Horizon League newcomer Northern Kentucky made their first-ever visit to the ARC on Thursday night, Motor City Madness Night at the ARC, and came away empty, as Valpo took an uninspired 64-52 victory over the Norse, improving to 21-4 on the year. After trailing for much of the early going, the Crusaders took their first lead with around 15 minutes to go in the first half, and wouldn't trail again. Valparaiso led by 18 at the half (38-20) and would push the advantage to as much as 22, with the smallest second-half deficit for the Norse being the final margin of 12. Keith Carter led Valpo with 16 points, while Darien Walker and Shane Hammink each added 12 off the bench. Once again, the Valpo defense was the star of the show, not allowing a single Northern Kentucky player into double digits and allowing only four second-chance points. Todd Johnson led NKU with nine points and four rebounds. Vashil Fernandez added to his record with six blocks, but was held scoreless in 26 minutes, adding six rebounds and a steal. The two teams combined to shoot just 14 free throws, with Valpo going 3-4 and the Norse 4-10. It did result in another Crusader win, and a 2 1/2 game lead in the Horizon, but this was one of the most forgettable Crusaders victories in a while- not for the margin of victory, but the lack of interest in running an overmatched opponent out of the gym much earlier than it happened.
STANDINGS
| Conference | Overall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | W | L | |
| 1 | Valparaiso | 11 | 1 | 21 | 4 |
| 2 | Oakland | 10 | 4 | 18 | 9 |
| 3 | Wright State | 9 | 4 | 15 | 11 |
| 4 | Milwaukee | 7 | 6 | 16 | 10 |
| 5 | Green Bay | 7 | 6 | 15 | 11 |
| 6 | Detroit | 7 | 7 | 13 | 12 |
| 7 | Northern Kentucky | 5 | 8 | 9 | 15 |
| 8 | Youngstown State | 4 | 8 | 9 | 16 |
| 9 | Cleveland State | 2 | 10 | 7 | 18 |
| 10 | UIC | 2 | 10 | 4 | 19 |
UP NEXT
The Crusaders will again put their unbeaten home record this season on the line, this time against the only Horizon League team to beat Valpo this season: the Wright State Raiders. The Raiders won on their home floor 73-62 on January 22. In that game, Darien Walker led the Crusaders with 17 points, while Wright State was led by 21 points from Joe Thomasson and 18 from JT Yoho. Alec Peters had a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
-The game can be viewed on ESPN3 and will be on the radio at WVUR (95.1 FM). On the call for both sources will be Todd Ickow, David Huseman, and Tommy Mantice.
-Wright State leads the all-time series 14-13, but Valparaiso has an 11-9 edge in Horizon League games. The Raiders last won at the ARC on January 10, 2014, taking a 62-45 victory.
-It will be Hall of Fame Night in the ARC, as the newest members of the athletic hall of fame are inducted. It will also be Crusader Classic Night (2006-2010).
-Wright State enters at 15-11 on the year, 9-4 in the Horizon League. They are currently third in the league standings.
-Although the Raiders are 12-1 on their home court, they are just 2-9 on the road this season, winning at Milwaukee and Northern Kentucky in HL play. WSU also won a neutral site game in the NIU Showcase, hosted by Northern Illinois, but went 2-2 in the tournament and lost to the host Huskies.
-Wright State is coming off of a 64-59 loss at UIC on Thursday night. Mark Alstork led the Raiders with 15 points, but WSU shot just 32% as a team.
-JT Yoho leads Wright State with 13.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg, as well as shooting 42.2% on threes. Mark Alstork adds 12.6 ppg and leads the team with 14 blocks on the season.
-Valparaiso received nine votes in this week's AP Top 25 poll, and 14 votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Crusaders are ranked on the top of the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, with 746 points and 18 first-place votes. Wright State received 10 points in the Collegeinsider.com poll, but no votes in either national poll.
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