What's Up In The Missouri Valley: February 2020

S. Illinois looks for home win vs Indiana St.--Associated Press
Northern Iowa looks to extend streak vs Evansville--Associated Press
The Morning Dish – Friday, February 21, 2020--Hoopville

Side Dishes

Other results of note: Indiana State edged Northern Iowa 67-64, knocking the Panthers back into a tie for first in the Missouri Valley with Loyola-Chicago; Southern Illinois got back on track with a 70-53 win over Evansville

Saturday Notes – February 22, 2020--Hoopville

Missouri State 74, Loyola-Chicago 62: The Bears’ tough non-conference schedule may have taken a big toll on them, but they’re still a pretty good team and knocked the Ramblers out of a tie for first with this convincing win.

The Morning Dish – Sunday, February 23, 2020--Hoopville

Tonight’s Menu
The slate is a little busier than usual this time around, and there are some key games among them.

The Missouri Valley has a big game as Northern Iowa hosts Southern Illinois (2 p.m.)

The Morning Dish – Monday, February 24, 2020--Hoopville

Side Dishes

Other results of note: Northern Iowa continued to win at home and took sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley once again by dominating the second half for a 64-52 win over Southern Illinois

The Other Top 25: Dayton rides the nation’s longest winning streak to the top spot--Mid-Major Madness

The Other Top 25

Rank	School	Record	Change	Our reasoning	This week's games
7	Northern Iowa	23-5	-1	UNI's at-large hopes continue to dwindle with each subsequent loss, but the Panthers are still in the driver's seat with a week to play in the Valley. Austin Phyfe is emerging as one of best bigs in the league following his 17-point, 18-rebound, five assist outing against Southern Illinois.	2/26 vs. Evansville, 2/29 at Drake
18	Loyola	19-10	4	The Ramblers are still a game back of Northern Iowa in the standings, and a road trip to Bradley to close the season could be the deciding game to determine who gets the No. 2 seed in Arch Madness.	2/25 vs. Drake, 2/29 @ Bradley

Under The Radar Game of the Day: Sunday, February 23rd--Hoops HD
HappeningHoops.com CBI/CIT Bracketology Number 9 February 24th 2020--Happening Hoops

CBI (16 teams)
Oklahoma State Region (South)

Oklahoma State (14-14 Big 12)

South Dakota (19-11 Summit)

Kansas City (14-14 WAC)

Youngstown State (16-13 Horizon)

CIT (26 teams last season)
Midwest

Omaha (15-14 Summit)

North Dakota State (20-8 Summit)

Indiana State (16-11 MVC)

Valpo (15-14 MVC)

NIU (16-11 MAC)

LaRavia, Key lead Indiana State to 67-64 upset of UNI--Associated Press
Southern Illinois stymie Evansville in 2nd half, win 70-53--Associated Press
Cook carries Missouri St. over Loyola of Chicago 74-62--Associated Press
Fisher III scores 21 to lead Illinois St. past Drake 57-53--Associated Press
Valparaiso hits 18 3-pointers, beats Bradley 90-78--Associated Press
Northern Iowa stays perfect at home with 64-52 win--Associated Press
Indiana State sends Evansville to 16th straight loss--Associated Press
Leaders Tumble & Races Are Nuts--Valley Hoops Insider
The Morning Dish – Wednesday, February 26, 2020--Hoopville

Side Dishes

Other results of note: Loyola-Chicago edged Drake 64-60 as they try to stay with Northern Iowa

Tonight’s Menu
The slate is busy, with a few good ones and several other very important games among those on tap.

The best game on a full night of action in the Missouri Valley looks to be Indiana State at Southern Illinois (8 p.m.)

