Beacons Aim to Finish Strong as Season Finale Looms at Evansville
The Valparaiso Beacons will look to keep their late-season surge rolling Saturday as they make their final road trip of the regular season, traveling south to face the Evansville Purple Aces in a matchup with postseason implications still very much in play.
With one game remaining before Arch Madness tips off in St. Louis, Missouri Valley Conference positioning has yet to be finalized. Valparaiso enters the finale tied for fifth place and remains in contention for a coveted first-round bye. While the Beacons do not fully control their own destiny, their path is clear: a win at Evansville, coupled with an Illinois State loss to Belmont, would secure the No. 5 seed and an extra day of rest in the conference tournament.
Evansville, meanwhile, is eager to close the book on a season its fan base would rather forget. The Purple Aces sit last in the Valley standings and have managed just two conference victories, both coming against teams abbreviated ISU. Riding a four-game losing streak, Evansville was last seen suffering a 98–64 loss at Belmont, a game in which AJ Casey led the Aces with 21 points while two others also reached double figures.
Valparaiso, by contrast, is peaking at the right time. The Beacons have won four straight games and have quietly become one of the league’s most dangerous teams heading into March. Their most recent victory came in dramatic fashion, as JT Pettigrew buried a last-second three-pointer to lift Valpo past Drake, 74–71, in the home finale at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
That win served as a fitting sendoff for Valparaiso’s seniors. Brody Whitaker and Rakim Chainey each scored 17 points, while Pettigrew added 15, going 7-of-9 from the free-throw line.
Saturday’s matchup marks the second meeting between the teams this season. The first was anything but routine. Valparaiso needed overtime to escape with a seven-point victory at home, pulling away in the extra session after a tightly contested regulation period. Evansville’s Leif Moeller poured in a game-high 26 points, with Casey adding 16 and Joshua Hughes chipping in 10. The remainder of the Aces combined for just 11 points total.
Valpo was paced by Owen Dease’s 18 points, Justus McNair’s 16, and got 10 big points from Carter Hopoi. That overtime win sparked a strong run on the back part of conference play, as the Beacons have went 6–1 since the last meeting.
A closer look at Evansville suggests the challenges that plagued the Aces in January remain unresolved. Offensively, they rank near the bottom nationally in most categories and sit last in the MVC in offensive efficiency, turnover rate, offensive rebounding, and steal percentage. Defensively, the numbers are similarly bleak, with Evansville ranking last in the league in defensive efficiency, effective field-goal percentage allowed, two-point defense, and steals.
Still, Valley games are rarely decided on paper alone.
Despite Evansville’s struggles, Valparaiso knows better than to overlook an opponent capable of playing spoiler. The close, physical nature of the first meeting serves as a reminder that effort and execution will matter far more than records on Saturday afternoon.
For the Beacons, the formula remains simple: control tempo, defend with discipline, and play their brand of basketball. If Valparaiso executes the game plan and avoids complacency, the opportunity to carry momentum into March remains well within reach.
According to KenPom, Valparaiso enters the finale as a 70 percent favorite, with a projected 72–66 victory. Evansville, however, will be motivated to end its season on a high note and deny the Beacons a chance at a first-round bye.
One final hurdle remains. For Valparaiso, a win Saturday could be the final piece needed to cap a strong regular season—and set the stage for a potentially dangerous run in St. Louis.
Can we get a Arch Madness roll call? Additionally, the university is having a send off event for the team 2 hours prior to the game at the team hotel, you can register at the link below. Let’s go Beacons!
How bout a cover and a double digit win at this Hornets nest atmosphere in Ford Center.Valpo -5.5.
I'd expect the minutes to get well distributed so a flat looking close win is the best I'm expecting.
They, like Drake, are trying to force us to beat them from the 3. So far so good.
Refs are wearing purple for this one
Ouch. 😕
We really did not come prepared for this one defensively. Let them beat us up all night on one-on-one drives. That really hurts.
Ref ball turns to Casey ball
This one hurts the confidence.
This loss was really inevitable. Just came at a bad time. We have been letting teams do this to us our defense over the past few games. They penetrate and we just can't seem to challenge them or they burn the coverage for an easy drive to the basket. It's a shame we had to have this likely cost us a first round bye, but this still has been tremendous growth for this program from last season. Last season the team was nearly unwatchable for a good portion of the season. This season I enjoyed watching every game and only missed watching Kentucky.
This team plays to the level of their valley competition, good teams and bad. So no matter where we start next week we will have a chance to make a run.
There goes the bye. Casey goes off for career day and our defense, no answers most of the second half. Especially the last play. Deny Casey the ball on the inbounds. Terrible loss
Devastating. At worst with a win we still get 6 seed and play thursday night. this loss could push us to 8 and a dog fight and if we win its belmont friday.
Just checking the standing and no way will be an 8 seed. Probably 6 or 7 which means Indiana State or Drake. SIU is in 8th right now and thay are 9-10 in the league with no way to catch us. If we see Belmont it would not be til the final game in tournament.
We had several recent unimpressive wins. Today we were slapped in the face with the reality that while we are good we are nowhere near great. I'm almost glad this subpar performance has been gotten out of the way prior to St. Louis. Time to refocus for a four game tournament run with a renewed underdog perspective.
