Sunday, January 09, 2005

VALPO (5-9, 1-1) at OAKLAND (3-9, 1-1)

WHEN: Monday, Jan. 10 - 6 p.m. CT ( 7 p.m. ET)

WHERE: Athletics Center 'Orena', Rochester, Michigan

RADIO: WEFM (95.9, Michigan City), WVUR-FM (95.1, Valparaiso) - Todd Ickow and Andrew Stem announcing.

TV: live - WYIN 56 - Mid-Con TV Network

THE COACHES: Valparaiso is guided by Homer Drew, who has a career record of 528-328 in his 28th season and a record at Valpo of 259-206 in his 16th season. Oakland is led by Greg Kampe, who has a career mark of 339-245 in his 21st season and a record at Oakland of 339-245 in his 21st season.

SERIES RECORD: Valpo leads 13-0

LAST MEETING: 2003-04: Valpo won 73-64 in the Mid-Con Tournament Quarterfinals on March 7, 2004 in Kansas City.

WYIN 56 TO TELEVISE MONDAY'S GAME LIVE: Monday's game between Valpo and Oakland will be televised live on WYIN 56 at 6 p.m. CT. The game is the second of eight involving Valpo as part of a partnership between VU and WYIN 56 in accordance with the Mid-Continent Conference. Valpo's Thursday home game against UMKC beginning at 7:05 p.m. will also be televised live on WYIN 56.

Valpo travels to play Oakland on Monday beginning at 6 p.m. CT. Both teams are coming off Mid-Continent Conference losses on Saturday. Valpo (5-9, 1-1) lost a hard-fought contest to Oral Roberts 75-68. Ron Howard topped the Crusaders with a career-high 24 points, while Dan Oppland added 23. Oakland (3-9, 1-1) fell to IUPUI in Indianapolis as Cortney Scott scored 17 points, Kris Krzyminski added 11 and Rawle Marshall had 10 for the Golden Grizzlies.

HOWARD DISPLAYS COMPLETE GAME: Ron Howard has displayed all-around skills this season. Over the last six games, Howard has tallied 12.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game. He had a career-high 24 points on Saturday against ORU.

COLCLASURE COMING ON STRONG: Junior Seth Colclasure has enjoyed a successful campaign. Over the last nine games, Colclasure has averaged 10.4 points, including a career-high 16 points in a win over Longwood and 15 points each in victories over Penn State and Northwestern State. He ranks 3rd in the Mid-Con in 3-point field goal percentage, draining .482 (27-56) from beyond the arc.

VALPO's SCHEDULE: 21st TOUGHEST IN THE NATION: According to the Sagarin Ratings through games of Jan.7, Valpo's schedule is the 21st most difficult in the nation.

VALPO M.A.S.H. UNIT: Homer Drew has been forced to juggle a unit that has been besieged with injuries this season. Four players - senior point guard Ali Berdiel (12), freshman Shawn Huff (5), sophomore Kenny Harris (8) and freshmen Jarryd Loyd (4) have missed a total of 29 games due to injuries. Berdiel and Harris are out of action indefinitely. Valpo played with eight scholarship players eight straight games from Dec. 11-Jan. 4.

VALPO 7th NATIONALLY IN FREE THROW%; OPPLAND LEADS MID-CON IN FREE THROW%, RANKS 5th IN SCORING: As a team, Valpo leads the Mid-Con and is 7th nationally in free throw % (.765). Dan Oppland leads the Mid-Continent Conference in free throw percentage through games of Jan. 5. Oppland has converted .841 of his charity tosses (74-88). He stands 5th in scoring (16.8 ppg.) and 9th in rebounding (6.4 pg.). Jimmie Miles is 4th in free throw percentage (.811).