Missouri Valley Conference Notebook
by Neal Heston
Hoopville’s Player of the Week: Grant Stout, Northern Iowa
The senior forward has begun the conference slate on the right jump, scoring an average of 16 points and grabbing 11.3 rebounds in UNI’s 4-0 start.
Bradley (11-6 / 2-3)
Raining Threes
Only Wichita State has limited the Braves to less than 10 3-pointers in MVC play, but unfortunately for Bradley the countless treys against other squads aren’t resulting in as many victories. BU has managed just two victories against Evansville and Drake so far despite averaging 10.8 treys per contest. Contests against Northern Iowa and Wichita State were lost from the start after the Braves fell behind early: 14 to Northern Iowa and 15 to Wichita State, respectively.
Will Franklin has led the attack in early league play, averaging 17 points per game. Daniel Ruffin has also pitched in four games on the leader board after scoring at least 17 in four of five contests.
Marking win number three in the Valley win column won’t be simple this week as Southern Illinois looms on the schedule for Wednesday.
Creighton (9-5 / 3-1)
Quietly soaring near the top
The Bluejays have already racked up five total defeats and are barely a thought for anyone when rankings are mentioned, but Creighton is still close to the summit in the nation’s third-strongest conference. A rough night from behind the arc at Indiana State sent the ‘Jays to their lone conference blemish. Creighton managed to sink only one of nine attempts in the second half, while Indiana State hit four of seven.
Senior guard Nate Funk has been the go-to guy early on, averaging 18.3 points in the first four conference games. Anthony Tolliver and Nick Porter have also chipped in large contributions, Tolliver with two 20-plus performances and Porter scoring 12.5 points per contest.
Creighton drew the good luck card for this week’s slate, as a struggling Drake squad enters the Qwest Center. The Bulldogs have yet to win an MVC game after a 9-2 non-conference start.
Drake (9-6 / 0-4)
Repeating old habits
Close defeats last season cost Drake a postseason opportunity, and the same is happening so far this winter. Second-half struggles have sent the Bulldogs to their worst MVC start under head coach Tom Davis after a hopeful 9-2 start to the non-conference slate.
Game one, a 78-57 loss: Evansville outscored Drake 42-26 in the second half. Game two, an 84-73 loss: Indiana State outscored DU 46-32. Game three against Southern Illinois, a 59-54 loss: The ‘Dogs fizzled in the second half, falling from 53 percent for field goals in the first half to 28 percent in the second. Saturday was a different storyline against Bradley, but the Braves had too much offense to overcome during an 89-86 defeat. Dr. Tom would like no better than to carry that offense to Creighton on Tuesday to start bouncing the ball in the right direction.
Evansville (9-7 / 2-3)
Rocky road
Hopes were high after shooting by Drake in the conference opener, but the Aces have since dropped three consecutive Valley contests. However, they have been close losses to teams that occupy the top of the standings. The Aces nearly pulled road upsets at Bradley and Northern Iowa, losing by seven and three points, respectively. With another road contest to a likely postseason squad in Missouri State this Tuesday, rebounding back into the win column might prove to be a difficult task.
Illinois State (8-7 / 0-4)
Still searching
The last two league contests have gone much better than the opening two for the Redbirds. Illinois State lost its first two games to Evansville and Southern Illinois by an average of 23.5 points. The last two defeats have been much closer, but the Redbirds are still waiting to celebrate a Valley victory.
Osiris Eldridge scored a career-high 28 points at Creighton on New Year’s Day, but that wasn’t enough to take down the Bluejays in a 79-71 loss. Levi Dyer also chipped in 13 points in the effort. Free throws were the difference, as Creighton made a trip to the charity stripe 26 times and sank 21 of those attempts. Illinois State managed just nine attempts.
Dyer led the Redbird attack during a 54-50 defeat to Indiana State on Saturday, but both squads hovered around 33 percent from the field. Dominitrix Johnson was the only other Redbird in double figures.
