Missouri Valley Notebook
by Neal Heston
In the Valley, basketball is 24-7
That is, 24 wins and 7 losses in the non-conference slate – good for a .774 winning percentage. Five teams are undefeated after the first full week of action, and it could have easily been seven. Drake (3-1) nearly upset No. 10-ranked Boston College, but fell 87-84, and Wichita State (4-1) nearly downed Illinois, 55-54.
Other strong wins include Bradley over DePaul, Creighton over Dayton, Drake over Detroit and Northern Iowa and Illinois State over Western Michigan. Only two contests have resulted in MVC teams losing by a double digit deficit: Evansville by 13 to Loyola-Chicago and Illinois State by 17 at Cincinnati.
Every Valley squad has protected its court, going a combined 16-0 at home.
Strong tests await for Iowa teams
The Valley will look to send its own wave of cyclones through Ames this week when Northern Iowa travels to Iowa State on Nov. 29 and Drake hosts the Cyclones on Dec. 5. The Panthers whipped ISU in Cedar Falls last season, but haven’t fared very well in Ames. Drake will attempt to halt Iowa State with its early high-powered offense. The Bulldogs have found almost nothing but net during a 3-1 start.
Hoopville MVC Player of the Week: Nate Funk, Creighton
It’s really difficult to give this to anyone but Nate Funk. The guard has been a scoring machine and Creighton needed all of his 38 points to knock down Dayton in double overtime.
Hoopville Newcomer of the Week: Ajay Calvin, Drake
Calvin has reached double figures in all four games so far and is averaging a team-high 12.3 points per contest. He’s been a large contributor to the Bulldog’s 81 points per game.
Creighton (3-0): Soaring high early
The Bluejays flew past the opposition during week one and now look to knock down a beast from the east. At least three players have nailed double figures in all three contests. Nate Funk has led the way with more than 20 points per contest, including a 38 point effort during a double overtime win against Dayton. Johnny Mathies also put together a couple of good performances with 24 points against Dayton and another 12 in a 72-52 win against George Mason. Next up is DePaul from the Big East. DePaul already lost to another Valley squad (Bradley) this week and should have its hands full with a Bluejay squad that is shooting 46 percent from the field in November.
Week 1 team MVP: Nate Funk, 21.3 PPG
Games this week: Nov. 30 at DePaul (1-1)
Northern Iowa (3-0): Bench doing its part
One concern many had of the Panthers was their bench. All the starters returned, but three large contributors from the bench graduated. Greg McDermott’s decision not to redshirt freshman Travis Brown paid off on the season’s first night. Brown sank eight points in just six minutes during UNI’s 68-46 win over Western Carolina.
In wins over Western Michigan and Upper Iowa, senior guard John Little has stormed off the bench for a total of 16 tallies. Adam Viet and Atila Santos scored eight points apiece in the 72-47 win against Upper Iowa.
Ben Jacobson has been slightly below his league-leading scoring status from last season. The senior guard is averaging 9.7 points in three games – about eight below his average from last winter. Sophomore center Eric Coleman has led the team in scoring during two games, scoring 17 in the season-opener and 11 against Upper Iowa. He has also snatched 7.3 boards per contest as well.
Week 1 team MVP: Eric Coleman, 12.3 PPG
Games this week: Nov. 30 at Iowa State (3-1); Dec. 3 vs. Loyola-Chicago (2-0)
Bradley (2-0): Getting the job done
If you want to make a run at the postseason, beat a postseason-caliber team. That’s exactly what the Braves did during the season’s first week after knocking down DePaul, 75-60. Even with two players suspended until late December (namely Patrick O’ Bryant) because they accepted money for work not done, Bradley has had several players step up with notable performances. The leader – no surprise – is Marcellus Sommerville, who has drained 16 points per game and snatched 8.5 rebounds a contest. Tony Bennett and Lawrence Wright have also averaged 15 and 10 points, respectively, in BU’s two wins.
Week 1 team MVP: Marcellus Sommerville, 16.0 PPG
Games this week: Nov. 30 at Loyola-Chicago (2-0); Dec. 3 vs. Bowling Green (2-2)
Indiana State (2-0): Offense strong early
Senior guard David Moss has led a spark for the Sycamore offense, which has typically been known for well, not being that good. Moss sank 23 in an opening night 84-60 victory over Central State and drained another 25 during an overtime win over Middle Tennessee State. Others around Moss have also hit nothing but net, as INS is hitting 49 percent from the field and 43 percent from beyond the arc early. The one downside: hitting a mere 33 of 50 shots from the free-throw line.
Freshman forward Jay Tunnell is another Valley newcomer making noise early. Tunnell is hitting 13 points per game and is giving reason to believe the Sycamore offense may be saved this winter.
