Topics

Dot Neuchterlein recognition game.

I understand that Thursday morning,  the sun will rise.

Start of Lent, week 2.

Hope PGMADO  is well enough to make it.

That's the important stuff.

[The second half started with a furious pace with 36 points scored between the teams before the first media timeout.]

MVC TV Network (NBC Sports Chicago)

Playing without the services of leading scorer Isaiah Stafford for family reasons, the Valparaiso University men's basketball team started four freshmen for the first time in 40 years on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center. The Beacons were even or ahead for the majority of the first half, but the experience of visiting Missouri State proved too much to overcome as the Bears used a 12-0 second-half run to prevail 81-70 despite a combined 39 points from Darius DeAveiro and Jahari Williamson

Da Bears come in on a 3-game losing streak.  @UNI 72-65; Home to IndSt 73-71 and @ Murray St 82-72.  The recap on this last game:
N.J. Benson's free throw with 7:34 left in the game drew visiting Missouri State within three points of Murray State, but the hot-shooting Racers ended the game on a 13-6 run to put the Bears away down the stretch, 82-72, in a Valley battle here Wednesday.

Matthew Lee led Missouri State with 22 points and 7 assists, while Chance Moore scored 21 for the Bears (14-12, 6-9 MVC), while Cesare Edwards contributed 10 points.

The second half started with a furious pace with 36 points scored between the teams before the first media timeout. The Racers made 16 of their first 19 field goal attempts in the second half to push ahead 69-61. But Lee and Benson closed the game to 69-66 after Benson's free throw at the 7:34 mark.

But Ellington and Wood carried the Racers to the finish line as Missouri State made just one of its last eight shots down the stretch to fall by ten. The Racers shot 21-of-28 (.750) in the second half.

The Bears finished 27-of-60 (.450) overall, 7-of-25 (.280) from long range and 11-of-16 (.688) from the foul line with 9 turnovers.

Donovan Clay played just 14 minutes (fewest of all dressed athletes) no points, 2 rebounds and no other stats.   In the Indiana State game, Donovan played 35 minutes, 1 of 10 shooting and 5 rebounds..  and a total of 5 points. 

Their NET is 141, They are 7-4 at home; Valpo's Net is 298. 

so, let's see if Isaiah can help make the difference.  After this one, we only have two more road games to score the OVER on the coveted preseason prognostications, so we may as well win this one and further upset the middle of the Valley applecart.

[Northern Iowa would fall behind on a 9-0 Flames run]

Headlines:
$172 in the Half-Court Carryover pot
Schwieger wins 4th Freshman of the Week Honors.
UNI comes in after losing to UIC in their last game, losing 4 of their last 5 games
Halftime:     amazingtyler.com       
Heise coming in during his 27th year of eligibility... or it just seems like it.
Valpo record vs UNI:   5-31
Valpo record on Valentine's Day:  lost the last three... last win, 2012 74-65 over UIC
It is Ash Wednesday, hoping the Panthers had too many paczkis on Tuesday.  Maybe they will give up the 3 point shooting for Lent.

about their game at UIC...
From the UNI recap:

A second half rally came up short for the UNI men's basketball team on Sunday afternoon as the Panthers dropped a 71-65 road contest to the UIC Flames at Credit Union 1 Arena in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play.

The loss by the Panthers' snaps their three-game winning streak against the Flames in their first loss to UIC since 2008. Northern Iowa shot effectively in the first half, but struggled to keep up with UIC's hot shooting hand from beyond the three-point arc.


HOW IT HAPPENED
Jacob Hutson, Nate Heise and Tytan Anderson helped pace UNI's interior offense in the opening period in an entertaining back-and-forth to begin the game. Struggling to defend the three-point shot against the Flames, UIC's Filip Skobalj buried four three-point baskets on four attempts in the first half and pressured the Panthers into seven turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play and struggled to slow CJ Jones down in the paint. Northern Iowa would fall behind on a 9-0 Flames run, but slowly chipped its deficit back down to single-digits in the final minutes. Kyle Pock gave the Panthers a final spark on offense in the final seconds of the half after being fouled on a made three-point shot and converting on a free throw to head to the locker room trailing, 40-32.

UNI scored the first four points of the second half and quickly fought back into the game with an aggressive pursuit of loose rebounds and drawn contact. Pushing the Flames' defense in transition, the Panthers tied the game at 51-51 thanks to a 13-point half by Heise and a defensive effort that slowed down UIC's three-point shooting in the final minutes. Northern Iowa would struggle at the free throw line, however, missing six attempts from the charity stripe and finding difficulty in establishing a three-point shooting game (4-21).

Heise finished the afternoon with a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double performance of the season, while Anderson notched 13 points with eight rebounds. Trey Campbell tallied 11 points with four rebounds in the loss, as Born posted a seven-point game. Landon Wolf, Michael Duax and Pock all finished with four points each.



UNI is 7-7 in the Valley, NET is 129.  Best wins
Home win over NET #70 Richmond, followed by a 22-point blowout win over #141 Stanford in the Bahamas.  Other than the UIC thing, they have done what they were supposed to do.

0    Heise   6-5, 205 Sr  13.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg
13  Born   5-11  170 Jr  13.3 ppg (90% from the line)
32  Anderson 6-6, 205    11.2 ppg 6.3 rpg
4    Campbell 6-4 185  9.2 ppg, shooting 42% from 3
11  Hutson 6-11  250   8.4 ppg started every game, not taken a 3pt shot, Trf from Loyola (IL), 3rd on the team in rebounding, 4.0 rpg

Next player in Minutes per game is Michael Duax 51% from the field... only 58% from the line.

Can the guys auditioning for next year's team put it together over a slumping team? 

[Put your coaching hat on. Who Ya Gonna Double Team?]

We are inviting everyone back... Raitis will have a following for sure...

We are Lifetime 9-5 against the bruins, but we are 0-3 when playing them as an MVC opponent.

We all remember the December game... started like a few others...

Belmont started the game red hot from 3-point territory, hitting three 3-pointers over the game's first 90 seconds to jump out to an immediate 9-0 lead on Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tenn. The Valparaiso University men's basketball team went toe-to-toe the rest of the way in a road Missouri Valley Conference contest, matching the Bruins 68-68 over the game's final 38:30 of a 77-68 setback. Isaiah Stafford (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Crispus Attucks [John A. Logan / Southern Indiana]) poured in a game-high 21 points, while Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest [Link Year]) tallied up a career-high 18.

The Beacons never went away, but they never got over the hump either. Six was the closest they would get in a game that eventually saw the Bruins prevail by nine.

Belmont is 6-7 in the Valley...tied with Evansville, Murray State and Missouri State.... one game behind SIU and UNI; one game ahead of Illinois State.

Belmont has LOST 6 road games in a row.  They are 8-0 vs. Q4 opponents this season.  They beat Murray State in the Old OVC matchup on Wednesday 69-64.

Here's the Belmont Preview of the game.  OK... Put your coaching hat on.  Who Ya Gonna Double Team?

Belmont University men's basketball returns to game action Saturday at Valparaiso.

The Bruins limited Murray State to 36 percent shooting and forced 12 turnovers in earning a 69-64 victory Feb. 7.

Belmont ranks 42nd nationally in effective field goal percentage and leads the Missouri Valley Conference in steals per game.

Ja'Kobi Gillespie had a career-high 24 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals vs. Murray State. The Greeneville, Tennessee native ranks among league leaders in scoring, assists and steals. He tied the Curb Event Center record with seven steals vs. Berry.

Gillespie is the only player in college basketball averaging at least 16 points, four assists and 2.5 steals per game.

Cade Tyson has 18 double figure scoring games this season and ranks second in the MVC in 3-point field goal percentage in league games. Tyson ranks among league leaders in scoring, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and 3-point field goals.

The Monroe, North Carolina native scored a career-high 31 points Dec. 16 and had a career-high three blocked shots vs. UIC. Tyson is on pace to threaten Nick Muszynski's program standard for fewest games played to 1,000 career points.

Malik Dia has recorded 19 consecutive double figure scoring games, including 22 points, five rebounds and five assists vs. [rv/rv] Indiana State. The 6-9 forward scored a career-high 32 points vs. Drake. He posted his second career double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds vs. Arkansas State.

The Murfreesboro, Tennessee native ranks Top 3 in the MVC in points, field goals and free throw rate. Dia is averaging 17.5 points per game this season.

In fact, Gillespie, Tyson and Dia comprise a trio that places Belmont as the only NCAA Division I program with three players averaging at least 16 points per game.

Jayce Willingham has provided versatility and steady play for the Bruins this season. The graduate student from Jasper, Alabama has 10 double figure scoring games including a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds vs. Lafayette. Willingham had 14 points, four rebounds and a season-high four steals vs. UIC. Willingham had a season-high five assists twice this season.

Isaiah Walker had a career-high 13 points vs. Drake and 11 points and five steals vs. Arkansas State. The Wyoming, Ohio native has been a mainstay this season, recording 30-plus minutes in 17 games. Walker had a season-high eight rebounds at Northern Iowa and has multiple assists in 15 games.

Brigham Rogers has made a significant frontcourt contribution as a freshman. The 6-9 forward from Woodstock, Georgia had a season-high nine points vs. Arkansas State. Rogers has provided a physical presence and huge effort plays this season, including a career-high four blocked shots Jan. 23. He is sixth in the MVC in blocked shot rate.

Keishawn Davidson has 67 career double figure scoring games, including a season-high 22 points at Missouri State. The Murfreesboro, Tennessee native has a team-high 93 assists this season and ranks second in the MVC in assist-turnover ratio. He is averaging 10.8 points per game on 37 percent 3-point shooting in conference games.

He ranks 14th in career assists (593) among active players NCAA Division I players.

Kyler Vanderjagt has provided perimeter depth for the Bruins this season. The Grand Rapids, Michigan native has scored in 13 games this season, including 28 points during a three-game stretch in November.

Win Miller has seen increased playing time and has scored in six consecutive game appearances. The Birmingham, Alabama native is shooting 70 percent from 2-point field goal range this season and posted a career-high 17 points Nov. 14. He has made a 3-point field goal in three of his last five games.


For this game, as Brandon wrote it up...Fans are encouraged to wear gold as part of Love Valpo weekend, where supporters and alumni celebrate their love of Valpo. Free pom-poms and Love Valpo posters will be available, plus the first 500 fans will receive a free Valpo shoe charm. Part of the department's All-Sports Reunion Weekend, this game will celebrate the Valpo Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024, which features Raitis Grafs '03 (men's basketball), Jon Robisch '64 (men's basketball/baseball), Jordan Rutkowski '12 (softball) and Ozzie Young '96 (football).

Maybe we'll see another Fan Wave... that was pretty cool at the last game.

And, for those not following along on Facebook.  New Student Incentive starts Saturday.   

$1 for every student in the student section goes into a pot.

One student will be chosen at random to take a half-court shot.  If it goes in, they win the pot.  If it doesn't.  the money rolls over. to the next game on Valentine's day against UNI.

Only 3 home games after Saturday...

Sycs are 20.5 favorites.

Any other information necessary?

We owe them one...let's see what's happened in the past few games.

They beat us 78-75
Lost at Drake... 97-48.  Ouch
Lost at UNI... 70-63
Beat Illinois State at home 58-54
Beat UIC at home 77-60

and their next game is at home against Bradley

Against us, Toumi with 13, Bailey with 13, Strawbridge with 11 and Thomas with 10.  50% from the field, 62.5% from 3 (10 of 16) and 14 of 19 from the line.  They had 32 points in the paint, 17 points off turnovers and 8 second chance points.

Valpo led by Stafford with 31, DeAveiro and Schwieger with 12 each, Williamson with 10.   We shot 44% from the field, 11 of 27 from 3, and 8-11 from the line.  We had 26 points in the paint, 22 points off turnovers and 20 second chance points.

