Missouri Valley Conference Notebook
by Neal Heston
On pace for a match:
Last season the MVC saw four teams hit the 20-win plateau. Halfway through the conference slate, four are again on track for 20 wins before the league tournament in St. Louis during the first weekend of March.
Not counting remaining non-conference games, Northern Iowa is pacing to 24 wins before the MVC Tourney, followed by 23 from Wichita State, 21 out of Southern Illinois and 20 from Creighton. Missouri State, who we all know typically finishes the regular season on a hot streak, is on pace for 17 wins before March (not counting its annual run to the tournament championship).
Postseason Watch
NCAA:
Northern Iowa (17-3, 7-2) – The Panthers showed their stuff last week by staving off Southern Illinois and taking a tough Drake team to the cleaners. Since losing senior guard Erik Crawford to injury, UNI is 3-0. Crawford’s replacement, John Little, has averaged 9.7 points per game during that span – makes you wonder how dangerous this team will be when Crawford returns.
Southern Illinois (14-5, 7-2) – Bad luck for the Salukis last week, but SIU is still right in the thick for a Valley title … again. The Salukis almost pulled off an important win at Northern Iowa last Monday, but fell after a rare free throw miss from Tony Young. Then a rally at Missouri State on Thursday fell just short. Defense is what will get the Salukis in the tournament right now and probably one or two victories.
Creighton (13-4, 7-2) – No team is as hot as the Bluejays right now (six consecutive wins), even with Nate Funk out for the season. But we’ll find out a lot more during this next week with contests at Southern Illinois, vs. Wichita State and vs. Northern Iowa.
Wichita State (16-4, 7-2) – The young guys have stepped up and have the Shockers in the hunt, but the main worry is WSU’s record against the other first-place squads. Wichita State sports a 2-2 record against the upper division of the league, but both victories are against Missouri State. The two defeats were at the hands of Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa. Games remaining against Creighton, SIU and UNI: four – we’ll have to wait and see whether the Shockers will keep pace.
NIT-bound: Missouri State (12-5, 5-4)
Still hunting: Bradley (10-7, 4-5), Drake (11-9, 4-5)
Recapping the last week
Biggest leap: Northern Iowa – Last Monday’s contest against Southern Illinois was pretty much it for the Panthers. A loss would have pinned UNI with three more league losses than SIU, which isn’t likely to lose three more games. But after a double-overtime win, UNI carried the momentum into Saturday’s contest with Drake. All five starters scored in double figures, as the Panthers hit a season-best 67 percent from the field.
Down to Earth: Southern Illinois – With a defense like the Salukis’, SIU won’t lose many more games like last week (at Northern Iowa and at Missouri State). It just appears Southern Illinois won’t run away with the title this season.
Player of the Week: Grant Stout, Northern Iowa
There’s no disagreeing with the league office this week. Stout was huge for the Panthers last week, hitting a deep trey to force double overtime against Southern Illinois and averaging a double-double during the last two contests with 17 PPG and 10.5 RPG.
Looking at this week
Most important week ahead: Missouri State
It’s a little surprising to not see the Bears higher than they are right now, but now is their chance to gain back some ground in the league race. MSU picked up a huge win over Southern Illinois last week and plays two teams from the lower division this week (Bradley and Evansville) while Creighton, Southern Illinois and Wichita State duke it out.
Toughest week ahead: Creighton
The Bluejays begin their toughest schedule run with contests at Southern Illinois on Tuesday and vs. Wichita State on Saturday. Those should be a couple of physical contests, as Southern Illinois and Wichita State are the Nos. 1 and 4 defenses in the league.
