What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 12/16/2017

The Morning Dish – Friday, December 15, 2017--Hoopville

Side Dishes:

Northwestern embarrassed Valparaiso 84-50. The Wildcats in their last two games have easily looked the best they have all year, and in this one they hit 12 of 22 three-pointers, including 7 of 8 in the first 10 minutes. The Crusaders played without leading scorer Tevonn Walker, who is out indefinitely with mononucleosis. Turnovers have been a major issue all season for Valpo, and six more TOs than field goals (21 to 15) and a 30-4 deficit in points off turnovers are no way to beat any team, much less an experienced Big Ten squad.
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Good as the Missouri Valley Conference’s start has been this year, the league also has been absolutely plundered by injuries. The latest is at Evansville, where second-leading scorer and up-and-coming sophomore Dru Smith is now out for four weeks with a stress fracture. This comes just over two weeks after leading scorer Ryan Taylor was sidelined with a fractured foot. Smith also is the MVC leader in assists and had picked up some scoring load after Taylor’s injury. The Purple Aces are a surprising 8-2 to start the season but have a trip to Duke coming next week.

The Morning Dish – Saturday, December 16, 2017--Hoopville

Tonight’s Menu

It’s a busy day, and the big games start right away as well.
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The Hy-Vee Big Four Classic in Des Moines has Drake taking on Iowa (2 p.m.), then Northern Iowa taking on Iowa State (4:30 p.m.)
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A good matchup that has lots a bit of its luster is Illinois State visiting Ole Miss (3:30 p.m.)

Drake, UNI look to upstage Hawkeyes and Cyclones--USA Today
Drake & Northern Iowa with a Hy-Vee Opportunity--Mid-Major Madness
News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Saturday, Dec 16th--Hoops HD

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
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-INDIANA STATE AT WESTERN KENTUCKY. Western Kentucky is coming off disappointing (and in the case of their last game controversial) losses and are looking to get things turned around. Their margin for error is small, and they pretty much need to blow through the rest of the season if they want the committee to look at them.
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-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT MILWAUKEE. I like this Loyola team and they can improve to 11-1 on the season if they pick up this win today. If they keep it up they won’t need the automatic bid to make the NCAA Tournament.
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-NORTHERN IOWA VS IOWA STATE (Des Moines). Northern Iowa is having the kind of year that could not just land them in the NCAA Tournament, but land them in the top half of it. This is a chance to add yet another notable win to an already impressive resume.

Michigan State Basketball: Previewing the Hitachi College Basketball Showcase--College Court Report
Final Push for Ratings--Valley Hoops Insider
Hlas: Iowa, Iowa State get feel-good wins--The Gazette

Bradley hands Chicago State 8th straight loss 84-58--CBS Sports
Braves go to 9-2 with rout of Chicago State--Peoria Journal Star
Bradley Cruises by Chicago State, 84-58--bradleybraves.com

Braves Fall At #21 Green Bay--bradleybraves.com

Rivalry Weekend: Big Ten Basketball Previews, Open Thread--Off Tackle Empire

Iowa Hawkeyes (5-6, KP 81) vs. Drake Bulldogs (5-5, KP 181)
1pm | BTN | Wells Fargo Arena (Des Moines) | Iowa -6.5

Contrived Event Name: Hy-Vee Big Four Classic
Is it actually a rivalry?: No, because Iowa can actually win it.
What trophy should they play for?: A third-place ribbon.

Stewmonkey13: I've attempted let go of almost all expectations, at this point. Drake isn't that good, as evidenced by their game against Minnesota. Neither is Iowa. Even is Drake isn't very good at forcing turnovers, Iowa is still going to turn it over too much.

Connor McCaffery (yes, relation) is still coming back from mono, and is hardly ready for competitive minutes. If Iowa can take care of the ball, this should be a route, as they'll likely control the boards (the height advantage is fairly absurd). Still, it's essentially a road game against Drake.