What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 11/15/2019

Root's (Power) Rankings, Week 1--Three Man Weave

The Mid-Major Five (Most Impressive from One-bid Leagues)
1. Evansville

There’s no other answer here, really. The Purple Aces are 2-0 and “aced” an impossible exam at Kentucky, pulling out a win despite some late game execution that left me shaking my head:

Walter McCarty, feel free to draw up a better inbounds play than "three guys stand 70 feet away and K.J. Riley tries to get open 1v1 against the SEC co-DPOY"
— Jim Root (@2ndChancePoints) November 13, 2019

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HM: Delaware, Northern Iowa, WKU, Liberty, East Tennessee St., South Dakota

Weekend preview: Cougars on Cougars, the Daly Show hits Chicago, brutality watch and more--Mid-Major Madness

The Daly Show
Saint Joseph’s at Loyola University Chicago, Sat., 2 p.m., ESPN3

Saint Joseph’s ran UConn out of its own building on Wednesday. Don’t let the score fool you — the Huskies made a great run to get back into it, but the Hawks led 15-0 and outplayed UConn in every facet of the game. Ryan Daly, who came into the game 0-for-the-season from three, hit six from downtown to help Saint Joe’s build a 27-point lead. That came two games after his 26-point outing against Bradley to open the season.

By now, it’s clear that the Hawks are better than people thought (they were picked 13th in the 14-team Atlantic 10), and they will have a chance to build some series momentum on Friday with a game at Loyola University Chicago. The Ramblers desperately need a win, having dropped back-to-back games to Furman and Coppin State (you read that right). Cameron Krutwig will be the key for the Ramblers, as the Hawks may not have anyone capable of stopping him.
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Brutality watch

Folks, it’s been one heck of a brutality season so far. As of this writing, our spreadsheet has 12 entries so far and it’s a safe bet that we’ll get a few more this weekend. A few prime candidates:

Missouri State over Xavier: Dana Ford’s team plays slow, defends well, and has high-major talent. All the ingredients needed for an upset.

Bradley signs a pair of 6-9 forwards for next season--Peoria Journal Star
Column: Bigger, more confident, Bar will make an impact this season--Bradley Scott
Braves Host UIC Saturday--bradleybraves.com

Michigan trip prepares women’s basketball for the season ahead--Bradley Scout
Women’s Basketball Adds Four During Signing Period--bradleybraves.com
Women’s Basketball Set For Home Opener Saturday--bradleybraves.com

Liam Robbins scores career-high 23 points, leads Drake past Kansas City--Des Moines Register
Men’s Basketball Signs Kwiecinski--godrakebulldogs.com
Bulldogs Bounce Back To Beat The Roos, 76-58--godrakebulldogs.com

Drake women add two recruits at the start of the early signing period--Des Moines Register
South Dakota rallies late to stun Drake women's basketball in overtime--Des Moines Register
Women’s Basketball Signs Pair of High School Standouts for 2020-21--godrakebulldogs.com

Evansville's upset of No. 1 Kentucky sends clear message to college basketball's top programs--Sporting News
Kentucky's loss to Evansville ranks as one of the biggest upsets in college hoops history--USA Today
'You want something? Go get it! Period': How Evansville toppled Kentucky--USA Today
Is Kentucky’s loss to Evansville the worst of John Calipari era? A sign of things to come?--Fansided
Quick Takes: Avoid the risk of overreacting in November--Bracketville
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Nov 13th--Hoops HD

-So for the second night in a row, a UTR (Under the Radar) team went on the road against a ranked team and beat them. Although it was just a little over 24 hours ago that Winthrop knocked off Saint Mary’s, most people probably aren’t even thinking about that anymore. Evansville went into Rupp Arena and knocked off #1 ranked Kentucky last night.

Now, I want to make sure this is put into the proper perspective in two different areas. First, the upset itself. It’s the first time a UTR (or mid-major if you insist on using a term that I hate) has beaten the #1 ranked team in a true road game since the 1992-1993 season when Long Beach State knocked off Kansas. So whenever something happens that hasn’t happened in over a quarter of a century, it’s a pretty big deal. Our good friend Kyle Lamb (@kylamb8) was on the phone with me last night, and he was trying to find the last time a team that was a 24pt underdog had won a game. He couldn’t. Now that’s not to say that it’s never happened, but Kyle Lamb is to sports trivia and data what Santa Claus is to Christmas. He just knows crazy stuff like that, and he could not find the last time that big of an underdog actually won a game. As an FYI, UMBC was a 20pt underdog to Virginia when they pulled off that upset. What you saw last night was historic in terms of how big the upset was.

