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 (22-11, 14-4 Horizon) Date Opponent Time/Result Game #34: Wednesday, Mar. 14 - 6:30 p.m. CDT Oct. 29 Hillsdale ! W 73-71 Nov. 3 Augustana ! W 74-65 at Miami (19-12, 9-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) Nov. 7 at #16/16 Arizona # L 73-64 BankUnited Center (8,000) - Coral Gables, Fla. Nov. 11 at Georgia Southern W 90-81 Nov. 14 Holy Cross [Ind.] College W 88-38 Next Up in Crusader Basketball: Valparaiso takes to the postseason for the Nov. 18 Akron # W 62-59 11th time in the last 17 seasons, as the Crusaders travel to Coral Gables, Fla. as Nov. 19 IU Kokomo # W 79-48 Nov. 20 Duquesne # W 84-68 a seventh seed in the 2012 National Invitation Tournament to take on second- Nov. 25 at #3/3 Ohio State L 80-47 seeded Miami out of the ACC. It marks Valpo’s second all-time appearance in Dec. 3 at Butler * W 77-71 (ot) the postseason NIT, as the Crusaders also earned an NIT berth in 2003. Dec. 7 at IPFW L 85-76 Dec. 10 Bowling Green W 82-79 Dec. 17 Oakland L 82-80 Last Time Out: Valparaiso led by three at the half in the 2012 Horizon League Dec. 20 at Northern Illinois W 59-48 Championship title game last Tuesday evening at the ARC, but Detroit out- Dec. 23 at IUPUI $ L 97-88 scored the Crusaders 46-23 over the final 20 minutes as Valpo fell by a 70-50 Dec. 29 Milwaukee * L 57-55 Dec. 31 Green Bay * W 90-87 final. Kevin Van Wijk led the Crusaders with 17 points and eight rebounds, Jan. 6 at Detroit * W 73-71 hitting 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Ryan Broekhoff added 13 points and Jan. 8 at Wright State * L 73-55 six rebounds, while Matt Kenney contributed seven points and a career-best 10 Jan. 13 Youngstown State * W 76-62 rebounds off the bench. The Crusaders shot just 36.4% (16-of-44) for the Jan. 15 Cleveland State * W 72-66 Jan. 19 at Loyola * W 69-48 game, including just 2-of-18 from beyond the 3-point line. Jan. 21 at UIC * W 60-55 Jan. 26 at Green Bay * L 75-60 Following the Crusaders: Wednesday night’s game will be broadcast live on Jan. 28 at Milwaukee * W 55-52 Feb. 2 Detroit * W 78-73 ESPNU, the fifth appearance for Valpo on the ESPN family of networks in its Feb. 4 Wright State * W 63-54 last six games. Mark Jones and Tim Welsh will be on the call on the U Wednes- Feb. 9 at Cleveland State * W 59-41 day evening. Meanwhile, Todd Ickow - in his 20th year on the call of Crusader Feb. 11 at Youngstown State * L 71-53 men’s basketball - will have the play-by-play on Wednesday night live on Feb. 14 UIC * W 74-65 Feb. 17 at Loyola Marymount L 61-53 WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso), while Aaron Leavitt will join him on color Feb. 21 Loyola * W 66-62 (ot) commentary. As always, the live audio and video (through ESPN3.com) Feb. 24 Butler * W 71-59 webcasts, as well as a link for live statistics, will be available through Mar. 3 Butler % W 65-46 Mar. 6 Detroit % L 70-50 www.valpoathletics.com. Mar. 14 at Miami ^ 6:30 p.m. TBA at La Salle/Minnesota ^ TBA Head Coach Bryce Drew: 2012 Horizon League Coach of the Year Bryce All times Central. Drew made his head coaching debut at Arizona on Nov. 7, as he was named the Home games in bold and played at Athletics-Recreation Center. 21st head coach in the history of the Valparaiso men’s basketball program on ! – indicates exhibition game May 17, 2011. Just the fourth new head coach to grace the Crusader sidelines # – 2K Sports Classic (Campus sites) in the last 31 years, Drew had spent the last six seasons as a member of the $ - played at Conseco Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, Ind.) % - Horizon League Championship Crusader coaching staff before earning the head position. He famously hit the ^ - 2012 National Invitation Tournament (Campus sites) game-winning shot against Ole Miss for Valpo in the first round of the 1998 * - indicates Horizon League game NCAA Tournament to cap an illustrious Crusader career, before going on to a Media Relations Information seven-year professional career, six of which were spent in the NBA. Requests to cover home men’s basketball games should be made through Aaron Leavitt, Associate Director of Media Relations, Series