Week 1 team MVP: David Moss, 24.0 PPG
Games this week: Dec. 3 at Eastern Illinois (0-2)
Missouri State (2-0): MSU, Ahearn dismantle early opposition
Blake Ahearn has never been regarded as a top scorer in the Valley, but the senior certainly has himself at the top of the ranks after this week. The junior guard scored 19 in an 87-51 drubbing over Northern Illinois and added another 27 against Arkansas State. Kellen Easley Deke Thompson and Tyler Chaney have also sparked early, averaging more than 10 points during the first two contests. MSU hit 58 percent from the field in both victories.
The upcoming schedule looks promising for the offensive explosion to continue. MSU will host the Price Cutter Classic this weekend and will face Georgia Southern in the semifinals.
Week 1 team MVP: Blake Ahearn, 23.0 PPG
Games this week: Dec. 2 vs. Georgia Southern (3-2); Dec. 3 vs. Southern Florida or Texas A&M-Corpus Christian
Wichita State (4-1): WSU almost snags a big win
Losing a lot of its starting lineup from last winter certainly hasn’t stopped the Shockers’ offense.
After putting up 83-, 86- and 97-spots in three victories, Wichita State nearly upset Illinois this week. WSU controlled a four-point advantage at the half, but the Illini escaped with a 55-54 win.
P.J. Couisnard and Paul Miller have put together strong start after strong start during the shockers early season surge. Couisnard has hit double digits in points twice and scored nine another two times, and Miller has averaged 13 points and 7.2 boards per contest.
Week 1 team MVP: Paul Miller, 13.0 PPG
Games this week: Nov. 30 vs. Providence (2-0); Dec. 3 vs. Northwestern State (2-1)
Drake (3-1): Puppies to dogs in one week
No Klayton Korver? No problem – at least not from the way the Bulldogs performed this week. Drake has had some strong showings from newcomers – the most notable from junior forward Ajay Calvin. Calvin has put together 12.3 points per game and has been one of the power players for an offense that has averaged 81 points in four contests. Freshman Jonathan Cox has also been a pleasant surprise early, adding another 10.5 points per game.
Because of this, Drake has rolled past early competition and nearly knocked down now eighth-ranked Boston College. BC survived a scare in an 87-84 escape. Veterans Aliou Keita, Chris Bryant and Chaun Brooks made their appearances noted after the three combined for 46 points. With the offense in sync right now and the schedule that awaits, there’s good reason to expect a 5-1 record from the ‘Dogs next week and maybe an 8-1 mark when the team travels to Iowa on Dec. 20.
Week 1 team MVP: Ajay Calvin, 12.3 PPG
Games this week: Nov. 30 vs. Cornell College; Dec. 5 vs. Iowa State (3-1)
Illinois State (2-1): Defense keeps birds flying
With all of the losses from last season, few expect a lot from Illinois State this winter, but the Redbirds have shown early that defense might surprise the MVC in ’05-06. ILS has surrendered just 57.7 points per game, and that includes the 76-spot Cincinnati laid on them. Twice in their first three contests the Redbirds have limited opponents to 50 points or less. That’s good, because the offense has only managed 59 points a game.
Neil Plank, who sank 12 points in the opener against IUPUI and 16 against Western Michigan, has started to emerge as the leader of this team early, but there doesn’t appear to be any clear go-to guy yet. Greg Dilligard led the attack in the defeat at Cincinnati with 16 points and five boards.
Week 1 team MVP: Neil Plank, 12.0 PPG
Games this week: Nov. 29 vs. Grambling (2-0); Dec. 3 vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay (1-3)
Southern Illinois (2-2): Ice cold in Alaska
SIU started the season by getting revenge against La Lafeyette with a 65-47 victory, but the Salukis dropped back-to-back games for the first time since last January after defeats to Monmouth and Alaska-Anchorage in the Alaska-Anchorage Tournament. An 80-72 win against Eastern Washington in the tourney finale, in which Tatum sunk 37 points, sent the Salukis back to Carbondale with a warm feeling. The 1-2 start marked the first time SIU has flirted with the .500 mark since the 2000-01 season when the Salukis finished 16-14. Jamaal Tatum has lifted this team on his shoulders, leading the Salukis in all four contests thus far.
Week 1 team MVP: Jamaal Tatum, 21.8 PPG
Games this week: Nov. 30 at Saint Louis (1-1); Dec. 3 at Wyoming (3-1)
Evansville (1-2): Potent offense not enough
It should come as no surprise that the early weakness of the Aces is the defense. That has been the case the past couple seasons. But a team that has put an average of 81 points on the board shouldn’t be 1-2 in its first three games – unless that squad is surrendering 83 points a contest, like Evansville.
An early high note for UE has been the play of freshman Jason Holsinger. The 5-11 guard has sunk 17.3 points per game to lead the Aces. The experienced players are also turning in strong performances early. Junior Matt Webster sunk 24 points in 27 minutes during a 91-81 opening night victory against Marshall. The 6-7 forward also nailed 15 points and grabbed eight boards in a 99-86 loss to Loyola-Chicago.
Purdue, who slipped by the Aces last December (62-61), is next on the slate.
Week 1 team MVP: Jason Holsinger, 17.3 PPG
Games this week: Dec. 3 vs. Purdue (2-1)
