The Horizon's top teams seemed on the verge of some separation, but a week full of surprises left most of the conference's 10 teams bunched even more tightly.
Two teams are tied for first, three for second and two for third, making it easiest to start at the bottom of the conference. No need to bounce around from city to city. The Horizon League's worst sit in its biggest city -- Chicago.
UIC has only two conference wins -- and a 2-7 conference record -- with one of its wins coming over cross-town rival Loyola. Loyola, stuck in a seven-game losing streak, hasn't won a conference game yet, and its best shot could come on Feb. 11 when it is home against UIC.
Green Bay (3-7) is barely ahead. The Phoenix started the conference season by winning their first two games, but those were at home against UIC and Loyola. Their lone remaining win came against an up-and-down Wright State team.
Then it gets a little murkier.
Despite a 4-5 record, Detroit is tied for third in the conference with Wright State. Detroit was the preseason pick to win the conference but is three games out of first place. If the Titans put a winning streak together, however, they could get a home game in the conference tournament, and maybe that would give them the momentum they need to win the postseason event and advance to the NCAA Tournament.
There's another reason for optimism in Detroit. Sophomore guard Ray McCallum, who could have signed with some of college basketball's power schools but chose to go to Detroit to play for his father, also named Ray, has emerged as a serious candidate for conference player of the year. His superb play has helped the Titans win three of their last four.
Cleveland State and Valparaiso are tied for first atop the conference, but Butler is one game behind and surging. The Bulldogs have won three straight and play Milwaukee, tied with Butler for second in the conference, this week.
NOTES, QUOTES
--Loyola senior Walt Gibler was named Horizon League Scholar Athlete of the Month for December. In eight December games, Gibler averaged 16 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. It is the third time in his career that Gibler has won the award.
--The cache of Butler extends beyond Indianapolis. Everyone wants to come watch the two-time reigning national runner-up. When Loyola was home against Butler, the attendance of 4,347 was the most in the history of newly renovated Gentile Arena.
--Detroit senior guard Chase Simon is the Horizon League's active leading scorer with 1,222 career points. Simon and highly regarded point guard Ray McCallum were touted before the season as the best backcourt in the conference, but Detroit's subpar record has given cause to rethink that notion.
--Youngstown State junior guard Blake Allen was named Horizon League Player of the Week for Jan. 16-22. Allen has led the Penguins to a three-way tie for second place in the conference. He scored a career-high 27 points in a 68-66 win over Milwaukee, which was the conference leader at the time.
--There's a growing sentiment among writers who cover the Horizon League that it's among the most sought-after mid-major conferences in the country. The success of former Butler forward Gordon Hayward and former Cleveland State guard and current Miami Heat rookie Norris Cole has proved to recruits that the path to the next level can go through the Horizon League.
--Butler broke a significant streak in its 57-49 win at UIC on Jan. 19. Before that game, Butler has been 0-7 in games in which Andrew Smith hasn't scored in double figures. Against the Flames, he scored only six points in a hotly contested defensive battle. For the Bulldogs, however, it proves they can find scoring elsewhere when they need it.
--Green Bay Press-Gazette columnist Rob Demovsky said he heard that people don't attend Green Bay basketball games because there are no local players on the team. However, he acknowledged that the level of high school basketball talent in the area hasn't been very high. Cody Wichmann, who plays for local Pulaski High School, is a must-get recruit for the Phoenix, Demovsky said.
--Wright State has a few players nursing injuries. Leading scorer Julius Mays has a left Achilles tendon and calf injury that kept him out of Jan. 21 loss at Detroit. Sophomore guard Vance Hall also missed that game after sustaining a concussion in practice, and freshman forward Tavares Sledge was listed as not playing because of a coach's decision. No further information on Sledge was available.
KEY CONFERENCE GAMES TO WATCH:
Jan. 27
UIC @ Detroit
The Titans look to avenge a road loss to the Flames.
Jan. 28
Valparaiso @ Milwaukee
First place in the conference could be on the line.
Jan. 28
Butler @ Green Bay
With a win, the Bulldogs could come out of the week in first place.
Jan. 28
Cleveland State @ Youngstown State
Youngstown State, by far the conference's most surprising team, looks for the season sweep of one of the Horizon League's elite.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
BUTLER
--Ronald Nored may not put up the numbers to win Horizon League Player of the Year, but it's hard to argue that any one player is more important to his team. That was epitomized in Butler's 67-53 win at Loyola, after which Ramblers coach Porter Moser complimented the Bulldogs' senior point guard.
"If you want to be a player, get pen and notebook and sit down and watch Ronald Nored, every single game," Moser said to the Indianapolis Star. "The kid's a winner. I mean, he is totally in tune with every single play. He's over looking at our coaches, what we're calling. He knows every play. If one kid scores, you can see him switch over and guard that kid so he doesn't score again.
