Primarily a collection of news links about all 12 Missouri Valley League teams on a daily basis, culled from online newspapers, school athletic websites, the conference website, and school newspapers, plus some other content from time to time.
Championship: Michigan State (Big Ten, 4-1, 17 KP) vs. Baylor (Big 12, 6-0, 4 KP), 11 a.m. (ESPN) 3rd/4th Place:UConn (Big East, 5-1, 19 KP) vs. VCU (A 10, 3-3, 93 KP), approx. 1:30 p.m. (ESPN2) 5th/6th Place: Auburn (SEC, 4-1, 28 KP) vs. Syracuse (ACC, 3-2, 54 KP), 4:30 p.m. (ESPN2) 7th/8th Place: Loyola Chicago (MVC, 4-2, 35 KP) vs. Arizona State (Pac-12, 2-3, 73 KP), approx. 7 p.m. (ESPN News)
In the consolation bracket, Syracuse held off Arizona
State, 92-84, while Auburn handled Loyola, 62-53. The Ramblers’ failure
to close out Michigan State in this tournament’s first game might be
something to remember come Selection Sunday, should Loyola not win Arch
Madness.
Miami (Fla.) (ACC, 3-2, 102 KP) vs. North Texas (C-USA, 2-2, 114 KP), 11 a.m. (ESPN2) Alabama (SEC, 4-1, 24 KP) vs. Drake (MVC, 3-1, 58 KP), 4:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
The
Bruins defeated Drake, 74-69, in the first-ever meeting of two teams who
will become conference rivals next season.
Unlike Loyola, who saw its best shot at a marquee
non-conference win disappear on Wednesday afternoon in the Bahamas,
Drake will get another chance at such a victory this afternoon against
Alabama.
-Loyola Chicago and Michigan State came down to the wire in Atlantis
with Michigan State making a game winning ally oop on their last
possession of the game. Loyola held a lead for much of the game, but
just wasn’t holding it when time ran out. While this certainly isn’t a
damaging loss for the Ramblers, it was a missed opportunity and they
only get so many of those due to playing in an Under the Radar
conference. Fortunately, even though they lost, they’ll have a couple
more opportunities in this event including today against Auburn.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-AUBURN VS LOYOLA CHICAGO (Battle 4 Atlantis). This is an important
event for Loyola Chicago because they need some notable wins on their
resume. They just missed a big chance yesterday, but the good news for
them is that the loss didn’t deny them a chance from picking up what
would be a big win today against a really good Auburn team.
-BELMONT VS DRAKE (ESPN Events Invitational). You kind of hate that
these two got paired against each other. They’re both really good Under
the Radar teams, they’re both teams who we think can land inside the
bubble, but in order to do that they both need big wins in this event.
So, this has a really pivotal feel to it because the winning team will
get on the winning side of the bracket and have better chances at big
wins in their final two games.
After that we run through ... the big opportunities for teams like Loyola
Chicago, Drake, Iona, and Belmont this week, teams that managed big wins
in their exempt events, and teams that have struggled more than
expected like New Mexico State, Missouri State, and Northern Iowa.
-Auburn rebounded from their overtime loss to UConn, which really
didn’t even qualify as a setback, and knocked off a good Loyola Chicago
team 62-53 in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Loyola could have really benefited
from at least one big win in this event, but they still aren’t totally
sunk. It probably is important that they beat Arizona State today,
though.
-Belmont picked up a huge 74-69 win against Drake in the ESPN Events
Invitational. It’s big because it adds what should turn out to be a
quality win to their resume, and it gives them the chances to play
higher caliber opponents throughout the rest of the event and build
their resume even more. With that being said, Belmont will face Iona,
who knocked off Alabama, and Drake will get a shot at the Tide.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-ALABAMA VS DRAKE (ESPN Events). Alabama was upset by Iona
yesterday, but we still think this Tide team could end up as a protected
seed, and perhaps even win the SEC. They face a Drake team who lost to
Belmont, but who we still think will be a big time force in the
Missouri Valley and will have a chance to land inside the bubble. This
game has a bit of a pivotal feel for both teams. Drake needs a quality
win, and Alabama doesn’t want to lose it’s second straight to an Under
the Radar team while having such a high ranking and high expectations.
-ARIZONA STATE VS LOYOLA CHICAGO (Battle 4 Atlantis). It’s the 7th
place game, and Loyola has played well but not managed a notable win.
They don’t want to walk out of this completely empty handed. It’s
important that they at least pick up this one.
I’m not quite ready to sound the alarm on Drake.
They took 17 more shots than Belmont, but missed a ton of open 3s and
5-12 from the FT line. Predictably Brodie couldn’t defend the mobility
of Moose, and could only go 12 minutes with DeVries forced to go small
at the 5 with his son and a litany of doubles, which of course didn’t
work with the big man’s passing touch a large part of his repertoire.
Both Oats and DeVries have been solid on no rest, Alabama
because of their athleticism and talent and Drake because of their
pressure. It’s hard to press Alabama given the explosive ball handlers
they have, especially with Davidson in the fold. Iona showed that if you
commit to transition D, you can knock Bama off their axis when you
force them to work in the halfcourt, where the structure is sometimes
lacking. Drake has been an excellent transition denial D under DeVries,
and Tank Hemphill profiles similarly not JeanLouis who denied a lot of
penetration singlehandedly. Iona had a premier rim presence in NJJ
lurking in the paint, which Brodie is not. I think Drake can succeed in
forcing Bama in the halfcourt, I’m just not sure they can force them
into tough shots at the rate Iona did. The Tide are ShotQuality’s top
“Rim and 3” rate team (expected). Iona was fantastic at limiting both of
those. I don’t think Drake can replicate that.
Loyola has been
out-athleted, out-hustled, out-everything in this tournament. To be
fair, they’ve held their own, but they just can’t generate buckets when
they have to because of that disadvantage. Arizona State
offers a bit of reprieve, as they don’t have the same overwhelming
athleticism of Auburn or Michigan State’s frontcourts (although Graham
and Gaffney are still a challenge of course). The stellar defense of
Loyola’s backcourt could be enough to carry them to a much needed
salvage win, as their ability to force jump shots is always a Hurley O
achilles heel.
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