We out-rebounded them 32 to 31.  Both teams had 14 turnovers.

In their last game against UIC, Humrichous was limited to 16 minutes scored 15 points on 6-11 from the line and 5 rebounds and 4 assists.   All 9 suited guys had at least 15 minutes of playing time... they went 25-33 from the line!  UIC was called for 23 fouls, The aces had only 10.

It's Beach Party day at the ARC.  Three fans will go home with $300 Southwest Airlines Gift Cards.  I don't know HOW they will be "won"...but you will have to be present to accept them.

We got this.    to quote a great caption.

They are 11-0 at home
They have Tucker Devries, Darnell Brodie

Be Fun to watch the Schwieger vs Overton game-within-the-game. 
In the last matchup,
Overton (6'5") with 10 points, 3 boards (2OR, 1DR),  No assists, No Turnovers, No Blocks, one steal, 25 minutes, 2 fouls
Schwieger with 13 points, 6 boards (3OR, 3DR), two assists, no turnovers, no blocks, no steals, 29 minutes and 4 fouls

Vs. UNI, DeVries went for 29, Brodie went for 11 and 8 boards (foul Trouble only played 23 minutes); Overton went for THREE points and 7 boards in 29 minutes.

They went 11 of 27 from 3pt range and 18-23 from the line (UNI was 14 of 28)

The other thing Drake had?   6,424 people on the Knapp Center... at 5pm on Saturday.  (they had over 4,000 vs. Indiana State on a Wednesday a few weeks ago)

Our hope for this game:  They are looking ahead to Saturday @ Indiana State.  The Syc's may try for another sellout at Hulman (they sold out Hulman yesterday-8,223-thanks to some corporate block-purchase-ticket-giveaway)...

Anyway... they beat us 83-65 back in December at the ARC.  We are a better team than we were back then. They haven't missed a beat.

oh, the forecast is 39 and sunny in Des Moines on Wednesday

We need a win. 

That's my indepth analysis on a late Friday night.

MoSt coming off an unlikely win at home against Drake.  I hope they celebrated... a lot.

Ol whatshisname coming back to the arc for the last time.

So... what's happened to these teams since we hosted them on the 10th.

Salukis got pounded by Drake at home
Salukis became unglued in the second half and lost to Bradley at home
Salukis lost to UNI in Iowa on Saturday on national TV

That Bradley game was something else... SIU had a 21 point lead at the half... and then...

It was a hot start for the Salukis from the opening tip as they were able to jump all over the Braves, knocking down their first six shots from the field to go up 16 points early. Forward AJ Ferguson was a key part of Southern's early success as the Houston native was aggressive driving to the rim with nine points in the first six minutes.

The Salukis finished the first half shooting 59 percent (16-27) from the field and 7-for-14 from behind the arc while holding Bradley to just 33 percent (9-27) shooting. Johnson and Ferguson led Southern with 12 points in the first half. Johnson along with Trent Brown and Troy D'Amico each knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as SIU went into the locker room with a 45-24 lead.

With Bradley on an 11-1 run midway through the second half and within eight points, D'Amico would knock in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to end the Braves run and push the SIU lead 58-47 with 10:18 left to play.

The Braves would continue to chip away at the SIU lead until Connor Hickman put the Braves on top for good with an and-one layup with just under a minute left in the game. BU's Duke Dean was strong down the stretch, scoring eight of Bradley's points over six minutes before eventually tying the game at 67 with a layup. Dean also connected on a pair of 3-pointers during the 13-4 run.

SIU was led by Johnson with 18 points, seven assists, and four rebounds. Ferguson finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting while Clarence Rupert had 10 points and seven rebounds.
=============
and the UNI game on Saturday went like this...

Southern Illinois had a chance to tie it with under five seconds left but Xavier Johnson's 3-point attempt was off, and the Salukis dropped their third-straight game on the road at Northern Iowa, 61-57.

It was a defensive slugfest from the start inside McLeod Center as both teams combined for 23 points at the midway point of the first half with UNI holding a 12-11 advantage.

Trailing 28-24 with two minutes remaining in the first, the Salukis closed the half on a 6-1 run to take a 30-29 lead into the locker room. SIU would get inside scores from Clarence Rupert, AJ Ferguson, and Troy D'Amico during the run continuing to pound the paint where SIU held an 18-12 advantage.

Ferguson and Rupert picked up the Saluki offense with 10 points apiece as SIU leading scorer Xavier Johnson was held scoreless (three attempts) for the first time this season in the first half. Rupert was a menace on the glass with eight rebounds in 15 minutes of action in the first. 

Johnson would get on the scoreboard early in the second half and finish with 17 points including the last eight points for the Salukis.

SIU came out of the locker room in the second half and built a five-point lead at 41-36 following a putback dunk from Scottie Ebube. UNI would put on the defensive pressure though, holding SIU scoreless for the next six minutes to regain the lead and allow the Panther crowd to get back into the game.

Down eight with under a minute, SIU would get back-to-back 3-pointers from Johnson before his potential game-tying three with five seconds would not fall and the Panthers would convert a free throw to close out the win.

Johnson would lead SIU with all 17 of his points coming in the second half -- shooting just 5-for-18 from the field. Ferguson finished with 12 points for SIU while Rupert was the only other Saluki in double-digits with 10 points.

Three UNI players scored in double-figures led by Bowen Born who led the Panthers with 16.
===========

X-avier (for those reading this aloud) Johnson came into the Valpo game #2 in all of D1 basketball in ppg at 24.3...  he didn't make his first basket until there was 5 minutes in the first half, while he did end up with 22 points... including 10-10 from the line.  he was 5-13 from the field; it was Ebube (Eh-Boo-Bay, again, for those reading this aloud) and Ferguson who's drives to the basket really upset our apple cart.

We've done OK at the Banterra Center, and Quatro's Pizza is the real deal, and of course Insomnia Cookies... OK, Fine.  I'm sold.  I'll be in Carbondale.  hopping on the cleverly named Amtrak train... the "Saluki" from Homewood at 9am Wednesday morning; and the Return trip on Thursday morning, leaving C'dale at 7:30am.   $60 round trip. 

Lets keep this ship right side up.

Gee, it wasn't that long ago...  NOW, we have another chance to improve the seeding for Thursday in the Enterprise Center....

Saturday's valley schedule:

Evansville 2-5  @ Drake
Missouri State 2-5 Hosts Illinois State
Illinois State 2-5 at Missouri State
UIC 1-5
Valpo 1-6

(Belmont at Bradley and SIU at Northern Iowa)

With a win, we become tied with UIC, the loser of MoSt /IllSt and presumably Evansville.


Not to pour salt in the open wound, but to recap the debacle in Chicago...

The Beacons didn't score for over seven minutes during which time UIC inched ahead with an 8-0 run. Stafford's bucket at 8:20 proved to be the team's final made field goal of the evening before the final 10 shots were off the mark. 
Valpo stayed in it late by holding UIC to just one made field goal in its final eight attempts including a Flames scoring drought of over two minutes to close the game.

We missed 40 shots on the game:  25 2-pointers and 15 3-pointers... and we missed 5 free throws.

Since they beat us... the Flames have:
Lost at UNI - 67-59
Lost at home to Bradley - 77-59
Lost at home to Murray State - 73-58


From the Valpo crackerjack athletics marketing guru...

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men's basketball team will return home on Saturday to welcome UIC for a 3 p.m. tip at the Athletics-Recreation Center. The world-famous Pacers Power Pack will bring their high-energy halftime dunk show to the ARC. Before the game, all children 12 and under are invited to join a pregame basketball clinic hosted by the Valpo team and staff from 1-2 p.m. The clinic is free with a game ticket and all attendees receive a Valpo drawstring bag. In addition, free mini-basketballs will be given away to the first 500 fans and postgame autographs will be available.

The epitome of a youthful team:

The team's 78-75 loss at Evansville on Jan. 17 marked the fourth time this season that the Beacons have dropped a game decided by four points or fewer.     Dating back to last season, the Beacons have dropped nine straight games decided by four points or fewer with their most recent win by four points or fewer coming on Nov. 27, 2022 vs. James Madison.



We got this.   Do you like Red Kool-Aid?

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1reFLS0simA]

Here's the url for the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1reFLS0simA

Go to about the 1:45 mark ...

Notice they got all of the pronunciations right !

ANOTHER Winnable game... Blah Blah Blah...

They have more wins than we do overall... but we are tied in the Valley

BUT, they have lost 5 straight...
@Cincinnati 76-58
Indiana State 87-73 at Hulman Center
Murray State 81-59 at Ford Center
Bradley 86-50 at Civic Center
Missouri State 74-64 at Ford Center

In their last game, they only had 14 points in the paint, 7 bench points and 8 fast break points.

They were 9 of 35 from 2-point range, 12 of 27 from 3pt range.  Rag's 5 starters all had over 30 minutes of playing time.

For the bad news, they have Joshua Hughes with 22 points, Antonio Thomas with 15 points... and Kenny Strawbridge and Yacine Toumi both with double-digit rebounds... both ended the game with 4 fouls.

Their statistical leading scorer, Ben Humrichous, 6'9 senior (16 ppg), has not played in their last 5 games.

They are averaging 4,768 at the Ford Center.

We are 25-72 against the Aces all time... despite that we have won the last 5 matches...

Late game thread. 

Just a typical Normal game.

Need grit from 5 guys for 40 minutes.

Connie Felton Bretscher is out of eligibility.

Traveling through Ohio.. I'll try to do a better preview for the Rags reunion game on Wednesday

Here we go... another winnable game.

It's late on a Monday... and Brandon already wrote my lead...so with proper credit to his expertise...

Southern Illinois prevailed 66-62 in the only clash between these two teams last season (Feb. 14 at the ARC) to take a 15-14 lead in an all-time series that dates back to 1928. The Salukis also took a slight 6-5 edge in the 11 games that have occurred since Valpo joined The Valley. SIU has won four straight head-to-head meetings in a series that has seen four of the last five decided by four points or fewer. These two teams will face off in two of the next five games as Valpo will make the return trip to Carbondale on Jan. 24.

Scouting the Salukis

Own a five-game winning streak including MVC wins over UIC (62-50), Belmont (73-63) and most recently Illinois State on Saturday in Normal (71-64).
Did incur a 77-48 setback to Indiana State for their lone league loss on Nov. 28.
Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year candidate Xavier Johnson is the league's leading scorer at 24.3 points per game.
Picked ninth of 12 in the MVC preseason poll despite going 23-10 and 14-6 in MVC play a year ago.
=========
They are 9-1 at home, only 1-2 on the road.

They have these wins
Kentucky State 88-57
Queens College 91-68
Chicago State 71-55
New Mexico State 81-54 (Cancun)
Saint Louis 101-62
Oklahoma State 70-68
North Dakota State 79-63
Southern Indiana 81-50
UIC 62-50
Belmont 73-63
Illinois State 71-64

Losses:
James Madison 82-76 (Cancun)
@Indiana State 77-48
Austin Peay 70-68
Wichita State 69-68


Diving into their last box score with Illinois State
Their GoToEverything guy.  #10 Xavier Johnson.  played 39 minutes, scored 26 points 5-11 from 2-point range, 4-7 from 3-point range and 4-4 from the line, 5 rebounds, 9 assists

The other guy you need to guard is #24 Trent Brown, he played 38 minutes, scored 20 on 6-7 from 3-point range

There other starters garnered 2, 2, 2 respectively.  Jarrett Hensley scored 9 points on 18 minutes.

They wound up 53.2% for the game, and 53.4% from 3point going 11-22.  They also shot 10-11 from the line.

They only had 24 points in the paint, 5 second chance points, 2 fast break points, 9 points off turnovers.   They allowed Illinois State 42 points in the paint.

