2023 Horizon League basketball tournaments: Here's who OU, UDM men and women will face
The Horizon League’s basketball seasons wrapped up Saturday with the Milwaukee men’s victory over Cleveland State to lock in the No. 2 seed. Now all 22 teams — 11 each on the men’s and women’s sides — gear up for the Horizon conference tourney, which begins Tuesday on campus sites and finishes on March 7 in Indianapolis.
The Oakland men (13-18, 11-9 Horizon) are the highest seed of the four metro Detroit squads in the Horizon, clinching a first-round bye and the No. 5 seed despite Saturday’s loss at home to Northern Kentucky. Their reward: A rematch on Thursday on the road against the Norse. OU guard Jalen Moore has been hot of late for the Golden Grizzlies. Moore has scored at least 20 in 11 of his past 13 games, including 27 on Saturday against Northern Kentucky.
CARLOS MONARREZ:10,000 shots a day helped Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis close in on Pistol Pete's record
METRO SERIES:Jalen Moore steals the show in Oakland basketball's win at Detroit Mercy
The Detroit Mercy men (13-18, 9-11) are next up, with the No. 8 seed and a first-round matchup against Purdue Fort Wayne. Star guard Antoine Davis, who leads the NCAA in scoring (28.1 points per game) this season, is 64 points away from passing “Pistol” Pete Maravich as the NCAA’s career leader in points. Davis’ 34 points Saturday (on 13-for-33 shooting, including five 3-pointers on 13 tries) gave him 3,604 points over his five seasons at UDM. The guard, whose No. 0 jersey was retired by the Titans after Saturday’s game, likely needs at least two games to pass Maravich, the LSU star who scored 3,667 points from 1967-70. Saturday’s loss locked the Titans into eighth place in the Horizon League, meaning they’ll host Purdue Fort Wayne at 7 p.m. Tuesday; Davis averaged 27 points a game in UDM’s two wins over the Mastodons this season.
The Oakland women (13-16, 8-12) are also the No. 8 seed; they’ll host No. 9 Wright State at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Golden Grizzlies split their season series with the Raiders, including a loss on the road Thursday. OU beat WSU by five on Jan. 15 with Brooke Quarles-Daniels’ 17 points leading a quartet of Golden Grizzlies who scored in double figures at the O’rena.
Finally, the Detroit Mercy women (5-17, 3-17) finished last in the Horizon for the first time since the 2007-08 season. They’ll open the postseason against Purdue Fort Wayne on the road at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Mastodons swept the season series by a combined 33 points, with UDM’s Irene Murua, a first-team Horizon All-Academic selection, averaging 11 points a game in the two matchups. An upset of Fort Wayne would pit the Titans against No. 1 seed Green Bay on Thursday; the Phoenix beat UDM by 47 in Wisconsin on Dec 31 before only winning by nine in early February at Calihan Hall.
Here’s the full slate of games:
Horizon men’s tournament schedule
First-round and quarterfinal games at better seed’s arena; semifinals and final at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis.
Tuesday’s first round
Game 1: No. 6 Robert Morris 67, No. 11 IUPUI 64.
Game 2: No. 7 Wright State 77, No. 10 Green Bay 57.
Game 3: No. 8 Detroit Mercy 81, No. 9 Purdue Fort Wayne 68.
Thursday’s quarterfinals
Game 4: No. 1 Youngstown State 71, No. 8 Detroit Mercy 66.
Game 5: No. 2 Milwaukee vs. No. 7 Wright State 77, 8 p.m.
Game 6: No. 3 Cleveland State 75, No. 6 RMU 70 (OT).
Game 7: No. 4 Northern Kentucky 81, No. 5 Oakland 74.
Semifinals, March 6
Game 8: No. 1 Youngstown State vs. No. 4 Northern Kentucky, 7 p.m., ESPNU.
Game 9: No. 2 Milwaukee vs. No. 3 Cleveland State, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2.
Final, March 7
Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 7 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2.
Horizon women’s tournament schedule
First-round and quarterfinal games at better seed’s arena; semifinals and final at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis.
Tuesday’s first round
Game 1: No. 6 Purdue Fort Wayne 65, No. 11 Detroit Mercy 61.
Game 2: No. 7 Milwaukee 64, No. 10 Robert Morris 58.
Game 3: No. 9 Wright State 79, No. 8 Oakland 69.
Thursday’s quarterfinals
Game 4: No. 1 Green Bay 85, No. 9 Wright State 57.
Game 5: No. 2 Cleveland State 65, No. 7 Milwaukee 52.
Game 6: No. 6 Purdue Fort Wayne 73, No. 3 IUPUI 69.
Game 7: No. 5 Northern Kentucky 59, No. 4 Youngstown State 58.
Semifinals, March 6
Game 8: No. 1 Green Bay vs. No. 6 Purdue Fort Wayne, noon.
Game 9: No. 2 Cleveland State vs. No. 5 Northern Kentucky, 2:30 p.m.
Final, March 7
Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner, noon, ESPNU.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2023 Horizon League basketball tournaments: OU, UDM men and women
