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No one wants to play on Monday night in the Horizon League women’s basketball tournament, but if one is to play, then it might as well be at home.

The Valparaiso women’s basketball team hosts Milwaukee tonight in the first round of the conference tournament and the fact that the Crusaders are playing at the Athletics-Recreation Center is a minor miracle. After dropping a heartbreaking decision on Thursday night at Loyola, the Crusaders needed to win and get some help from Detroit on Saturday.

Valparaiso got 68 bench points and scored a season-high 88 points against UIC and the Titans came through, giving the Crusaders one more home game and a legitimate chance at their first Horizon League tournament win since joining the conference in 2007.

Two years ago, Valparaiso’s first in the Horizon League, the Crusaders traveled to Milwaukee for the conference tournament and lost 67-60. Since then, the Crusaders have won three of four against the Panthers, including both contests at the ARC.

Valparaiso hosted Wright State last season in the Horizon League tournament, but the Raiders upset the Crusaders in what was the last game for Agnieszka Kulaga, Aimee Litka and the Hochstetler twins.

Tonight, a new group of seniors look to wrap up their career at the ARC. Chesterton native Kelly Peller, Lauren Kenney and Sylwia Zabielewicz will come off the bench while Whitney Farris will start tonight. The seniors have been charged with helping Keith Freeman transition the program to a new era that includes freshmen Laura Richards, Raegan Moore and Skyler Gick. What will push the seniors tonight will be a chance to earn the first Horizon League tournament win in program history.

6:50 p.m. — The starters are in and along with Farris, the Crusaders will start juniors Rashida Ray, Kelly Watts and Ashley Varner and freshman Laura Richards. For Milwaukee, senior Jodie McClain gets the nod along with juniors Ashley Imperiale and Lindsay Laur, sophomore Danielle Jorgenson and freshman Sami Tucker.

7:03 p.m. — Farris has come out on fire, knocking down her first two 3-pointers, but the Panthers have been aggressive getting to the basket and lead 10-8 with 15:31 remaining. Kenney is set to check in for the Crusaders. Rashida Ray has two early assists, including a nice pass to Watts that the junior knocked down.

7:11 p.m. — Laur has knocked down two 3-pointers for Milwaukee and Jorgenson has five early points as Milwaukee leads 15-11 with 11:56 remaining. The Crusaders are firing up plenty of long distance shots, but are just 2-of-8 from beyond the arc.

7:20 p.m. — The Panthers have yet to miss from beyond the arc and lead 25-20 with 7:54 remaining. Farris just picked up her second foul and is coming out with a game-high eight points. Kenney has seven points off the bench, but Betsy Adams has yet to get going for Valparaiso. Milwaukee is shooting 58.8 percent from the floor and has made all four 3-pointers.

7:25 p.m. — The Panthers are o a 10-2 run over the last 2:44 and lead 29-20 with 6:44 remaining in the first half. The Panthers have gotten balance as seven different players have scored.

7:32 p.m. — The Crusaders trailed by as many as 12, but have gone on a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 34-27 with 3:13 remaining. Kenney has nine points and Ray just knocked down a 3-pointer. Milwaukee is shooting a 56 percent, but the Crusaders are doing a good job at limiting Milwaukee’s looks. In other news, I’m currently listening to the Milwaukee fight song being blared through the ARC speakers. Neutral tournament or not, it just seems wrong.

7:39 p.m. — Milwaukee 40, Valparaiso 29. Halftime. Well, it could be worse. Richards made a good block at the buzzer to prevent the Panthers from scoring again. The bad news: The Crusaders are 1-16 this season when trailing or tied at the half. The good news: Valparaiso was just 1-11 on the road heading into Saturday, but the Crusaders defied the odds and won. Perhaps they can do so again tonight.

The season might be over for the Valparaiso men’s basketball team, but that doesn’t mean March Madness still isn’t in the air for the Crusaders. The women’s team is in action tonight at Loyola as Keith Freeman’s squad is in search of a pair of wins in Chicago this weekend.

If the Crusaders can get by the Ramblers and then UIC on Saturday, odds are looking good that Valparaiso will host a first round Horizon League tournament game on Monday night. Actually, I need to amend that statement. I just spent some time looking at the Horizon League standings and discussing possible scenarios with various people on press row and we’ve all come to the conclusion that the tie-breaking scenarios are headache inducing. Here’s a shot…

Valparaiso is currently 5-11 and tied with Milwaukee for 8th place. The Crusaders split with the Panthers this season and VU will seemingly have to win at least one game this weekend to clinch a tie since Milwaukee is playing 0-27 Youngstown State on Saturday. If the Panthers lose to Cleveland State and Valparaiso beats Loyola, then the Crusaders can clinch a home game with a win over UIC. Go Vikings!

What complicates matters further is the inclusion of seventh place Wright State. The Raiders have a bye tonight and will host second place Detroit on Saturday. Guessing that the Titans win on the road, the Crusaders could clinch the seventh seed with two wins this weekend, which would mean a first-round game on Monday against Youngstown State.

