For the second time against Youngstown State, it was a record-setting night for Valparaiso, as the Crusaders set a Horizon League program record with 97 points, tallying a 97-68 victory over the Penguins and improving to 19-4 on the year. The record was set earlier this season by the Crusaders, scoring 96 at Youngstown St. The 54 first-half points for Valpo was also a program record. The Crusaders were led on Space Jam night by Alec Peters, who scored 18 points in just 21 minutes of action. Jubril Adekoya chipped in 16 off the bench, while Vashil Fernandez tallied a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds, adding two blocks. Keith Carter had 13 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Every Crusader player made an appearance, just the ninth time this season that every healthy Crusader has played in the same game. Defensively, although Cameron Morse scored 27 points for the Penguins, the only other YSU player in double digits was Matt Donlan with 12 points. Youngstown shot just 18-54 (.333) for the game, compared to 34-62 (.548) for Valpo. The Crusaders never trailed while leading by as many as 32 points in the second half.
Last Saturday the Crusaders made the short hop across the state line to Chicago, to take on the last-place Flames of UIC, who entered at 1-9 in the Horizon League. It wouldn't be a complete cakewalk for Valpo, but the Crusaders also never trailed and led by as much as 23 on the way to a 73-55 victory from the UIC Pavilion. Vashil Fernandez set the program blocks record, passing Raitis Graf's previous record of 228 with 11:43 to go in the first half with a block of Jake Wiegand. Fernandez added eight points and nine rebounds to go with his six blocks on the day. Alec Peters again led the Crusaders in scoring with 15 points, while Darien Walker added 12 points off the bench and Jubril Adekoya tallied 11 points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal. The biggest issue on the day for the Crusaders was free throw shooting, as they hit just 10-17 (.588) on the day, a big reason why UIC cut a 20-point halftime lead down to 12 at one point in the second half. Dikembe Dixson led the Flames with 18 points, although he shot just 7-23 from the floor. Michael Kolawole added 16 points, while Tai Odiase scored 10 with four rebounds and two blocks. UIC was even worse from the charity stripe, shooting 15-32 (.469) on the day. The Crusader defense held UIC to only 2-15 (.133) three-point shooting.
STANDINGS
| Conference | Overall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | W | L | |
| 1 | Valparaiso | 10 | 1 | 20 | 4 |
| 2 | Oakland | 9 | 3 | 17 | 8 |
| 3 | Wright State | 9 | 3 | 15 | 10 |
| 4 | Milwaukee | 6 | 5 | 15 | 9 |
| 5 | Green Bay | 6 | 5 | 14 | 10 |
| 6 | Detroit | 6 | 6 | 12 | 11 |
| 7 | Northern Kentucky | 5 | 7 | 9 | 14 |
| 8 | Youngstown State | 4 | 8 | 9 | 16 |
| 9 | Cleveland State | 2 | 10 | 7 | 18 |
| 10 | UIC | 1 | 10 | 3 | 19 |
UP NEXT
Valparaiso will return to the ARC for a run of four home games in the last six games of the regular season. The Crusaders welcome in the Northern Kentucky Norse, the newest member of the Horizon League, and making their first-ever visit to the ARC.
-The Norse enter at 9-14, 5-7 in their first HL season.
-Valparaiso leads the all-time series 1-0 with the victory in Highland Heights, Kentucky earlier this season. It was the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
-In that game, Valpo took a 71-45 victory behind 16 points from Keith Carter and 14 from Shane Hammink. For the Norse, Jalen Billups scored 17 points, but Cole Murray (.492 three-point shooter) was held scoreless.
-Northern Kentucky is coming off of a 75-71 home victory over Milwaukee, a game the Norse trailed by double digits in the second half. Jalen Billups scored 20 points to lead NKU, while Cole Murray scored 15, Lavone Holland II 12, and Tyler White added 10 points. The four-point margin of victory was the largest lead of the game for the Norse.
-Jalen Billups leads Northern Kentucky at 13.8 ppg and has tallied 31 blocks, also best on the team. Lavone Holland II is second in scoring at 11.7 ppg and leads the team averaging 30.7 minutes per game. Cole Murray is eighth in the nation, making .492 of his threes (61-124).
-The game will be televised on ESPN3 and on the radio at WVUR (95.1 FM). Todd Ickow and David Huseman will have the call on both platforms.
-Valparaiso received nine votes in this week's edition of the AP Top 25, and 14 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Crusaders were pegged on the top of the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, receiving 18 of 31 possible first-place votes and 746 total points. Northern Kentucky was not receiving votes in any poll.
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