Starters in their last game:

00 Troy D'Amico, 6-7 Jr -Started every Game
04 Clarence Rupert 6-8 Jr - Started every Game
10 Xavier Johnson 6-1 Grad St - Started every Game
24 Trent Brown 6-2 Grad St - Started every Game
30 Kennard Davis 6-6 Fr - Started last 10 games

and 32 Jarrett Hensley 6-8 Sr

Johnson is the only person on the roster averaging in double figures at 24.3 ppg, to go with 92 assists, 53 turnovers and 25 steals.

We know what we have to do.  Can we?

Come to the game and help us celebrate Connie Felton Bretscher's 103rd birthday.

Flames Conference Record   0-3
Beacons Conference Record 0-3

Somethings gotta give.

UIC Valley Losses: 
at Murray State 85-73
at Southern Ill 62-50
home vs Illinois State 69-64

FLAMES NET ranking is 151, overall 6-7 record

Full schedule:
Cincinnati lost by 11
wins over:  Little Rock, Loyola, non-D1,

Bahama's Tournament:
Beat Middle Tennessee 70-40 
Beat George Washington 89-79
Lost to NC Greensboro (NET 155) 58-57

Lost to Green Bay (70-68) at home
Beat Western Michigan 89-68
Lost to Incarnate Word (NET 300) 67-66 at home

Best Win:  Loyola NET 146

Looking at Personnel, in the Murray State game on Tuesday night,
#5 Toby Okani 20 points in 33 minutes on 13 shots, also had 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals

#1 Isaiah Rivera, 13 points in 33 minutes on 14 shots, (3 of 8 from deep)

Off the bench, #50 Filip Skobalj, 14 points in 22 minutes 4 of 5 from deep.

As a team, they shot 5 of 10 from 2-point range and 9-18 from 3 point range and 9 of 12 from the line.

28 P in the P, only 3 fast break points, only 8 points off turnovers.

For the Year, Comparison
              UIC      VALP
FG%      45.6%     39.8% 
3pt         37.5%    30.4%
FT %      65.4%     70.4%
REB/gm  35.9        34.7       
Shots/gm  57.6      61.0
Turnovers   176      167
assists        212      171

Home Att    1660    1377


Starting Lineup from Murray State
1  Isaiah Rivera   6-5 210 Sr Trf from Colorado State
3  CJ Jones  6-5 195 So
4  Ethan Pickett 6-4 205 Jr
5  Toby Okani 6-8 210 Trf from Duquesne
33 Jaden Brownell  6-9 230 So

Off the bench
2  Steven Clay 6-4 185 Soph from Milwaukee
50 Filip Skobalj  6-7 235 Jr Don Bosco Grad from Belgrade Serbia
54 Cameron Fens 6-10 255 So

Rivera, Okani and Pickett have started all 14 of the games.

SO... another "winnable" game.  but then again, they are all winnable.

One of these two teams will win their first Valley game of the year.  They are 1-2 on the road, and have not won on the road since opening night at Birmingham.

They started off with a 6 game winning streak, including wins over UAB (OT), Utah State (OT), Tulane, UTEP and Vermont...then December came...

Braves lost at Murray State 79-72 and at home to Indiana State 85-77 in the early-December games.   They followed up those losses, with losses at Akron by 15, at home to Cleveland State by 7 and at LeBron James' High School Arena to Duquesne by 2.   Then righted the ship with an 11 point win at home over SIUE and on Thursday, they beat Truman State by 22. so they are 8-5 overall.

Diving into their last game,

#14, Malevy Leons, 6'9" Graduate Student from the Netherlands, 32 minutes, 15 point and 8 rebounds, 1 of 5 from 3 point range
#21, Duke Deen, 5'8" Senior, 34 minutes, 13 points 4 rebounds, 3 of 11 from 3 point range
#35, Darius Hannah, 6'9" Senior,  25 minutes, 11 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals, no 3 point shots
#5,  Christian Davis, 6'7" Junior,  32 minutes, 9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 of 6 from 3 point range
#10 Connor Hickman, 6'2" Junior, 16 minutes, 2 points, no rebounds, 0 for 2 from 3 point range

Davis is the only starter not averaging double-digit points... he's at 9.2ppg.
As a team, they were 8 of 30 from three point range and 9 of 18 from the free throw line.

Off the bench, #1 Almar Atlason, 6'8" freshman from Iceland,  was 3 of 5 from three point range, played 21 minutes

They collected 17 offensive rebounds and scored 20 second-chance points, and their bench scored 19 points.

Need to focus on Malevy... Was named to the 2022-23 MVC All-Defensive Team and was also named 2022-23 MVC Defensive Player of the year after becoming the first player in the history of the MVC to record 50+ block, 50+ steals in the same season • Leons was also the only player in the NCAA to have 50+ block, 50+ steals, and 200+ rebounds in 2022-23.

Another on of those teams.  Undefeated at home.  Winless on the road.

Starting line up goes 6-1, 6-4, 6-5, 6-6, 6-10.

Only got 18 points in the paint vs south Carolina.   2 of 14 from 3pt range.

Need to guess which non-starter will go off for 25 points...

These guys beat IUPUI 86-72. 

not up to my usual preview... let's hope for the best, and no injuries going into the valley.

We are 2-2 against the bulldogs historically, last time in the ARC was 21 years ago (December 14, 2002), VU taking it in Double OT 87-79;  In that game, Raitis Grafs scored 28.   Valpo scored 20 points in the second overtime.  Stalin Ortiz had 10, Ali Berdiel and Seth Colclasure each had 6 in the Overtimes.  Stalin hit a layup with 0.1 on the clock at the end of the first OT to tie it.  Valpo wound up 29-37 from the line.  Shooting 71% from the field in the overtimes.  Enough about living in the past...

This is not the same Samford Team. 
They have not won a true-road game this year! 
Bulldogs come in on a 9 game winning streak, after opening with two losses (@Purdue and @VCU).

Their 9-game win streak all at home include wins over Mississippi College 96-52, South Carolina State 89-72, Alabama State 99-67, Merrimack 79-71, North Carolina A&T 101-83, Louisiana 88-65, LaGrange College 128-82, Alabama A&M 118-91.and Belmont 99-93


While Valpo was playing CSU, Samford was hosting Belmont.  Here's their recap of that win:


The Samford men's basketball team earned its ninth-straight win in a thrilling 99-93 win over Belmont Saturday afternoon in the Pete Hanna Center. 

The nine-game win streak marks the longest for Samford since the 1998-99 team won 13-straight contests. Samford improved to 9-2 with the win. Belmont fell to 8-4 with the setback.

Samford had six players score in double figures in the win. A.J. Staton-McCray led the way with 19 points. Riley Allenspach had a career-high 15 points, followed by Achor Achor with 14 points, Rylan Jones with 13 points, Garrett Hicks with 12 points and Nathan Johnson with 11 points. Jermaine Marshall led the team with 12 rebounds.

"This was a good win by our guys," Samford head coach Bucky McMillan said. "We've got a lot of good players, so anyone is capable of going in double figures any night. I'm proud of our guys, we played our way, got up and down, won our way and that's always fun to do."

For Belmont, Cade Tyson led all players with 31 points, to go along with nine rebounds. Ja'Kobi Gillespie scored 18 points for Belmont, while Keishawn Davidson had 13 points and Malik Dia added 11 points.

Belmont jumped out to an early 9-4 lead with 16:31 left in the first half after two free throws by Tyson. Samford answered with an 11-0 run to take a 15-9 lead with 13:18 to go in the half following a jumper by Hicks. Samford extended its lead to 10 points at 24-14 with 9:06 left in the first half following a dunk by Achor.

The Bulldogs led by 12 points at 32-20 with 6:49 left in the half after a three-pointer by Johnson. Belmont scored the next four points to close to within eight points at 32-24 with 5:16 to play in the half after a layup by Brigham Roberts. Samford led by as many as 12 points down the stretch in the first half and the Bulldogs took a 44-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Samford opened up a 15-point lead at 51-36 with 18:09 left in the game after a layup by Allenspach. Belmont scored the next five points to close to within 10 points at 51-41 with 17:02 to play. Samford then went on a 12-4 run to push its lead to 63-45 with 14:32 to play following a three-pointer by Johnson. Belmont then went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead back to 10 points at 63-53 with 13:17 left after a three-pointer by Tyson.

The Bulldogs pushed the lead back to 15 points at 81-66 with 6:44 to go after a turnaround jumper by Hicks. Belmont fought back to cut the lead to eight points at 84-76 with 4:34 left after two free throws by Tyson. Samford pushed the lead back out to 12 points at 93-81 with 2:13 left following a layup by Staton-McCray. Belmont then went on a 12-4 run to cut the lead to four points at 97-93 with 11 seconds left after a three-pointer by Davidson. Two late Samford free throws by Hicks made the final score 99-93.


They are AVERAGING  91.5 Points per game
They have an average Margin of Victory of 14.3 and that includes a 98-45 beatdown by the Boilers... so they are winning big.

Shooting 48.8% from the field, 40% from 3 and 76% from the line.
Rebounding at 38.7/gm, assists 20.9/gm, and averaging 21.5 Points of Turnovers/gm
They have 11 players averaging over 11 minutes per game.

Weird Roster Cumulative Statistics... They have 18 different players with at least 3 games played for the year.  10 played against Belmont on Saturday.

#14 Achor Achor, 6'9" 227 lb, Jr From Melbourne, Australia,  averaging 14.4/gm is their leading scorer
#5 A.J Staton-McCray, 6'5" Junior from Delray Beach, FL, scored 19, shooting 88% from the line, 45% from the field
#35 Riley Allenspach, 6'11" 247 lb, Freshman from Charlotte, NC scored 15 off the bench
#21 Rylan Jones, 6'1" Graduate transfer from Utah State, scored 13.  Leads the team in minutes/game at 22.3 with an Assist/TO ratio of 51/17 that's easy to understand!

Another Starter,#12  Dallas Graziani, 5'8" Sophomore from Pembroke Pines, FL. with an Assist/TO ratio of 35/16

Another Starter #4 Germaine Marshall 6'6 225lb Senior, grabbed 12 rebounds against Belmont

And off the bench, they have Baylor transfer, 7'0" 240lb Sr #32 Zach Loveday... he did not play against Belmont

These guys are a scoring machine.  Hoping our defense can stifle whomever they have to guard.

so... coming off finals week.  Will there be a new starting line-up?   Let's take a numbers look at the opponent.  The Cougars are the only D1 Independent - No Conference Affiliation.

Hoping for not a repeat of the historically bad loss to EwwyPewwy earlier... the Cougars are an up and DOWN team.

3-9 on the season, 1-5 on the road, 1-3 at home and 1-1 Neutral court, with one game to play before heading to the Vale of Paradise... they get to travel to Welsh-Ryan-Northwestern on Wednesday night.

So far:
Lost at Bowling Green 70-41
Lost to Mercer 66-61 at home
Beat Southern Indiana 78-67 in Evansville
Lost to Cal-State Northridge 74-64 at home
Lost at SIU-Carbondale 71-55 in the Cancun-Challenge
Lost to Northern Colorado 78-77 in Overtime in Cancun
Beat Morgan State 84-83 in Cancun
Lost to UT-Martin 94-71 at home
Lost to Loyola 62-53 at the Gentile
Lost to Delaware State 76-69 at home
BEAT Stetson 77-54 at home  (a home-home, going to Florida 1/15)
Lost to University of St Thomas Tommies at home 66-50

They have 2 more home D1 games this season.  UT-RioGrande on 12/18 and Bethune Cookman on 12/20.   They have three home non-D1 games in 2024 (East-West, St Xavier and finish their season on 2/19 against IUN.  More Scheduling Fun... Tuesday 1/2 they play at Kansas State and Wednesday 1/3 they play at Oklahoma State.

Anyway... Who are these guys?

