What's Up In The Missouri Valley: What's Up In The Missouri Valley 12/3/2025

The Other Men’s Top 25: Utah St. jumps to No. 1--Mid-Major Madness

Belmont is top 100 in all three metrics: 35^th in the NET, 75^th in KenPom and 92^nd in Torvik.

Here is the full ranking:

Ranking

Team (First-Place Votes)

Points

Last Week

9 Belmont 70 23

11 Northern Iowa 59 8

Others Receiving Votes:

Davidson 17; UNC Wilmington 13; Hawaii 11; Boise St. 10; Kent St. 10; Central Connecticut 10; Loyola Marymount 9; UAB 9; Miami OH 9; Illinois St. 8; Northern Colorado 7; Grand Canyon 6; Iona 5; South Alabama 4; Winthrop 3; Richmond 2; Columbia 2; East Tennessee St. 1

Ranking	Team (First-Place Votes)	Points	Last Week
9	Belmont	70	23
11	Northern Iowa	59	8

Hoops HD Daily Rundown – Wednesday, Dec 3rd--Hoops HD

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:
-RICHMOND AT BELMONT. I highlight this because I think both teams are good and while it’s unlikely that either ends up around the bubble, it’s also not entirely impossible. This would probably be the biggest win of the season for either team up to this point, so it’s a pretty big game. It’s also just a fascinating matchup.
OTHER NOTABLE GAMES:
-Southern Illinois @ High Point – High Point will likely be favored in all of their remaining games and if they win out I can’t imagine them not being inside the bubble

Winning MTEs & Weekly Awards--Valley Hoops Insider

Winning MTEs & Weekly Awards
While Tennessee State neighbor Belmont was claiming the Coconut Hoops Tournament, Tyler Lundblade was named the MVP. Lundblade averaged 19.3 points-per-game and is this week’s MVC ‘Player of the Week’. His award is the first this season for the 8-0 Bruins. He leads the Valley in free-throw percentage, made three-pointers and is third in scoring.
Newcomers Making Their Mark
Drake split a pair of games with ‘power five’ conference teams and Jalen Quinn was outstanding. The Loyola Chicago transfer scored 20 points during the Bulldogs’ loss to LSU and added 31 in their win over Georgia Tech. He averaged 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists against that top competition and is the Valley’s ‘Newcomer of the Week’. Quinn is the Valley’s second leading scorer (17.5 ppg) and is fifth in assists (3.88).
Profound First-Year Players
Four Missouri Valley Conference freshmen rank in the league’s top 16 in scoring. Murray State’s Roman Domon led the Racers last week scoring 40 points in three games. The native of France is the Valley’s ‘Freshman of the Week’ becoming the third different rookie to claim the weekly award. Ironically, the MVC’s top scoring freshman, Illinois Chicago’s Andy Johnson (14.9 ppg) is yet to earn one of the awards. Valparaiso’s Rakim Chaney (14.0), Illinois State’s Ty’Reek Coleman (13.6) are ranked tenth and eleventh in the league scoring race. Domon (12.1) is sixteenth and Johnson is ninth.

NET Looks Good--Valley Hoops Insider

Teams of the Week: Thoroughly Prepared Men of Michigan--Basket Under Review

HONORABLE MENTION: REMAINING CONFERENCE AWARDS
MISSOURI VALLEY: BELMONT - Capped off a terrific week in Fort Myers by traveling up the East Coast and winning a true road game at Charleston. At the event, the Bruins knocked off Saint Francis with ease, and put away Toledo by a 15-point margin. Bruins get a ton of love for its beautiful offense, which now ranks 4th nationally in eFG%, but how bout the defense only allowing a nationally 17th lowest eFG% as well? What a great combination as we inch closer to Valley play.

Belmont’s eight-game winning streak ends with loss to Richmond--Main Street Nashville
Men's Basketball Plays Richmond Wednesday--belmontbruins.com

The Women’s Other Top 25: Some shuffling in top 15, but teams remain same--Mid-Major Madness

Belmont and Harvard were the next two, with a pair of Mountain West teams following in UNLV and Colorado St. Ball St. jumped to 15, and Santa Clara was No. 16. Massachusetts and Columbia held steady at 17^th and 18^th. Saint Joseph’s and Montana St. rounded out the top 20.