Seth Greenberg on Evansville's upset: 'This is something to build on, it's not the end.'--Evansville Courier & Press
Walter McCarty welcomes new fans to the UE bandwagon--Evansville Courier & Press
University of Evansville students celebrate basketball team's big win with pep rally--Evansville Courier & Press
Evansville basketball stays focused in win over IU-Kokomo to continue hot start--Evansville Courier & Press
Aces ready to take on IU Kokomo on Thursday--gopurpleaces.com
Press Row Preview – Aces ready for IU Kokomo--gopurpleaces.com
Aces earn 89-71 win over IU Kokomo--gopurpleaces.com

Aces drop road matchup with SIUE, 85-74--gopurpleaces.com

Illinois State Has a Fresh Approach--Valley Hoops Insider

Illinois State women's basketball signs three recruits--The Pantagraph
Hickey: Multiple MVC women's basketball teams hot to start season--Vidette Online
Illinois State athletics announce 2020 signing class--Vidette Online
Redbirds Set to Take On Illini on Saturday--goredbirds.com

Nwora leads No. 4 Louisville past Indiana State 91-62--Associated Press
ISU on wrong end of No. 4 Louisville's onslaught--Terre Haute Tribune Star
DOWN IN THE VALLEY: Louisville musings--Terre Haute Tribune Star
ISU heads to NBA stadium to face Ball State Sunday--Indiana Statesman
Tyreke Key Paces Sycamores in Loss at No. 4 Louisville--gosycamores.com

Bring on the Leathernecks, Sycamores say--Terre Haute Tribune Star
ISU women sign recruit from Iowa--Terre Haute Tribune Star
Two Western Illinois surges sink ISU women--Terre Haute Tribune Star
Jasmine Elder Leads Sycamores in Defeat at Western Illinois--gosycamores.com

Loyola Starts Season With 82-48 Victory Over UC Davis--Loyola Phoenix
Loyola Men’s Basketball Dominates UC Davis to Open 2019-20 Season--Loyola Phoenix
Column: Help Us, Loyola Ramblers. You’re Our Only Hope.--Loyola Phoenix
Postgame — Week of November 6th: Men’s Basketball Bounces Back With Decisive Win over UC Davis--Loyola Phoenix
Loyola Men’s Basketball Suffers 87-63 Loss to Furman University--Loyola Phoenix
Loyola Struggles Offensively in 76-72 Loss to Coppin State--Loyola Phoenix
Offensive Woes Plague Loyola Men’s Basketball in Loss to Coppin State--Loyola Phoenix
Homestand Continues With Showdown Versus Jesuit Foe Saint Joseph's--loyolaramblers.com

Allison Saves the Day: Loyola Women’s Basketball Holds Off Vermont 78-76--Loyola Phoenix
Loyola Shakes Off Slow Start, Breezes By Eastern Illinois, 67-51--loyolaramblers.com
Loyola Women’s Basketball Welcomes Three To 2020-21 Signing Class--loyolaramblers.com

The Morning Dish – Friday, November 15, 2019--Hoopville

Tonight’s Menu

We head into a busy weekend with the start of a few tournament regional rounds, making for a busy day of action that gets good after the earliest games.
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Missouri State heads to Xavier in what should be a good game, and another good one at that time is Georgia Southern hosting Radford (7 p.m.)

Mid-Money Madness: Nov. 15 picks--Mid-Major Madness

Missouri State/Xavier (Xavier -14.5)

After what we saw in Evansville/Kentucky earlier this week, I’m not sure I want to take a power school as a big favorite against a Missouri Valley school again. Now I’m not calling for Missouri State to pull off an upset here, but I do think they can keep it close and cover 14.5. Plus, if Jon Rothstein’s embedded moles say that Missouri State might wind up being the best team in the conference, why not get behind them Bears.

Sneaky tough game for Xavier tonight at the Cintas Center against upstart Missouri State. Many well embedded moles believe the Bears will wind up being MVC's best in 19-20.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) November 15, 2019

The Pick: Bears +14.5

Davis: My picks against the spread for Gonzaga-Texas A&M, West Virginia-Pittsburgh and the rest of the night’s top games--The Athletic

Missouri State at Xavier (-14½), 7 p.m. Xavier junior forward Naji Marshall is off to a great start (18 points per game, 7.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists), including a game-tying 3-pointer toward the end of regulation that allowed the Musketeers to edge Missouri in overtime on Tuesday. Xavier better re-energize itself because the Bears are no patsy. They just beat Cleveland State by 20 points and are ranked 328th in the country in tempo. Combine that with Xavier’s shooting woes, and you’ve got the makings of a close game. The pick: Missouri State