Now that we’ve come to the conclusion that two wins could get Valparaiso to the seventh seed, there is a chance that two wins could also land the Crusaders in the ninth seed. Milwaukee could beat Cleveland State/Youngstown State and Wright State could knock off Detroit. In that case, all three teams would be 7-11. The first tiebreaker is cumulative record against the other two teams in the tiebreaker. Valparaiso split with both Wright State and Milwaukee while the Raiders swept Milwaukee, giving Wright State the seventh seed. The Crusaders and Panthers will have finished with identical records against each of the teams in the league, so the tiebreaker would go to RPI. According to RealtimeRPI.com, the Panthers have an RPI of 240 while the Crusaders are 301st in the country.

In conclusion, Valparaiso needs to win both games and get some help. Of course, the Crusaders could lose tonight and nothing could really change, but I won’t get into all those scenarios. For now, it’s game time.

6:57 p.m. — The starters are being announced and the Crusaders are going with an interesting lineup of senior Whitney Farris, juniors Ashley Varner, Kelly Watts and Rashida Ray, along with freshman Laura Richards. Loyola brings out seniors Keisha Collins, Maggie McCloskey and Elyse VanBogaert along with junior Brittany Boeke and sophomore Katie Kortekamp. Collins averages 11.8 points per game while McCloskey checks in at 11.1.

7:00 p.m. — The ball is in the air and I’m predicting a 68-56 Valparaiso win.

7:05 p.m. — Two quick 3-pointers for the Crusaders, but then three straight forgettable possessions that ended with a three second call, a shot clock violation and a traveling violation. Valparaiso nearly had another three second call, but Varner was able to put the ball up to beat the buzzer and the Crusaders lead 8-2 with 15:11 remaining in the first half. Valparaiso is killing the glass, up 7-0 in rebounds. Varner has four already, including three offensive rebounds.

7:13 p.m. — Chesterton’s Abby Skube is in the game for Loyola, but it’s not for a good reason. It appears that Boeke got hit in the throat or jaw as she is in a lot of pain on the sidelines. I can’t quite tell what her ailment is from here, but it doesn’t look good. Meanwhile, the Ramblers have ripped off a 11-0 run and lead 13-8 with 11:06 remaining. The Crusaders are averaging a turnover a minute in the early going.

7:22 p.m. — After falling behind 15-8, the Crusaders ripped off an 8-0 run behind the stellar shooting of Whitney Farris. Both teams have then traded a couple baskets and are tied at 20-20 with 6:48 remaining and Watts is heading to the line. Farris has knocked down three 3-pointers and has 11 points to go along with a rebound and an assist. Farris is halfway to her career-high of 22 points, which she set last month at Wright State.  Collins is leading the Ramblers with eight points.

7:29 p.m. — The Crusaders have just been whistled for a shot clock violation; only problem was, the shot clock never reset after Loyola’s previous possession. Freeman’s arguments have fallen on deaf ears and Loyola scores immediately and then Farris is whistled for a quick foul. Loyola leads 26-21 with 3:43 remaining and the ball. Tough break for Valparaiso.

7:37 p.m. — Not much has gone right for the Crusaders since the errant shot clock call. Loyola leads 33-24 with 35.3 seconds left in the first half. Freeman has called a timeout and I’d expect to see a play drawn up for Raegan Moore to get a shot off here.

7:40 p.m. — Loyola 33, Valparaiso 24. Halftime. The Crusaders played strong for the first 14 minutes, but really struggled after the shot clock violation. Farris has 12 points for Valparaiso and Watts has five, but Moore and Adams were held scoreless in 21 minutes of combined action. Watching these two teams, you get the feeling that the Crusaders should have their way with Loyola, but it’s just not happening.

7:53 p.m. — Cleveland State is currently taking care of business over Milwaukee, so if the Crusaders can storm back and win this game, they can clinch a home game with a win on Saturday at UIC. If not, the Crusaders appear destined to travel to Milwaukee for a first round tournament game on Monday. Those are my guesses.

Win or go home.

Actually, for the Valparaiso men’s basketball it’s win and go to Indianapolis or lose and stay home. Welcome to postseason basketball and more specifically, welcome to the Horizon League tournament.

Tonight the No. 6 Crusaders take on No. 7 Detroit in what is easily the best of the four first round games that are being played throughout the Midwest this evening. Both teams held serve at home during the regular season, with the Crusaders suffering epic collapses on both occasions.

Valparaiso led by 10 at Detroit on Jan. 8 before falling apart in the second half and falling 77-67. On Feb. 6, the Crusaders carried a 19-point lead into the half before watching as the Titans stormed back to take a four-point lead. Valparaiso rallied and closed out a 74-70 victory.

Stepping onto the floor tonight will be the future of the Horizon League. All five members of the All-Newcomer team will be on the court as Brandon Wood and Cory Johnson earned the honor along with Detroit’s Eli Holman, Xavier Keeling and Chase Simon. In addition, Wood, Johnson and Simon all made the Horizon League Second Team.

We’re 45 minutes from tip. I’ll be back as we get closer to the start.

6:36 p.m. — The starters are in and Valparaiso coach Homer Drew is going back to the lineup that was so successful in the latter stages of Horizon League play with senior Brandon McPherson, juniors Cory Johnson and Michael Rogers, sophomore Brandon Wood and freshman Tommy Kurth. How many minutes Kurth plays will be interesting to monitor. Is Kurth starting because he’s earned the right to be on the floor or because Drew is superstitious?

