We’re about 15–20% into the season, and I’ve shared some team stats below for discussion. At this point, we have enough games to start drawing early insights.
If this conversation is engaging, I’ll post updates at the end of each month so we can track changes throughout the season and Valley play. Following Valley teams helps me better understand matchups when conference play begins, and visuals like these give us a clearer picture of expectations and program health compared to our peers.
Feel free to highlight any individual or team stats that stand out and share your analysis—what do you think are the key indicators of success or areas of concern so far?
Source: 2025-26 MVC MBB All-Game Stats (PDF) - Missouri Valley Conference
Team-Level Trends
- Attendance is averaging under 1,000 fans per home game, which ranks last in the Valley—a concern that’s been discussed before.
- Defensive scoring and scoring margin are skewed by the lopsided loss at Kentucky.
- Offensively, we’re still finding rhythm: last in free throw %, field goal %, and assists, likely due to our slow start on that side of the ball. We have seen capability in the offense so I have hope this just continues to improve with continuity.
Positives
- Strong on the offensive glass, solid rebounding percentages, good rim protection (blocked shots), and a favorable turnover margin.
Individual Highlights
- Rakim: Leading the Valley in scoring and 3PT%, 2nd in 3s made, 5th in minutes, 7th in assist/turnover ratio, 8th in assists, and 4th in steals—he’s in beast mode.
- Shon: Leading in offensive rebounds, 5th in blocks, 7th in total rebounds, and 6th in FG%.
- Justice: Despite limited minutes, ranks 12th in steals.
- Carter: Just behind Shon at 6th in blocks.
My takeaway: Rakim is carrying the offense, Shon anchors the low post, and pairing him with Carter gives us the best rim-protection duo in the Valley currently, this is a testament to roger going out and getting this team bigger and stronger. As a Justice fan, I’d like to see him get more minutes—especially after the Cleveland State game.
What do you think? Which stat jumps out to you, and do you agree Justice deserves a bigger role?
Team-Level Trends
- Attendance is averaging under 1,000 fans per home game, which ranks last in the Valley—a concern that’s been discussed before.
- Defensive scoring and scoring margin are skewed by the lopsided loss at Kentucky.
- Offensively, we’re still finding rhythm: last in free throw %, field goal %, and assists, likely due to our slow start on that side of the ball. We have seen capability in the offense so I have hope this just continues to improve with continuity.
The game lost against Kentucky is balanced by an otherwise weak schedule and four wins against teams with an average Pomeroy rating of 285. Even with Kentucky added, the average opponent Pomeroy rating is 230. (Southern Indiana's 320 this week will not help the strength of schedule.) The only MVC team worse than 230 is Evansville at 330. Valpo stands at 220. As much as the results have been more encouraging lately, those last place shooting stats in scoring are still troublesome. Significant improvement will need to continue before Valpo faces a regular schedule of opponents at the MVC level.
I think we’ll know more about this team after the first 2 weeks in December.
Marquette (away) - KenPom 77
UNC Wilmington (home)- 116
Northwestern (away)- 46
If we go:
0 of 3 = 10-11 place finish in conference
1 of 3 = 7-9
2 of 3 = 4-6
3 of 3 = top 3
@valpopal Those are good observations, ESPN power basketball index shows the Valley current SOS like this. SOS is a factor in all statistics and of course we will learn more as the schedule progresses.
I feel like every team that isnt a P5 opponent is a must win game.
Every game against a P5 is a "must put up a good fight game".
Boy, the attendance number is eye-popping. UIC averages roughly double the crowd as VU? Ouch!
FWIW UIC has about 10x the student population than Valpo has, and has the luxury of being close to easy travel options for games with the blue line right outside the pavilion. METRA and PACE are also readily available options for commuting. I would be curious to know just how many UIC fans use these transit methods for getting to games
@rezynezy - nobody in Chicago cares about UIC basketball, in fact, nothing really cares about college basketball in Chicago.
