2023–24 Horizon League men's basketball season

The 2023–24 Horizon League men's basketball season began with practices in September 2023 and ended with the 2024 Horizon League men's basketball tournament in March 2024. This was the 44th season for Horizon League men's basketball.

2023–24 Horizon League men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportMen's basketball
Number of teams11
TV partner(s)ESPN+
ESPN2
ESPNU
ESPN
Regular season
Season championsOakland
Season MVPTrey Townsend, Oakland
Top scorerBJ Freeman, Milwaukee
Tournament
ChampionsOakland
  Runners-upMilwaukee
Finals MVPTrey Townsend, Oakland
Basketball seasons
2024–25 →
2023–24 Horizon League men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Oakland 15 5   .750 24 12   .667
Youngstown State 14 6   .700 22 10   .688
Green Bay 13 7   .650 18 14   .563
Wright State 13 7   .650 18 14   .563
Northern Kentucky 12 8   .600 18 15   .545
Milwaukee 12 8   .600 20 15   .571
Cleveland State 11 9   .550 21 15   .583
Purdue Fort Wayne 11 9   .550 23 13   .639
Robert Morris 6 14   .300 10 22   .313
IUPUI 2 18   .100 6 26   .188
Detroit Mercy 1 19   .050 1 31   .031
2024 Horizon League tournament winner

This was the final season for Horizon League member IUPUI as an institution. The Indiana University and Purdue University systems dissolved IUPUI at the end of the 2023–24 school year, replacing it with separate IU- and Purdue-affiliated institutions. The IUPUI athletic program transferred to the new IU Indianapolis (branded athletically as IU Indy), maintaining its NCAA Division I and Horizon League memberships.

Head coaches

edit

Coaching changes

edit

Coaches

edit
Team Head coach Previous job Season Overall
record
Horizon
record
NCAA
Tournaments
Cleveland State Daniyal Robinson Iowa State (asst.) 2nd 21–14 (.600) 14–6 (.700) 0
Detroit Mercy Mike Davis Texas Southern 6th 59–88 (.401) 43–46 (.483) 0
Green Bay Sundance Wicks Wyoming (asst.) 1st 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0
IUPUI Matt Crenshaw Ball State (asst.) 3rd 8–53 (.131) 3–34 (.081) 0
Milwaukee Bart Lundy Queens 2nd 22–12 (.647) 14–6 (.700) 0
Northern Kentucky Darrin Horn Texas (asst.) 5th 79–45 (.637) 52–24 (.684) 2
Oakland Greg Kampe Toledo (asst.) 40th 670–514 (.566) 102–67 (.604) 0
Purdue Fort Wayne Jon Coffman IPFW (asst.) 10th 155–128 (.548) 81–75 (.519) 0
Robert Morris Andrew Toole Robert Morris (asst.) 14th 216–210 (.507) 133–101 (.568) 2
Wright State Scott Nagy South Dakota State 8th 149–78 (.656) 94–40 (.701) 2
Youngstown State Jerrod Calhoun Fairmont State 7th 95–95 (.500) 60–55 (.522) 0

Notes:

  • Season number includes 2023–24 season.
  • Records are prior to 2023–24 season.

Preseason

edit

Preseason coaches poll

edit
2023-24 Horizon League Preseason Coaches Poll[3]
Rank Team (First Place Votes) Points
1. Northern Kentucky (18) 435
2. Milwaukee (10) 397
3. Wright State (12) 392
4. Cleveland State (1) 362
5. Youngstown State (3) 342
6. Oakland 280
7. Robert Morris 186
8. Purdue Fort Wayne 166
9. Detroit Mercy 132
10. IUPUI 116
11. Green Bay 96

Preseason All-Horizon League

edit
First team Second team
Tristan Enaruna, Cleveland State Jlynn Counter, IUPUI
BJ Freeman, Milwaukee Sam Vinson, Northern Kentucky
Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky Tanner Holden, Wright State
Trey Townsend, Oakland Brandon Noel, Wright State
Trey Calvin, Wright State Brandon Rush, Youngstown State
Preseason Player of the Year: Trey Calvin, Wright State