For Detroit, it’s the “normal” lineup of seniors Thomas Kenney and Woody Payne, junior Xavier Keeling and sophomores Eli Holman and Chase Simon. The Titans are 11-10 this season with this lineup.

6:42 p.m. — The Athletics-Recreation Center is empty tonight. This is really the worst night of the week for this game to be played. First of all, the students are all gone for spring break. Secondly, the Valparaiso high school boys team is playing in the sectional tonight. I still fail to see why people would rather see a high school game than a college game. I can buy it if you have a relative on the high school team, but that’s about it. The most egregious example of the lack of people at the game is what I’m witnessing in the student section right now. Per Horizon League tournament rules, the pep bands have to be on the same side of the gym as the team bench, so the VU student section is currently in the “Rent-A-Risers” that are near the main ARC entrance. In the normal VU student section, there are a group of Detroit fans. As an alum of VU, I’m embarrassed that the current Valparaiso students are letting this happen. If it were me, band or no band, there is no way a Detroit fan would be left standing if he/she was in the VU student section. But that’s the subjective fan in me. Tonight, I’m an objective journalist.

6:57 p.m. — Looks like we’re getting off to an early start tonight after a beautiful national anthem. No dimming of the lights, no smoke machine. Just a vanilla intro and here we go. Could be the last game of the season for Valparaiso. Could be the start of something really special.

7:01 p.m. — Three minutes into the game and Detroit has knocked down two 3-pointers while the Crusaders have missed two. Detroit leads 8-4 with 17:09 remaining.

7:03 p.m. — Not the start that Valparaiso wants. Keeling and Simon each knocked down a 3-pointer while the Crusaders have missed their first three (although the stat program is not counting McPherson’s attempt). Also factor in an early 6-2 rebounding advantage for the Titans and this isn’t good. The last thing Valparaiso wants to do is give a team like Detroit confidence on the road.

7:11 p.m. — Not much has happened in the last several minutes as Detroit is up 12-8 with 11:53 remaining and a pair of free throws coming. The Crusaders have missed all four of their 3-pointers and Detroit holds an 11-5 rebounding advantage. Factor in a couple missed free throws for Valparaiso and this game is starting to look lost already. Maybe it’s because of the tough loss to Butler, the blowout loss to Bowling Green, the fact that not one thing the Crusaders needed to happen to avoid Detroit in the first round happened last weekend or maybe it’s just the media room pizza that isn’t sitting right, but I just don’t have a good feeling right now.

7:18 p.m. — Unbelievable. The Crusaders have missed all six 3-pointers they’ve attempted, including an open shot that Broekhoff missed that could’ve cut the lead to one point. Instead, Detroit leads 22-10 with 9:04 remaining. As far as basketball goes, this is utter disaster for the Crusaders.

7:22 p.m. — The heavens have opened and Cory Johnson has finally knocked down a 3-pointer. Of course, on the next possession, Rogers got burned again and Chase Simon knocked down his third triple of the game. The Titans have been exploiting Rogers for the entire game. Detroit is up 25-13 with 7:32 remaining. Valparaiso is just 5-18 from the field for 27.8 percent.

First Round

No. 3 Green Bay d. No. 10 Youngstown State

No. 6. Valparaiso d. No. 7 Detroit

No. 4 Milwaukee d. No. 9 UIC

No. 5 Cleveland State d. No. 8 Loyola

* The only chance of an upset here is Detroit over Valparaiso. There is no way that the Penguins, Flames or Ramblers win on the road. UIC could have a chance if Milwaukee shoots poorly, but I’m still taking the Panthers.

Quarterfinals

No. 3 Green Bay d. No. 6 Valparaiso

No. 5 Cleveland State d. No. 4 Milwaukee

* I just don’t know that the Crusaders have it in them this year. I will say this however…if Brandon Wood can come out against Detroit and regain his stroke, I might amend my selection and say the Crusaders have a shot at the upset.

Semifinals

No. 1 Butler d. No. 5 Cleveland State

No. 3 Green Bay d. No. 2 Wright State

Finals

No. 1 Butler d. No. 3 Green Bay

* I think the Crusaders, Vikings and Phoenix are three teams that could make it to the championship game. Butler will be waiting and they’ll defeat whoever makes it with ease.

Before I let you know my picks for the Horizon League All-Conference teams, I must put out the disclaimer that I didn’t have a vote this season. Each media outlet gets one vote and Paul Jankowski tackled the men’s side while I will vote for the women next weekend. That said, if I had a vote, here is how I would’ve gone, in no particular order.

1st-Team

POY: Gordon Hayward (Butler)

Shelvin Mack (Butler)

Rahmon Fletcher (Green Bay)

Norris Cole (Cleveland State)

Vaughn Duggins (Wright State)

2nd Team

Ricky Franklin (Milwaukee)

Cory Johnson (Valparaiso)

Matt Howard (Butler)

Brandon Wood (Valparaiso)

Chase Simon (Detroit)

* I struggled with Wood vs. Duggins. I think Wright State needs to be recognized for having the No. 2 team in the conference and this could be the best way to do it. Wood’s scoring production dropped down in the second half of the conference season, which I don’t think is as much to say about him as it does about the fact that the rest of the team rallied around the sophomore. Going into Friday night’s game with Butler, I told myself that if Wood had a big game on a big stage, he’d make the first team. He was held to four points. Enough said.

