Weekend Preview: Welcome Home

The Crusaders finally return home after spending the last couple of weeks on the road.  After their road trip, the Crusaders return home in second place and in a perfect spot to make a push for not only one of the coveted double byes, but also for the top seed.  This week, Valpo will host Detroit on Thursday and seek revenge for an earlier loss at Wright State on Saturday.

If you are in the ARC for either game stop by Section EE and say high.  I shouldn't be too hard to find.

Detroit - Thursday, February 2, 6:30pm tipoff
Detroit is a tough team to figure out.  They are clearly the most athletic team in the conference and boast some of the most talented individual players in the entire league.  The question will be whether or not they can play a team style of play for an entire game, and are they willing to play a defensive game if that is what the pace dictates.

In their first matchup at Detroit, Valpo won in thrilling fashion as Erik Buggs drove the length of the court to hit a buzzer beating layup to send Valpo to a 2 point victory.  In that game, Will Bogan went off from three point land hitting 7/8 and leading the Crusaders with 23 point.  KVW chipped in a solid 17 points (he did foul out and only play 23 minutes) and Rowdy finished the night in double figures with 14.  For the Titans, Eli Holman proved nearly too much for our bigs to handle as he hit 8/12 from the field and scored 17 points while Ray McCallum went to the free throw line 13 times and finished the game with 22 points.

The Crusaders have won all three meetings with this group of Titans dating back to last year.  In order to keep that streak alive, Valpo will need to slow down Holman and try to keep McCallum from getting double digit free throw attempts.  Chase Simon and McCallum are going to get their points, just make them throw up a lot of shots (they were both at the top of the FG missed stats at the midpoint) to get those points and limit the offensive rebound/tip dunks.  Note: Detroit has only a 2-6 road record.

Prediction: Valpo wins 77-73.

Wright State - Saturday, February 4, 7pm tipoff
Saturday is a big night at the ARC.  Valparaiso University will induct it's newest class of Athletic Hall Of Famers including Homer Drew. The team will also be trying to get revenge for a disasterous performace a few weeks ago when they got run out of the Nutter Center, 73-55.

In that first matchup, Ryan led the way with a double double (18/14) and KVW had 13.  Everybody else (minus Kenney who had 8) forgot to play on the offensive end that night.  The Raiders were lead by Armond Battle's 23 point performance and Julius Mays added 21.  Mays is having an All Conference caliber season, but has been a bit knicked up lately.  Containing him is essential for a Crusader victory.  WSU outrebounded Valpo in that game and was +7 on the turnover battle. 

I have little doubt that Valpo will get their revenge and maintain their grip on the two seed with a weekend sweep.  Lets just hope they don't start looking ahead to the big road trip through Ohio next week against the other two teams atop the league standings.

Prediction: Valpo wins 73-61.  Here is a shot of WSU's best looking fan.