some disappointment from VU side:
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VU shifts focus to matchup with Youngstown
Milwaukee almost lost, but Youngstown State missed a layup and a putback that would have won the game (sound familiar?).
Butler was pushed by Loyola. Cleveland State almost collapsed against Green Bay.
But all three won Saturday afternoon.
And so Valparaiso ? which entered the final day of the regular season with a very slim chance of earning the second seed and a double-bye into the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament ? was locked into the fourth seed.
The Crusaders will host ninth-place Youngstown State at the ARC on Tuesday in a first-round game.
?It?s going to be very difficult,? VU coach Homer Drew said. ?That?s how good this conference is. Look at UIC, they beat Illinois. There?s no easy games, and it?s very difficult to beat a team three times.?
The No. 4 seed is the highest VU has ever had in the league tournament, but it?s still a bitter disappointment. A win over Loyola on Thursday would have given the Crusaders the No. 2 seed. And had they not lost to Milwaukee or Green Bay in heartbreakers a week apart, they very well could have been the top seed and been the tournament hosts.
?We put ourselves in a great position with how we played in the first half of the year and the first half of the second round,? Ryan Broekhoff said. ?It?s a little bit disappointing knowing the chances we had. But it?s just another challenge for us. We?ll surprise a few teams.?
The good news for VU is it?s on the opposite side of the bracket of both Butler and Cleveland State. Should the Crusaders make it to the semifinals, they?ll face Milwaukee on its home court.
Drew refused to look that far ahead.
?All I?m worried about is Youngstown,? he said. ?If you don?t beat Youngstown, you don?t even care. And they beat Butler, we had to go to overtime to win there, and they lost in overtime today. They?re a very good team.?
In its first Horizon League Tournament, VU reached the semifinals from the No. 6 seed. Each of the past two years, VU has lost in the first round ? at Wright State in 2009, and home against Detroit in 2010.
