Primarily a collection of news links about all 12 Missouri Valley League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
Drake has won two in a row, but it sure has been a struggle. The
Bulldogs had to toil through their third and fourth overtime games of
the season to earn a 6-2 mark in the Valley — and they also won a pair
of 60-59 games in regulation over Evansville and Southern Illinois — but
who cares how they got there? Drake is No. 2 in the MVC and only a
half-game back, thanks to Missouri State putting a dent in Loyola’s
armor. That result set up the Bulldogs for a chance to take the top spot
on Sunday, as they host the Ramblers in a massive mid-major showdown. Tank Hemphill’s return is a huge boost to Drake’s chances. -AD
19. Missouri State Bears (15-7)
Isiaih Mosley
is an exceptional player. He has turned on the jets in recent weeks to
emerge as one of the best scorers nationwide. The Bears are 4-2 during
this stretch but Mosley is averaging 32.8 points (.595/.486/.891) and
6.8 rebounds per game over his last six contests. He makes Missouri
State extremely dangerous when it comes to contending for the MVC title;
the Bears have already proven capable of taking down Loyola Chicago. -LH
1. Loyola Chicago Ramblers (15-3)
It’s true, the Ramblers could not stop Isiaih Mosley last weekend —
and because of it, they are no longer perfect in the Missouri Valley.
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t the best team in mid-major basketball.
One game does not make the team, and Loyola has already bounced back
with a smothering 59-47 win over Southern Illinois. In that win, Drew Valentine’s defense held Marcus Domask (15.3 points per game) to just six points on 2-of-8 shooting and didn’t let SIU hit 40 as a team until 34 minutes into the game. Loyola appears to be just fine, but the true test comes on Sunday in Des Moines against Drake. -AD
Midwest Spotlight Game:Isiaih Mosley v. Loyola Chicago
Mosley’s 40-point eruption against Loyola Chicago was easily the top
Gold Star performance of the week, resulting one of the highest Gold
Star scores of the entire season at 56.67 points. It’s not as if this
scoring outburst came out of nowhere — Mosley had 43 against Northern
Iowa earlier in the month and has gone for 25-plus on 16 occasions in
the past two seasons. Still, doing it in on the road in a 20-point upset
of the nationally ranked league leader? Now that’s special. He is truly
Mr. Automatic for the Bears, too. Mosley is one of just five players
nationally shooting 40 percent on 3-pointers, 50 percent on mid-range
shots, 60 percent at the rim and 70 percent from the stripe (min. 25
attempts in each).
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