Regular season

edit

Player of the Week awards

edit

Conference matrix

edit
CSU DET GB IUPUI MKE NKU OAK PFW RMU WSU YSU
vs. Cleveland State 0–2 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–1
vs. Detroit Mercy 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. Green Bay 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 0–2 1–1
vs. IUPUI 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. Milwaukee 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–0
vs. Northern Kentucky 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–1
vs. Oakland 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2
vs. Purdue Fort Wayne 2–0 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1
vs. Robert Morris 2–0 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0
vs. Wright State 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–0
vs. Youngstown State 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 0–2
Total 11–9 1–19 13–7 2–18 12–8 12–8 15–5 11–9 6–14 13–7 14–6

Early season tournaments

edit

The following table summarizes the multiple-team events (MTE) or early-season tournaments in which teams from the Horizon League will participate.

Team Tournament Location Dates Finish
Cleveland State Viking Invitational Cleveland, OH November 22–25 1st[5]
Detroit Mercy Cincinnati/Ole Miss MTE Cincinnati, OH
University, MS
November 10–14 N/A
Green Bay Montana State MTE Bozeman, MT November 20–22 N/A
IUPUI Rock Hill Classic Rock Hill, SC November 17–19 N/A
Milwaukee Sunshine Slam Daytona Beach, FL November 20–21 3rd[6]
Northern Kentucky NKU Thanksgiving Tournament Highland Heights, KY November 24–26 1st[7]
Oakland Cayman Islands Classic George Town, Cayman Islands November 19–21 5th[8]
Purdue Fort Wayne Arizona Tip-Off Glendale, AZ November 17–19 1st[9]
Robert Morris Urban-Bennett Memorial Classic Moon Township, PA November 24–26 N/A
Wright State Gulf Coast Showcase Estero, FL November 21–23 3rd[10]
Youngstown State Lake Erie Classic Youngstown, OH
Painsville, OH
November 17–19 N/A

Postseason

edit

Horizon League tournament

edit

The conference tournament will be played from March 5 to March 12, 2023. The first round and quarterfinals are hosted at campus sites, while the semifinals and finals are held at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis, Indiana. Teams are seeded by conference record, with ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by record against the regular-season champion, if necessary. The top five teams receive a bye to the quarterfinals and the bracket is re-seeded after every round.

The Horizon League does not use a fixed bracket tournament system, and pairings are re-seeded after the first and second rounds.

First round
Tuesday, March 5
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 7
Semifinals
Monday, March 11
Championship
Tuesday, March 12
1 Oakland 75
8 Purdue Fort Wayne 78 8 Purdue Fort Wayne 65
9 Robert Morris 63 1 Oakland 74
7 Cleveland State 71
4 Wright State 97
5 Northern Kentucky 99*
1 Oakland 83
6 Milwaukee 76
2 Youngstown State 70
7 Cleveland State 85 7 Cleveland State 82
10 IUPUI 66 5 Northern Kentucky 75
6 Milwaukee 82
3 Green Bay 84
6 Milwaukee 83 6 Milwaukee 95
11 Detroit Mercy 79

Source:[11]

NCAA Tournament

edit

As the conference champion, Oakland received an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Seed Region School First Four First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship
14 South Oakland defeated (3) Kentucky 80–76 lost to (11) NC State 73–79 (OT)

College Basketball Invitational

edit

Cleveland State accepted a bid to the 2024 College Basketball Invitational after finishing as semifinalists in the conference tournament.

Seed School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
9 Cleveland State defeated (8) Northern Colorado 51–49 lost to (1) High Point 74–93

CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

edit

Purdue Fort Wayne accepted a bid to the 2024 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament after finishing as quarterfinalists in the conference tournament.

Bracket School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
Jim Phelan Classic Purdue Fort Wayne defeated Bowling Green 77–75 defeated Tarleton State 73–72 lost to Norfolk State 67–75

National awards

edit

Midseason watchlists

edit

Below is a table of notable midseason watch lists.