Clay, Fazekas combine for 42, Valpo tops Missouri St. 89-74--Associated Press
Krutwig carries Loyola of Chicago over Drake 64-60--Associated Press

What to look for when Bradley plays at Valparaiso--Peoria Journal Star
Building the Braves: Brian Wardle’s journey to success is a familiar path at Bradley--Peoria Journal Star
Bradley buried under avalanche of Valpo 3-pointers, 90-78--Peoria Journal Star
Bradley’s big guns back for rematch with Illinois State--Peoria Journal Star
What to watch for when Bradley plays at Southern Illinois--Peoria Journal Star
Bradley prevails in physical OT battle over Bears--Bradley Scout
Coach Brown: Senior guard building legacy on and off the court--Bradley Scout
Senior Spotlight: Koch Bar--bradleybraves.com
Valparaiso Defeats Bradley Basketball--bradleybraves.com
Braves Meet I-74 Rival Illinois State on Wednesday--bradleybraves.com

Women’s basketball falls at Drake--Bradley Scout
Short-Handed Braves Fall At Drake 85-72--bradleybraves.com
Braves Fall At UNI 64-57--bradleybraves.com
Braves Return Home To Host SIU & #17/21 Missouri State--bradleybraves.com

Drake basketball player Liam Robbins dropped nearly 70 pounds, but that's not all that's different--Des Moines Register
Drake men's rally at Loyola falls short--Des Moines Register
Illinois State Defeats Men's Basketball In Final Minutes--godrakebulldogs.com
Second-Half Rally Comes Up Short In A Road Loss at Loyola--godrakebulldogs.com

Hittner and Collier lift Drake past visiting Bradley in key MVC meeting--Des Moines Register
Drake overcomes 13-point deficit to beat Illinois State on Senior Day--Des Moines Register
Women’s Basketball Defeats Bradley, 85-72, in Annual Pink Game--godrakebulldogs.com
Three Seniors Lead Women's Basketball to Historic Heights--godrakebulldogs.com
Women’s Basketball Clinches Sixth-Straight 20-Win Season with Home Finale Victory over Illinois State, 87-82--godrakebulldogs.com
Women's Basketball Sweeps MVC Weekly Awards--godrakebulldogs.com
Hittner Featured as MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week--godrakebulldogs.com

Evansville Rebuilding on the Fly--Valley Hoops Insider
Buzzer breakdown: DeAndre Williams returns but Evansville's skid continues at SIU--Evansville Courier & Press
Insider: Aces were 'anxious to hurry up and win' at SIU as losing streak reaches 15--Evansville Courier & Press
Best- and worst-case scenarios for final stretch of Evansville basketball season--Evansville Courier & Press
UE Insider: Aces lead late, but can't hold on against Indiana State; losing skid hits 16--Evansville Courier & Press
Aces will try to be first this season to hand Northern Iowa a home loss--Evansville Courier & Press
Game Recap: Aces Fall (Way) Short In DeAndre’s Return--Eville-Ways
I Still Hate Terre Haute--Eville-Ways
7 Keys to Today’s Game--Eville-Ways
Game Recap: FML--Eville-Ways
Week 17 Power Rankings: The Number Sixteen--Eville-Ways
Arch Madness Wishful Thinking--Eville-Ways
Game Preview: Northern Iowa (Part II)--Eville-Ways
K.J. Riley reaches 1,000 points in road contest--gopurpleaces.com
Late rally helps Indiana State defeat UE men--gopurpleaces.com
Aces travel to UNI on Wednesday--gopurpleaces.com

Aces put potential on display in narrow loss at No. 18 Missouri State--gopurpleaces.com
Aces drop road finale at SIU, 99-60--gopurpleaces.com

Madison Williams still has a 'voice' with Illinois State's basketball team and will take part in Senior Day--The Pantagraph
Keith Fisher III leads Illinois State with season-high 21 points in win over Drake--The Pantagraph
Kindred: Heart of the matter: Illinois State's Ricky Torres shares special moment with son after much-needed Redbird win--The Pantagraph
MVC notebook: Home teams enjoying big advantage this season--The Pantagraph
Redbirds seeking to snap four-game losing streak to rival Bradley in home finale--The Pantagraph
Redbirds hang on to defeat Drake 57-53 on Senior Day--Vidette Online
Preview: With the No. 9 seed guaranteed ISU looks for momentum for Arch Madness--Vidette Online
Fisher’s Big Second Half Leads Redbirds to Win on Senior Day--goredbirds.com
Redbirds Announce Promotions for I-74 Rivalry Game--goredbirds.com
Men's Basketball Hosts I-74 Rival Bradley on Final Home Game of Season--goredbirds.com

