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.
Darren
Brooks of the Southern Illinois Salukis goes up for a layup in the
first half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. | Ronald Martinez/Getty
Images
How good were the Salukis in the regular season? Southern
Illinois made six consecutive NCAA tournaments in the 2000s under three
coaches, and this was its best team by winning percentage.
Who was the Salukis’ star? Apart
from coach Matt Painter—plucked by Purdue as coach-in-waiting at
season’s end—Southern Illinois was led by conference scoring champ guard
Darren Brooks.
What happened to the Salukis in the NCAA tournament? No.
9 Southern Illinois came oh-so-close to toppling Elite Eight-bound No. 8
Alabama during the first round in Seattle, losing on a game-winning jumper by Crimson Tide guard Antoine Pettway with five seconds left.
2015 Northern Iowa
How good were the Panthers in the regular season? Northern Iowa was magnificent for most of the year, beating three major-conference teams and cracking the Top 10 in March.
Who was the Panthers’ star? Forward
Seth Tuttle was a consensus All-American as a senior, averaging 15.3
points per game; he’s now an assistant at his alma mater.
What happened to Northern Iowa in the NCAA tournament? The
Panthers, a trendy pick to do damage, blew out Wyoming in the first
round before losing, as Saint Louis had the year prior, to the
Cardinals.
An early Big Ten tournament defeat at the hands of Oregon prevented the
Terrapins from hosting the first two rounds of March Madness, but Brenda
Frese’s squad has fared well in the face of several injuries this season.
Still, that early exit looms over this matchup with the Racers, who have the
12th best offensive rating in the country.
Somehow an entire decade has passed since Jacobson and Northern Iowa were in
the Big Dance but this program is ready for their next moment. Jacobson did
plenty of early work under Greg McDermott before succeeding him as the
Panthers’ head coach way back in 2006. The last two decades have featured a
ton of victories and notable moments, including shots by Ali Farokhmanesh
and Paul Jesperson. With this year’s MVC Tournament title, the Panthers are
dancing again and Jacobson is hoping to add to his impressive record in the
Tourney field.
Northern Iowa: Northern Iowa was helped by one of many upsets
across the country when Belmont went down early in Arch Madness. UNI is
the No. 12 and will face the regular season and tournament champs out of
the Big East, No. 5 St. John’s and Slick Rick Pitino. Could be a tough one
in store for UNI, but magic has happened for this program before. If UNI
does it, though, they get a rematch with Kansas as a possibility.
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