"He epitomizes a winning mentality."
--Kameron Woods was injured in the game at UIC. He was down on the floor for about a minute and was taken off in order to stop bleeding from his nose. He returned to the game, showing no effects from the injury.
CLEVELAND STATE
--Tim Kamczyc, a 6-7 power forward, has journeyed from walk-on as a redshirt freshmen to starter. Kamczyc has started the last two seasons for Cleveland State and is averaging close to 10 points per game.
--Head coach Gary Waters appears supremely confident in his defense, so much so that that all he thinks his team needs to focus on is shooting the basketball.
"When we're shooting the ball well, the game is over, because we're going to defend you," Waters told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
--Cleveland State's 17-4 record is the third best in school history. Twice the Vikings have been 18-3, last season and in 1985-86.
DETROIT
--Six players on the Titans' roster average at least 9.5 points per game. So what's their problem? In a word: defense. In five games this season, Detroit has allowed opponents to score more than 80 points. The Titans have won only one of those games.
--The arrow could be pointing upward for the Titans' defense, however. Detroit held Wright State to 53 points in its latest game, the lowest point total for a Detroit opponent this season.
GREEN BAY
--Green Bay lost its 13th straight road game when it was blown out 77-47 at Youngstown State on Jan. 22. It was the Phoenix's most lopsided loss since a 33-point defeat at Washington on Nov. 14, 2005.
--The Youngstown State loss had reverberations throughout the team, most notably with coach Brian Wardle, who publicly chastised his team for the first time this season. "I hate to say the word 'effort,' but for the first time all year I would question our effort," Wardle told the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "We've got to do some soul searching. I don't care how many guys we're down (because of injuries) or how young we are."
UIC
--The Flames have had several games this season that have come down to the last minute, but it appears they lack a go-to player in crunch time. The Flames have played good enough defense to compete with the Horizon League's best but lack the offensive consistency necessary to win games down the stretch.
--UIC has seven Horizon League losses but all seven have come by single digits. While coach Howard Moore may not believe in moral victories, it proves the program is headed in the right direction. Experience playing in close games this season will only help them next year. The Flames will lose only one starter, senior center Darrin Williams.
LOYOLA
--The Ramblers haven't won a game since Dec. 22, the last in a four-game winning streak. But give coach Porter Moser credit. Even after a 63-57 loss to Butler on Jan. 21 in which the Ramblers came within one possession on three occasions, Moser didn't consider it a moral victory.
"I'm pleased that we were better in a lot of areas, but we are disappointed with this loss," Moser told the school's athletic website. "I thought we played with a lot of toughness, but we just ran out of gas. I said to our guys, 'If you want to be a player, you need to watch (Butler's) Ronald Nored.' He is a winner."
MILWAUKEE
--Milwaukee is leaving points on the floor, which might explain its sudden drop in the Horizon League standings after entering last week leading the conference. The Panthers are shooting a dismal 59.6 from the free throw line. That has been the difference in almost every loss.
--The Panthers have only one player signed from the class of 2012.
VALPARAISO
--The Crusaders may boast the best frontcourt in the Horizon League, but if they expect to make a run to the conference title they can't rely solely on that frontcourt for scoring. Forward Ryan Broekhoff told the Times of Northwest Indiana that the team needs balanced scoring in order to win consistently.
--Loyola coach Porter Moser was impressed with the Crusaders' defense when the Ramblers played Valparaiso.
"Everyone talks about Valparaiso's offense, but that defense really gave us some trouble," Moser told the Times of Northwest Indiana. "It's the best anyone guarded Ben (Averkamp) and Walt (Gibler) all year. We worked on traps every day in practice this week, but there was no way that we could simulate that kind of speed in practice."
WRIGHT STATE
--It's not a mystery why Wright State is on a three-game losing streak. The offense has been lagging. During the skid the Raiders are averaging 35 percent field goal shooting and 59.5 percent from the free throw line.
"We don't play with nearly the pace we need offensively," head coach Billy Donlon told the Dayton Daily News. "I mean in half court, not run up and down. In half court, we stand, we don't move. It's a major problem."
--Donlon, who did not comment on Sledge's absence in the Detroit game, expects him to return to action immediately, according to the Dayton Daily News.
YOUNGSTOWN STATE
--After Youngstown won only four conference games the last two seasons, it was hard for head coach Jerry Slocum to contain his excitement when his team beat Green Bay and climbed into a three-way tie for second in the conference.
"I told our guys, the maturation of this team has got to be that you put the hammer down when you get the chance," Slocum told Vindy.com. "That's part of the growth for these guys, to be able to smell that and finish it rather than playing around with it."