Princeton came in at 29^th in the NET and 39^th in Torvik. The Tigers are 7-1 and have won five straight games. They knocked off Rhode Island on the road and DePaul at home last week. They have a loaded upcoming schedule with consecutive games against Seton Hall, Belmont, Rutgers and George Mason.

Here is the full ranking:

Ranking

Team

Last Week

11 Belmont 9

Ranking	Team	Last Week
11	Belmont	9

Women’s Basketball Visits Middle Tennessee Wednesday Night--belmontbruins.com

Bradley basketball vs Washington State recap: BU wins on dunk in final seconds--Peoria Journal Star
Ahmet Jonovic’s slam secures Braves’ last-second win vs. Washington State--The Bradley Scout
Alex Huibregtse named Busey Bank Scholar-Athlete of the Week--bradleybraves.com
MBB Recap: Bradley battles back and earns a victory over Washington State--bradleybraves.com

Bradley WBB Heads to Nebraska to Conclude Road Trip--bradleybraves.com

Braden Appelhans sets record in Drake win over Western Illinois--Des Moines Register
Drake Basketball sees big wins on road over holiday break--The Times-Delphic
Bulldogs' Three-Point Barrage Buries Leathernecks, 108-57--godrakebulldogs.com

Drake women's basketball falls to Lindenwood, drops sixth straight--Des Moines Register
Lions Spoil Character Counts! Day with Wire-to-Wire Win Over Drake Women--godrakebulldogs.com

Turnbull and Hundley key UE victory over Ball State--gopurpleaces.com

Purple Aces Fall at Purdue--gopurpleaces.com

Illinois State’s Boden Skunberg--Valley Hoops Insider
Illinois State men's basketball returns home to battle Eastern Kentucky--The Pantagraph
Redbirds Fly Past Colonels for Seventh Consecutive Win--goredbirds.com

ISU women's basketball drops conference opener to UNI--The Vidette
Redbirds Fall In MVC Opener At UNI, 68-54--goredbirds.com

Sycamores blast Red Devils 99-57--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Sycamores dominate in 99-57 victory over Eureka--Indiana Statesman
Sycamores rout Red Devils 99-57 on Tuesday night--gosycamores.com

22s are wild as Kelsey, ISU women's basketball slip by NIU 69-61--Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Trees complete perfect homestand with win over Northern Illinois--gosycamores.com

Murray State growing through early struggles--WPSD Local 6
Miller: Morehead gives Racer men chance to work on rebounding--Murray Ledger and Times
Racer men close strong against Morehead--Murray Ledger and Times
Racers Post 6 In Double-Figure Scoring in Win Over Eagles--goracers.com

Mid-Major Madness Women’s Player of the Week Voting: Nov. 24-30--Mid-Major Madness

Feast Week is in the rearview mirror, and several mid-major women’s players feasted on the opposition. There were a bunch of good candidates to be finalists for our player of the week.
So, without further ado, here are the five nominees: Sharnecce Currie-Jelks (Murray State),
Kira Reynolds (UT Arlington), Meadow Roland (UNLV), Adrianna Smith (Maine) and Macy Spencer (High Point).
You can vote for your choice at the bottom of this article.
Sharnecce Currie-Jelks (Murray State)
Currie-Jelks had a pair of double-doubles last week to help guide the Racers to a 2-0 week at the Daytona Beach Classic. She averaged 27.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 63% from the field. Her best performance of the week came in an 88-83 win over George Mason in which she posted a career-best 32 points and 11 rebounds. That point total is the most by a Missouri Valley player this season. The Jackson, Tenn., native then had 23 points and 10 rebounds in an 82-77 win over Boston College, which was the program’s first-ever triumph over an ACC opponent. The junior leads the MVC at 20.9 points per game for the season.

Murray State using success in Daytona Beach Classic as turning point in season--WPSD Local 6
Racer women heading to Morehead means big homecoming for Ford--Murray Ledger and Times
Ford Shines in Homecoming Game, Racers Down Eagles--goracers.com