3/12/13, 8pm - ESPN: Wright St. @ Valpo HL Championship Game Thread

[vubballfan10]

Kenney played the worst game of his career, and still played 33 minutes.  Boggs and Dority were sitting on the bench ready to take his spot.  Wonder why Bryce kept Kenney on the court when he was making turnover after turnover?

[vuweathernerd]

i seriously considering throwing my plastic cup at the wall, but i didn't want to get banned from b-dubs. my god was that frustrating. but on the bright side, we seem to have learned something from the detroit loss - in a similar situation tonight, we were able to get the stops necessary and convert on the other end. glad to see this class will get to go to the dance - now go raise some hell, boys!!!

[okinawatyphoon]

Buggs was named HL tournament MVP, and rightly so. 

[crusaderjoe]

Biggest home win since when?

Western Illinois, 1995? – This was the last time VU won a conference tournament championship game at home.
Notre Dame, 1988? – Last time VU defeated a ranked opponent at home.  Major major upset.  Maybe the greatest upset in Valpo history.
Butler, 2011? - Hadn't beaten them before since '93.
UWGB, 2013? - No explanation needed.

What home win has been bigger, or is tonight's win the biggest in ARC history?   I still say ND is tops, but this one can't be too far behind.

Hell of a job guys.  Way to bring home NCAA tournament appearance #8!

[nkvu]

We played as bad as we could in the second half and still managed to gut out a win.  I'll take winning ugly over losing beautifully every time, particularly if it gets us to the dance!
Cudos to WSU for making us look silly for most of the second half, and even more cudos to the team for not quiting and gutting out a win!  Now if someone can help me locate my voice....

[govalpogo]

i seriously considering throwing my plastic cup at the wall, but i didn't want to get banned from b-dubs. my god was that frustrating. but on the bright side, we seem to have learned something from the detroit loss - in a similar situation tonight, we were able to get the stops necessary and convert on the other end. glad to see this class will get to go to the dance - now go raise some hell, boys!!!

Ya know, I think Detroit just timed their run at the right time.  If WSU's was in the last 6-7 mins, we wouldn't have had time to right the ship.  Conversely, if Detroit had their big run in the first 6-7 mins of the 2nd half, I think Valpo may have been able to right things (except with Buggs fouling out).

[mj]

Thankfully I was wrong about this game. Back to the NCAA Tournament!

Although I'm living in North Dakota, I'm going to see if I can make it to the first round. I'd love if we would get the #13 seed in Kansas City.

[govalpogo]

Also, we can finally move on from last year.  If we had lost...we would have been able to call it a curse...but it would have been totally and completely crushing.  I was considering not watching another Valpo game until they made the NCAA tourney, fortunately that will be sooner than later. 

[okinawatyphoon]

mj you're in Bismarck? weathernerd and I are in Minot....small world! I was mad that the NDSU/SDSU game was on the big screen at BWWs, but we still watched the game!

[mj]

Yea I've been in bismarck for about a year and a half. Let me know if you guys are ever in town.

[KL31NY]

Sometime soon, game highlights from Dial Global Sports will be online here: http://dialglobalsports.com/2013/03/horizon-league-championship-highlights-valparaiso-62-wright-st-54/

Wayne Larrivee of Chicago Bears/Bulls and Green Bay Packer fame was play-by-play with Will Perdue on color

[govalpogo]

How bout this for irony: 8 points is our largest margin of victory over WSU this year!  69-63, 68-61, 62-54  Wow.  Sure doesn't feel like it!

[bballraider]

Congratulations on your first HL Tourney Championship.

I will be rooting for you guys in the Big Dance. Hopefully the selection committee gives you a decent matchup and seed.

I really thought we had you rattled in the 2nd Half. But I give props to your guys for gathering their composure, while the Raiders inexperience showed up at the wrong time. It would have been nice to have Cole Darling's experience down the stretch of that game, but you play the cards you are dealt.

Again good luck in the NCAA's, and we owe you some payback next year.

[KL31NY]

Because links are gifts that keep on giving...

JIM PETERS: Valpo like a second home to Ryan Broekhoff's family
http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/valparaiso-university/jim-peters-valpo-like-a-second-home-to-ryan-broekhoff/article_0588f769-a131-5af1-b4e7-631201757feb.html

ValparaiZone sells out its tickets in less than 24 hours for HL championship game
http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/valparaiso-university/valparaizone-sells-out-its-tickets-in-less-than-hours-for/article_35af167c-0632-5c88-953d-1c97d72212fb.html

Loyal VU basketball fans cheer on Crusaders in Horizon League championship
http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/valparaiso-university/loyal-vu-basketball-fans-cheer-on-crusaders-in-horizon-league/article_4abb6970-1639-57d0-b38a-0d79909d4944.html

Crusaders heading back to NCAA tournament
http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/basketball/college/crusaders-heading-back-to-ncaa-tournament/article_9e5a5baa-43bd-5fdf-b12c-37bf70ab51a2.html

[drewsaders11]

Damn proud.  To be able to go through such an atrocious stretch as Valpo did, and still win the game, is remarkable.  Just speaks to their defensive effort, and their will to play through adversity.  Buggs played out of his mind.  He was even 4-6 for FT, which is pretty well above his average. 