Here's the recap of their big win over Stetson...
he Chicago State men's basketball team beat Stetson 77-54 Sunday afternoon at the Jones Convocation Center in Chicago. The Cougars took a six-point lead into the locker room at halftime and used an early second-half 14-0 run and maintained the lead through late pressure to increase the margin to 20 for the eventual 23-point victory.

Four Cougars players were in double figures led by Jahsean Corbett with 23 points. Wesley Cardet added 16, Noble Crawford 13 and Brent Davis 12 while both Crawford and Corbett each pulled down nine rebounds.

The Cougars will be back in action a week from today, Sunday, December 10, at home against St. Thomas with tip set for 2 p.m. at the JCC.

1st Half - Chicago State 31, Stetson 25
-Noble Crawford opened the scoring in the game with a dunk on the Cougars possession and Stetson answered with a layup before Greg Spate, making his first collegiate start, hit a three to put CSU up early, 5-2
-The Hatters responded with a dunk and a three to take their first lead, 7-5, at the 16:45 mark
-Brent Davis hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 7-7 when Stetson went on a modest 4-0 run to lead 11-7 at the 14:32 mark
-Deshawn Jean-Charles then ignited a 9-2 Cougars run with a three with additional buckets by Jahsean Corbett (2) and  Davis to turn the four-point deficit into a three-point lead, 16-13, with 11:03 remaining until the end of the half
-Stetson stopped the run with a three to knot the game at 16-16 when CSU went on another run, this time 7-0, with two hoops by Corbett and a Davis three and the Cougars led 23-16 at the 8:24 mark
-Both teams failed to score for the next two minutes when Stetson stopped the drought with a jumper and free throw to cut the margin to four, 23-19
-The Cougars responded with a 6-2 run with four points from Corbett and a driving layup by Jean-Charles to CSU led by eight, 29-21, with 2:54 until half
-The teams exchanged hoops with Wesley Cardet providing the Cougars score and the Hatters closed the scoring for the half with a pair of free throws and Chicago State led 31-25 at the half

2nd Half - Chicago State 46, Stetson 29
-The Hatters came out of the halftime locker room hitting back-to-back buckets to cut CSU's lead to two, 31-29, just a minute into the half
-Chicago State responded with an 14-0 run with Cardet, Crawford, Jean-Charles and Corbet contributing to the scoring and Chicago State led by 16, 45-29, with 13:36 remaining in regulation
-Stetson stopped the run and ended a scoring drought of nearly six minutes with a dunk before Corbett made a pair of free throws and CSU's lead was 16 at the 12:55 mark
-Chicago State scored on their next possession, a driving layup for Cardet and CSU's was 18. The teams exchanged scores when Stetson hit a three and, following a Cougars score, a Hatters hoop and pair of free throws left the score 55-42 with 7:49 left in regulation
-The Cougars then went on a 7-0 run with scores by Corbett, Crawford and Jean-Charles and CSU led 62-42, at the 5:32 mark
-The Hatters responded with a 6-2 run to cut the margin to 16, 64-48, at the 4:23 mark
-Crawford hit a three and the lead was back to 19 and climbed to 21 following a Davis rebound, 70-51, with 3:02 left to play and cruised to a 23-point win, finishing with 44 points in the paint

=====
#1 Wesley Cardet  6'6", 204lb Jr, Tallahassee-Transfer from Samford two years ago.  17.3 ppg, 5 rb/gm 36 minutes/game, 46% from the field, 33% from 3, leads the team in both Assists and Turnovers (29 and 24)

#24 Jahsean Corbett  6/7" 210lb Jr, Orlando. 13.0 ppg, 6.8 rb/gm, 35 minutes/game is second on the team in assists and turnovers (18 and 23).  41% from the field, 26% from three.

#12 Brent Davis, 6'3" 190lb Jr, Miramar, Fl9.7 ppg, 3,3 rb/gm, shooting 49% from the field, but is only 8 of 42 from 3pt (19%), so he's 31 of 45 from inside the arc, 69%.

#2 Deshawn Jean-Charles, 6'7" 200 Sophomore, Fort Lauderdale.  7.4 ppg, 35% from the field 26% from 3, playing 28 minutes/gm.

Yes, those 4 starters are all from Florida.  Practically their entire team is from Florida.  Exceptions:
Cameron Jernigan a Junior from Gary
Tehshaundre Cole a Sophomore from Toronto
Alex Raiford, Junior from Chicago

and...

Their 5th starter (Kedrick Green) hasn't played in 2 weeks, and they've tried several others in that role.  He's from Georgia.

Their tallest players are twin 6'9" freshman brothers... who have not played all year.

team stat comparison
        CSU      VALPO
PPG   65        67.8
FG%  40.2     39.7
FG/Gm  22     24.6
Shots/gm 55.1    62.0

3pt % 27.6     30.7
3pt /gm  5.6    6.7

FT % 68.6      69.2
FT /gm  15.1   17.2

Reb/gm 31.7    36.1

Asst/gm  9.5     12.1
TO/gm  14.0      11.3
Steals 9.6         7.2
Blocks 2.6        4.4

CSU Average Home Attendance:   156  (not a typo)
Valpo Average Home Attendance:  1,458

Twice this year, they have MADE 27 free throws in a game, against Delaware State they were 27 of 26, and at Morgan State, they were 27 of 39. and they were 20 of 30 against Mercer.

In their last game, they were only 7-12 against St.Thomas.

They have MADE more Free Throws (181 of 264) than we have attempted (119 of 172), in two more games.

NET ranking: 
Chicago State 327 (RPI 352)
Valpo 296  (RPI 286)

[Central Michigan was without two of its starters in Markus Harding and Aidan Rubio.]

Ojiboye's former teammates are 2-5, including 0-1 at home... in fact, back to last year, they have dropped 5 in a row at the McGuirk Arena (Capacity 5,300, • Courtside seats (42)• Premium Seats (724) • Club seats (88) • Reserved seats (1,308))

• With 14 points, the Chippewas were picked to finish 12th out of 12 teams in the MAC preseason coaches poll. 

This year's results

Lost at Oklahoma 89-59
Lost at home to UL-Monroe in the MAC-SunBelt Challenge, 74-64
Lost at Florida State 94-67 in the Sunshine Slam
BEAT South Florida (RPI #333) 68-63 in Tampa
BEAT Siena (RPI #362) 70-56 at Stetson's Tournament
Lost at Stetson 71-61
Lost at Ohio State 88-61

They did play 2 exhibition games, beating Northwood 81-55 and Alma College 97-32.  Both Games were advertised as "Open Door"... "No Admission" ... and they packed in 327 and 411 fans respectively.

From the Ohio State game:
Central Michigan was led by Jemal Davis' (#4  Junior 6'8" 205-pound Forward) career-high 15 points off the bench. Davis set career-highs for scoring (15 points) and 3-point field goals made (two). Paul McMillan IV came off the bench to register his third double figure scoring game with 12 points (5-9 FG) and Brian Taylor added his third straight double figure scoring game with 12 points, along with five rebounds. Anthony Pritchard finished with nine points and four assists before fouling out and Derrick Butler added eight points in this first career start. Central Michigan was without two of its starters in Markus Harding and Aidan Rubio.

CMU was looking for its second consecutive victory over a Big Ten opponent as it defeated Michigan last year in late December.

With Ohio State up one point, 22-21, the Buckeyes put together a 15-0 run. Thornton started the run with seven straight points as he converted two pull-up jumpers and a 3-pointer. Okpara followed with two free throws, Okpara scored on an alley-oop dunk, Dale Bonner hit two free throws and Okpara scored on another dunk before CMU's Pritchard ended the run with a jumper.

===From The  CMU Game Notes===
• Central Michigan is an entirely different team from last year. CMU finished 10-21 overall and 5-13 in the MidAmerican Conference. The Chippewas tied for ninth place in the MAC.
• CMU returns just three lettermen and three starters from last year's team. Those three players include guard/forward Brian Taylor, center Markus Harding, and guard Max Majerle, (yes, the son)
• The Chippewas add 12 new players. Of those 12 players, two are transfers from NCAA Division I schools, four are junior college transfers, and six are freshmen.
• Valpo and CMu meet for the 10th time in men's basketball. Central Michigan holds a 5-4 advantage in the series which began in 1926.  The Chippewas have also claimed four of the five matchups played in Mount Pleasant.  The last time the two teams met was on Dec. 12, 2020, an 84-79 victory at McGuirk Arena.

=== Uh Oh ===
When CMU makes more 3s................................2-0
When made 3s are even......................................0-1
When CMU opponents make more 3s...........0-4

=== Who to Watch on CMU ===
• Graduate student guard/forward Brian Taylor (#0  6'6" 220 Pound) returns for another season. He graduated in May 2023 but decided to return.   Last year, Taylor made an impact as he averaged 14.4 points (third-highest on the squad) and team-highs of 6.1 rebounds per game and 33 steals. He ranked seocnd on the team in blocked shots with 25.  Taylor's strength is his mid-range game, where he cuts to the basket, jump stops and uses his athleticism to elevate over defenders for a shot.

• Last year, Markus Harding, a 6-foot-10, 260-pound Junior transfer from Eastern Florida State  (His Kid Brother, Freshman Hunter is 7'0" also on the roster) College, proved to be a key scoring force in the low post. Even though he missed six games from Nov. 17-Dec. 7, 2022, Harding emerged as a key playmaker down low for the Chippewas.  Already, Harding is back to form, averaging 11.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and  shooting 58.8 percent (20-34) from the floor through five games.

Tulsa transfer Anthony Pritchard (#30 6'2" 185 Junior) has already emerged as a key leader at point guard for Central Michigan after seven games. Pritchard leads the Chippewas in four separate statistical categories: scoring (13.7 ppg.), assists (36), steals (16), and field goals made (39). He also ranks second on the squad in rebounding (5.1).  Pritchard has registered 36 assists and 21 turnovers for an outstanding 1.71 assist:turnover ratio.  Through seven games, Pritchard has led the Chippewas in scoring four times, rebounding three times and assists six times.

• Sophomore Paul McMillan IV (#34  6'2" 175) provides Central Michigan scoring and shooting off the bench.   Through seven games, McMillan, a transfer from NJIT, has registered double figure scoring three times and ranks No. 4 on the squad in scoring at 7.7 points per game.   As a senior at Woodward Career Tech, McMillan IV was named Ohio's Gatorade State Player of the Year after he 2,658 career points, the sixth most points in Ohio high school basketball history.

Team Stat Comparison
           CMU   VU
FG%   42.8     39.6
3pt%   31.2     32.4
FT %   65.5     68.4

Shots/Game   55.4    63.4

Reb/gm  30.9     37.9
Asst/gm  10.1     12.1
Turn/gm  15.1     10.6
Steals/gm  6.9     7.0
Blks/ gm   3.4     4.8


Back to Harding.... missed the last two games.  before, he was shooting nearly 60% from the field and 5-10 from 3pt.  I can't find any details about why he's been out of action.  He missed a bunch of games last year due to injury.

They have 10 players averaging 10 minutes or more per game.... but only 5 players have played in all 7 of their games.  Three of their starters have started every game, Pritchard, Taylor and Cayden Vasko.  Cayden is a 6'6 190-pound Freshman from LOWELL - Bosco Institute and Lowell High School.   Selected Central Michigan over offers from Akron, Army West Point, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Missouri-Kansas City.  He's averaging 25 minutes and 5 points per game.



OK, ONE LAST Tidbit for THOSE people on this board...

Is Central Michigan University enrollment down?

