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.
ISU head coach Ryan Pedon | MATT DAYHOFF/JOURNAL STAR / USA TODAY
NETWORK
The first half of the college basketball season has delivered
exactly what fans expect from the mid-major ranks: consistency,
quality wins, and teams that refuse to be overlooked. As
conference play ramps up nationwide, several programs are building
strong resumes with NET-friendly profiles, efficient offenses, and
clean loss columns.
9. Illinois State Redbirds (12-3)
Illinois State leads the Missouri Valley Conference
and ranks 56th in the NET. While the Redbirds are 0-2 in Quad 1
games, those losses came against Utah State and USC, with their
third defeat occurring in the season opener against Ohio. Illinois
State remains unbeaten in league play alongside Murray State and
Northern Iowa. The Redbirds have a favorable short-term schedule
with games at Valparaiso, home versus UIC, and a road trip to
Indiana State before a much tougher run featuring Bradley,
Northern Iowa, Belmont, and Murray State.
All-MVC forward Chase Walker
is enjoying a great stretch of games. He averaged 19.5 points per game
last week, but has scored more than 15 points in each of his last four
contests. The Illinois State post is this week’s MVC ‘Player of the Week’ as he helped the Redbirds to their first 4-0 league start since the 2016-17 season.
Newcomers Making Their Mark
Owen Dease is emerging as a major scoring
threat for Valparaiso. The 6’8 wing averaged 17 points-per-game over the
Beacons’ three contests. This week’s ‘Newcomer of the Week’ has been electric from the free throw line where his fifth best in the MVC (.872).
Emerging Freshmen
Valparaiso’s J.T. Pettigrew is one of the
Valley’s emerging stars. The 6’8 forward averaged 15 points and seven
rebounds during three Beacon games. Pettigrew made all ten of his free
throws during Sunday’s contest. This is Pettigrew’s first ‘Freshman of the Week’ award, joining his teammate Rakim Chaney (2 times) as Beacon rookies being noticed for their outstanding play.
MURRAY STATE -
The Racers continue to raise the bar as they joined the win three
league games in one calendar week club. The perfect Racers are all the
way up to #61 in the Strength of Resume (SOR) metric. The wins over
Southern Illinois, at UIC, and a home drubbing of Bradley advanced the
Racers to 5-0 in the Valley and alongside Illinois State, appear to be
the most dangerous threat right now to position themselves at the top
for Arch Madness.
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