What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 3/6/2019

The Other Top 25: How ‘bout them Aggies?--Mid-Major Madness

Also receiving votes: Jacksonville State 17, Georgia Southern 17, San Diego State 16, Northern Kentucky 14, Utah Valley 12, Montana 11, Norfolk State 10, Northeastern 9, San Francisco 8, Charleston 7, Wright State 5, Harvard 4, Drake 4, Texas State 3, Loyola University Chicago 2, Colgate 1, Northern Colorado 1, Campbell 1.

March Manifesto: Picks for Every Conference Tournament--CBB Central

Missouri Valley:

Champion: Loyola

Another one where your guess is as good as mine. Loyola has been maddeningly inconsistent offensively, the major root of their disappointing regular season. Still, they might be the best the Valley has to offer in a down year for the league that has seen no one fully establish themselves as the team to beat. Do the Ramblers have a little more March magic left in them? We’ll find out at Arch Madness, which should be as fun as any conference tournament.

My story from Gentile Arena, where Loyola wrapped a "rollercoaster ride" of a season with a convincing win over Bradley and a #MVCHoops title: https://t.co/x5fHP1ChKU
— Kevin Sweeney (@CBB_Central) March 3, 2019

Conference tourney previews (Part 1 of 2)--Hoops HD

MVC tourney predicted champ: Southern Illinois (#3 seed)
Dates: March 7-10
Location: St. Louis, MO
Last year’s tourney champ: Loyola-Chicago (#1 seed)
Fun fact: only 3 champs from past 10 years who are still in this conference are Indiana State/Loyola-Chicago/Northern Iowa (Creighton/Wichita State both left after winning a pair of titles)
Seeding: each of past 17 champs were top-4 seed

If Nick Norton was healthy then Drake would have been a strong pick, but since he is out for the year with a torn ACL and the Bulldogs have a pair of double-digit losses to Loyola-Chicago this tourney is wide-open. Indiana State is wrapping up its 5th straight season with 15+ losses and Northern Iowa is the #6 seed, leaving Loyola-Chicago as the heavy favorite. The Ramblers will not be sneaking up on anybody this year after making the Final 4 last year but the hottest team entering Arch Madness just might be the Salukis, who have won 3 in a row (including a double-digit win over Loyola). SIU struggled early with SR G Armon Fletcher out for 9 games due to a bruised knee/suspension, but he has carried his team down the stretch with 18+ PTS in each of the past 6 games. This team has big brains (SR G Marcus Bartley was a 3rd-team Academic All-American in 2018), good genes (SR C Kavion Pippen’s uncle Scottie is a Hall of Famer), and if you need some barbecue sauce then Coach Barry Hinson is your man!

Handing out the Hardware: All-conference awards of the year (Part 1 of 2)--Hoops HD

Horizon
MVC
G: Marques Townes (Loyola-Chicago)
G: Jordan Barnes (Indiana State)
F: Nick McGlynn (Drake)
F: Milik Yarbrough (Illinois State)
C: Cameron Krutwig (Loyola-Chicago)
POY: Milik Yarbrough (Illinois State)
ROY: AJ Green (Northern Iowa)
DPOY: Kavion Pippen (Southern Illinois)
6TH: Kabir Mohammed (Missouri State)
COY: Darian DeVries (Drake)

MVC Basketball: Loyola-Chicago, Drake favorites in 2019 Arch Madness--Busting Brackets
MVC – Three Other Teams Can Win Arch Madness--Valley Hoops Insider
Weekly Award Winners – Finishing Strong--Valley Hoops Insider

Missouri Valley Conference

Southern Illinois’ Armon Fletcher is on a tear! The Edwardsville, Illinois native scored 60 points in two games last week. He’s averaging over 22 points per game over his last six and is this week’s ‘Player of the Week’. Known as a scorer, Fletcher has taken his glass work to another level. Last week he grabbed 17 rebounds and has averaged over eight caroms per contest over that same six game stretch.

Cooper Neese is finshing strong. The Indiana State freshman put up a pair of 14-point games last week. This week’s ‘Newcomer of the Week’ has now reached double figures in scoring in seven of his last eight games. He had accomplished that feat four times in his previous 14 outings.

MVC – Award Winners – Not Really--Valley Hoops Insider
MVC – Can Loyola Repeat?--Valley Hoops Insider