What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 11/26/2023

NCAA Basketball: Michigan, Stanford, Texas Tech and Northern Iowa takeaways from Battle 4 Atlantis--Busting Brackets

7th place – Northern Iowa Panthers

Positive takeaway: Nate Hiese is healthy and effective

A year ago, the 6’4 guard was just limited to just two games due to injury and the Panthers missed him very much. Heise was the MVP for the team in these three games, averaging around 16 ppg, including 15 pts and 6 rebs against Stanford. He’s currently the leading scorer on the team and with last year’s top scorer Bowen Born back, this team could have the offense needed to compete in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Negative takeaway: Need better second-half defensive efforts

Despite being the mid-major of the field, Northern Iowa proved to be very capable in this field, having a second-half lead in all three games. But they blew two of them, both that was by 10+ points. The defense struggled in them and while it’s a bit unfair against bigger teams like UNC and Texas Tech, the Panthers will leave wondering “what if” those big runs weren’t allowed.

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Nov 26th--Hoops HD

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Evansville is also 6-0 after their blowout win against SEMO. That is VERY surprising! How about the Aces!!!!

-Bradley also improved to 6-0 with a home win over a solid Vermont team. Bradley, Princeton, and Liberty have all looked like top 40ish caliber teams so far.

MTE Sweeping Success--Valley Hoops Insider

A Thanksgiving weekend of mixed results--nashvillehoops.blog

Belmont

The Bruins were 2-1 in the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic at the Palestra in Philadelphia. But even in two victories, the Bruins (4-3) looked like they need to get better in a number of areas.

Coach Casey Alexander is trying different combinations, different rotations. What he can count on is forward Cade Tyson (consecutive games of 22, 26 and 19 points) and point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie, who is the one player who can bail the Bruins out when they need a key play.

Malik Dia, obviously talented, has been inconsistent. He only scored two points in the loss to Monmouth, which totally outplayed the Bruins. He bounced back with 27 in a win over Penn and 18 against Lafayette. Belmont needs him to be a factor every night.

The rest of the roster has also been inconsistent, most notably fifth-year guard Keishawn Davidson, who had a tough weekend, shooting 2 for 13 and scoring 8 points.

Alexander doesn’t have much time to experiment as the Missouri Valley Conference season starts Wednesday when the Bruins travel to Northern Iowa. Valparaiso comes to Nashville Saturday.

The MVC is looking tough. The league was 7-0 Saturday which is the best one-day record since a 9-0 day in 2004, according to the league. Bradley and Drake have quickly asserted themselves as top teams. The surprise has been Evansville, which is 6-0 for the first time since 1964-65, the season when the Aces won the national championship in what was then called the College Division. Anyone remember Jerry Sloan? The great NBA player and coach was the star of that team.

Total Team Effort as Men's Basketball Wins at Penn--belmontbruins.com
Men's Basketball Defeats Lafayette--belmontbruins.com

Bradley basketball stays perfect after winning big nonconference showdown with Vermont--Peoria Journal Star
'The real deal': Unbeaten Bradley drawing notice from national college basketball voices--Peoria Journal Star
Game Recap: Bradley vs Vermont--bradleybraves.com

Drake men's basketball overcomes 3-point woes in scrappy win over Texas Southern--Des Moines Register
Drake Closes Out Texas Southern at Home--godrakebulldogs.com

Spiders Catch Drake in Second Game of Vibrant Thanksgiving Classic--godrakebulldogs.com
Bulldogs Cap Off Vibrant Thanksgiving Classic with Defeat of Black Bears--godrakebulldogs.com

Illinois State women win twice to earn St. Mary's tournament crown--The Pantagraph
Wilson's 18 points lead ISU women's basketball past Saint Mary's--The Vidette
Stingy Second Half Lifts Redbirds over Saint Mary’s, 62-51--goredbirds.com

College basketball player awards: Tyler Thomas, Jaedon LeDee earn top weekly honors--Heat Check CBB

Infantryman: Matthew Lee, Missouri State

Stat thresholds: 80.0 FT%, 20 FTA, 120.0 FT rate

Back in 2022, Matthew Lee was a starter on the magical St. Peter’s team that went to the Elite Eight. He parlayed that run into an up-transfer to Missouri State, but his debut season with the Bears was cut short after just two starts due to a torn ACL. He’s back now, though, and he made a huge mark this week to earn MVP honors at the Paradise Jam. When the team returned to the mainland, Lee exploded for a career-high 28 points against SC State — including going 14-of-16 from the stripe, doubling his previous career-high for free throws in a game.

The MSU Athletics Student-Athlete of the Week presented by Murney Associates, Realtors is Matthew Lee! 🐻 #BearsUnite | @MSUBearsHoops pic.twitter.com/km9agdfMbC
— Missouri State Athletics (@MissouriStBears) November 25, 2023