CMU officials said preliminary enrollment numbers showed 14,411 students are attending the Mount Pleasant-based institution's classes this fall.   Central Michigan University student enrollment drops to half ... CMU hit its all-time enrollment peak in 2015, when 25,528 students attended classes there. But there's silver lining in the fall 2023 figures, officials said. While enrollment dropped by 11,117 students the last eight years — a 43.5% decrease — the size of the annual decreases shrank considerably in recent years.  Jennifer DeHaemers, CMU's vice president of student recruitment and retention, said university officials predict the closing gap in enrollment losses indicate enrollment will increase in fall 2024.

"We really believe next year we will turn that corner," she said.

Valparaiso 4-2 beat Southern 71-59
Missouri State 5-1  beat South Carolina State 92-74
Evansville 6-0 beat Southeast Missouri State 93-74 in Chattanooga, TN
UIC 5-1  beat George Washington 89-79 in the Nassau Championship
Belmont 4-3 beat Penn at the Palestra 84-79
Drake 5-1 beat Texas Southern 77-71

Bradley ... coming in undefeated, including wins over RPI #15, #59, #60, tonight Vermont, RPI 29, and the braves come away 79-70...

a Perfect 7-0 for the Valley !

MVC Non-Conference D1 record is 40-20, and the meaningless RPI ranking is #7,

only Belmont, Illinois State, Murray State and Northern Iowa have losing records against D1 opponents.

Starting this after the Valpo Win over Southern, and while watching Drake trying to hold on at home against winless Texas Southern.  Bulldogs led 43-30 at the half, ... was trailing 69-68... and now has a 72-70 lead with 1:53 to play...  Drake was favored by 16.5, and won it 77-71

Starters:  Points/Rebounds
Brodie  18-6
DeVries  14-7
Wright   9-4
Overton  6-3
Enright  5-3

Ferguson off the bench with 9-3, Garland 8-3

As a team, shooting 59% from the field, only 1 for 11 from 3  TexSo was 10 of 31 from 3 point range.

Other Drake games this year:
Lipscomb:   85-70 win
(D3) W 87-67
Oakland - 85-77 - Cayman islands - win
Stephen F Austin - 92-68 Cayman Islands - LOSS
Akron - 79-59 - Cayman Islands - win

So, the nemesis comes in 6-1; we will be their first true road game.

Including Tonight's Game, here is what the starters have accomplished:

Tucker DeVries - 6'7", 210 pound Junior Forward Averaging 19.8, and just under 7 rebs, 30+ minutes/game

Kevin Overton - 6'5" 180 pound freshman Averaging 14.4, 30+ Minutes / game

Atin Wright - 6"1" 185 pound junior,  Averaging 15.2  30+ minutes / game

Darnell Brodie 6'10" 275-pound Graduate Student- Averaging 12.8 (did not play in their non-D1 game against Southwest Minnesota State)  23 Minutes/game

Conor Enright - 6'0" 180 pound Sophomore Averaging 6.2, shooting 58% from 3, 23 minutes/game


As a team, they are averaging just over 80 points per game and over 30 rebounds per game, and shooting 77% from the line.

going into tonight's game, no player on Drake has committed more than 10 fouls in their first 5 games

We need the crowd to get behind this team on Wednesday.   I haven't seen the full event list... but the game day experience will be worth the weeknight trip to Union Street.

We've played Drake 18 times, and we are 8-10 all time... including that crusher double overtime loss in the ARC last year 85-82.  Bulldogs have won 4 straight since our 74-57 win on February 7, 2021 during the weird covid back-to-back games in the ARC.   The last Valpo win over Drake with a crowd in the ARC was 1/11/2020 66-61.

That was NOT the first time we played Drake on back-to-back nights.  December 22, 1944, we beat them in Hilltop 62-42; and then on December 23, 1944, we beat them 66-41 in a game played in Michigan City!   

This is NOT the first time we played Drake in November.  November 28, 2014, we beat them 66-46 in the opening round of the Challenge in Music City (Nashville, TN)

They are averaging 2,779 at home.

They have NO Indiana Players on their roster
They have ONE Iowa Player on their roster (DeVries)


OK.  Can We Put a Stamp on this team and pull the upset?

For the second time this year, we play the Jaguars...this one, from the SWAC.   I'm guessing they do a significant amount of their school funding through their Buy Games...

Their head coach knows the ARC...Kevin Johnson spent eight seasons at Centenary College from 1997-2005, the first two as an assistant under Billy Kennedy and the next six as head coach. At the helm of the program, Johnson compiled a 50-17 record at home, and in 2003-04, guided the Gents to a perfect 13-0 mark in the Gold Dome and a second-place finish in the Mid-Continent Conference. In 2000-01, Ronnie McCallum led the nation in scoring, averaging 29.1 points per game, and finished his career second on the school's all-time scoring list with 2,524 points. Another player under Johnson's watch at Centenary – Andrew Wisniewski – finished as the fifth-leading scorer in school history with 1,758 points and was a Mid-Con First Team selection in 2003-04.
Valpo was 5-1 against the Gents during his tenure, 3-0 at home.

Back to this year, Southern opened at TCU - Lost 108-75 - Led by Brandon Davis with 20, Tai-Reon Joseph with 15

Then went to the Thomas and Mack Center in Vegas... AND BEAT UNLV 85-71, Tai-Reon Joseph led with 22 points on 9 of 21 shooting, three other players in double figures.

Then went to Tucson and became one of Arizona's victims, 97-56, Tai-Reon Joseph scored 22 points on 8 of 20 shooting in 23 minutes

Then went to Western Illinois (for this MTE thingy) and lost in Overtime 88-80.  Tai-Ronn Jpsehp with 23 points on 8-20 shooting in 44 minutes.  had 7 players with over 20 minutes of playing time.

Then went to Illinois (for this MTE thingy) and lost 88-60 and tai-Reon Joseph scored 16 points on 7 of 23 shooting in 37 minutes.  They played a full 10-man rotation, and were down 45-27 at the half.

From Valpo, they head to Marquette and then Mississippi State.... before playing a 4 of their next five games against NAIA schools at home in Baton Rouge.

For the season, they are shooting 27% from the field, 32% from 3 and 61% from the line.  They are being Out-Rebounded by 17.6 boards per game.  They are only committing 13 turnovers per game and 13 assists per game.  They are averaging 10.6 steals per game, and 1.6 blocks per game.  They have not played a home game yet.

Starters against Illinois

#3 Joseph   6'3" junior  19/6 ppg
#1 Wilkens  6'8" senior  (twins on the roster:  JaRonn and Jariyon #5) 7.8 ppg
#35 Muon   6'8" freshman  6.6 ppg
#22 Dioumassi  6'4" junior   6.4 ppg
#2 Jacks   5'9" junior   1.8 ppg

#00 Brentay Noel is their big, 6'10", leading rebounder with 3.6 per game.

10 players averaging more than 10 minutes per game

so... Get your Valpo Shopping out of the way, and rest your weary legs in the ARC for this 3pm tip.

Next up in the Illinois MTE is an old foe... Western Illinois Leathernecks.   A Tuesday night with no students on campus.

Western is also 2-2 on the year.  two road losses:   78-68 to UT-San Antonio and 90-53 to SMU in Dallas.   Then they came home, beat NAIA St. Ambrose 94-59 to cure what ailed them... and while we were in Champaign, WIU was playing Southern in the other first round game, and won it 88-80 in Overtime.  Shooting 56% from the field and 35% from three.

Here's the recap
MACOMB – Only a handful of days after getting head coach Chad Boudreau his first win as Western Illinois coach, the Leathernecks were able to get the coach his first win against a Division I foe, putting in a little extra work on Friday night, topping Southern University 88-80 in overtime. The win is the second straight for Western, which now hits the road for three-straight games, playing at Valparaiso on Tuesday, Illinois on Friday and Wisconsin next Monday.

"I got a big life insurance policy, but I need a bigger one," Western Illinois coach Chad Boudreau. "But we did it down the stretch. We stuck with it, I thought the guys, we talked before the game, it's like a boxing match, it's going to be head shots, body shots and I thought we did a good job sticking to it.

"We talk about holding the line, not too high, not too low, but we did a good job holding the line down the stretch."

Things were rolling early for the Leathernecks (2-2), who took a lead as large as nine in the game's first five minutes. But Southern managed to hang around, trailing WIU, 35-32 at the break.

Turnovers plagued Western Illinois in the first half, as 16 miscues allowed the Jaguars to hang around. In the second half, it was free throw shooting that hurt WIU as Southern took a lead as large as seven after intermission, but the Leathernecks were able to fight back into the game.

"Turnovers were killing us, 16 in the first half and we were struggling offensively, but we were still leading," Boudreau said. "Kyle, Chris and Clancy have been all over me because they're doing the defensive stuff, but we have to score some points, so despite that many turnovers and that many missed free throws, to still score 88 points is awesome."

Southern led 64-57 with 4:47 to go, but a 9-0 Leatherneck run gave Western a 66-64 advantage as Quinlan Bennett's (18 points, seven rebounds) bucket helped Western Illinois regain the lead with three minutes to go.

From there, it was back and forth as Southern led by four with under a minute to go. But James Dent Jr. (24 points, eight rebounds, three assists) hit a runner, then made a pair of free throws with one second left to force overtime.

"My teammates stayed on me, the first half wasn't really a good half for me but my teammates knew I would pick it up, they stayed on me all the way," Dent Jr. said. "Q (Quinlan Bennett) had a good game, Q kept us in the game. With Jesiah (West) in foul trouble, other players had to step up, Ryan (Myers) had to step up, he was big, we had everyone come together as a team."

In the extra session, Dent Jr. continued his clutch play, scoring Western's first seven points of overtime. After a JJ Kalakon free throw, Dent Jr. hit a pair from the line, giving the Leathernecks an 82-76 lead.

On Southern's ensuing possession, Drew Cisse (12 points, nine rebounds), recorded his fourth block of the night, setting the stage for the Leathernecks to ice the game at the line.

Ryan Myers (20 points) hit a pair of free throws, followed by for straight from the line by Dent, capping the final scoring.

...
James Dent:  (6'5" guard, junior) 24 points on 6 field goals and 11 free throws - 42 minutes
Ryan Myers:  (6'1" guard, junior) 20 points on 6 field goals - 41 minutes
Quinlan Bennett: (6'4" guard, 5th yr senior)  18 points - 34 minutes
Drew Cisse: (6'11" center, senior) 12 points - 37 minutes

They are averaging 17 turnovers per game (valpo 10)  and 9 blocks per game (valpo 7)... and a home attendance averaging 638 (valpo 1639)

They don't shoot FT's particularly well.  22 of 34 against Southern, 13 of 27 against SMU. (WIU % 57.3%, Valpo 70.5%)
They are averaging 15.5 offensive rebounds per game (valpo 13.8)


We've played them 57 times... winning 34 of them.  We have not played them since the 2006-07 season, that year we beat them 80-56 at home and 78-60 in Macomb.  We haven't lost to them at the ARC since January 22, 2000 (64-50)... after which we won 12 of the next 13 games before losing to Michigan State in the NCAA.

[exhibition]

OK, so we beat Green Bay (DON'T call us UWGB, or Wisconsin-Green Bay) and showed some real spark at times.   Here's another game thread for your dancing and dining pleasure.

BTW, no band last night due to flu-like symptoms running through the group, including the director and Chuck-on-drums.   They only had 8 or 9 healthy players.


So... it's on to the Host of the MTE (that includes Southern and Western Illinois for us).  The Illini are a good team.

Beat Ottawa College of Kansas 116-65 in the first exhibition game.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 25 Illinois never trailed in the second half enroute to an 82-75 victory over No. 1 Kansas in the Maui Strong Relief Matchup exhibition at State Farm Center on Sunday night.

Followed up with 80-52 win over Eastern Illinois
Followed up with 64-52 win over Greg Kampe's Oakland Grizz's

and last night, they hosted #4 Marquette.   Here's the recap of that 7-point loss.   I had not realized that the Southern Illinois stud Domask had moved up to Urbana.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 23 Illinois came up short in the Gavitt Tipoff Games, falling at home to No. 4 Marquette, 71-64, in front of a sold-out State Farm Center crowd on Tuesday night.

