Sigh. Belmont is a great team. Well coached and they do the little things right.
We played them tough. Disappointing but we hung with them.
This is a very entertaining Valpo team. Probably the best team we’ve had in a long time. Onto the next one.
Box score said 1713. No way. Maybe doesn’t count the students. Either way, a GREAT game and great effort for the Beacons. Just too many sharpshooters. They are one hell of a team. Two losses by a total of five points. See you in St Lois.
Game could have gone either way. Not much separation between the top of the valley to the bottom. Not sure if a moral victory is such a thing, but VU knows they can compete with anyone on the league.Belmont is a very difficult team to guard on the perimeter. They have 3 or 4 guys that can get you bucket any time. good crowd, was definitely not 1,700. I would guess 2,500. On to the next one. Season is not over.
What a game last night. The ARC was electric, and the student section showed up in a big way. For anyone who loves college basketball, that was the kind of atmosphere you hope to be a part of. If only the final score had gone our way. Section G did its part, too—when Belmont’s Dillon buried that corner three in the final two minutes, he shot me a stare on the way back down the floor as he yelled, and Isaiah West was waving goodbye to me after the game as if I wasn’t supposed to yell for the Beacons the majority of the game, I couldn’t help but chuckle. Moments like that tell me our fans did their part last night.
Looking at the box score, this one really did come down to shooting, just like @vu72 pointed out. Belmont shot 45.8% from three while Valpo hit 33.3%, despite taking three more attempts. From two‑point range, Belmont was 61.5% to Valpo’s 50%—still better than our season average, but not enough to keep pace. Belmont’s bench outscored ours 40–22, a major swing. On the positive side, Valpo kept Lundblade in check thanks to strong defensive efforts from Brody and Justus, but Belmont’s other shooters capitalized as a result. The Beacons forced 15 turnovers while committing only nine and even won the offensive glass battle by four. This is a good and dangerous Valpo team.
Despite the loss, I’m proud of this team and proud of our fans for creating an atmosphere that our players can get energized from. On to Indiana State—here’s hoping next game is the start of something special as we enter the back half of Valley play.
Side note: Rocco Miller was in the building last night. He’s a well‑respected national college basketball media guy, known for his work with The Bracketeer, Basket Under Review, and The Field of 68. In conversation, he mentioned to me that his 104‑year‑old grandmother—who graduated from Valpo in the 1930s or 40s—was watching from home last night. Pretty incredible connection.
At this point. The hope should be to get the 5th bye spot. You dont want to go into a game with any of the top half of the valley with one game already played, and there is always upset potential.
Great points from everyone who was at and watched the game. The guys played great, several calls went against us that could have swung the result and yet we still had a chance. Sometimes time just runs out and in a game of runs yesterday, time just ran out on us. Hard to feel like either team lost last night yet unfortunately we get an L on our record which could have significant implications come March seeding. Most importantly, and several have mentioned this above, yesterday was one of the few times since we joined the Valley where it looked like we belonged. The crowd was good and the coaching/on court performance were outstanding. When it ended, it felt like we just watched 2 NCAA tournament calibur basketball teams go head to head. Now I am not saying we are a tournament team (honestly we are not there yet at all) but in that 2 hour window last night both teams were terrific.
Now the schedule swings in our favor a bit. We do have 6 of our last 10 on the road but we have many winnable games on the schedule. This next one is tricky on the road against an Indiana State team that seems to be in every game yet can't find a way to win (much like us the first few months of the year). We have little time to prepare with travel tomorrow and an early start Saturday. Winning this one would be big. Remember that the most wins Valpo has ever had in Valley play is 9 and I think that would be a great goal for this season. 9-10 wins in league play would be an incredible step forward.
Hoping the guys rally back Saturday after a really tough loss and exhausting game. It is nice to feel proud of the program again, last night 9and the last stretch of games) did that for many of us.
At this point. The hope should be to get the 5th bye spot. You dont want to go into a game with any of the top half of the valley with one game already played, and there is always upset potential.
Agreed although these tournaments are always "funky." Sometimes the team that played on day 1 has gotten the jitters out, played on the court, and has the advantage on day 2. We see it often. The problem is they run out of gas on day 3 or 4 and therefore the bye is always great. I am most interested to see who seeds where before I decide what would be ideal. The goal is obviously to win as many conference games as possible and let the chips fall...... BUT that last week of the season will be interesting. If somehow Murray falls to a 4 seed and Belmont stays the 1, i'll take my chances on the other half as a 6-7-10 seed and hope to play UIC, IL State, Bradley, Northern Iowa, etc in the later rounds. Too much season left to worry about it now but so many of these teams are beatable on any given night. I do believe that Murray and Belmont are head and shoulders better overall and are ideally avoided as long as possible.
Even with the loss last night Valpo moves ahead in the KenPom metrics to 154, I note this because this is a significant improvement over the start of the season at 283. That is a testament to our coaching staff and the work our team has put in. 154 is higher than Rutgers a B10 school, I know Rutgers is down but still they have access to much better "resources". I can only hope we continue to get better.
Belmont responds to this 1 point win by building a 34 point lead over Murray State on national tv before letting off the gas to “only” win by 17.
And people claim Valpo has attendance problems. Belmont is one of the best teams in the country...and their arena still looks like a ghost town
There’s a lot of entertainment opportunities in Nashville my friend, more so than in NW Indiana. I am very sure the bachelorette parties would rather be on Broadway than at a Belmont game.
They've never drawn that great even during the Coach Byrd era. You have four division 1 basketball teams in a 10 mile radius in downtown Nashville and MTSU is not that far away either. Curb Center is beautiful but Belmont is kinda in its own world. Vandy is the main draw, but yes a lot more going on in Nashville
From my count there is around 8 teams give or take in close proximity (including the 10 mile radius). I understand there is a lot going on in nashville, but high quality hoops not being on the list in an arena about the size of Valpo is a head scratcher.
In a way it makes Belmont the perfect add for tbt MVC. Ability to get some good quality basketball and not have other conferences give them the time of day if they stack together a few good seasons
