What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 2/16/2024

#SearchSzn Weekend Recap 2.11.24--Burner Ball

Indiana State 73, Missouri State 71

This felt like a gotta have it game for Dana Ford at Missouri State. He’s not lived up to expectations and the AD already put out an “evaluating the program” statement last month. Meanwhile, Josh Schertz continues his ascension to March stardom. He’s already in the mix at DePaul and you’ll likely see his name pop up at Saint Louis and several other premium mid-major opportunities.

2024 NCAA Tournament Bubble Watch: Searching for ‘bubble sleepers’ and more locks--The Athletic

On the bubble:

Indiana State,

Drake,

Movement: We were fitting the Sycamores for a projected in upgrade just as they went and lost a Q4 home game to Illinois State, spoiling the first Top-25 ranking since Larry Bird was in Terre Haute. In the Missouri Valley, with just one Q1 win and no remaining opportunities on the schedule, it’s enough to keep them on the bubble, even at 21 wins. (One of those was the season opener over Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, a very real but non-D1 opponent.) I still have the Sycamores above the cutline as an at-large, but Tuesday’s loss doesn’t help. Also, we’re adding SMU to the bubble, for reasons explained below.

O’Rourke & Martin – Saturday’s Game--Valley Hoops Insider
2024 State of the Valley – 3/4ths Mark--MVC Beat

Ja’Kobi Gillespie stands out in Belmont’s victory over Southern Illinois--NashvilleHoops.blog
Kobi's Cooking: Belmont Wins Third-Straight--Belmont Vision
Gillespie Leads Men's Basketball Past Southern Illinois--belmontbruins.com

Women's Basketball Secures Ninth Straight Home Win--Belmont Vision
Bruins Win Ninth Straight at Home, Defeat Northern Iowa 84-72 Thursday Night--belmontbruins.com

Bradley Braves basketball gets career outings from big men in big MVC victory--Peoria Journal Star
Career nights from Leons and Hannah help Braves put out Flames--The Bradley Scout
Game Recap: Bradley vs UIC--bradleybraves.com

Braves continue to drop conference matchups heading into homestand--The Bradley Scout
Bradley WBB fall to Valparaiso--bradleybraves.com
Bradley WBB to face UIC for Second Annual Be Bold, Go Gold Game!--bradleybraves.com

Drake Women’s Basketball Wins Third Straight In Dominant Stretch--The Times-Delphic
Dinnebier Pours in 32 as Drake Completes Comeback on the Road--godrakebulldogs.com

Rising Star Ben Humrichous--Valley Hoops Insider
Men’s basketball opens 2-game swing through Illinois--gopurpleaces.com

Aces women’s basketball earns back-to-back MVC wins--gopurpleaces.com

Wong, Dowell deliver in the clutch as Illinois State women rally for dramatic win--The Pantagraph
Maya Wong’s game-winning 3-pointer helps ISU women's basketball take down UIC--The Vidette
Late Run Lifts ‘Birds over Flames, 64-61--goredbirds.com

Welcome Back to College Basketball--Burner Ball

Indiana State is this year’s fun mid-major.

The Sycamores are led by third-year head coach Josh Schertz. They’re 22-3 and run one of the most efficient offenses in the country. Indiana State averages 85.6 points per game (5th in D1) with an effective field goal percentage of 60.7% (1st in D1). The Sycamores space you out and launch threes as often as they can. Everyone can shoot, too. It’s beautiful offense and it’s led by 6’10” dynamo Robbie Avila. Avila is not the most physically imposing player you’ll ever see, but man can he orchestrate some offense. The Sycamores will be a popular upset pick in March.

College basketball power rankings: UConn and Purdue lead our tiers of contenders--The Athletic

Tier 6: Cinderellas

Dayton (20-4)
Grand Canyon (22-2)
Indiana State (22-4)
Saint Mary’s (20-6)

Any one of these four would be an amazing story if they’re still dancing on the second weekend. We’d love to see the Flyers finally get the run they deserved in 2020. Or Randy Bennett shake off a miserable start to this season and turn it into just the second Sweet 16 in program history as the Gaels climb out of Gonzaga’s shadow. Or the Sycamores, led by a fascinating coach (Josh Schertz) and star (Robbie Avila), capping their best season since Larry Bird. Or the Antelopes, less than a decade into full Division I membership, making a third NCAA Tournament in four years under Bryce Drew — and winning a game or two this time.

Indiana State suffered a bad home loss to Illinois State on Tuesday but still ranks No. 2 nationally in percentage of shots taken from 3-point range and No. 1 in effective field-goal percentage — and Avila is their goggle-wearing, 6-foot-10, 240-pound point forward who can dribble, pass and shoot. I mean, come on. They made this guy in the March Madness Darlings Factory. — Tucker

Bracketology Primer: Top games, bubble battles, analysis for Saturday, Feb. 17--Heat Check CBB

Several bubble teams take tough road tests

Winning on the road is hard in college basketball; that’s why bracketologists seemingly never shut up about the importance of adding quality road wins. In addition to the games noted above, several other bubble teams enter a college basketball “no man’s land” of potential potholes on the road:

Oregon at Oregon State
Florida at Georgia
Indiana State at Southern Illinois
Nevada at UNLV
Colorado at USC
Cincinnati at UCF

Of the teams listed above, Indiana State, Nevada, and Cincinnati are in the most danger. Indiana State is coming off a rough loss to Illinois State that pushed them to the projected cutline, and now the Sycamores face their toughest remaining opponent.

Sycamores' rebound looming?--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Mark Bennett: A loss might actually turn out to be beneficial, Sycamore fans--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
ISU's 15-minutes of Fame--Indiana Statesman
ISU Hoops looks to bounce back at Southern Illinois--gosycamores.com

Closing time: Sycamores' women drop third straight in Hulman Center--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Sycamores Still Battling--Indiana Statesman
Lady Bears outlast Sycamores in defensive battle--gosycamores.com
Sycamores host Salukis for annual Pink Out game--gosycamores.com