Hy-Vee to Host Illinois State Basketball Coaches Shows Tonight--goredbirds.com

Illinois State women's basketball defeats Northern Iowa in overtime--The Pantagraph
After big win, Illinois State women's basketball heads to Drake--The Pantagraph
Drake defeats Illinois State in tight Missouri Valley Conference women's action--The Pantagraph
Maggett saves ’Birds from fourth quarter collapse, win in OT 69-61--Vidette Online
Bulldogs push past Redbirds in high-scoring affair--Vidette Online
Five Redbirds Finish in Double Figures in 69-61 Overtime Win with Panthers--goredbirds.com
Wallen Scores 23, Illinois State Falls 87-82 at Drake--goredbirds.com

2/24 Men's Basketball Players of the Week--College Sports Madness

Missouri Valley Tyreke Key G Indiana State

Close Game Heroics – Weekly Awards--Valley Hoops Insider

Upsetting League Leaders All the Vogue
(St. Louis, MO) – Christian Williams and Josiah Wallace were heroes in big upsets and are this week’s top award winners. During a week when league leaders were knocked off by clutch late game exploits, the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conferences have never had more exciting races.

Missouri Valley Conference
Indiana State was the only Valley team to win both of its games. Senior Christian Williamson played a pivotal role. The 6’6 guard averaged 15 points per game during the Sycamores’ wins over Northern Iowa and Evansville. While ISU battled first place UNI, Williamson made four, late game, clutch free throws as the Sycamores defeated UNI 67-64. Williams is the Valley’s ‘Player of the Week‘.

Fellow Sycamore Jake LaRavia is this week’s ‘Newcomer of the Week‘. The ISU freshman averaged 13 points and 5.5 rebounds during ISU’s big week. LaRavia scored a game-high 18 points in the team’s win over the first place Panthers. The 6’8 LaRavia is the league’s third leading rebounder.

Loyola Men’s Basketball Holds On for Senior Night Victory Over Drake--Loyola Phoenix
Loyola’s Win Streak Comes To End With 74-62 Loss At Missouri State--loyolaramblers.com
Loyola Hangs On To Edge Drake, 64-60, For 20th Win Of Season--loyolaramblers.com
Men’s Basketball Announces Summer Camp Dates

Loyola Women’s Basketball Falls to Eighth in MVC after Loss to Valparaiso--Loyola Phoenix
Loyola Women’s Basketball Sets Summer Camp Schedule--loyolaramblers.com
Valparaiso Uses Second-Half Push To Down Loyola, 70-57--loyolaramblers.com

Bubble Watch: Breaking down every team in at-large conversation--College Basketball Talk

BUBBLE WATCH FOR EVERYONE ELSE

TOP 9: Gonzaga (NBC: 1), San Diego State (NBC: 1), BYU (NBC: 6), Saint Mary’s (NBC: 9)
NORTHERN IOWA (NET: 46, NBC: 12): Northern Iowa snapped a two-game losing streak on Sunday, beating Southern Illinois (139) and maintaining a hold on first place in the Missouri Valley. UNI has a win at Colorado (18) and they beat South Carolina (63) on a neutral court, but they are 5-3 against the top two Quads with a pair of Quad 3 losses. I want to see them get an at-large — every one of their non-Quad 1 losses is a road game in league play — but I’m not sure they have done enough to beat out some of these power conference teams.

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Thursday, Feb 20th--Hoops HD

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-NORTHERN IOWA AT INDIANA STATE (Missouri Valley). If Northern Iowa wins out through the regular season, which it looks like they are good enough to do, then they should be inside the bubble even if they don’t win their conference tournament.

