Horizon League Recap Nov. 17-23

Oakland had UCF on the ropes to begin the week on Monday night, but fell just short, encapsulating a frustrating week for the Horizon League. The 11 teams won a total of just three games, and will look to turn things around during Feast Week. While moral victories are never as impactful as actual victories, despite the league-wide struggles, there were still some positive takeaways in an eventful week.

Wins of the week

Green Bay was atop the Horizon League headlines last week when it nearly took down Minnesota in Minneapolis and has continued to show signs of progress. In its first game in the Virgin Islands, the Phoenix hung tough with a good Yale team for the entire 40 minutes, eventually falling 73-67. The next day, without its leading scorer Marcus Hall, the Phoenix took down UMass 79-75. The Division-III Carnegie Mellon transfer Justin Allen broke out with 27 points to overcome Hall’s absence. Now with two wins, Doug Gottlieb’s team has matched its win total from a season ago and built some real momentum.

Through Sunday’s games, just one team in the conference has a winning record, Northern Kentucky. The Norse, as of Sunday, also have just one win over a Division-I opponent, in convincing fashion. In a road game at Central Michigan, Northern Kentucky put together a total team effort to overwhelm the Chippewas in a 90-66 win. Donovan Oday led the scoring with 20 points off the bench. The key stat to note, however, was 26 of the team’s 34 made field goals were assisted, led in that department by Ethan Elliott with eight. Four players finished in double figures as the Norse shattered their previous highest scoring output vs. Division-I competition.

Notable results

Oakland nearly stole the spotlight entirely with an upset at UCF, but fell just short. Isaac Garrett led the way with 23 points, and Brody Robinson added 20, which was nearly enough to steal a win. Trailing by 15 in the second half, Greg Kampe’s group rattled off a 15-0 run to tie the game, but just couldn’t quite finish. Nassim Mashhour read a play and came up with a leaping interception late to give Oakland a chance to win, but his feet came down just over the sideline. UCF, letting out a sigh of relief, was able to knock down its clutch free throws and close out a 87-83 victory, but the Golden Grizzlies made it quite the game.

After starting the season with a close game at Pittsburgh and a win at Youngstown State, the Penguins seemed to be arguably the top team in the conference early on. Now, however, they have dropped three straight games. A close loss at St. Bonaventure is one you can live with and things got away from Ethan Faulkner’s team in the second half at Toledo. Looking to bounce back at the Jacksonville Classic, Youngstown State blitzed UNCG, getting out to a 43-25 halftime lead. Second-half struggles plagued the Penguins for the second straight game as they blew their lead, scoring just 19 points in the half and losing 68-62 to a previously winless Spartan team.

The preseason favorite in the conference, Milwaukee, is also facing a bit of a slide, but to much stiffer competition. After games at Indiana and Texas Tech, the Panthers had a more manageable, but still difficult, matchup with Wichita State on the road. Milwaukee led 30-28 at the half, but the Shockers dominated the second half, and picked up a 75-58 home win. Albeit a tall task, a game that seemed winnable early on really got away from the Panthers. They’ll look to bounce back with a non-Division-I opponent before playing at Akron.

In an entertaining game, Robert Morris fell on the road at Monmouth in overtime, 71-70. The Colonials trailed 36-35 at halftime and won the second half 25-24 to face overtime. While both teams struggled offensively in the second half, Robert Morris struggled in the closing minutes in both the second half and overtime. In regulation, Darius Livingston made a 3-pointer with 2:36 remaining. It wasn’t until Ryan Prather Jr. made a jumper to force overtime with 10 seconds remaining that the Colonials scored again. In overtime, it was much the same. Livingston hit a 3-pointer with 2:07 to play, extending the lead to 70-65. Robert Morris failed to score in the final two minutes, surrendering a winnable game on the road.

Individual performance of the week:

In a week where few teams picked up wins, the performance from the aforementioned Allen which propelled Green Bay to a win without its leading scorer stands above the rest. After playing Yale close, it seemed that the Phoenix had some positive momentum. Unfortunately, Marcus Hall, the team’s leading scorer suffered an injury, killing some of that momentum. However, Allen did his part and more to fill Hall’s shoes. In the win against UMass, he shot 7-for-13 from the field and applied pressure on the rim the entire game. He attempted 12 free throws and connected on all of them. His 27 points led Green Bay to its first Division-I win of the season.