2010-2011 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 2010-11 Schedule and Results Valparaiso (13-5, 5-1 Horizon) Date Opponent Time/Result Game #19: Sunday, Jan. 16 - noon CST Oct. 30 Olivet Nazarene ! W 93-58 Nov. 6 Aurora ! W 98-66 at Detroit (10-8, 4-2 Horizon) Nov. 12 IU Northwest W 111-64 Calihan Hall (8,295) - Detroit, Mich. Nov. 15 at #7/6 Kansas # L 79-44 Nov. 18 Purdue North Central W 98-44 Next Up in Crusader Basketball: Valparaiso looks for its second league road Nov. 23 at Ohio # L 78-75 weekend sweep of the year Sunday afternoon when the Crusaders travel to take Nov. 26 vs. Northern Colorado # W 76-61 on Detroit. With a win, Valpo would guarantee itself to remain in at least a share Nov. 27 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi # W 68-62 of first place in the Horizon League standings at the weekend's conclusion. Dec. 2 at UIC * W 68-66 (ot) Dec. 4 at Loyola (Chicago) * W 66-56 Dec. 7 #19/18 Purdue L 76-58 Last Time Out: Valparaiso allowed Wright State to hit just two field goals in Dec. 11 at Toledo L 75-72 (ot) the first 18 minutes of the second half, erasing a seven-point halftime deficit Dec. 18 IPFW W 63-47 and claiming a double-digit advantage en route to a 71-60 victory over the Dec. 20 vs. Eastern Michigan $ W 74-67 Dec. 21 at Oakland $ W 103-102 Raiders Friday evening at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio. Brandon Wood Dec. 28 Ball State W 69-52 led the way for the Crusaders, pouring in a game-high 26 points. Jan. 1 at Butler * L 76-59 Jan. 7 Youngstown State * W 79-55 Following the Crusaders: Every game this season will be available on the Jan. 9 Cleveland State * W 64-58 Valpo Sports Radio Network, with Sunday's game broadcast live on WAKE Jan. 14 at Wright State * W 71-60 Jan. 16 at Detroit * noon (1500 AM, Valparaiso), WEFM (95.9 FM, Michigan City) and WJOB (1230 Jan. 21 Milwaukee * 6 p.m. AM, Hammond). Todd Ickow is back for his 19th season on play-by-play, Jan. 23 Green Bay * 1:35 p.m. while Aaron Leavitt will handle the color commentary Sunday. The live audio Jan. 29 Butler * 1 p.m. will also be available at www.valpoathletics.com, with live stats and live video Feb. 3 at Cleveland State * 6 p.m. Feb. 5 at Youngstown State * 6:05 p.m. through the Horizon League Network available through the official Crusader Feb. 10 Detroit * 7:05 p.m. website as well. The game will also be televised live on Fox Sports Detroit. Feb. 12 Wright State * 7:05 p.m. Feb. 16 at Milwaukee * 7 p.m. Head Coach Homer Drew: One of only a handful of coaches at the Division Feb. 19 TBA (Bracketbuster) TBA I level coaching on a floor named in his honor, head coach Homer Drew is the Feb. 21 at Green Bay * 7 p.m. Feb. 24 Loyola (Chicago) * 7:05 p.m. seventh-winningest active coach in D-I men’s basketball. Drew enters Sunday's Feb. 26 UIC * 7:05 p.m. game with a 361-298 record in 21 seasons at the helm of the Crusader pro- Mar. 1-8 Horizon League Championship gram and a 630-420 record in 32 years overall as a head coach. (campus sites) All Times Central Home games in bold and played at Series Notes: Valparaiso narrowly trails the all-time series with Detroit, 7-6, Athletics-Recreation Center. in a series that dates all the way back to the early 1920's. The two squads ! – indicates exhibition game matched up three times last season, with the Titans earning two victories, in- # – at Las Vegas Invitational (Campus sites/Las Vegas, Nev.) cluding a win at the ARC in the first round of the Horizon League Champion- $ - at Lou Henson Award Tournament (Rochester, Mich.) ship on Mar. 2, 89-82. Cory Johnson scored 24 points and Brandon Wood 23 * - indicates Horizon League game for the Crusaders, while Chase Simon tallied 24 points for Detroit. Media Relations Information The Road Ahead: Following this weekend's road trip, the Crusaders return Requests to cover home men’s basketball games should be made through Aaron Leavitt, Associate Director of Media Relations, home for their longest homestand of the year, as they will play three straight by contacting 219.464.6953 or [email protected] . Press contests at the