Tuesday Night Best Bets: Undefeated Miami (OH) Tested, Ranked Billikens on the Road--Busting Brackets
Southern Illinois Salukis at Illinois State Redbirds
A Missouri Valley Conference showdown on Tuesday night. Southern Illinois enters at 9-13, while Illinois State sits at 15-7 and is trying to stay near the top of the league standings. The Redbirds are back home and looking to string together wins as February begins.
Illinois State has been solid on its home floor, and this sets up as a good spot for them to pull away late.
Valparaiso Beacons at Bradley Braves
Another MVC battle as Valparaiso heads to Peoria to take on Bradley. The Beacons are 11-11, while the Braves are 15-8 and firmly in the mix near the top of the conference. Bradley can be hit or miss offensively, but when the shots are falling, they are tough to beat at home.
This feels like a spot where Bradley controls the game and wins comfortably.
The Men’s Other Top 25: Saint Mary’s and Miami (OH) claim unanimous top spots--Mid-Major Madness
Three new teams joined the ranking UC Irvine, Portland St. and Montana. They replaced Murray St., Dayton and North Dakota St.
Here is the full ranking:
Ranking
Team (First-Place Votes)
Points
Last Week
9 Belmont 66 13 Others Receiving Votes:
Dayton 9; Cal Baptist 9; Harvard 9; Illinois St. 8; Utah Valley 8; UC Santa Barbara 8; North Dakota St. 7; Charlotte 7; Winthrop 5; Merrimack 3; San Francisco 2; George Washington 1; Appalachian St. 1; Sam Houston St. 1
Dropped from Rankings:
Murray St. – T-19; Dayton – 22; North Dakota St. – 24
Week 14 Watchlist: Advanced Duke Theory--Basket Under Review
Tuesday, February 3
#130 UIC at #99 Murray State (-6), 8 PM ET, ESPN+. The MVC title is now ~90% likely to have Belmont as at least a shareholder, but the winner of this game could emerge as the #2 with just one Illinois State slip-up. UIC lost the home version of this 81-77 on New Year's Day and is 0-5 against top-100 offenses, so...I favor Murray.
Friday, February 6
B Game
#57 Belmont (-4) at #130 UIC, 8 PM ET, ESPN+. For all intents and purposes, a Belmont win here stops the Missouri Valley race in its tracks. They'd be 87% likely, per Torvik, to win the league outright, and would have an average expected record in conference play of 16-4. I've resigned myself to the knowledge that Belmont will be nowhere near the NCAA Tournament bubble if they lose in Arch Madness, but at a certain point I would certainly prefer 27-6 Belmont over 19-14 Ohio State. Wouldn't you?
C Games
#136 Bradley at #108 Northern Iowa (-5), 8 PM ET, CBSSN.
#178 Drake at #83 Illinois State (-11), 8 PM ET, ESPN+. Mid-pack MVC battles, though Illinois State at least has a chance to win the league still. Get your Arch Madness scouting in!
2.3.26 Game Analysis--Basket Under Review
QUICK TAKES:
- Southern Illinois returned Quel'Ron House to their lineup the past two games, which immediately returns the Salukis to black hole iso and over dribble ball. House actually posted his best scoring game of the MVC season against Illinois State in the first meeting...[Subscriber Content]
- Murray State is surrendering 1.23 PPP over their 4 game losing streak, while shooting 23% from 3 on the other end, which is pretty much a recipe for not being competitive in that stretch. UIC meanwhile has been on the complete opposite of that trajectory...[Subscriber Content]
OVC/MVC Lucky 13 Weekly Award Winners – Breaking! Huibregste on USBWA National List!--Valley Hoops Insider
Lucky 13 Players of the Week
Bradley (15-8, 8-4) is in a three-way tie for second in the MVC and Alex Huibregtse is a big reason why. The 6’4 guard scored 29 points, making nine, three-pointers during the Braves win over Drake. This week’s Valley ‘Player of the Week‘ missed just one of his long range attempts.
Now Huibregste has been added to the USBWA National players of the week honors.
Newcomers Starring
Drake’s Jalen Quinn scored 32 points during his team’s loss to Huibregtse and Bradley and added 26 against Evansville. This week’s ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ leads the Valley in conference game scoring averaging twenty points per game. The Loyola transfer is also amongst the league-leaders in field goal percentage and assists.
Freshmen Winners
The absences of Nic McClain and Sam Orme have opened a wider door for Belmont red-shirt freshman Eoin Dillon. His third straight ‘Freshman of the Week‘ award comes after he averaged 19 points, three rebounds and 3.5 assists during Belmont’s two victories. The 6’9 wing is leading the Valley in three-point percentage with an other-worldly .563 accuracy rate.
Every Day is a Huge Day--Valley Hoops Insider
Daily Dunk: Best College Basketball Bets Today (Predictions for St. John's-DePaul, Indiana-USC and More)--Sports Illustrated
Indiana State vs. Evansville Prediction
I feel like almost every night I'm able to find a mid-major matchup that has a short spread where I feel one team is significantly better than its opponent, and more often than not, the bet has hit. Tuesday night's contender for that type of bet is Indiana State to win and cover as short favorites against Evansville.
