Missouri Valley Conference Tournament – Day Three
ST. LOUIS – A sellout crowd, the first in tournament history, witnessed Saturday’s semifinal games. The record crowd totaled 22,612, the largest crowd ever to witness a basketball game at the Scottrade Center. Aided by the presence of nearby Southern Illinois in the title game, another sellout for the final is all but certain, and the tournament will certainly surpass the attendance record for the entire tournament by a wide margin.
Semifinals Honor Roll
Jamaal Tatum, Southern Illinois: 20 points
Randal Falker, Southern Illinois: 12 rebounds, 3 blocked shots
Jeremy Crouch, Bradley: 14 points, 4-5 three-pointers
Nate Funk, Creighton: 33 points, 8 rebounds
Nick Porter, Creighton: 19 points, 13 rebounds
Blake Ahearn, Missouri State: 20 points
Deven Mitchell, Missouri State: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals
Bench Play Makes the Difference for Salukis
Southern Illinois didn’t get much production from its bench in Friday’s win over Drake, but Saturday was another story. The Salukis got off to a slow start, falling behind 7-1 just before the first media timeout. At that point, Chris Lowery went to his bench and got a response.
The Salukis ran off eight unanswered points to take an 11-10 lead after the second media timeout. The only points in that stretch from a starter were on a three-pointer by Bryan Mullins. That run got the Salukis going, and although Bradley led for much of the game, the Salukis were initially back in the game because of their bench.
“When they came in, they were really explosive,” Lowery said of his reserves. “They brought electricity to the building when we brought them in. That’s what they’ve got to have.”
The numbers weren’t big, as the Salukis had just an 8-2 edge in bench points and rebounds were even. But it was the time that much of it came, as well as the defense, that made the contribution what it was. They set the stage for the starters to come back and do their jobs, which they ultimately did.
Bradley Likely NIT-Bound
Bradley entered the conference tournament likely needing to win it in order to reach the NCAA Tournament. Although the Braves have a good RPI, the quality wins are lacking and they didn’t hold their own against the top teams in the Valley. If they had won on Saturday, they might have a slim chance at an at-large bid, but at this point the Braves are almost certainly bound for the NIT.
The Braves are 21-12 after Saturday’s loss and were 10-8 in Valley play before the tournament. They don’t have many quality wins from an up-and-down non-conference slate, the best of which would likely be either inconsistent DePaul or Horizon League co-champion Wright State. They won at VCU in BracketBusters, but the Rams are also a bubble team if they don’t win the Colonial Tournament (they face Drexel on Sunday in the semifinals). In the conference, they have a win over Southern Illinois, but they were 1-6 against the three teams that finished ahead of them in the standings as Creighton and Missouri State swept them.
Considering the heavy personnel losses from last season’s team, the fact that Bradley won 21 games and is even being discussed for the postseason says plenty about the job Les did with this team. They weren’t supposed to finish fourth in the Valley and win 21 games.
Bears Have to Sweat Out Sunday Again
A year after being the most notable snub from the NCAA Tournament, Missouri State will have to sweat out Selection Sunday. The Bears are 22-10 after Saturday’s loss to Creighton and entered the day with an RPI of 36.
“You’d like to think (getting to the semifinals solidifies a bid),” said senior guard Blake Ahearn, who added that he feels the Valley deserves three teams. “After what happened last year, you really can’t think for the committee. You don’t know what they’re thinking. You just rely on what you’ve done.”
It’s not as though the Bears are lacking credentials. They have wins over Toledo, Wisconsin and Santa Clara as their most notable in non-conference play, although the first and third were at home and the second was at a neutral site. Not helping them is that they went 0-5 against the two teams that finished ahead of them in the Valley, Southern Illinois and Creighton.
Head coach Barry Hinson feels his team has a better body of work than they had last season. He wasn’t happy with how they played on Saturday, but hopes that won’t be the lasting impression the committee uses.
“Knowing what I know from last year, I’m more optimistic going into the selections this year based on our body of work compared to last year,” said Hinson. “The only thing that we don’t have that we didn’t have last year is our RPI number, which we’re coming to find out doesn’t mean a lot.”
