What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 1/17/2019

The Morning Dish – Wednesday, January 16, 2019--Hoops HD

Side Dishes
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Loyola-Chicago has pulled into a tie atop the Missouri Valley Conference, as they took care of Valparaiso 71-54 behind five players who scored 11 or 12 points. The Ramblers are tied with the Crusaders at 4-1 in Valley play.

Haldeman scores 21, Northern Iowa holds off Indiana State--CBS Sports
Evansville pulls away late to beat Missouri State 70-64--CBS Sports
Drake builds big first-half lead to beat Bradley 69-52--CBS Sports

Murphys’ Law? Twilight Zone? The Braves are caught in between--Peoria Journal Star
First Half Push Leads Drake Past Bradley--bradleybraves.com

Braves Return Home To Host Missouri St. & SIU--bradleybraves.com

Men’s Basketball Earns a 17-Point Road Win At Bradley--godrakebulldogs.com

The unlikeliest of heroes guided Evansville basketball to its first road win of the season--Evansville Courier & Press
Press Row Preview - Missouri State--gopurpleaces.com
Men’s Basketball earns 70-64 road win at Missouri State--gopurpleaces.com
ACES INSIDER - On the Road with "the McCarty Party"--gopurpleaces.com
ACES INSIDER - UE Men score first road victory of the season at Missouri State--gopurpleaces.com

Northern road trip ahead for Aces--gopurpleaces.com

MVC notebook: Indiana State honoring Bird, Final Four team with Loyola in town--The Pantagraph
Heather: Just keep grinding, ISU--Vidette Online
Illinois State Athletics to Host Taste of Redbirds--goredbirds.com

Women’s Basketball “Pack the Arena” Game Set for Jan. 26--goredbirds.com
Redbirds Host MVC Opponents Southern Illinois and Missouri State--goredbirds.com

Sycamores can't close as UNI slips past ISU--Terre Haute Tribune Star
Down In The Valley: Northern Iowa musings--Terre Haute Tribune Star
40 Years Since #MarchWentMad--Indiana Statesman
Sycamores to face off against Panthers--Indiana Statesman
Jordan Barnes Posts Double-Double As Sycamores Fall At Northern Iowa--gosycamores.com

Sycamore Women Travel to Valpo, Loyola for Weekend Swing--gosycamores.com

Scanning the Nation Notebook – Jan. 16, 2019: Why there’s no talk of Georgia State as an at-large contender, Texas Tech, Maryland, Wofford & more--Hoopville

Loyola Chicago undoubtedly lost some very important leaders from its Final Four team. Still, the Ramblers’ overall inconsistency has been confounding. After ups and downs in November and December, Loyola appeared ready to turn a corner in Missouri Valley Conference play when it shot a combined 59.6% in back-to-back wins over Indiana State and Drake, but then it plunged back to earth making 37.3% in a 19-point defeat at Evansville. The showing was reminiscent of games against Furman (37.0%), Maryland (32.7%) and Saint Joseph’s (34.0%) where Loyola shot badly. Most concerning about the Evansville game and its loss to Nevada when we watched as well was the number of layups the Ramblers missed and overall times when players simply finished weakly around the basket, as well as the Purple Aces-the worst rebounding team in the MVC-posting a plus-9 rebound margin and regularly beating Loyola players to loose balls. Yet just when it looked like the Ramblers may be slipping into a muddled pack in the Valley, Loyola was superb again on Tuesday when it shot 53.3% and had six score in double figures in a rout of previously undefeated Valparaiso.

Ups and downs will be understandable with so many new players being counted on heavily. Even with its losses from a year ago, though, Loyola still returned the MVC’s player of the year (Clayton Custer), an all-conference big man (Cameron Krutwig) and a veteran third starter who has hit clutch shots and has ample postseason experience (Marques Townes). Despite that experience-and despite overall numbers on the season that indicate the Ramblers have been just fine on both ends-Loyola has looked tentative on offense too much and needs more from its veterans while the newcomers continue to come along.

Loyola Kicks Off Road Trip With Saturday Showdown At Indiana State--loyolaramblers.com