* Howard makes the second team because he’s Matt Howard. I certainly hope he doesn’t make it back to the first team because of that reason, but he is a dynamic player, albeit one who doesn’t understand that you can’t commit fouls in a game.

* If I had to pick an 11th player, it would be Eli Holman from Detroit. If the Titans were better this season, then he’d be higher up.

Newcomer Team

Brandon Wood (Valparaiso)

Cory Johnson (Valparaiso)

Chase Simon (Detroit)

Eli Holman (Detroit)

Ja’Rob McCallum (Milwaukee)

* I’m not sure there are a lot of arguments that can be made on this team, unless Valparaiso gets lucky and Matt Kenney gets on instead of McCallum.

Coach of the Year — Homer Drew (Valparaiso)

* While I’ll admit that 18-0 is impressive, I just don’t think Brad Stevens deserves the Coach of the Year award. He returned essentially the same team from last season. The job he did last year was very impressive, considering the expected fall that never came after Graves and Green graduated.

* In terms of Drew, the Crusaders improved by six games overall this season, with five more wins coming in the Horizon League then last season. Sure, Valparaiso only jumped up three seeds, but when you look at it, the Crusaders went from finishing ninth to finishing in a tie for fourth and they were three 3-pointers away from finishing in third. The more I look at it, the more I think there is little question that Drew deserves the Coach of the Year honor. Will he get it? Highly unlikely.

From the best case scenario to the worst case scenario.

After losing a chance to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Horizon League tournament last night, the Valparaiso men’s basketball team watched as Cleveland State and Milwaukee pulled out late victories on Saturday afternoon, sending the Crusaders all the way to the No. 6 seed in the tournament and a first round date with Detroit on Tuesday night at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

The Crusaders finished the regular season with a 10-8 record, tied with Milwaukee and Cleveland State, but because Valparaiso was swept by Wright State, the Crusaders go to the bottom of the tie-breaking scenario.

Valparaiso jumped out to a 10-point halftime lead over the Titans on Jan. 8 before falling 77-67. I spent hours looking through old box scores, but could not find an instance in which the Crusaders held a double digit halftime lead and then lost by double digits in regulation. On Feb. 6 the Titans came to the ARC and Valparaiso raced out to a 19-point halftime lead, only to watch as Detroit got back into the game and ultimately took the lead. The Crusaders rallied and closed out with a 74-70 victory.

I’ll have more on this matchup later on this evening.

Biggest game of the year. No question.

Welcome in to the Athletics-Recreation Center as No. 10 Butler is in town along with a bunch of ESPN cameras. Both teams have quite a bit on the line tonight as the Bulldogs are playing for an undefeated season in the Horizon League while Valparaiso is aiming for the No. 3 seed in the Horizon League conference tournament.

Before we get into the particulars of the game, some huge news was just dropped courtside. Star sophomore Gordon Hayward is in street clothes tonight, apparently feeling the effects of severe back spasms. That’s not to say that the outcome automatically swings to Valparaiso, but the game has become much more winnable for the Crusaders.

We’re 54 minutes away from tip and the student section is relatively packed considering today is the first day of spring break on Valparaiso’s campus. Are the students here to cheer on the Crusaders, or to make memories on television? Who knows and quite frankly, who cares. The ARC will be rocking tonight. The school held a pep rally earlier this evening at the Harre Student Union in which Valparaiso coach Homer Drew implored the students to rush the court if the Crusaders win. Drew has been begging for an ESPN moment for the past several years and tonight represents his big chance.

I’m off to take in some of the pregame atmosphere. If you’re not here, get here. If you aren’t coming, flip on ESPNU and keep hitting refresh. Should be a memorable game from the ARC…or just another blowout win for the Bulldogs.

7:22 p.m. — The Bulldogs are out on the court warming up and Hayward is sitting on the bench in a polo and khakis. While this is a big development for the Crusaders, I’d caution about fans getting too excited about this. Butler is a deep team and now Brad Stevens will be calling on players off the bench to make contributions, players who haven’t been scouted nearly as heavily as the Crusaders have looked at Hayward. Point is, if Hayward scores 30 to beat the Crusaders, I’m okay with that. If Zach Hahn comes off the bench and does the same, I’m sick to my stomach.

7:26 p.m. — Shortly after the Crusaders made their way onto the court, Homer Drew made his pass of press row and went straight to the student section, which erupted in cheers. The “VUCRU” is packed to the brim tonight and now the risers that were brought in opposite the student section are starting to fill up.

7:50 p.m. — Fifth-year senior Brandon McPherson was just honored before the game for his contributions to the Valparaiso basketball program. It was last year against the Bulldogs that McPherson scored 22 points on one leg before finally deciding to shut it down for the rest of the season.