Marcus Domask finished in double digits for his first time as an Illini, recording 18 points and six rebounds. Domask nearly reached double figures in the first half alone, notching nine before the break before accounting for nine of Illinois' first 16 points of the second period of play. He also accumulated one steal and one block.

Luke Goode recorded a career-high 13 points, which included four 3-pointers, a mark that also set a new career best despite coming off the bench. Goode scored a team-high 10 points in the first half before eclipsing his career-best mark in the second half with his fourth triple of the night.

Terrence Shannon Jr. ended his night in double figures for the 13th consecutive game, tallying a team-high 21 points, including 14 in the second half and nine in the final five minutes. Shannon also amassed two assists, two steals, and a block.

Ty Rodgers set the tone on defense while also recording six points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block.

Quincy Guerrier grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, his second straight game with double-digit boards, while Coleman Hawkins made an Illini-most three blocks.

Illinois knocked down a season-high 11 3-pointers as a team, while the Orange and Blue made seven blocks and six steals on the defensive end of the floor.

The No. 23 Fighting Illini (2-1) return to State Farm Center on Friday night, when former Illinois star and current Valparaiso head coach Roger Powell Jr. and the Beacons come to town. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT on B1G+.

So, I'm sure we can probably agree that UofI can write any final score they want in this game.   I'm hoping our freshmen don't come out with complete deer-in-headlights.   Hope we can enjoy the atmosphere... and look forward to picking up some good tips and bring'em back for the Leathernecks next Tuesday.

ok, if we don't win on Tuesday, this will be my last game thread starter of the year. 

This is not the UWGB-Valpo battle for the conference lead type of game.   We haven't played them since February 4, 2017, and they clobbered us at the Resch center 86-69.   Two weeks earlier, we beat them at the ARC 80-56. 
We haven't lost to them at the ARC since January, 23 2011.  The Phoenix won that one 63-61.

They have played two completely different games.  A blow-out loss and an expected margin over a lower division team.

This year, GB was given a lesson by Iowa State, 85-44. and they beat St. Francis (Illinois) 72-56.

They are led by Guard Noah Reynolds (Wyoming Transfer) at 18.5 and Elijah Jones with 11.  Sundance Wicks was named the ninth head men's basketball coach in program history on March 14, 2023. Wicks joins the Phoenix after three seasons as an assistant coach at Wyoming.

GBs tallest players are 6'8", their leading rebounder, Marcus Hall, is a 6'6" Freshman.

Against St. Francis, GB out scored them 42-22 "in the paint"
Against Iowa State, The Cyclones outscored GB 42-8 "in the paint"

Against Iowa State, GB was 5 of 13 from 2-point range and 8-33 for 3ptrs.

I guess we'll all have to come out Tuesday night.  Bring the Noise to the ARC and keep the pressure on. 

[YOUR BASKETBALL TICKETS ARE GOOD FOR THIS GAME TOO!]

The LAST time we will ever play this team....

We have not played them since 12/20/2012, when we beat them 89-69.   We had 5 players in Double Figures:  Broekhoff, Kenney, VanWijk, Boggs and Capobianco.   Vashil Fernandez played 1 minute and got 1 rebound.

SO... You ask "Why are we tipping off so late?"   Have we got a deal for you!    Friday night is a double-header in the ARC.  the OUTSTANDING Volleyball team has a revenge match with Drake starting at 5pm.  YOUR BASKETBALL TICKETS ARE GOOD FOR THIS GAME TOO!     What a great opportunity to support the Volleyball program. 

The Jaguars played Spaulding University Eagles (Downtown Louisville, 1500 students) at the IUPUI home arena (Indiana Farmers Coliseum) for their regular season opener on Monday night...

IUPUI (1-0) plays in front of a record crowd of 4,867 at Indiana Farmers Coliseum:  Fun Fact:  That attendance is more than the total number of people to watch Spaulding during ALL of 2022-23 season combined home and away.

INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI basketball team kicked off all of college basketball with a home court win over visiting Spalding on Monday (Nov. 6), 70-63, before a record setting crowd of 4,867 on NCAA 'Readers Become Leaders' Day. Junior Jlynn Counter tallied a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting and Abdou Samb added 10 points and four boards off the bench in the win.

"It was very exciting, just being out (there)," graduate transfer Qwanzi Samuels said following his IUPUI debut. "It was definitely exciting with all the kids. I'm just happy we got the win, really.

"We played together as a team. We've got things to work on, but excited we got the win today."

Anthony Dillard paced three Spalding players in double-digits with 19 points and eight rebounds.

IUPUI shot a respectable 43.1 percent from the floor and led from wire-to-wire against the NCAA Division III opponent.

The Coliseum was lively from the outset as elementary school kids began piling into their seats nearly an hour before the 11:00 a.m. tipoff, which marked the first game in the nation for the 2023-24 season. The Jaguars didn't disappoint, surging out to a 12-2 lead in the opening six-plus minutes. The lead stayed in double-digits for the bulk of the first half before Spalding cut it to 33-25 at the break.

IUPUI (1-0) tried to land an early knockout blow behind Counter, but consistently saw the Golden Eagles counterpunch to keep within striking distance. An 11-0 run pushed the lead out to 64-47 with 6:50 to play as DJ Jackson scored six points during the burst and John Egbuta capped it with a driving layup on the left side.

The Jaguars went scoreless over the final three-plus minutes with the outcome in hand as Spalding cut the final margin to seven.

Vincent Brady II, Jackson and Kidtrell Blocker all finished with eight points and Qwanzi Samuels and Yves Nkomba closed with six apiece in starting roles. Samuels grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in 22 minutes.

"It felt being out there with the team. We went through a lot of obstacles but, just overcoming them and we got the dub today," Blocker said. "We're still getting into our roles, but I just feel like there's chemistry overall."

IUPUI held Spalding to 42 percent shooting and just 2-of-10 from three-point range. The Jaguars bench scored 30 of the team's 70 points as reserve firepower came in the form of Samb, Brady and Jackson. Jackson's eight points came in under 12 minutes on 3-of-6 shooting.

IUPUI will return to action on Friday (Nov. 10) when it treks to Valparaiso for an 8:00 p.m. Central (9 Eastern) tip-off on ESPN+.

##   Player               GS   MIN   FG   3PT   FT   ORB-DRB   REB   PF   A   TO   BLK   STL   PTS
0   Counter, Jlynn         *   29   8-13   1-2   3-7   1-3   4   2   2   2   0   1   20
8   Blocker, Kidtrell         *   23   3-7   0-2   2-2   0-1   1   1   2   4   0   1   8
7   Samuels, Qwanzi      *   22   2=5   0-2   2-2   3-4   7   2   0   2   0   0   6
15   Nkomba, Yves         *   14   2-2   0-0   2-2   1-1   2   1   0   1   0   1   6
4   Monroe, Bryce         *   16   0-4   0-1   0-0   0-1   1   2   0   0   0   1   0
9   Samb, Abdou              22   2-4   0-0   6-7   3-1   4   0   0   0   1   0   10
1   Brady II, Vincent           24   3-8   2-6   0-0   0-2   2   2   1   2   0   1   8
13   Jackson, DJ              12   3-6   0-0   2-2   1-2   3   1   2   1   0   1   8
2   Egbuta, John              16   2-7   0-2   0-0   2-0   2   2   1   0   0   1   4
12   Jarrard, Armon              15   0-1   0-1   0-0   0-2   2   0   1   1   0   2   0
10   Dewitt, Cooper                6   0-1   0-1   0-0   0-0   0   0   0   0   0   1   0
14   Allen, Braden                1   0-0   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
TM   TEAM                       0   0-0   0-0   0-0   0-0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
   Totals   -              200   25-58    2-10     17-22   11-17   28   13   9   13   1   10   70

        SU   IUPUI
FG%       .424   .431
3FG%     .200   .176
FT%     .846   .773
RB     32   28
TO     20   13
STL       6   10

Spaulding had more:   Second Chance Points: 17 (8)   Fast Break Points: 13 (12) Points off Turnovers: 19 (16)

[SEE NOTE BELOW]

The annual return of Jason Hawkins to the ARC with the Trolls of Trinity Christian.

did you see what Loyola did to the Trinity Trolls the other day?   104-44.
did you see what South Suburban Community College did to the Trinity Christian Trolls on 11/1?  128-37 - SEE NOTE BELOW
Then again, on Friday night, Trinity bounced back with a 77-49 win over Moody Bible Institute.

led in scoring off the bench by 6'4" Junior Jon Dieck
led in rebounding by 6'10" Junior Joe Doyle out of Corliss High School in Chicago
Their two starting guards are each 6'2" freshmen

##   Player             GS   MIN   REB   PF   A   TO   BLK   STL   PTS
3   Hunter, Quinton   *   20   3   3   1   3   0   0   11
2   Staskunas, Dan   *   22   1   1   1   2   0   0   9
45   Schutt, Colton   *   20   8   0   7   0   2   1   7
32   Simpson, Bryce   *   16   2   3   0   3   1   0   7
35   Doyle, Joe           *   18   11   0   0   1   1   2   4
34   Dieck, Johnny      21   6   0   3   0   0   4   13
10   Hudak, Dustin      16   8   3   0   0   0   0   7
22   Williams, Jadon      17   1   3   1   0   0   0   6
5   Peasley, Malachi      12   1   2   1   0   0   1   6
4   Smith, Tyrone      13   5   0   2   0   2   0   5
20   Kietzmann, William   10   1   1   0   1   0   0   2
31   Kveck, John      5   1   0   0   0   0   0   0
23   Henthorn, Chris      4   0   0   1   0   0   1   0
21   Eathan Peacock      3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
43   Clay Carter      3   1   0   0   1   0   0   0
TM   Team              0   2   0   0   0   0   0   0
   Totals   -          200   51   16   17   11   6   9   77


In the Loyola Game at the Gentile Center, The ramblers had: 
Points in the Paint: 58   
Fast Break Points: 37   
Points off Turnovers: 30   
Bench Points: 49
Led 56-25 at the half.


NOTE: 
did you see what South Suburban Community College did to the Trinity Christian Trolls on 11/1?  128-37
The TIMES reported this score.   They failed to mention that Trinity Christian only used their JV Team against the defending National Champions.  This was not an official game for the Trolls.

I remember as a kid growing up waiting for the Sears Catalog to appear in the mailbox.  My siblings and I would go through all 1100 pages one at a time...

Well... NOW it's the Over Under Podcast that brings a similar joy of anticipation where the skies are always blue...

The Victory Bell and the Chef have once again not let me down with the best 52 minutes of the week...

Here are the O/U categories for the year...  and I'll start.   As was stated, I'll try to keep these updated periodically through the season. 

Edwards - 15.5 points and rebounds - OVER
Palm - 5.7 rebounds per game - OVER
Barrett - 0.9 3ptrs per game played - UNDER
Weatherspoon - 41.6% from the floor - UNDER
Ajiboye - 1.5 Blocks and Steals/game - OVER
DeAveiro -120.5 assists for year - OVER  ... IF someone will score off his passes!
Williamson - 1.5 assist / turnover ratio - OVER
Schweiger - 11.25 points per game - OVER, if he can pad the stats in the Pre-Conference
Stafford - 16.5 points per game - WAY OVER
Team Field Goals Attempted 60.5/gm - UNDER, unless they can pad the stats pre-January
All Newcomer Team for MVC - 0.5 - OVER, we have so many newcomers, the odds are with us
All League Team 1st, 2nd, 3rd - 0.5 - OVER - Darius time to Shine
Valley Road Victories - 1.5 - OVER - SIU and Evansville
Final Standing in Valley - 10.5 - UNDER (Worse) - I'll stick with the professionals on this one
Total Wins - 10.5 - OVER because optimism exudes

SO...
did you see what Loyola did to the Trinity Trolls the other day?   104-44.
did you see what South Suburban Community College did to the Trinity Christian Trolls on 11/1?  128-37
Trinity is playing Moody Bible Institute on Friday, and "East-West" on Saturday before our game on Monday.

