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.
The first game of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament tips off what fans know as Arch Madness in St. Louis. The MVC Tournament
rarely disappoints, and this matchup should be another competitive battle.
Drake has enjoyed plenty of success in this tournament over the years,
though this season has been a bit of a down one for the Bulldogs. They face
a Southern Illinois team that finished the regular season at 16-15.
Expect Drake to lean on its tournament experience and perimeter shooting to
stay right in this game. If the Bulldogs knock down shots early, they have a
great chance to pull the upset.
Indiana State Sycamores vs. Valparaiso Beacons
The second Missouri Valley Conference game features Indiana State taking on
Valparaiso.
Indiana State enters with an 11-20 record, while the Beacons come in at
17-14. When these two teams met earlier this season, Valparaiso won by just
a single point, so another tight contest would not be surprising.
Both teams should battle throughout, but Valparaiso appears to have the
slight edge. Look for the Beacons to make just enough plays down the stretch
to move on and face Bradley in the next round.
Drake has plenty of pedigree in this tournament, having won Arch Madness
three straight years, but this feels like the spot where that run finally
comes to an end. Belmont has been playing strong basketball and should have
the edge on both ends of the floor.
When push comes to shove, expect the Bruins to take control and pull away
late with a double-digit victory.
UIC Flames at Murray State Racers
Another Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinal features the UIC Flames and
Murray State Racers.
UIC has been one of the surprise teams in the conference this season and
earned its way into the 4/5 matchup. Murray State spent a good portion of
the year near the top of the standings before slipping a bit late in the
season.
The Racers still have the more athletic roster, and if their shots are
falling, they should have enough firepower to move on and potentially set up
a matchup with Belmont.
Valparaiso Beacons at Bradley Braves
The third Arch Madness game features Valparaiso and Bradley.
Roger Powell has the Beacons playing better basketball lately, and
Valparaiso enters this matchup at 18-14 after playing Thursday night in St.
Louis. Meanwhile, Bradley is coming off a big win last week over Murray
State and has been steady under head coach Brian Wardle.
Expect a competitive game here, but Bradley’s consistency should help the
Braves find a way to pull this one out late.
MVC tourney predicted champ: Belmont (#1 seed) Dates: March 5-8 Location: St. Louis, MO 2025 tourney champ: Drake (#1 seed) Fun fact: each of past 3 championship schools won multiple titles in a row Seeding: 4 of past 5 champs were top-2 seed I
do not know what more you can ask out of Coach Casey Alexander: he
finished his stint at Lipscomb with 3 straight 20-win seasons from
2017-2019, and has now had 7 straight winning seasons in Nashville. The
Bruins have lost just 5 games this season: 2 in OT, 1 by a single point,
and 2 others by single-digits. This tourney has been kind to top-2
seeds, and after switching over from the OVC 4 years ago, I think it is
time for Belmont to finally claim its 1st MVC title.. There are some
teams that require a deep-dive to discover the secret to their success
but that is not the case for the Bruins: their 51.7 FG% is #4 in the
nation, and their 40.5 3P% is #3 in the nation. The most amazing part is
that since losing SR PG Nic McClain to a knee injury on New Year’s Day,
they have gone 13-3 during his absence, but are still hoping to welcome
him back onto the court any day now.
Casey Alexander (Belmont).
The 53-year-old Bruins head coach has run the program for the past
seven seasons and claims more than 300 career wins from his time at Stetson, Lipscomb
and Belmont. The Bruins are 26-5 entering the MVC Tournament and a
legitimate Cinderella candidate because Alexander learned at the feet of
the great Rick Byrd and runs great stuff. Alexander is guaranteed to
receive interest from high-major programs. In fact, he already has: Kansas State has him on its dwindling list of candidates, sources told CBS Sports. Feels like this year can be his time to move up.
Casey Alexander has won 20-plus games in all seven seasons running Belmont.
Getty Images
Prackett recorded a pair of career highs as she averaged a double-double
of 21.5 points and 13 rebounds per game for the Sycamores. She notched 21
points and a career-high 18 rebounds at Murray State. Those 18 boards are
tied for the fourth-most in program history. The junior from Arkansas then
poured in a career-high 22 points with eight rebounds at Belmont. She shot
57.1% from the field and 84.6% from the line for the week.
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