We should be feeling good about that Ryan Broekhoff pick as the best players in the Horizon League this season. The senior forward for Valparaiso has been excellent through a game and a half.

The half in question here just finished against Northern Illinois, where Broekhoff had 16 points, including a 4-for-7 shooting performance from 3-point range. He also added seven rebounds and a block.

I know Ray McCallum is going to get the press for being the flashy guard in the league, but this has been quite an hour of basketball from the overlooked Broekhoff, who had 14 points in just 23 minutes for the Crusaders in a blowout win against Georgia Southern to start the season.

Granted this is Northern Illinois on the other side of the ball, and they are playing without Abdel Nader who was suspended Friday for an incident that apparently happened last season. He was by far the best player for the Huskies last year, and although the team has a lot of talent, mostly sourced from the Chicago area, there is just not an impact player of Nader's caliber elsewhere on the roster.

The Crusaders lead 23-17 going to the second half.