Striking the win column will be difficult this week as Illinois State’s next opponent is Northern Iowa – unbeaten in the Valley.
Indiana State (10-4 / 3-1)
Unfamiliar territory
Yes, the conference season is only one-fourth complete, but it’s been awhile since college basketball fans have seen Indiana State sitting near the top of the league standings at any point during a season. Now is that time, but the next four contests will tell everyone just exactly what these Sycamores are made of.
The next two games will be against a struggling Wichita State and a surprising Bradley squad. Following that, a tough road trip through Iowa awaits at Drake and Northern Iowa. If Indiana State survives that stretch with at least two victories, this team will be ready to contend for an upper-half finish in the MVC.
ISU’s last two wins have come by completely different styles. Marico Stinson sank a career-best 37 points as the Sycamores slipped past Drake, 84-73. On Saturday a 54-50 win over Illinois State included two teams who struggled to hit 30 percent from the field.
Missouri State (12-3 / 3-1)
Not shocking: Bears’ offense rolls again
Missouri State climbed back into the win column by sending the reeling Wichita State Shockers to their fifth loss in six games. The victory placed the Bears in a four-way tie for second place in the MVC with Southern Illinois, Indiana State and Creighton. Blake Ahearn led the attack against WSU with 23 tallies in the 95-87 win. MSU is now 6-0 this season when scoring at least 80 points.
Prior to the victory, the Bears had dropped two close contests – a one-point squeaker to Saint Louis and a three-point setback to Valley rival Creighton.
A win over Evansville on Tuesday could possibly send the Bears into a first-place tie, depending on what happens with Northern Iowa at Illinois State.
Northern Iowa (13-2 / 4-0)
Prowling at the top
Everything seems to be rolling in the direction of UNI and first-year head coach Ben Jacobson. Losing two starters and a head coach from last season hasn’t seemed to faze the Panthers, as they sit alone atop the Valley at 4-0 in league games. Those victories have been hard-earned too, with a pair coming at Wichita State and at home against Southern Illinois.
Saturday’s win against SIU should finally start sending more top 25 votes toward the Panthers. It has been a long uphill climb to get the nation’s attention back since losing the three seniors from last year’s squad.
Grant Stout has continuously been the leader of this team, averaging a double-double in conference games. The senior forward and the Panthers should be leery of Tuesday’s trip to Illinois State, as the Redbirds will be fighting for their first conference win of the winter.
Southern Illinois (3-1 / 12-3)
Round One to the Panthers
Saturday’s contest against Northern Iowa was the battle for sole possession of first place. The physical style of the Salukis made a difference though, as UNI went to the free throw line 16 more times than Southern Illinois and nailed 22-of-29 charity attempts. Jamaal Tatum and Randal Falker combined for 35 points to lead the Saluki attack.
Don’t expect very many more losses for this team though, as before the defeat SIU had notched two tough wins – vs. Wichita State and at Drake. Falker and Tatum again were the leaders as Falker scored 20 points against Wichita State and Tatum sank 20 at Drake.
Wednesday poses another tough test for SIU as it travels to Bradley – not an easy place for any team to win.
Wichita State (10-5 / 1-3)
No such thing as a gentle fall
It only takes two weeks to plummet from greatness. Wichita State was perched high above the Valley and the nation, sitting at No. 8 for almost two weeks while jumping out to a 9-0 start. Talk had already begun about how far the Shockers would go in the NCAA Tournament. But now is not the time to talk about the postseason, as WSU has dropped five of its last six contests and is in danger of falling into last place in the Valley by the end of this week.
The Shockers aren’t far from being 4-0 in the conference race: a four-point upset at home to Northern Iowa, a five-point setback at Southern Illinois and then Sunday’s defeat to Missouri State.
Wednesday will not pose an easy situation to turn fortunes around with a trip scheduled to surprising Indiana State.