[agibson]

BTW, what idiot would have them rope off the student section after you win an NCAA bid?  It isn't like we are Duke and get in all of the time nowadays.  In my day, it was the expectation, and we still would storm for the clincher.  Terrible call by the official who made that decision, as every other 1 bid conference will have their students celebrating among the team...

I was shown a photo on facebook that looked like the players storming the student section.

Here's one that suggests that they _eventually_ let the students on the court
https://twitter.com/NWI_Hillary/status/311677418576429057/photo/1
after they had time to set up some staging.

And, in the second version of the ESPN SportsCenter game highlights they had video of the students approximately like that twitter photo.  Sort of as if they had stormed the court.

[truth219]

Ya they did 5 mins after the game was over

[truth219]

Props to buggs for getting his third foul with 18 mins left and play basically the rest of the game foul free

[RS]

GREAT COMEBACK. This team has had a target on its back all year. Expectations were very high. Picked to win the regular season. Then hosting the tournament. Bryce let the SENIORS play out the game. No substitutions. Their game to win or lose. I am so proud of this team. Congratulations again. Now on to the big Dance.

[70zboy]

Wayne Larrivee of Chicago Bears/Bulls and Green Bay Packer fame was play-by-play with Will Perdue on color

Thanks for post. Nice to hear Larrivee again - miss hearing him in Chicago area.

[wh]

Just got home.  Before I say anything else, I want to congratulate WSU on an outstanding effort.  Everyone knows how hard they play, but more than that they have several really talented players and great team speed to go with it.  Thank goodness they kind of ran out of gas there at the end, because they had our number in the 2nd half up until the last 5 min. or so.

The atmosphere at the ARC was nothing short of amazing.  The bands and student sections were great.  Fans on both sides were into it from beginning to end.  It was a great show for a national TV audience.  Valpo and WSU did the Horizon League proud tonight!

[70zboy]

Confident, Outraged, Resigned, Relieved  Lollipop passes - ugh!

Thanks to Buggs for finding the seams and scoring when nobody else could (only 3 non-Buggs baskets in second half!)
Broekhoff - until the big 3 in danger of pulling a McCallum Jr. (at least on offense) Kenney -some of the weak passes were hard to believe. Bogan- nice game, did make a few shots.

Game of runs 25-8 in the second half to the 5:30 mark then 16-0 Valpo the next 5 min

Ugly, but we're dancing. Great defensive game plan again by Coach Donlon. Thank heaven for Buggsy tonite.

[vu84v2]

It is hard to say that I enjoyed  this game because I really wanted these seniors to experience making the NCAA tournament.  I certainly enjoyed the outcome.

Though they blew a 14 point lead and committed an unholy 24 turnovers, I think we also need to think about how much this meant to the players - and that is why they tightened up in the second half (helped by Wright State's good defense).  I am optimistic that they will feel they have the weight off their back and will play loose and free in the NCAA tournament game.

As I mentioned in another post, I do not want them to play Kansas (unless it is somehow much later in the tournament).  If Kansas win on Thursday, they will likely be a 2 (or better) and certainly no worse than a 3...which would prevent them from playing Valpo since I see them as a solid 13 now.

Thank you to the players and coaches for a fun and enjoyable season - though a few more wins would be very special.

[ValpoHoops]

Just home from some celebratory beverages with a few old friends (and Mr. Wischusen of ESPN...awesome guy, great stories...very enjoyable couple of hours).

Credit to Wright State...I knew they weren't going to go away. Their intensity level picked up in the second half and shocked our guys. The deplorable play we showed was more about what they did to us...they were excellent. If they had anyone on their team that could score (Darling?) they would be damn near impossible to handle.

Our guys made the plays in crunch time. Ryan was not great tonight by any stretch (WSU did an outstanding job of basically beating him up) but he made a GINOURMOUS shot when it mattered most and the guys hit their FT's down the stretch.

Doesn't matter how...JUST MATTERS THAT WE GOT IT DONE! PUT ON YOUR DANCING SHOES!!!!!!!

[ValpoHoops]

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