Under The Radar Game of the Day: Friday, February 21st--Hoops HD

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES

-Northern Iowa was in good shape to land inside the bubble. All they needed to do was win out, which required them beating sub-NIT caliber teams the rest of the way. Last night, they failed to do that as they fell to Indiana State. They still have a shot at makign the field if they don’t win the conference tournament, but not nearly as good as the shot that they had before losing that game.

Bracket Projections (from David Griggs):--Hoops HD

STAFF COMMENTS

COMMENTS FROM JOHN:

– For teams under the radar, I think an 11 would be the ceiling for Northern Iowa. I would rank them above the First Four if they win out, although I honestly might not be able to make a case for an at-large if they take on one more loss the rest of the way. As the Puppet would say, losing to the Trees might have been their last strike. East Tennessee State has a little more leeway to take on one more loss as long as it were to come against either UNC-Greensboro or Furman in the SoCon championship game.

Bubble Watch: Indiana and the irrationality of mid-February--The Athletic

Others
Something we’ve occasionally lost sight of the past few weeks: San Diego State is extremely close to an undefeated regular season. That’s really amazing! Think about all of the teams in this section this and every other year, mid-majors who do a little bit of good work in the nonconference and build bubble-worthy NET rankings, then find themselves hoping they don’t lose too many games — two or three or four or whatever the threshold is — in their leagues. It’s really, really, really hard to go unbeaten no matter what your league, or your schedule. San Diego State is three games from pulling it off.

It’s a hell of a thing.

Locks: San Diego State, Gonzaga, Dayton
Should be in: BYU, Rhode Island
Work to do: Saint Mary’s, East Tennessee State, Northern Iowa, Utah State, Richmond, VCU

Northern Iowa (20-5, 11-4; NET: 39, SOS: 99): Northern Iowa lost at Indiana State on Thursday night, though not for a want of trying. The Panthers scored 27 points in the final 10 minutes to erase a huge halftime deficit and nearly steal the win. We enjoyed Bart Torvik’s reaction to this:

Northern Iowa’s valiant comeback attempt falls just short. But the real question remains: did they pass the eye test?

(Please answer only if you watched at least 10 seconds of the game.)
— Bart T🏀rvik (@totally_t_bomb) February 21, 2020

Ha. Ten seconds is more than enough of a sample to respond to that poll, as far as we’re concerned. Also, that’s not the kind of loss that should necessarily keep Northern Iowa out of the field. Indiana State isn’t Kansas, but it’s a Q2 outfit in its own gym, team-sheet-wise, and UNI still has a positive record against that section of its team sheet, not to mention a win at Colorado that has only gotten better with age. Whether the Panthers pass the committee’s subjective eye test, we’d reckon the résumé is still good enough to get by. It happens, you know?

This Week in Mid-Major: Toolson’s BYU reunion, BGSU’s overlooked star and more--The Athletic

The Mid-Major Top 10
7. Northern Iowa (23-5, 12-4 Missouri Valley): Boy, did the Panthers need Sunday’s home win over Southern Illinois. They trailed by eight points at halftime but rallied for a 64-52 victory. They had dropped two straight, at Loyola-Chicago and Indiana State. Those were Quad 2 losses, but Northern Iowa only has a win over Colorado to hang its hat on in Q1. And it has two Q3 losses weighing down the team sheet. Folks in Cedar Falls will be nervous on Selection Sunday if UNI doesn’t take home the trophy at Arch Madness. LW: 5

Bubble Watch: Want weird? Take a close look at Arizona’s résumé--The Athletic

Others
Locks: Gonzaga, Dayton, San Diego State, BYU
Should be in: Saint Mary’s
Work to do: Rhode Island, Utah State, East Tennessee State, Northern Iowa, Richmond, Liberty

Northern Iowa (21-5, 12-4; NET: 46, SOS: 98): The previous week was a tough one for UNI, which dropped back-to-back games at Loyola Chicago and Indiana State, putting what had been a steady at-large trajectory into real doubt with just a few games remaining. Fortunately, Ben Jacobson’s team steadied the ship Sunday, in a home win over Southern Illinois. It now needs to win out, get very deep in the Missouri Valley tournament, and either a) hope the committee is on board or b) just go ahead and win the automatic bid.