Player Henson[12]
Rasheed Bello, Purdue Fort Wayne  Y
Trey Townsend, Oakland  Y
Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky  Y

Conference awards

edit
2024 Horizon League Men's Basketball Individual Awards
Award Recipient(s)
Player of the Year Trey Townsend, Oakland
Coach of the Year Sundance Wicks, Green Bay
Defensive Player of the Year Trey Robinson, Northern Kentucky
Sixth Man of the Year Jack Gohlke, Oakland
Freshman of the Year David Douglas Jr., Green Bay
Newcomer of the Year Noah Reynolds, Green Bay
Sportsmanship Award Marques Warrick, Northern kentucky
Reference:[13]
2024 Horizon Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams
First Team Second Team Third Team Defensive Team Freshman Team
Tristan Enaruna, CSU
Noah Reynolds, GB
Marques Warrick, NKU
Trey Townsend, OAK
Trey Calvin, WSU
BJ Freeman, MKE
Blake Lampman, OAK
Brandon Noel, WSU
DJ Burns, YSU
Ziggy Reid, YSU
Rasheed Bello, PFW
Jalen Jackson, PFW
Markeese Hastings, RMU
Tanner Holden, WSU
Brett Thompson, YSU
Trey Robinson, NKU
Rasheed Bello, PFW
Anthony Roberts, PFW
DJ Burns, YSU
Gabe Dynes, YSU
David Douglas Jr., GB
Marcus Hall, GB
Randall Pettus II, NKU
Corey Hadnot II, PFW
Gabe Dynes, YSU
2024 Horizon Men's Basketball
All-Tournament Team
Trey Townsend, OAK
Jack Gohlke, OAK
Faizon Fields, MKE
BJ Freeman, MKE
Trey Robinson, NKU
Bold denotes MVP

Attendance

edit

Average home attendances

edit

Note: Figures include conference tournament

# Team GP Cumulative High Low Avg.
1 Wright State 16 65,069 5,860 3,138 4,067
2 Northern Kentucky 15 49,052 4,935 2,340 3,270
3 Youngstown State 17 43,183 6,001 1,430 2,540
4 Oakland 13 35,715 3,721 1,000 2,747
5 Green Bay 14 34,161 5,490 1,379 2,440
6 Milwaukee 16 32,554 4,037 1,297 2,035
7 Cleveland State 17 28,385 2,399 1,281 1,670
8 Purdue Fort Wayne 16 20,074 1,886 816 1,255
9 Robert Morris 16 14,791 1,555 625 924
10 IUPUI 14 14,675 4,867 548 1,048
11 Detroit Mercy 17 9,061 1,211 420 824
Total 165 346,720 6,001 420 2,101

References

edit
  1. ^ "UW-Green Bay Men's Basketball Program Announces Coaching Change" (Press release). Green Bay Phoenix. January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  2. ^ "Wyoming's Wicks hired as UW-Green Bay coach". ESPN.com. March 14, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  3. ^ White, Rachel (October 17, 2023). "Northern Kentucky Takes Top Spot in 2023-24 Under Armour #HLMBB Preseason Poll". horizonleague.org. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  4. ^ https://horizonleague.org/news/2024/2/26/mens-basketball-under-armour-hlmbb-players-of-the-week-february-26.aspx
  5. ^ "Cleveland State Men's Basketball Takes Viking Invitational Title with Win over Alabama A&M". Cleveland State University. November 26, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  6. ^ "Freeman scores 18, Milwaukee downs Siena 61-59, wins 3rd-place game at Sunshine Slam". FOX Sports. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  7. ^ "Men's Basketball clinches Thanksgiving Tournament title with victory over LIU". Northern Kentucky University Athletics. November 25, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  8. ^ Staff, MetroNews (November 21, 2023). "Marshall falls to Oakland 78-71 in fifth-place game at Cayman Islands Classic". WV MetroNews. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  9. ^ "USD men fall to PFW in Arizona Tip-Off finale". Mitchell Republic. November 19, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  10. ^ "Gulf Coast Showcase: Wright State shuts down Illinois State to take third place". dayton-daily-news. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  11. ^ "2024 #HLMBB Bracket (PDF) - Horizon League" (PDF). horizonleague.org. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  12. ^ "The Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award". www.louhenson.com. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  13. ^ "Horizon League Announces 2023-24 #HLMBB All-League Awards". Horizon League. March 4, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024.