Primarily a collection of news links about all 11 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.
#54 Akron (-7) vs. #112 Murray State, 4 PM ET, Baller TV
Outside of the 10 conferences with a positive net rating this season (Power
5 + Mountain West, A-10, WCC, Missouri Valley, American), Akron's No. 54
ranking is the nation's highest, 22 spots above anyone else in those other
21 leagues.
They've accomplished this with an elite-shooting, super speedy offense that
looks like Alabama's analytically, and an ability to boat race inferior
competition - al eight of their wins have come by at least 14 points.
On the other side, Murray State looks a lot like head coach Ryan Miller's
old boss' team in Omaha. Much like quintessential Creighton, the Racers play
very fast, shoot a ton of threes, and allow the lowest rate of long balls
nationally on the defensive end. That can lead to some streaky results
however, and Murray State is 5-0 when they shoot at least 35% from deep
compared to just 2-3 when they don't.
Akron is a scintillating 99th% pick-and-roll ball handler scoring team
thanks to the elite dribble creation trio of Tavari Johnson, Shammah Scott,
and Sharron Young, which spells trouble for Murray in the middle of the
floor as their bigs get parked in the paint. They also have a pick-and-pop
threat in Amani Lyles, who is quietly doing his best Enrique Freeman this
year as one of the least talked about superstars in the country.
That said, if Murray State goes something like 10-for-25 from deep like they
did against George Washington in a thrilling 96-95 win, nothing is off the
table. This game should have so many possessions and so many jumpers that
you can expect massive swings, and momentum to change constantly, which
should make it one of the most entertaining contests on a packed Saturday. -
Matthew Winick
#103 Illinois State vs. #41 Utah State (-9), 5 PM ET, YouTube.
Given Illinois State's shooters and the passing/nail creation of Chase
Walker, it's not surprising to see ISUred has generally shredded in zone
offense under Ryan Pedon, and not surprising to see teams rarely zone the
Redbirds because of that. However, USU hasn't run their 1-3-1 matchup zone
at all the past 3 games, which has been a fascinating turn of events, as
they've been switching in man to man in that span, which has increased their
isolation rate forced. Illinois State has actually been efficient in iso
offense, but that's far from how they operate offensively.
On the other end, USU typically struggles with more aggressive, hedging
defenses that disrupt their more complex actions in the halfcourt. This is
not the case with ISU, who has to park the laterally slower Walker in a
deeper drop coverage. Worth noting Pedon has been oustanding the weekend of
finals after having the week to prep, having defeated NDSU and St. Louis in
back to back seasons, but playing in altitude in an NBA arena is a bit of a
different scenario. - Jordan Majewski
#117 Southern Illinois at #100 Richmond (-5), 6 PM ET, ESPN+.
Opposing offensive identities here, as SIU wants to straight line drive to
the rim and cut behind the help at a fast pace
while Richmond methodically runs through their handoffs and Princeton
motion.
So what's more likely to win out? Richmond's 3rd percentile rim rate allowed
is quite helpful here, as SIU grades out as a 6th percentile jump shot
offense in terms of efficiency, with only .09 PPP of expected positive
regression, per Synergy data. - Jordan Majewski
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