Game Preview: Conference Semi-Finals

Game one of today's Horizon League Tournament's semi-finals will pit the Butler Bulldogs against the Cleveland State Vikings.  CSU has had a fantastic year but the one team that seems to have their number is Butler.  In their two regular season matchups, Butler has had no problem disposing of the Vikings with victories of 23 at home and 12 on the road.  In both previous games, Butler's big guys Matt Howard and Andrew Smith have had real nice games.  If CSU wants to keep their hopes alive for the Horizon League's automatic bid they will have to do something to slow down those two big guys.  Offensively, look for Norris Cole and Jeremy Montgomery to get going early and often.  I look for Butler to win this game thanks to their fresh legs (they haven't played since last Saturday) and the depth of their bench.  For Cleveland Sate we'll see pretty quickly what kind of energy they have, 4 of the Vikings 5 starters played at least 30 minutes last night.

Prediction:  Butler wins 78-69 and Ronald Nored neutralizes Cole with his stellar defense.



Game two will feature the Valparaiso Crusaders against the tournaments number one seeded Milwaukee Panthers.  Both teams won their regular season home game with Valpo winning by 17 back on January 21 and Milwaukee winning by 3 on February 16.  Last night, Valpo was able to take down an athletic Detroit team behind a spectacular shooting performance from Brandon Wood.  Wood did log the most minutes of any Crusader with 31 minutes so we will see how that affects him this evening.  For Valpo to win they will need their bench to play some effective minutes and outplay Milwaukee's bench.  The Crusaders also need to get a handle on Tone Boyle and Anthony Hill.  Last time out Boyle went off with 28 points while Hill posted up with 18 points.  They make a real dangerous inside/outside combination.  Offensively, Valpo will need their outside shooting to stay hot, last night they set a league tournament record hitting 15 three pointers.  Getting some easy buckets inside and a solid effort from Cory Johnson/Kevin Van Wijk will be important in keeping the Panther defenders honest.

Prediction:  Valpo 75-70.  I'm looking for big nights from Matt Kenney and Kevin Van Wijk off the bench.