What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 12/6/2018

I have no idea what happened in college basketball last night. Let’s find out together!--Mid-Major Madness

FFS CUSA

Duquesne 93, Marshall 82; Missouri State 84, Western Kentucky 78

GUYS GET IT TOGETHER! I decided in the preseason that Conference USA would be a multi-bid league and you’re making me look stupid! To be fair, Duquesne and Missouri State are both solid, but Marshall and WKU are supposed to be better than this!

The Herd have now lost three out of four with two of those losses to KenPom sub-150 teams. If they want to finish anywhere near the at-large conversation, they probably have to knock off both Texas A&M and Virginia on the road. In other words, it’s not happening.

As for the Hilltoppers, they let Missouri State shoot 55 percent from the field and next they have to deal with an uptempo and fun Arkansas offense. Good luck with that. WKU is now 4-4 and honestly I’m not sure if they will be in The Other Top 25 next week.

Saluki SZN

Southern Illinois 61, Saint Louis 56

We don’t release everyone’s The Other Top 25 ballots, so take my word for it that I’m pretty much the only one left who is high on Southern Illinois. WELL GUESS WHAT FOLKS, THEY BEAT SAINT LOUIS LAST NIGHT. The stats from this game are pretty terrifying, but here’s something interesting: Saint Louis shot just nine free throws all game. and the Billikens are typically a good team at getting to the line (even if they’re not good at, you know, converting those freebies).

Now excuse me while I gloat and NO YOU MAY NOT ASK WHERE I RANKED ILLINOIS STATE LAST WEEK.
Yeah, about the Redbirds

UIC 94, Illinois State 75

Milik Yarbrough went for 30 but UIC manhandled them last night. Jordan Blount (27 points, 11-16 FG) was the star of the show for a Flames team that scored 1.24 points per possession. This is Illinois State’s first really bad loss and it still has a win over BYU. Before you ask, no I have no idea how good that BYU win will look come March.
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Time to hit that panic button for the Ramblers

Ball State 75, Loyola University Chicago 69

They lost again? Really?

I was all aboard the “Loyola is actually overrated” train at the beginning of the season, but I expected the Ramblers to be better than this. Ball State’s a good team, don’t get me wrong, but the Cardinals weren’t supposed to win this one. And they won despite National Player of the Year (to me) Ish El-Amin scoring just three points! That’s well below his average of [checks notes] 5.7. They SHUT DOWN the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft!

In all seriousness, expect Ball State to be ranked next week in The Other Top 25, assuming it doesn’t slip up at Evansville.

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Wednesday, Dec 5th--Hoops HD

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
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-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT MISSOURI STATE. WKU is still looking for their first true road win.

-SAINT LOUIS AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. The Salukis got off to a kind of sluggish start, but they have won five of their last six and their last three by double digits, so they could be stepping onto the level that we thought they’d be at. They have a big game tonight against a pretty good Saint Louis team that really needs this win because, quite frankly, they play in an A10 conference that is predominantly made up of sub-NIT caliber teams this year.

Wednesday Predictions – Updated How Did They Do?--Valley Hoops Insider