7:53 p.m. — Getting close to tip and time for a prediction. Unfortunately for Valparaiso, I’ve got to give the upper hand to the Bulldogs. Do I think the Crusaders are capable of playing with Butler? Yes. I also think the circus atmosphere at the ARC is going to work against Valparaiso. Butler has played in plenty of big games this season. While the Crusaders have played in their fair share of big games, they’ve never played in a game that has meant this much this season. The players looked loose in the pregame warmups, maybe a little too loose. The first five minutes of this game are going to very important. That said, I expect Butler to win 78-73.

8:00 p.m. — Starters are in and there is a change for Valparaiso. Howard Little is back in the starting lineup in place of freshman Tommy Kurth. Joining Little will be senior Brandon McPherson, juniors Michael Rogers and Cory Johnson and sophomore Brandon Wood. As I’ve already said, Hayward is out for the Bulldogs. Taking his place will be Zach Hahn. Willie Veasley, Matt Howard, Ronald Nored and Shelvin Mack round out the starting five.

8:09 p.m. — So much for my theory of Valparaiso coming out flat. It appeared to me that maybe the enormity of the contest would overwhelm the Crusaders, when in fact, it has been the opposite. The Crusaders scored the first six points of the game and lead 8-4 with 15:19 remaining. In what will be a theme throughout the night, Matt Howard and Cory Johnson each have picked up a foul, as well as Rogers and Little. The Crusaders have racked up two offensive fouls and Howard was called for an offensive as well.

8:18 p.m. — Well, now it appears that Howard wasn’t whistled for a foul early in the game, instead he picked one up shortly after the first media timeout. Johnson has had his way inside, hitting all three shots and the Crusaders lead 14-11 with 11:55 remaining in the first half. Hahn, Hayward’s replacement in the starting lineup, drilled a deep 3-pointer and he could be a thorn in Valparaiso’s side. The Crusaders are currently 6-9 from the field, with all three misses coming from beyond the 3-point line, including a horrid airball from Wood.

8:23 p.m. — On the night that Brandon McPherson is being honored in his final regular season game, the Indianapolis native is putting on a show. Valparaiso’s record holder for games played in a career just darted through the Butler defense, tried to make a pass, somehow ended up with a tipped ball and put the shot in. On the next possession, McPherson drilled a jump shot and the Crusaders lead 20-12 with 9:43 remaining.

8:27 p.m. — Moments ago the Crusaders had all the momentum in the world, but a pair of Butler 3-pointers have brought the Bulldogs to within 20-18.

8:31 p.m. — This is not a good lineup for the Crusaders. On the court right now is Tommy Kurth, Cameron Witt, Broekhoff, Wood and Little. Any lineup without McPherson or Johnson is a tough one in this game. Valparaiso is up 22-20 with 5:17 remaining in the first half and Butler has the ball with a chance to tie the game. The Crusaders have missed all seven 3-point attempts so far, with Wood missing both of his attempts. The inside game has been working for Valparaiso, especially Johnson.

8:40 p.m. — McPherson continues his stellar play as the senior threw his body into the teeth of the Butler defense, drawing a foul and going to the line. From my vantage point it sure looked like an offensive foul and the Butler faithful let the officials know. One woman even stormed down the aisles and stood over my shoulder screaming “You suck, you absolutely suck!” In terms of the game, the Crusaders still can’t buy a 3-pointer and they’ve missed all nine of their long range attempts. Valparaiso still leads 27-26 with 1:47 remaining, but the Bulldogs have the ball and a chance to take their first lead of the game. Veasley leads all scorers with 11 points while McPherson has nine to pace the Crusaders.

8:46 p.m. — For 19 minutes and 45 seconds, the Crusaders held the lead before Mack capped off an insane possession with a basket to give the Bulldogs a 30-29 lead with 15.1 seconds remaining. McPherson then brought the ball up the floor and drove to the lane, drawing a foul and nailed two free throws with 2.7 seconds left to give Valparaiso a 31-30 halftime lead. Most teams can keep it close with the Bulldogs for a half, very few are able to finish the job. Stevens is one of the best coaches in the country at halftime adjustments.

9:00 p.m. — The teams are out of the locker room and there is an electricity in the crowd. The last time I felt this same type of electricity at a VU game was two years ago when the Crusaders carried a 43-35 lead into the locker room against the Bulldogs.

Some first half numbers to look at. Valparaiso shot an abysmal 0-10 from beyond the arc. You have to think the Crusaders will start hitting from deep. Both teams shot 40 percent. The Crusaders, for as well as the offense was moving inside the arc, only have three assists, with two of them coming from Rogers. The killer is that Butler has eight second chance points.

Here we go for the second half. Like I said, most teams stick with Butler for a half, good teams stick with Butler for 30 minutes and the best teams find a way to have a chance to win at the end. At 25-4, there aren’t a lot of teams that have gotten the better of the Bulldogs in the second half. A positive could be that Butler will be shooting into the teeth of the Valparaiso student section.

9:07 p.m. — I’m guessing the Valparaiso Athletics website will look something similar to “Valparaiso led the No. 10 team in the country at the half, but the Crusaders were unable to close out the game as Butler opened the second half on a 7-2 run to take a 37-33 lead with 17:19 remaining in the game.” Ok, maybe it won’t exactly say that, but the Bulldogs are doing what they’ve done all season…jumping on an opponent out of the break. Mack has scored five quick points, including a 3-pointer as Butler now has it’s largest lead of the game.