This is not a good season for Jason Hawkins and the Trolls.

Coach Bill Koch Passed away at age 93 on Monday, August 28, 2023.

Visitation at Immanuel Lutheran Friday from 3-5pm, funeral at Immanuel starting at 5pm.

Prayers for LaDonna and family.

I'm sure more information will be posted shortly.

Bill has been a good friend for nearly 50 years.  I will miss his wit and wisdom.

They WOULDN'T do THAT.... would they?

Congratulations to Grand Canyon for winning the Western Athletic Conference
Congratulations to Baylor for another outstanding year and a solid NET performance

How about a #2 - #15 matchup in the opening night in Denver.

Homer always said... only in the NCAA...   

highlights of the Antelopes championship game Saturday night in Paradise, Nevada

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/gametracker/recap/NCAAB_20230311_GC@SUTAH/

Reasons for the crowd to appear today.

1.  Cheap Tickets.  All Upper Level tickets are $5.  Accompanying Kids (under 18) get in free.

2.  First 400 People get branded Santa Hats (don't know what they look like)

3.  The "Guest Band" for this game is the Chesterton High School Trojan Guard.  If you have not heard them... a cheap concert today at noon in the ARC.  50+ members will be in attendance... and I'm guessing some parents will be on hand.

4.  Former Valpo player Jason Karys will be on the visiting team bench.  Jason coached the VuCru in the TBT a few months ago.   Stonehill currently leads the Northeast Conference in three-point percentage (.377) and free-throw percentage (.789), while ranking second in field goal percentage (.452) and third in scoring offense (71.8 ppg).

5.  Stonehill just lost to Bradley by 29 on Monday night in Peoria... after losing at Boston College by 7 last week.   The Bradley Story:  Bradley never trailed, scoring the first nine points of the game as Hickman and Deen bookended a conventional three-point play by Tahvanainen with a pair of three-pointers over the opening three and a half minutes. The Braves opened a 20-point lead (29-9) after a putback by Mast with 7:27 left in the first half on its way to leading by as much as 21 (40-19) after another Mast bucket with a minute remaining. Bradley built the lead on 53-percent (16-for-30) shooting in the first half, while holding Stonehill to 26.9% (7-26) in the frame.   

Fifth-year Andrew Sims was the lone Stonehill player in double-figures, extending his streak to 18-straight games dating back to last year, with 13 points, including 11 after halftime, on 4-of-6 shooting, converting 5-of-6 free-throws. Junior Thatcher Stone chipped in nine points, four rebounds and a steal.

Stonehill opened the second half with a 6-1 spurt to close the gap to 13 (41-28) after a Stone layup just 1:38 in. The Skyhawks were still within 14 (44-30) after two Sims free-throws a minute later, and down 15 (54-39) after a floater from postgrad Max Zegarowski with 12:30 still to play, but Bradley wouldn't let the Skyhawks any closer, using an 18-1 run to ice the game over the final ten minutes.

Noteworthy

Sims' 18th-straight double-figure scoring game is the 41st of his career. He inches closer to the 1,000-point plateau with 917 points in 85 career games.
Fifth-year Isaiah Burnett finished with two steals and has at least one theft in 19-straight games dating back to last season.
Bradley finished shooting 47.5-percent from the floor, burying 12 three-pointers (on 30 tries).

6.  You will be snowed-in for the next 48 hours in Porter County.  Come to the game, then start your Christmas Shopping after about 2pm.

6.a.  THEN come back to campus for the Bach Institute performance at 7pm of Handel's Messiah in the Chapel.  Tickets are $20 Adults, Seniors $10.   https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?actions=4&p=1

7.  Watch Kobe King get closer to the 1,000 point mark. (he needs 82)

8.  Stonehill has wins this year over Army (RPI 347) and Binghamton (RPI 345) and Holy Cross (RPI 353) and a non-d1

9.  Stonehill is a new member to D1, in the Powerful Northeast Conference:  (LIU 0-11; Merrimack 0-12; St Francis PA 1-9, Central Connecticut 2-11). 

10.  Heck... it's College Basketball.  Great way to spend the lunch hour (or 2). 

The Elon Phoenix... Winless against D-1 programs this year... 

Reading the story about their last game against the Blue Hose of Presbyterian...

The Elon University men's basketball team could not overcome a late second-half rally by Presbyterian as the Phoenix suffered a 69-63 setback at the hands of the Blue Hose on Thursday, Dec. 15, at the Templeton Center.

Sean Halloran had 15 points to lead the Phoenix (2-9) while Sam Sherry added 14 for the maroon and gold. Zac Ervin contributed with 11 points off the bench to conclude the double-digit scorers for Elon.

Owen McCormack had a game-high 21 points to pace Presbyterian (3-9) while also grabbing seven rebounds. Marquis Barnett added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Blue Hose.

THE RUNDOWN
• The Phoenix opened the game with a 12-0 lead. Max Mackinnon and Sherry each scored baskets before Halloran knocked down a three-pointer to make it 7-0. Another bucket by Mackinnon pushed it to 9-0 before the first media timeout. Three more free throws by Sherry and Torrence Watson put Elon ahead 12-0 before Presbyterian's first basket at the 13:37 mark.
• A three-pointer by John Bowen III with 12:57 left in the first half put the Phoenix up 13, 15-2, before the Blue Hose went on a 14-2 run over the next four minutes to come within one. A three-pointer by McCormack made it a one-point game, 17-16, with 6:53 left in the opening period.
• The Phoenix responded with a 12-1 run to go ahead 29-17 after a Halloran three with 3:51 left in the first half. The Blue Hose answered with an 8-2 run to make it a 31-25 capped by another McCormack three-pointer. Elon however held on to the lead going into the locker room after the first-half buzzer.
• The Blue Hose brought their deficit down to five, 38-33, to start the second half, but Elon came back with a 10-1 run to move in front 48-34 at the 13:50 mark. Ervin scored eight points during that stretch including a pair of three-pointers.
• Elon held a 10-point lead, 51-41, with 11:28 left in the game, but a 12-2 run by the Blue Hose led to a tie game at 53-all on after a jumper by Terrell Ard Jr. with 5:41 left in the game. The Phoenix pulled back ahead, 56-53, on a Sherry layup and a free throw by RJ Noord Jr. before a pair of free throws by McCormack brought Presbyterian within one with 4:12 remaining.
• Presbyterian took a 58-56 lead – its first of the game – on a three from McCormack with 2:19 left. The Blue Hose then expanded their lead on a jumper and a pair of free throws to move ahead 62-56, forcing Elon into a timeout with 1:53 left in the game.
• McCormack added two more free throws to make it a nine-point game for the Blue Hose with 54 seconds left, but the Phoenix extended the game with fouls to force Presbyterian to make free throws. A three-pointer by Ervin made it a five-point game with 18 seconds left, but that would be as close as the maroon and gold would get as the contest ended with the 69-63 final.

NOTES
• Halloran matched his career-high with four steals in the contest for the Phoenix. The Orlando, Fla., native has had three games this season with four steals and six total multi-steal contests.
• Mackinnon nearly had a double-double with eight points and a season-high six assists in the contest.
• Ervin's 11 points off the pine helped the Phoenix overtake the Blue Hose in bench points, 21-19.
• Watson returned to the Phoenix after missing the previous game due to injury. The St. Louis, native had seven points and three rebounds in 14 minutes.
• In a tale of two halves, the Phoenix held the Blue Hose to only 29.6 percent shooting in the opening half – the lowest percentage for an opponent all season. Presbyterian however shot 54.5 percent in the second period while outscoring the Phoenix 41-28.

"A Team with personnel issues" would be my take on their statistics...

https://elonphoenix.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2022-23?path=mbball

They've played 11 games.  ONE player has started all 11; and 9 different players have started at least one game.  Those 9 players are all averaging at least 14 minutes per game.

Their NET ranking is #353.  the CAA NET Ranking is #23.

OH, I should mention this is the first of a two-game Indiana road trip for them... They go to Assembly Hall in Bloomington on Tuesday.  Ouch.

11/7
Valpo at Toledo -  TOLEDO 85-70
Green Bay at Indiana State  INDIANA STATE  80-53
Little Rock at Southern Illinois - SIU 94-63
Ohio at Belmont - Bruins by 5 - BELMONT 70-69
Murray State at St Louis - ST LOUIS 91-68
Trinity Illinois at UIC - UIC 82-48
Western Illinois at Illinois State - WESTERN ILLINOIS 71-68
Wisc-Parkside at Bradley - BRADLEY 93-59
Evansville at Miami-Ohio - EVANSVILLE 78-74
Wartburg at Northern Iowa - UNI 105-49

FOR THE DAY:   
4 WINS
3 LOSSES
3 NON-D1 GAMES

11/9
IUPUI at Drake - DRAKE 80-48
Missouri Science and Tech at Missouri State - MISSOURI STATE 82-47

FOR THE DAY
1 WINS
0 LOSSES
1 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
5 WINS
3 LOSSES
4 NON D1 GAMES


11/10
Illinois State at Eastern Illinois - ILLINOIS STATE 54-49
Southern Illinois at Oklahoma State - SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 61-60

FOR THE DAY
2 WINS
0 LOSSES
O NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
7 WINS
3 LOSSES
4 NON D1 GAMES


11/11 (ouch)
Belmont at Furman - FURMAN 89-74
Northern Iowa at Richmond - RICHMOND 68-55
Bradley at Utah State - UTAH STATE 84-62
Loyola Chicago at UIC - LOYOLA 70-63

FOR THE DAY
0 WINS
4 LOSSES
O NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
7 WINS
7 LOSSES
4 NON D1 GAMES


11/12
Ball State at Indiana State - INDIANA STATE 83-71
Evansville at St Louis- ST LOUIS 83-65
Illinois State at Northwestern State - ILLINOIS STATE 69-67
Lindsey Wilson at Murray State - MURRAY STATE 90-53

FOR THE DAY
2 WINS
1 LOSSES
1 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
9 WINS
8 LOSSES
5 NON D1 GAMES


11/13
Southern Illinois at Southern Indiana - SOUTHERN INDIANA - 71-53 (any given night...)
Western Michigan at Valparaiso - VALPO - 81-65

FOR THE DAY
1 WINS
1 LOSSES
0 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
10 WINS
  9 LOSSES
  5 NON D1 GAMES



11/14
Belmont at Lipscomb - LIPSCOMB 77-75... Jacob Ognacevic's layup with two seconds left
Jacksonville State at UIC - UIC 67-60
Northern Iowa at #18 Virginia - UVA favored by 15.5... CANCELLED / POSTPONED
Wofford at Drake - DRAKE 80-72

FOR THE DAY
2 WINS
1 LOSSES
0 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
12 WINS
10 LOSSES
  5 NON D1 GAMES

11/15
Eastern Michigan at Bradley - BRADLEY 89-61

1 WINS
0 LOSSES
0 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
13 WINS
10 LOSSES
  5 NON D1 GAMES


11/16 - OUCH, AGAIN
SE Missouri State at Evansville - SEMO 67-61
Valparaiso at Chicago State - CSU 87-74
Missouri State at BYU - BYU 66-64

0 WINS
3 LOSSES
0 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
13 WINS
13 LOSSES
  5 NON D1 GAMES


11/17
Murray State vs Texas A&M - Myrtle Beach - MURRAY STATE 88-79
North Dakota State at Indiana State - INDIANA STATE 101-75
Tennessee State at Southern Illinois - SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 57-44
Northwestern State at Illinois State - NORTHWESTERN STATE 70-67