Indiana State is 142nd in effective field goal percentage and 150th in defensive efficiency. Meanwhile, Evansville ranks 301st and 269th in those two metrics. Not only that, but Indiana State is primarily a three-point shooting team, and now they get to face an Evansville team that ranks 259th in opponent three-point field goal percentage, allowing teams to shoot 35.4% from beyond the arc.
Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Tuesday, Feb 3rd--Hoops HD
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Drake @ Belmont (Missouri Valley) – I will keep banging this drum! Belmont should be inside the bubble and if they win out until the end of the regular season they should be in the field regardless of what happens in the conference tournament!!
Men’s Basketball Bracket Watch: Texas, Cal on the Bubble; Miami, Virginia Tech Out--Sports Illustrated
East Region
- No. 1 Duke* vs. No. 16 LIU*/Bethune-Cookman*
- No. 8 Wisconsin vs. No. 9 Georgia
- No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 12 Belmont*
- No. 4 Texas Tech vs. No. 13 UC Irvine*
- No. 6 Kentucky vs. No. 11 California/Seton Hall
- No. 3 Kansas vs. No. 14 Wright State*
- No. 7 Clemson vs. No. 10 Saint Mary’s
- No. 2 Illinois vs. No. 15 Harvard*
Could Belmont emerge as an at-large threat in February? History has not been kind to mid-majors with the Bruins’ profile, which already features three Quad 3 losses and no Quad 1 wins. But Belmont’s gaudy 20–3 mark could get even better in the coming weeks, and if Casey Alexander’s team can get to Arch Madness at 27–4, it’d certainly have a case.
Could Belmont Earn an At-Large Bid?--Valley Hoops Insider
Men's Basketball Extends MVC Lead With Big Win Over Murray State--Belmont Vision
Men's Basketball Plays Drake Tuesday--belmontbruins.com
Bradley basketball vs Valparaiso: Game time, how to watch and everything to know--Peoria Journal Star
MBB Preview: Bradley hosts Valparaiso in Tuesday night hoops--bradleybraves.com
Bradley WBB Drops Overtime Battle to Illinois State--bradleybraves.com
Men’s basketball returns home Tuesday evening--gopurpleaces.com
Aces Drop Tight Battle to Indiana State--gopurpleaces.com
Energy shift works for Illinois State ahead of home matchup with Southern Illinois--The Pantagraph
Redbirds to Battle for Season Sweep of Salukis--goredbirds.com
Bella Finnegan locates her shooting touch, leads Illinois State past Bradley--The Pantagraph
Finnegan’s third-quarter barrage sparks ISU win in overtime against Bradley--The Vidette
Sycamores aim to keep turnovers low, shooting accuracy high vs. Aces--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Trees fall to Valpo in overtime--Indiana Statesman
Sycamores and Purple Aces battle in midweek matchup on Tuesday--gosycamores.com
ISU women beat Aces to sweep road trip, face MVC-leading Racers next--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Sycamores win against Purple Aces--Indiana Statesman
Trees outlast Purple Aces to complete undefeated road trip--gosycamores.com
Claybrooks named Hannig Construction Indiana State Student-Athlete of the Week--gosycamores.com
2/1 Racer Rewind--WPSD Local 6
Murray State basketball "soul searching" ahead of Tuesday matchup with red-hot Flames of UIC--WPSD Local 6
Belmont sends Racer men crashing to 4th straight loss--Murray Ledger and Times
Miller says Racer men ‘in doldrums’--Murray Ledger and Times
UIC has assumed title of hottest team in America’s 9th-best league--Murray Ledger and Times
Stick to the grind; Racer women dig deep for first-ever sweep of Belmont--Murray Ledger and Times
UNI set to retire jerseys of AJ Green, Jacqui Kalin and Bill Smith--Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
College Women's Basketball: Goebel’s triple-double sends UNI past Drake--Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
Salukis head to Illinois State Tuesday--siusalukis.com
Southern Travels to Chicago for UIC Matchup--siusalukis.com
Men's Basketball Heads to Murray State Tuesday Night--uicflames.com
5 in 5: A Look at the Week Ahead in Women's College Basketball--Basket Under Review
5 Stats to Know
3There are still three teams in the country that have yet to win a game this season: Central Connecticut, Niagara, and Valparaiso. The good news? Central Connecticut plays both Chicago State and Wagner this week, and they have about a 10 percent chance to win one of those games. Niagara plays Canisius this week, and they have a 12 percent chance to win that one. Valparaiso plays Evansville and Southern Illinois, and they have a better than 10 percent chance in both of those games to win. The bad news? None of these three teams are likely to win this week no matter how hard we root for them.
Beacons Host Evansville for Girls & Women in Sports Game Thursday--valpoathletics.com
MVC Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook (2-2-26)--The Missouri Valley
MVC Women's Basketball Weekly Notebook (Feb. 2)--The Missouri Valley
