#HLMBB Weekly Notebook – January 6

INDIANAPOLIS – Week 4 of the #HLMBB tips off this weekend highlighted by Wright State welcoming Youngstown State on Friday on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET.

#HLMBB NEWS & NOTES

• Wright State looks to bounce back on national television after suffering its first loss of the season last week on the road. WSU ranks No. 16 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll thanks to leading the HL in scoring at nearly 80 points a contest as five players are averaging in double figures.

• Youngstown State’s Naz Bohannon has been dominant this season for the Penguins as he is second in scoring at 18.0 points per game, second in field-goal percentage at 57.1 percent and fifth I rebounding at 8.4 boards per contest. Last week, Bohannon posted a career-high 32 points and added 12 rebounds in a win over Green Bay.

• The key to the WSU-YSU series will be rebounding as the Raiders rank fifth in the country in defensive rebounds per game at 32.2, while the Penguins are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the nation, ranking fifth in the NCAA with 15.6 boards.

• Cleveland State is off to its best start in HL play since the 2007-08 season and is getting it done on both ends of the floor. The Vikings are second during Horizon League play in field-goal percentage, while defensively they are third in scoring and second in steals.

• The Horizon League has some of the top passers in the NCAA as three HL players rank in the top-25 in assists led by UIC’s Teyvion Kirk who is second in the country with 8.9 followed by Oakland’s Jalen Moore ranking 15th with 6.8 and Te’Jon Lucas of Milwaukee coming in 24th with 6.0.

• #HLMBB boasts three of the top rebounders in the country led by IUPUI’s Elyjah Goss who is second in the nation with 12.7 boards per game. WSU’s Loudon Love is sixth in the country with 11.6 rebounds and Northern Kentucky’s Adrian Nelson is 13th at 10.8 and is also sixth in the nation averaging 4.4 offensive boards per contest.

• Northern Kentucky earned a weekend sweep last weekend and improved to 3-1 during HL play. Freshman Marques Warrick led the way with back-to-back 22-point efforts including laying in the game-winner on Saturday with just two second remaining in regulation. He leads all freshman in scoring in HL play with 17.3 and is top-10 I field goal percentage at 54.9 percent. 

• Green Bay earned its first #HLMBB win of the season last week on the road as PJ Pipes finished the game with 30 points, just the fourth 30-point effort during League play this season, on 6-of-7 shooting from long range and went a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. The win also marked the first victory for new head coach Will Ryan.

• RMU’s AJ Bramah continues to lead the Horizon League in scoring as the senior is averaging 23.7 points with 20-point performances in all three games played and he is also grabbing 10.0 rebounds per game. 

• After suffering a 90-51 loss to start the weekend, the Golden Grizzlies bounced back in a big way the next day by handing Wright State its first loss of the Horizon season 81-71 as Jalen Moore scored 24 points and added 12 assists. Moore is now second during HL play with 8.3 assists, thanks to three 10-plus assist performances and ninth in scoring at 17.3.

RESULTS

DateGame
Friday, Jan. 1Youngstown State 84, Green Bay 77
RMU 67, Milwaukee 64
Northern Kentucky 75, Purdue Fort Wayne 68
Wright State 90, Oakland 51
 Cleveland State 65, IUPUI 62
Saturday, Jan. 2Green Bay 79, Youngstown State 69
Cleveland State 59, IUPUI 49
Oakland 81, Wright State 71
 Northern Kentucky 70, Purdue Fort Wayne 68
Monday, Jan. 4Youngstown State 109, Carlow 56

#HLMBB PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
#HLMBB Player of the Week
Naz Bohannon | Youngstown State | Senior | Forward | Lorain, Ohio
Bohannon averaged 27.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting 71.9 percent (23-for-32) from the floor last week. He scored a career-high 32 points and posted his second double-double of the season with 12 rebounds in YSU’s 84-77 win over Green Bay. He went 12-for-15 from the field and made eight free throws. Bohannon followed up in the second game of the weekend with 23 points on 11-of-17 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds against the Phoenix. For the season, Bohannon is second in the Horizon League averaging 18 points per game, second in field-goal percentage at 57.1 and fifth in rebounds with 8.4 per contest.

#HLMBB Freshman of the Week
Marques Warrick | Northern Kentucky | Freshman | Forward | Lexington, Ky.
Warrick picks up his third #HLMBB Freshman of the Week honor of the season after producing back-to-back 22-point outings to lead the Norse to a two-game sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne. Warrick started the week pouring in a new career-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting and added four boards in game one, as the Norse beat the Mastodons, 75-68. For an encore, he posted his second 22-point outing of the weekend, hitting the game-winning shot with just over two-seconds remaining to finish 10-of-17 from the floor. For the week, Warrick made 58 percent (18-of-31) of his field-goal attempts, but was deadly from inside the arc making 14-of-19 (74 percent) two-point attempts.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

DateGameTime (ET)TV/Live Stream
Friday, Jan. 8RMU at IUPUI12 p.m.ESPN3
Detroit Mercy at Milwaukee12 p.m.ESPN3
 Oakland at Green Bay5 p.m.ESPN+
UIC at Purdue Fort Wayne7 p.m.ESPN3
Youngstown State at Wright State7 p.m.ESPN2
 Northern Kentucky at Cleveland State7 p.m.ESPN+
Saturday, Jan. 9RMU at IUPUI12 p.m.ESPN3
 Detroit Mercy at Milwaukee12 p.m.ESPN3
 Youngstown State at Wright State3 p.m.ESPN3
 Oakland at Green Bay5 p.m.ESPN+
 UIC at Purdue Fort Wayne5 p.m.ESPN3
 Northern Kentucky at Cleveland State7 p.m.ESPN+