9:13 p.m. — Mack drilled another 3-pointer for the Bulldogs, stretching the lead to 40-33 before Kenney found Johnson inside for a basket and the foul. Butler is up 40-35 with 15:47 remaining and Johnson has a free throw coming. After clawing through the first 20 minutes of the game and only leading by one, you have to wonder if Valparaiso can answer this Butler run.

9:20 p.m. — Well, the Crusaders aren’t going away without a fight. Valparaiso has cut the deficit to 44-42 with 14:05 remaining. Fouls are a continuing theme of the night as Mack has three for Butler and Little has three for the Crusaders. Howard and Johnson each have a pair.

9:23 p.m. — The Crusaders are 0-15 from 3-point land. Ouch….oh wait, Cory Johnson just hit a triple with 12:47 remaining, giving Valparaiso a 47-46 lead. You’ve got to be kidding me. Johnson hit the shot falling backward.

9:26 p.m. — Johnson has 20 points for the Crusaders. Think he knows there are plenty of NBA scouts in the building, including a rumored appearance by Chicago Bulls GM Gar Forman?  The problem is that Johnson has three fouls and a fourth at this juncture of the game would be crippling.

9:33 p.m. — Stevens is irrate with the officials and frankly, he has every reason to be. The stripes missed an out-of-bounds call on the Crusaders and then Little took more than five seconds to inbound the ball, but was given a timeout. Stevens remarked to the latest turn of events by screaming “Man, that dude is blind.” Of course on the next possession, the officials call a phantom out-of-bounds on Valparaiso.

9:36 p.m. — Just when it looked like Valparaiso was getting some momentum, the Bulldogs get 3-pointers from Veasley and Hahn to take a 53-49 lead with 8:41 remaining. The Bulldogs are 7-16 from beyond the arc while the Crusaders are a pitiful 1-18. I’ve never seen anything like it…Broekhoff just hit a triple out of the break and the Crusaders are down just 53-52 with 8:08 remaining.

9:39 p.m. — Johnson misses another 3-pointer…what is he taking them for anyway? Oh wait, he’s one of two Crusaders to actually hit a long distance shot. On the other end, Vanzant hits a jumper to give Butler a 55-52 lead with 7:34 remaining. Rogers is coming back in the game for Broekhoff. The Crusaders need to work the ball inside to Johnson and have McPherson and Wood drive the lane to score. Next three minutes will be crucial for Valparaiso if they want to stay in this game.

Thursday night was a great night for the Valparaiso men’s basketball team…so far as I can tell.

First off, Wright State held off a late surge from Youngstown State and hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win 76-73. The win gives the Raiders the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League tournament. Now I know heading into this weekend that Valparaiso couldn’t catch WSU, but that doesn’t mean other teams couldn’t have caught them (i.e. Green Bay), which would’ve pushed the Raiders into a tie with Valparaiso and from what I can gather, the Crusaders would’ve lost all tie-breakers with WSU.

Second of all, Detroit overcame an early 15-2 deficit against Cleveland State and defeated the Vikings 65-54. This gives Valparaiso a heads up on Cleveland State, especially if the Vikings end up losing on Saturday night to No. 2 Wright State.

Finally, Green Bay somehow lost at UIC. The Flames were just 2-14 in the Horizon League heading into Thursday night. Because of this loss, the Crusaders would become the No. 3 seed with a win over Butler, regardless of what the Phoenix do against Loyola on Saturday.

So here is what we know right now…

No. 1 Butler, No. 2 Wright State, No. 8 Loyola, No. 9 UIC and No. 10 Youngstown State have all clinched their respective positions in the conference tournament.

Green Bay will finish either No. 3 or No. 4. If Valparaiso beats Butler tonight, the Phoenix will fall to fourth, if not, they’ll stay third.

Looking at the Crusaders, it’s relatively simple. A win gives Valparaiso the third seed in the tournament and the best draw on the way to the championship game with a first round contest against Youngstown State, then a game against the No. 6/No. 7 seed winner. Next up would be No. 2 Wright State and then perhaps a date with No. 1 Butler. (Are we getting ahead of ourselves here yet?)

A loss to the Bulldogs tonight makes things a little more complicated for Valparaiso. If so, there will be plenty of scoreboard watching throughout the day on Saturday. If the Crusaders lose, they’d need loses by both Cleveland State (to No. 2 Wright State) and Milwaukee (to No. 9 UIC) in order to earn the No. 4 seed and play the Flames at the Athletics-Recreation Center on March 2. If either one of those teams win on Saturday, with the other losing, the Crusaders would earn the No. 5 seed and would face Loyola on Tuesday. If both Cleveland State and Milwaukee win, coupled with a Valparaiso loss, the Crusaders will fall to the No. 6 seed and will likely face Detroit, which is a matchup that several players have already cringed at.

My prediction…

As much as I’d like to believe that Valparaiso can topple Butler, no one else in the league has done it this year and the Crusaders haven’t done it in six tries in the last four years. Give the Bulldogs the win tonight and the undefeated record in the conference.

