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.
Wes Miller returns to the state of North Carolina after five years at Cincinnati, where he did not reach the NCAA Tournament. But if he can rekindle what he produced at UNC Greensboro (185-135 record) at Charlotte, there could be a lot to like. Most notably, Miller did not struggle at Cincinnati because of his defenses; the Bearcats ranked in the top 22 for adjusted defensive efficiency in each of his last three seasons. Including his last four years at UNCG, Miller-led teams have finished top-75 for AdjD in 10 straight years.
Consistency on defense should be the calling card again, and his first Charlotte roster features high-major talent, with Keyshuan Tillery, Jordi Rodriguez-Stegemeijer, and Tyler McKinley following him from Cincinnati, as well as adding Dylan Grant (Rutgers) and Peyton Marshall (Georgia Tech). The 49ers lost by 20 to Georgia but also took North Carolina to overtime in the preseason.
While Indiana State did not deal with a coaching change this offseason, it features almost as much “new” as Charlotte — if not more. The 49ers at least bring back Arden Conyers, who played 19.5 minutes per game last season, while the Sycamores return 0.0% of their minutes. It is a brand-new roster for head coach Matthew Graves after an 11-21 (4-16 MVC) season a year ago, with Jackson Cooper as the new headliner.
Across Graves' two seasons at the helm, combined with his previous stint at South Alabama, we’ve learned that his teams play up-tempo and let it fly from three. Over half of Indiana State’s shots in his first season came from beyond the arc; that dropped to 45.2% last year, but it was still the 62nd-highest rate in the country. In their lone Division I exhibition this year, the Sycamores let 33 3s fly out of 60 field goal attempts in a seven-point loss at Butler.
This matchup in Terre Haute comes after Charlotte defended its home court against Indiana State, 92-76, in last year’s season-opener. Not many faces on either side remember that game, though. To say there is much known about either team given the overhauls would be disingenuous, but Miller could have Charlotte playing its best defense in some time, and Graves will have Indiana State ready to let it fly. - Lukas Harkins
Illinois State at Saint Mary's (-9)
Moraga, CA | 10:00 PM ET | ESPN+
Something tells me that Mickey McConnell's Saint Mary's group is going to be a little more offensive than the recent squads of his former head coach and boss Randy Bennett. Saint Mary's hasn't finished with a better offense than defensive since the COVID-shortened season, which makes people forget that prior to that, the Gaels' offense outpaced its defensive for 12 straight campaigns before that.
To that end, Saint Mary's has only had four teams in the Top 300 in pace since 2008, and those happen to perfectly with McConnell's four seasons as the team's point guard. A speedy Australia trip and a 76-possession game against Utah State in the regular season, plus a potent offensive trio of star passer Joshua Dent, breakout sniper Mantas Juzenas, and McDonald's All-American freshman Darius Bivins means that Saint Mary's will probably look more like McConnell's version of the Gaels.
Also on the offense-defensive spectrum, Illinois State weirdly flipped from a team 159-spots offensive to 83-spots defensive from two years ago to last year in KenPom, and yet the Redbirds were 13th-nationally in minutes continuity. Weirdly, the biggest difference in their resume is that they just had way higher two-way free throw percentages two years ago than last. It's still likely this Johnny Kinziger and Chase Walker core is better on offense than on defense.
All told, in a game that would be a surprising victory for Illinois State to go all the way across the country and win at a place few not named Gonzaga have come away victorious in, I would instead look to two offenses that will score a surprising amount of points here. - Matthew Winick
We have a battle between two teams picked to win their respective conferences at 10:30am CST as part of the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon. The Murray State Racers are dangerous, returning Roman Domon, Mathis Courbon, and Brayden Shorter, while adding Christian Jones, Brigham Rogers, and a number of international recruits including Mark Padjen and Pavle Nikolic. Domon is the star of the show as the future NBA player averaged 14.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.1 steals per game as a freshman last year. You can read more about the Murray State Racers below:
Tennessee State put together a strong season last year, led by Aaron Nkrumah who signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Kings last month, but was later waived. There’s a good chance he’ll still end up playing on the Stockton Kings in the G-League this season. Now, Head Coach Nolan Smith is on a roll. He picked up Aaron Bradshaw from Memphis where he averaged 8.6 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 57.6% with the Tigers last season. Transferring down into the Ohio Valley is going to instantly make him one of the best players in the conference. He also picked up Ty-Laur Johnson from San Diego where he averaged 14.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 43.2% overall and 30.9% from three-point. For context, he started out at Louisville where he averaged 8.7 points and 3.6 assists while starting in eight of his 30 games, in which he then transferred to Wake Forest where he started in 19 of his 29 games. All that to say, he has a strong amount of experience that’s going to complement Aaron Bradshaw well.
Tennessee State shouldn’t be slept on and Murray State should be one of the best mid-major teams in the country. This game is during prime working hours, but nothing wrong with having YouTube up on another screen or on your phone!
Illinois State vs Saint Mary’s
Photo: Illinois State Athletics
As you can tell from discussing Murray State earlier, the Missouri Valley Conference is once again going to be one of the most fun conferences to follow outside of the power conference ranks. Illinois State was picked to finish second in the conference with UIC narrowly behind them in third. Chase Walker and Johnny Kinziger have returned which gives them a huge advantage. Walker averaged 13.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game last season while shooting 54.5% overall. Kinziger was right behind him at 11.5 points with 2.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting 40% overall and 33% from three-point. Demarion Burch transferred in from conference rival Bradley, where he averaged 8.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, and one assist per game.
Randy Bennett made waves in college basketball when he announced that he’d be leaving Saint Mary’s after one of the best runs as a head coach in the sport to take the head coaching job at Arizona State. Mickey McConnell stepped up and was named the head coach of the Gaels after spending the last four years as the associate head coach. With Gonzaga out of the conference, it’s wide open with Santa Clara and Saint Mary’s leading the pack for the WCC. The Gaels were picked to finish second behind Santa Clara, as they received one first-place vote compared to the Broncos’ nine. Joshua Dent is the name to know for the Gaels. He averaged 13.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.6 steals last season while shooting 46.7% overall from the floor and 40.4% from three-point. The 6’3 junior has started to put his name on the map for the next-level, as he was recently named one of the top-100 players in college basketball.
This is a heavyweight matchup that tips off at 9pm CST this evening. Saint Mary’s is listed as the favorite in this home game, but Illinois State is going to be looking to start their season off with some momentum.