Athletics-Recreation Center. The homestand begins with a row seating is available at the ARC for working media only. matchup on ESPN3.com against Milwaukee next Friday, while Valpo then wel- Updated statistics and notes from both schools will be available comes Green Bay on Sunday before Butler comes to town on Saturday, Jan. 29. in the media room. During the week, all player and coach interview requests should Scouting Detroit: The Titans entered the weekend as one of four teams tied be directed to Aaron Leavitt. Media planning to attend practice atop the Horizon League standings, but suffered an 87-64 loss to Butler at should call ahead to confirm practice time. Game-day interviews home on Friday night. Detroit is averaging 74.0 ppg on the season and has prior to the contest are not permitted. Coach Drew and requested players will be available following the game in the media room. five players averaging in double figures in scoring, led by 15.1 ppg from fresh- man Ray McCallum, who is also registering 4.4 assists per game. 2010-2011 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 Winning With Defense: Valpo has improved its defensive efficiency from 109.4 points per 100 possessions (304th nationally) a year ago to 96.6/100 posses- Horizon League Standings sions (96th nationally) this year, a big key to their 13 wins so far this year. Six (through games of Jan. 14) times this year, the Crusaders have held a D-I opponent to 60 points or fewer, Overall Horizon including wins the last three times out over YSU, CSU and WSU, and they are Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct. a perfect 12-0 on the year when holding opponents under 70 points. Valparaiso 13-5 .722 5-1 .833 Butler 13-5 .722 5-1 .833 How Improved It Is: Last year, the Crusaders surrendered a league-worst Cleveland State 15-3 .833 4-2 .667 74.3 points per game and gave up 71.8 ppg in league play only, which ranked Wright State 11-7 .611 4-2 .667 ninth among the ten Horizon League squads. So far this year, it has been a Detroit 10-8 .556 4-2 .667 180 in terms of the defensive output, as Valpo is giving up just 65.4 ppg over- Milwaukee 9-9 .500 4-3 .571 all, which is good for fifth in the league. The defense has been even better in Green Bay 9-9 .500 3-3 .500 league play so far, as the Crusaders have allowed just 61.8 ppg against league Youngstown State 7-9 .438 1-5 .167 foes, second-best in the conference. Loyola 10-8 .556 1-6 .143 UIC 5-13 .278 0-6 .000 What A Difference A Half Makes: Wright State shot 68.0% (17-of-25) against Valpo in the first half Friday, including a combined 30 points on 13-of-15 Around the Horizon League shooting from Vaughn Duggins and N'Gai Evans. But the Crusaders commit- ted themselves to improving their D in the second half and had perhaps their Saturday, Jan. 15 *Loyola at Milwaukee, 1 p.m. best defensive half of the year, limiting WSU to just two field goals in the first *Cleveland State at Youngstown State, 6:05 p.m. 18 minutes of the half and ultimately surrendering just 20 points on 4-of-22 *UIC at Green Bay, 7 p.m. (18.2%) shooting from the field. Sunday, Jan. 16 Who Needs Rally Caps?: Erasing big deficits has become second nature for *Valparaiso at Detroit, noon Valpo so far this season. Against Cleveland State last Sunday, the Crusaders *Butler at Wright State, 6 p.m. rallied from a 11-point deficit late in the first half for the win, and then last time out at Wright State, Valpo erased a 14-point deficit in just 8:02 en route Thursday, Jan. 20 *Detroit at Cleveland State, 6:30 p.m. to a double-figure win. In fact, the Crusaders are now above .500 this year in *Wright State at Youngstown State, 6:45 p.m. games where they have trailed by 10 or more points at any juncture, going 5- 4 in such contests, while on the flip side, they are 12-1 in games where they Friday, Jan. 21 have led by 10 or more points. *Milwaukee at Valparaiso, 6 p.m. *Green Bay at Butler, 6 p.m. Best League Start: With its win at Wright State on Friday, the Crusaders remain atop the Horizon League standings at 5-1 in league play, in a tie for first place with Saturday, Jan.