On Saturday, I’d expect Wright State to hold serve at home and pull off the victory over Cleveland State. I do think that Green Bay will beat Loyola and Milwaukee will beat UIC. Finally, Detroit will hold off Youngstown State with relative ease. That gives Valparaiso the No. 5 seed and a date with Loyola. Believe it or not, I think that might be the best case scenario for the Crusaders. I think they match better with Loyola than they do with Youngstown State. If that happens, they’ll get the Green Bay/UIC winner in the quarterfinals and then Butler in the semis. While some might say that playing Butler would be undesirable, someone is going to have to beat that team in order to get two bids in the NCAA tournament. It might as well be Valparaiso.

Then again, the Crusaders could win tonight and make all the seeding possibilities real simple. Game time in t-minus 4 hours, 33 minutes.

Greetings from the Athletics-Recreation Center as the Valparaiso women’s basketball team begins their final stretch of the season. With four games remaining, the Crusaders (7-18, 4-10) are still in the position to secure a home game in the first round of the Horizon League tournament. Entering tonight, Valparaiso sits in ninth place, a half game behind Wright State (9-16, 5-10) and a full game behind Milwaukee (10-15, 5-9). In order for the Crusaders to host a first round game on March 8, they’ll have to leapfrog either the Raiders or the Panthers by the time the season wraps next Saturday.

In order for the Crusaders to get a leg up on Milwaukee and Wright State in terms of a tie-breaker, a win tonight over Green Bay (22-3, 11-3) would go a long ways towards making a home game a reality. On the Green Bay side, don’t expect the Phoenix to take the Crusaders lightly, especially in the wake of first-place Detroit falling 70-60 to Cleveland State earlier this evening. A Green Bay victory would put the Phoenix back into first place and give them the upper-hand in hosting the Horizon League semifinals and championship game.

Tonight’s game would be a tall task, even if the Crusaders were completely healthy, but given that leading scorer Betsy Adams (tailbone) will  miss her third straight game, winning tonight could be a tall order. While a win would be amazing for the Crusaders, the business of tonight should revolve around competing with the Phoenix and gaining momentum for an all-important final three games of the season. The Crusaders have to hope that Butler beats Milwaukee tonight and then that they beat the Panthers on Saturday.

In addition to looking at the other women’s games in the league tonight, I’ll also be following the men’s games and trying to paint a picture as to what a Valparaiso win over Butler tomorrow night would mean, as well as a loss.

6:54 p.m. — Starters are in and for Valparaiso, coach Keith Freeman will go with three seniors in Lauren Kenney, Whitney Farris, and Kelly Peller, along with junior Ashley Varner and freshman Laura Richards. The Phoenix will start juniors Celeste Hoewisch (13.8 ppg), Heather Golden (7.1 ppg) and Kayla Tetschlag (15.0 ppg) along with sophomore Julie Wojta (14.8 ppg) and freshman Sarah Eichler (5.3 pgg). I’m a bit scared that none of these kids are going to graduate after this season. Here comes the anthem and then we’ll be off.

7:01 p.m. — Looking through the starting lineups, it’s interesting to note that Green Bay starts five players from Wisconsin and Valparaiso starts five players from Indiana. Green Bay does not have a player from Indiana and Valparaiso doesn’t have a player from Wisconsin.

7:07 p.m. — Green Bay scores the first five points of the game before Laura Richards slices through the offense to score Valparaiso’s first basket. The Crusaders are making a concerted effort to get the ball into Kenney, but the senior has missed her first three shots and already has a foul.

7:11 p.m. — The Crusaders have come to play today, but the Phoenix are responding. Valparaiso rattled off a 6-0 run to take a 6-5 lead, but the Green Bay has scored the final four points. Kenney is 0-4 from the field, but has connected on a pair of free throws. The problem has been rebounds so far, as the Phoenix lead 6-1 in that category.

7:18 p.m. — After Valparaiso tied the game at 9-9, the Phoenix have ripped off nine straight points without the Crusaders getting so much as a look at the basket and Green Bay leads 18-9 with 11:40 remaining. The Crusaders have turned the ball over five times in a six-possession stretch.

7:27 p.m. — With 13:43 remaining in the first half, the game was tied 9-9. With 7:33 remaining, the Phoenix are up 26-11 after the Crusaders have turned the ball over 10 times in a forgettable six minute stretch. Skyler Gick’s line: 2 minutes, 3 turnovers, no other stats.

7:38 p.m. — The Crusaders have come to life somewhat offensively. With 2:09 remaining, Green Bay leads 38-21. Kenney has eight points while Farris has seven points. Turnovers have been the main concern as the Crusaders have 15 miscues, 14 coming since the 14 minute mark.

7:43 p.m. — Green Bay 38, Valparaiso 21. Halftime.

8:03 p.m. — Three minutes into the second half and the Crusaders have turned the ball over six times already. That’s 22 for the game. Freeman has four new players waiting to check in the game. This has been difficult to stomach.

8:06 p.m. — Green Bay leads 51-27 with 15:18 remaining. That’s a 13-6 run since the half has started and seven second half turnovers for the Crusaders. 10 players have played for Valparaiso and Rashida Ray and Gina Lange are the only two players who have yet to turn the ball over. Gick and Moore have five turnovers in a combined six minutes of action.