Notes: The Crusaders and Hurricanes have met just once in program by contacting 219.464.6953 or [email protected] . Press history, way back on Dec. 28, 1956 as part of the Orange Bowl Classic, a game row seating is available at the ARC for working media only. which Valpo won 81-76. Valpo holds a 2-9 record all-time against current Updated statistics and notes from both schools will be available members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Miami will mark the fourth in the media room. different ACC squad that the Crusaders have faced in postseason play. During the week, all player and coach interview requests should be directed to Aaron Leavitt. Media planning to attend practice The Road Ahead: A win on Wednesday would move the Crusaders on into the should call ahead to confirm practice time. Game-day interviews second round of the NIT on a to-be-determined date against either third-seeded prior to the contest are not permitted. Coach Drew and requested players will be available following the game in the media room. 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 La Salle or sixth-seeded Minnesota. The game woudl be played anywhere from Friday, March 16 to Monday, March 19. Horizon League Standings (through games of Mar. 11) Scouting Miami: The Hurricanes enter Wednesday’s first-round NIT matchup Horizon Overall at 19-12 overall, having finished in a tie for fourth place in the ACC regular Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct. season with a 9-7 league mark. Miami lost in the quarterfinals of the ACC Valparaiso 14-4 .778 22-11 .667 Tournament to eventual champion Florida State, and owns victories over the Cleveland State 12-6 .667 22-10 .688 Seminoles and at Duke this season. Four players average in double figures for Detroit 11-7 .611 22-13 .629 the Hurricanes, which average 71.2 ppg as a team, led by 12.9 ppg from Durand Milwaukee 11-7 .611 20-13 .606 Scott. Post player Reggie Johnson posts a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game to Butler 11-7 .611 20-14 .588 go with 10.1 points per game. Youngstown State 10-8 .556 16-15 .516 Green Bay 10-8 .556 15-15 .500 Back in the NIT: This year marks Valpo’s second foray into the postseason Wright State 7-11 .389 13-19 .406 NIT, with the Crusaders looking for a better result than the first go-round. UIC 3-15 .167 9-22 .290 Valpo previously participated in the NIT in the 2003 season, learning Sunday Loyola 1-17 .056 7-23 .233 afternoon it would play at Iowa just over 24 hours later on Monday night, March 17. The Crusaders battled with the Hawkeyes in Iowa City before suf- fering a narrow 62-60 loss. Valpo was led by 14 points off the bench from Stalin Ortiz, while Ali Berdiel added 13 points. Crusaders In the Postseason: Valpo’s bid to the NIT marks the Crusaders’ 11th postseason appearance in the last 17 years. Valpo has been to the NCAA Among the Horizon League Tournament seven times and the NIT, CBI and CIT one time apiece, with an overall record in postseason play of 3-9. See page four of the PDF notes for a Overall Leaders... complete list of D-I postseason games. (Through Games of Mar. 11) Individual Leaders (within top 5) Keeping a Postseason Tradition Alive: With this year’s bid to the NIT, the Player Category Rank (Stat) Crusaders continue a streak that started with the Valpo basketball class of 1996, Ryan Broekhoff Rebounding 1st (8.6) Kevin Van Wijk Field Goal Pct. 1st (.625) which was the first to appear in postseason play on the D-I level. Since then, Ryan Broekhoff Scoring 4th (14.8) all 20 four-year classes (counting through this year’s freshmen class) have ex- Richie Edwards Free Throw Pct. 4th (.800) perienced at least one postseason tournament over their four years. Kevin Van Wijk Scoring 5th (14.4) Ryan Broekhoff Free Throw Pct. 5th (.789) Award Winners: When the Horizon League announced its postseason award winners at the conclusion of the regular season, it was a haul unlike any for Team Leaders (within top 3) Valpo since the 2001-2002 campaign in the Mid-Con. Junior forward Ryan Team Category Rank (Stat) Broekhoff claimed the HL Player of the Year hardware, the first Crusader to be Valpo Field Goal Pct.