Horizon identity back on defense
Teams try to follow Butler’s lead; some offenses suffering.
FAIRBORN — As Loyola men’s basketball coach Porter Moser zipped his suit back into its travel bag in the visitor’s locker room, he reflected on the defensive game he just watched.
Loyola had lost to Wright State 47-41 last Friday, a game with half the score of some other games this season. But it wasn’t as much bad offense, Moser said, as good defense.
“People look at Butler and how they defended and how far they went last year (in the NCAA tournament) doing that, but that’s this league night in and night out,” said Moser, Loyola’s firstyear coach. “I’ve been in a lot of leagues, Big 12, Atlantic 10, Missouri Valley, Sun Belt, and these coaches do an outstanding job in this league scouting.”
In a season when several Horizon League teams have struggled mightily to score, the defenses have also been good. Loyola (No. 36) and Wright State (No. 42) are two of the league’s four teams in the top 42 nationally in scoring defense. Cleveland State (No. 19) and Wisconsin-milwuakee (No. 23) are also on that list.
But some of the teams continue to struggle on offense, as six teams are in the bottom 100 nationally in scoring, including Loyola (No. 334 out of 338) and Wright State (No. 327).
The Raiders entered Thursday night’s game against Butler first in the league in scoring defense in league games, allowing 57.4 points, which drew praise from Moser for WSU coach Billy Donlon.
“They take on Billy’s personality,” he said. “I’ve known Billy a long time, and he’s doing an outstanding job. They’re taking on his personality, tough, scrappy.”
Pro signing: Cory Cooperwood, a forward who played for WSU from 2008-10, attended a Raiders practice this week and said he has signed to play for a professional team in Melbourne, Australia, beginning in March.
Cooperwood said the team, the Sandringham Sabres, will hold a training camp later this month in Houston before playing a season that runs from March through September.
Cooperwood averaged 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds as a junior before averaging 9.3 points and 6.1 rebounds as a senior. He played in Finland for a period last year before going on a tour with a team organized by Xenia-based Athletes-in-action.
Academics recognized: Four WSU athletes were part of the Horizon League’s fall all-academic teams released this week: men’s cross country junior Jason Bruns and sophomore Dan Shafer, men’s soccer sophomore Greg Marchand and women’s soccer senior Bekah Bonny.
Game time: Wright State’s Bracketbusters game at MissouriKansas City on Saturday, Feb. 18, will begin at 5 p.m.
The time was not immediately available when the game was announced. The Kangaroos will choose between next season or 2013-14 to play a return game at the Nutter Center.