Happy Feast Week to all that celebrate! In arguably the best week of the college basketball regular season, there is no shortage of quality basketball in unique locations. Thanksgiving week in the Horizon
League will feature more of what we’ve already seen with intriguing mid-major matchups and opportunities for a high-major upset as the conference looks to rebound from a quiet week. Below are some of the key games to watch and opportunities for an upset:
Key Matchups
Green Bay versus Iona, Monday, Nov. 24, 3 p.m. ET
Editor’s note: Green Bay beat Iona 80-75 on Monday after the writing of this weekly preview.
After two respectable performances versus Minnesota and then Yale in the Virgin Islands, Doug Gottlieb’s team got a big win over UMass without its leading scorer, Marcus Hall. The team has already amassed half its win total from a season ago, looking much improved in doing so. The Phoenix will have one last game in the Virgin Islands against Iona, which enters the game with just one loss to Akron and recent wins over Princeton and Oregon State. The Gaels provide Gottlieb with another tough test to see how his team has progressed early in what he hopes is a bounce-back season.
Youngstown State versus Georgia Southern, Monday, Nov. 24, 6:30 p.m. ET
The Penguins have been arguably the top team in the conference so far, but need to bounce back from a tough stretch. After losses to St. Bonaventure and Toledo, two solid mid-major teams, Youngstown State seemed poised to respond against UNCG in the Jacksonville Classic, but blew a huge lead and fell 68-62. Game two in Jacksonville is a matchup with Georgia Southern, which has beaten UNC Asheville and FGCU this season, and nearly took down Georgia Tech on the road. Look for Ethan Faulkner’s team to try to regain its footing in game two in Jacksonville.
Oakland at Montana, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 9 p.m. ET, on ESPN+
Greg Kampe’s team got Michael Houge back from injury last week against EMU. He made an immediate impact with 17 points, but Oakland fell on the road against EMU. After playing a gauntlet to start the season, the load is lessening for the Golden Grizzlies, but Tuesday’s game is another difficult task. Money Williams leads Montana, averaging over 20 points and six assists. Fresh off an NCAA Tournament berth, the Grizzlies have a road win at UNLV and fell by just five against Texas A&M on the road. The battle of grizzlies in the late slate is worth a watch.
Wofford at Northern Kentucky, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2 p.m. ET, on ESPN+
As of Monday morning, Northern Kentucky is the lone Horizon League win with a winning record. On Wednesday, it will be a great opportunity for a nice win at home. Wofford has started the season 4-2, including a win over the preseason pick to win the Horizon League, Milwaukee. The Norse backcourt has been great to this point, with Donovan Oday and Dan Gherezgher each averaging better than 16 points per game, and the freshman Ethan Elliott has added 8.2 points and a team-leading 5.2 assists per contest. Northern Kentucky opens the week at home with an in-state tilt with Eastern Kentucky, but the matchup with Wofford should be the key game over the holiday.
Milwaukee at Akron, Saturday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m. ET, on ESPN+
The preseason-favorite Panthers played a tough three-game stretch on the road with games at Indiana, Texas Tech and Wichita State. They’ll have a nice opportunity for a get-right game on Tuesday against Division III Dominican before playing Akron. The Zips were the preseason favorite to win the MAC and have backed it up so far. They have already beaten Sun Belt preseason-favorite James Madison by 14, dominated Princeton and Iona and played competitively at Purdue. This will be a great litmus test for Bart Lundy as he looks to lead his team to another quality non-conference win.
Opportunities for upsets against high-major opponents
Cleveland State at Missouri, Friday, Nov. 28, 2 p.m. ET, on SECN+
Wright State at Butler, Friday, Nov. 28, 2 p.m. ET, on ESPN+
Most likely upset:
There are extremely limited opportunities for an upset this week, and in the two opportunities that exist, both opponents are playing extremely well and have home-court advantage. Missouri is 6-0 and, outside of a scare from SEMO, has dominated every other game. Butler is coming off two quality wins over South Carolina and Virginia at the Greenbrier Tipoff. With neither high-major showing much susceptibility to an upset, Wright State seems to be further along at this point than Cleveland State. For that reason, the Raiders likely have the best chance to pull an upset. Freshman Michael Cooper is leading the team in scoring to this point with 14 points per game and a big day at one of the most iconic venues in the sport could provide some heroics to complement his early-season breakout. In its lone high-major matchup this season, Wright State played Cal pretty competitively, falling by 10. The Raiders also fell narrowly on the road at Kent State, which has made some early noise in the MAC thanks to Delrecco Gillespie averaging 20.3 points and 12.9 rebounds. Both Wright State and Cleveland State have just one win apiece over Division I opponents, but the Raiders have looked better in opportunities against quality opponents, so maybe some magic could be in store on Black Friday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