8:23 p.m. — Hoewisch has knocked down four 3-pointers and Green Bay leads 62-37 with 7:18 remaining. Farris has 10 points to lead the Crusaders while Kenney has eight points.

8:31 p.m. — Green Bay 65, Valparaiso 40, 3:41 remaining. In men’s news, Troy Tabler just drilled a game-winning 3-pointer with .2 seconds remaining to give Wright State a 76-73 win over upset-minded Youngstown State. Coupled with Cleveland State’s 65-54 loss to Detroit, the Raiders have now clinched the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League tournament. With a win over Butler tomorrow night, I believe the men can clinch at least the No. 4 seed in the tournament.

Valparaiso Basketball: Where the unbelievable is everyday behavior.

Where else can you find a team that jumps out to a 19-point halftime lead and then expresses little surprise when the opponent takes a four-point lead exactly halfway through the second half?

Where else can you find a team that loses its two post players and then grinds out a victory against the tallest team in the conference?

Where else can you find a player that misses all six of his 3-point attempts and commits a ghastly mistake in the final moments of the game, only to recover and steal the inbounds pass and then ice the victory with a free throw?

Where else do you find a freshman guard come off the bench and block four shots, including a game-saver with 33 seconds remaining when his team was only up by one point?

There were so many turning points in this game and times that I thought we’d just seen the greatest play ever, that I don’t even know where to begin in deciphering what transpired. Every player who stepped on the floor for the Crusaders scored, just as every player who stepped on the floor committed a foul.

Brandon Wood led the way with 18 points and Cory Johnson had 12 points, but neither one of them did anything beyond what they normally do, which isn’t to say they didn’t contribute, just that others on the team put an exclamation point on the game. Mike Rogers had 13 points, including a huge 3-pointer with 2:04 remaining that essentially won the game for the Crusaders. The triple gave Valparaiso a 71-67 lead and Detroit would never get past 70. Sure, the Crusaders still needed a block from Kenney, two free throws from McPherson and a steal from Broekhoff, but Rogers’ 3-pointer was the beginning thrust of the dagger that ultimately slayed the Titans.

McPherson’s two free throws following the Kenney block were huge in their own right. Last season, when McPherson was rehabbing from his knee injury, the fifth-year senior would always be at practice supporting his team. When the team would practice full court, there was little for McPherson to do but shoot free throws. I watched him one day as he connected on 20 straight free throws without batting an eye, many of which didn’t hit the rim. I pulled Brandon aside after his shooting clinic and asked him what goes through his mind when he shoots free throws and he told me there is a certain spot he aims for inside the rim to make sure he always swishes the shot. My point is, for a guy like McPherson, simply making the free throw is not his goal, he doesn’t want to touch the rim when he does it. That being said, anytime he goes to the free throw line, I put it down as an automatic two points for McPherson, and so does he.

“I’m the kind of guy who wants the ball at the end, I want to be shooting the free throws,” McPherson said in the postgame press conference. “I talked with Coach (Homer Drew) and I told him that I wanted the ball.”

McPherson finished with 12 points, two rebounds and two assists in 27 minutes. Not bad for a guy who could barely walk after Thursday night’s loss to Wright State.

Ok, onto the fact that Valparaiso held a 19-point halftime lead and then found themselves trailing 10 minutes later. Does that really surprise anyone? The Crusaders rarely have been able to finish off an opponent, with Loyola being the lone exception, this season. Detroit is a good team and there was no way the Titans were going to shoot 19.4 percent again in the second half. After the game, both Drew and the players stated that they knew the Detroit run was coming.

“We were mad and disappointed because we talked about it,” Drew said. “We knew they weren’t going to go away.”

To lose a 19-point lead is frustrating. How one responds to that shows the true measure of the players, and the Crusaders didn’t go away either after they fell apart. The team picked itself back up and started to make some spectacular plays. A Rogers alley-oop slam here, a Kenney block there and suddenly the Crusaders were back in command with minutes left. Some hair-raising moments transpired down the stretch, including a near brawl between Johnson, Wood and Detroit center Eli Holman. Wood and Holman shared a long embrace after the game and all appears to be well between two of the best newcomers in the league.

At the end of the day, the Crusaders and Titans are both 7-6 in the league. Valparaiso has to play Butler still, Detroit does not. Green Bay plays Milwaukee tonight and you have to assume that the Phoenix will win at home, so they’ll move to 8-5 while Milwaukee should drop to 5-7. Assuming Butler beats Wright State tonight, the Crusaders will be a game out of second with five games to go, including games against N0. 8 Loyola, No. 9 Youngstown State and No. 10 UIC. This makes Thursday’s loss all the more frustrating.

Green Bay is traveling to Detroit and Wright State next weekend, so one of those three teams is going to come up with a loss, possibly two. I still don’t know where to rank Milwaukee in the mix, similar to how I feel about the Crusaders. If the Phoenix win tonight against Milwaukee, that gives some seperation and Valparaiso a chance to secure a home conference tournament game. The goal is still the No. 2 seed which comes with a double bye and a spot away from Butler in the bracket.

Alas, a good game at the ARC. I’ll be back tonight to cover my first VU women’s game in more than a month. Should be a good one.