saturday's game broadcast live on WAKE Jan. 19 at Loyola * 7 p.m. Jan. 21 at UIC * 3 p.m. (1500 AM, Valparaiso) and WEFM (95.9 FM, Michigan City). Todd Ickow is Jan. 26 at Green Bay * 7 p.m. back for his 20th season on play-by-play, while Keaton Gillogly will join him Jan. 28 at Milwaukee * 1 p.m. on color commentary Saturday. As always with every home game, there will Feb. 2 Detroit * 6:30 p.m. be a live free video webcast through the Horizon League Network as well. Feb. 4 Wright State * 7:05 p.m. Links to the live audio and video webcasts, as well as a link to live statistics Feb. 9 at Cleveland State * 6 p.m. Feb. 11 at Youngstown State * 6 p.m. and the Valpo Gameday page, will also be available at www.valpoathletics.com. Feb. 14 UIC * 7:05 p.m. Feb. 18 at TBA (BracketBuster) TBA Head Coach Bryce Drew: Bryce Drew made his head coaching debut at Ari- Feb. 21 Loyola * 7:05 p.m. zona on Nov. 7, as he was named the 21st head coach in the history of the Feb. 24 Butler * 6 p.m. Valparaiso men’s basketball program on May 17, 2011. Just the fourth new Feb. 28- Horizon League Championship Mar. 6 (campus sites) head coach to grace the Crusader sidelines in the last 31 years, Drew had spent All times Central. the last six seasons as a member of the Crusader coaching staff before earning Home games in bold and played at Athletics- the head position. He famously hit the game-winning shot against Ole Miss Recreation Center. for Valpo in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament to cap an illustrious ! – indicates exhibition game Crusader career, before going on to a seven-year professional career, six of # – 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer (Campus sites) which were spent in the NBA. $ - played at Conseco Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Ind.) * - indicates Horizon League game Series Notes: Valparaiso had dominated the all-time series against the Griz- zlies, winning the first 16 matchups, but Oakland took the last three meetings Media Relations Information while the Crusaders were in the Mid-Con. Last season, in their first meeting as Requests to cover home men’s basketball games should be made through Aaron Leavitt, Associate Director of Media Relations, non-league foes, Valpo captured an epic 103-102 victory in Rochester, Mich. by contacting 219.464.6953 or [email protected] . Press to take a 17-3 series lead. The matchup spawned an entire page of game notes row seating is available at the ARC for working media only. for the rest of the year, some of which are recapped later in these notes. Updated statistics and notes from both schools will be available in the media room. The Road Ahead: Valpo closes out the bulk of non-league play with a pair of During the week, all player and coach interview requests should road games before Christmas, taking on Northern Illinois on Dec. 20 and IUPUI be directed to Aaron Leavitt. Media planning to attend practice at Conseco Fieldhouse on Dec. 23. Following the holiday, the Crusaders re- should call ahead to confirm practice time. Game-day interviews turn home to the ARC to start up the meat of the Horizon League slate with prior to the contest are not permitted. Coach Drew and requested players will be available following the game in the media room. games against Milwaukee (Dec. 29) and Green Bay (Dec. 31). 2011-2012 Crusader Men’s Basketball Game Notes Contact: AARON LEAVITT Office: 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 Scouting Oakland: The Golden Grizzlies enter Saturday’s game at 7-4 over- all and have gotten off to a 2-0 start in Summit League play. Three of Oakland’s Horizon League Standings four losses have come against BCS conference teams (Alabama, Arkansas, (through games of Dec. 13) Michigan), while it also beat Tennessee at home, 89-81. Senior Reggie Horizon Overall Hamilton leads a high-octane Grizzlies offense that averages 80 points per Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct. game, as the Chicago native has scored 20.3 ppg through Oakland’s first 11 Cleveland State 2-0 1.000 10-1 .909 games. Sophomore Travis Bader knocks down nearly three 3-pointers per Milwaukee 2-0 1.000 8-3 .727 game while averaging 13.7 ppg, and freshman Corey Petros is averaging a Green Bay 2-0 1.000 5-6 .455 double-double (12.1 ppg, 10.6 rpg). Valparaiso 1-0 1.000 7-3 .700 Youngstown State 1-1 .500 6-3 .667 Facing All Three Drews: Oakland head coach Greg Kampe will earn the dis- Wright State 1-1 .500 4-6 .400 tinction Saturday of being the first head coach to face all three coaching mem- Butler 0-1 .000 4-6 .400 bers of the Drew family. The longtime head coach of the Golden Grizzlies, Detroit 0-2 .000 5-7 .417 Kampe officially coached against Homer Drew 18 times and Scott Drew twice UIC 0-2 .000 3-6 .333 over the last 12 years, although Scott also coached the Crusaders against Oak- Loyola 0-2 .000 2-7 .222 land in a game in 2001 where Homer was ill. Around the Horizon League Proficiency Inside the Arc: Valparaiso’s success shooting from 2-point range has carried over into the 2011-2012 season. Last season, the Crusaders fin- Wednesday, Dec. 14 ished the year hitting 55.3% of their 2-point attempts, good for third nationally. Cincinnati at Wright State, 6 p.m. So far this year, Valpo has connected at an even better clip from inside, knock- Friday, Dec. 16 ing down 59.8% of its tries from inside the arc, and leads the nation in the UIC at Central Michigan, 6 p.m. category. In fact, of Valpo’s nine scholarship players, seven are hitting at least half of their 2-point attempts. The Crusaders had one of their best efforts of the Saturday, Dec. 17 season from inside in last Saturday’s win over Bowling Green, hitting 19-of- Mississippi State at Detroit, 11 a.m. 25 (76%) from inside the arc. Butler vs. Purdue, 1 p.m. Chicago State at Loyola, 3 p.m. Nice Start to the Season: Valpo’s win over Bowling Green last Saturday pushed Youngstown State at Toledo, 6 p.m. the Crusaders’ record to 7-3. Seven wins in their first 10 games is something Ohio at Wright State, 6 p.m. the Crusaders have accomplished only twice in the last decade: 2007-2008, Nebraska-Omaha at Milwaukee, 7 p.m. when the team started 9-1 and would go on to earn a berth in the CBI; and Oakland at Valparaiso, 7:05 p.m. 2001-2002, when the team started 7-3 en route to an NCAA Tournament ap- pearance. This year’s start is more impressive considering Valpo’s strength of Monday, Dec. 19 schedule through 10 games ranks 30th nationally according to the Pomeroy Youngstown State at Akron, 6 p.m.