3 WINS
1 LOSSES
0 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
16 WINS
14 LOSSES
  5 NON D1 GAMES

11/18
Buffalo vs Drake - Paradise Jam - DRAKE 80-72
Tarleton State vs Belmont - Paradise Jam - TARLETON STATE 89-81
Massachusetts vs Murray State - Myrtle Beach - UMASS 71-69

1 WINS
2 LOSSES
0 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
17 WINS
16 LOSSES
  5 NON D1 GAMES


11/19
Evansville at SMU - SMU 55-47
Middle Tennessee at Missouri State - MISSOURI STATE 75-51
UIC at Fordham - FORDHAM 79-65
Southeast Missouri at Bradley - BRADLEY 73-60
Incarnate Word at Valparaiso - VALPARAISO 68-64
Belmont vs George Mason @ USVirgin Islands - BELMONT 66-62

4 WINS
2 LOSSES
0 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
21 WINS
18 LOSSES
  5 NON D1 GAMES

11/20
Murray State vs Tulsa @ Myrtle Beach - MURRAY STATE 77-60
Drake Vs Wyoming @ USVirgin Islands - DRAKE 61-56

2 WINS
0 LOSSES
0 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
23 WINS
18 LOSSES
  5 NON D1 GAMES

11/21
Illinois State vs LSU - @Cayman Island Classic - LSU 77-61
Northern Iowa vs San Francisco - @ Hall Of Fame Classic, KCMO - SAN FRANCISCO 75-69
East Carolina vs Indiana State -@ Gulf Coast Showcase - INDIANA STATE 79-75
Stonehill College vs UIC - @ Fordham Tournament - UIC 77-71
Howard vs Belmont @ USVirgin Islands - BELMONT 96-73
Drake vs Tarleton State @ USVirgin Islands - DRAKE 71-64

4 WINS
2 LOSSES
0 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
27 WINS
20 LOSSES
  5 NON D1 GAMES

11/22
Holy Cross vs UIC -@ Fordham Tournament- UIC 89-66
Bradley vs Auburn -@ Cancun Challenge - AUBURN 85-64
UMKC vs Indiana State @ Gulf Coast - UMKC 63-61
Southern Illinois vs UNLV @ SOCal Challenge - UNLV 56-49
Illinois State vs Western Kentucky @ Cayman Islands - WESTERN KENTUCKY 78-66
Northern Iowa vs Grand Canyon @ Hall of Fame Classic - GRAND CANYON 69-67

1 WINS
5 LOSSES
0 NON-D1 GAMES

FOR THE SEASON
28 WINS
25 LOSSES
  5 NON D1 GAMES

11/23
Valparaiso at Samford  SAMFORD 79 49
Evansville at Univ Central Florida UCF 76-56
Illinois State vs Rhode Island @ Grand Caymans URI 57-44
Indiana State vs Drexel @ Gulf Coast ISU 85-81
Bradley vs Liberty @ Cancun LIBERTY 55-44

1 WIN
4 LOSSES
0 NON D1

29 WINS
29 LOSSES
5 NON D1

11/24
California Baptist vs Southern Illinois @ SoCal Challenge SIU 64-61

1 WIN
0 LOSSES
0 NON D1

30 WINS
29 LOSSES
5 NON D1


11/25
Missouri State vs UNC-Wilmington - Nassau Bahamas - NCW 68-54
South Dakota State vs Valparaiso - Savannah Georgia - SDSU 61-50
South Alabama vs Evansville - Savannah Georgia SOUTH ALABAMA 78-67

0 WINS
3 LOSSES Ouch
0 NON D1

30 WINS
32 LOSSES
5 NON D1

11/26
Northern Illinois at Northern Iowa - NORTHERN IOWA 83-76
Merrimack at Bradley - BRADLEY 83-41
Evansville vs Robert Morris @ Savannah Georgia - EVANSVILLE 54-53
Louisiana-Lafayette) at Drake - DRAKE 76-64
UIC at Green Bay - UIC 78-64
Murray State at Chattanooga - CHATTANOOGA 69-66
Ball State vs Missouri State - BALL STATE 67-64

5 WINS
2 LOSSES Ouch
0 NON D1

35 WINS
34 LOSSES
5 NON D1
(Phew... back over .500)

11/27
James Madison vs Valparaiso - Savannah Georgia - VALPARAISO 81-79 OVERTIME
Trinity Illinois at Indiana State - INDIANA STATE 105-68
Missouri State vs Oakland @ Nassau - MISSOURI STATE 76-64
Belmont at Georgia State - BELMONT 68-66
Fairfield vs Evansville - Savannah Georgia - FAIRFIELD 63-56

3 WINS
1 LOSS
1 NON D1

38 WINS
35 LOSSES
6 NON D1

12/3
Indiana State at Miami Ohio - INDIANA STATE 88-61
Southern Illinois at St. Louis - SAINT LOUIS 85-72

1 WIN
1 LOSS

39 WINS
36 LOSSES
6 NON D1


12/6
Trevecca Nazarene at Belmont - BELMONT 83-53
Bradley at SIUE - BRADLEY 56-54
Trinity (Ill) at Valparaiso - VALPARAISO 96-60
Toledo at Northern Iowa - TOLEDO 83-75

1 WIN
1 LOSS
2 NON D1

40 WINS
37 LOSSES
8 NON D1

12/7
Campbell at Evansville - EVANSVILLE 72-66
Eastern Michigan at Illinois State - ILLINOIS STATE 87-81
Nebraska-Omaha at Drake - DRAKE 78-65
Missouri State at St Mary's (Moraga, CA) - ST MARY'S 66-46

3 WINS
1 LOSS
0 NON D1

43 WINS
38 LOSSES
8 NON D1


12/09
McNeese State at Northern Iowa - MCNEESE STATE 52-49 (GEESH)

0 WINS
1 LOSS
0 NON D1

43 WINS
39 LOSSES
8 NON D1


12/10 - Feint of Heart - Do Not read this
Alcorn State at Southern Illinois - SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 74-68
Drake at Richmond - RICHMOND 82-52
Evansville at Ball State - BALL STATE 88-69
UIC at Western Michigan - UIC 62-56
Valparaiso at Ole Miss - MISSISSIPPI 98-61
Murray State at Bellarmine - BELLARMINE 69-58
SIUE at Illinois State - ILLINOIS STATE 77-71
Middle Tennessee State at Belmont - MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE 85-75
Purdue Fort Wayne at Missouri State - PURDUE FORT WAYNE 65-61

3 WINS
6 LOSS
0 NON D1

46 WINS
45 LOSSES
8 NON D1


12/11
Indiana State at Southern Indiana - SOUTHERN INDIANA 88-85 (OVERTIME)

0 WINS
1 LOSS
0 NON D1

46 WINS
46 LOSSES
8 NON D1

12/12
South Florida at Northern Iowa - SOUTH FLORIDA 72-69
0 WINS
1 LOSS
0 NON D1

46 WINS
47 LOSSES
8 NON D1

12/13
Chicago State at Murray State - MURRAY STATE 66-65 (MSU Trailed by 15 at the half)
Lincoln College (Mo) at Southern Illinois - SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 88-51
Prairie View at UIC - UIC 70-61

2 WINS
0 LOSS
1 NON D1

48 WINS
47 LOSSES
9 NON D1


NO MVC GAMES ON 12/14 OR 12/15

12/16
Chicago State at Southern Illinois - SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 63-52
Missouri State at Oral Roberts - ORAL ROBERTS 80-77
Austin Peay at Murray State - MURRAY STATE 68-60

2 WINS
1 LOSS
0 NON D1

50 WINS
48 LOSSES
9 NON D1


12/17
Indiana State at Duquesne - DUQUESNE 92-86
Northern Iowa vs. Towson State at Chicago - NORTHERN IOWA 83-66
Illinois State vs Ball State at Indianapolis - BALL STATE 83-69
Drake at St Louis - SAINT LOUIS 83-75 (Drake jumped out 20-4 @9:50 ... and trailed at the half)
Bradley at Arkansas - ARKANSAS 76-57

1 WIN
4 LOSSES
0 NON D1

51 WINS
52 LOSSES
9 NON D1

12/18
Belmont at Chattanooga - Mocs favored by 5 - BELMONT 83-79 IN OVERTIME
Elon at Valparaiso - Beacs favored by 8.5 - VALPARAISO 71-66
Northeastern at UIC - Flames favored by 2.5 - UIC 81-73
Central Michigan at Missouri State - MoSt favored by 12...MISSOURI STATE 79-58

4 WINS
0  LOSSES

55 WINS
52 LOSSES
9 NON D 1

12/19
Chicago State at Illinois State - ILLINOIS STATE 66-52
Stonehill College at Bradley - BRADLEY 79-50

2 WINS
0  LOSSES

57 WINS
52 LOSSES
9 NON D 1

12/20
#15 Mississippi State at Drake - DRAKE 58-52  (Another MVC Q1 Win)
UIC at Northwestern - NORTHWESTERN 92-54... OUCH

1 WINS
1 LOSS

58 WINS
53 LOSSES
9 NON D 1

12/21
Stonehill College at Valparaiso - Valpo favored by 7 - VALPO 77-67
Murray State at Middle Tennessee State - MTSU favored by 7.5 - MTSU 83-67
Samford at Belmont - Bruins favored by 5 - BELMONT 79-56
Southern Illinois at SE Missouri State - SIU favored  by 7.5 - SIU 70-68
Bellarmine at Evansville - Bellarmine favored by 3.5... EVANSVILLE 73-61
St Bonaventure at Northern Iowa - UNI favored by 2 - UNI 62-52
St Ambrose at Drake - Non D1 - no line - Ahem.  DRAKE 124-48 (Drake had 59 at the half)

5 WINS
1 LOSS
1 NON D1

63 WINS
54 LOSSES
10 NON D 1

12/22
Akron at Bradley - 4pm tip in Peoria, Braves favored by 5 - BRADLEY 74-55
Northern Illinois at Indiana State - NORTHERN ILLNOIS 67-57
Sam Houston State at Missouri State - CANCELLED - Probably OK for MoST.  SHSU has a NET of 20, RPI 35 and is 10-2 on the season, with wins over Oklahoma and Utah.  They beat Arlington Baptist 107-26 on Monday.


1 WIN
1 LOSS

64 WINS
55 LOSSES
10 NON D1

====================
END OF NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
====================
what could have been. 

[OVER]

If you want the conversation, go to the Victory Bell podcast and hear Todd Ickow and Paul go indepth

Here are the detailed stats...to track for the season.    In Uniform Numerical Order...

Here are the Over/Under for the 2022-23 season as put-forth by Paul Oren.  I'll put my shot...

Palesseeee 5.2 Points Per Game - OVER
Reudinger - 1.2 Steals / Turnover Ratio  OVER
Barrett - 19.5 Three Pointers made for the season UNDER
DAveiro - 2.0 Assist / Turnover Ratio OVER
Edwards - 174.5 Total Assists for Season UNDER
Freese-Villien - 8.5 Points in any Single Game OVER
Bayu - 16.5 Minutes Played in the First "Arch Madness" game UNDER
Nelson - 6.3 Points per game UNDER
Green - 9.6 Points per game OVER
Krikke - 26.5 Three Pointers for season OVER
Hedstrom - 32,5 made field goals for the season UNDER
Palm - 40.5 Offensive Rebounds for the season OVER
King - 70% Free Throw percentage for season OVER

Team Wins - 17.5  OVER
Valley Finish - 6th or better?  UNDER
Conference winning streak - 2.5 games  OVER
Players on First or Second All Conference Team - 1.5  UNDER
Players on All Newcomer team - 0.5  OVER

AND... Number of Times Todd Ickow says "Dunking Dutchman"... 3.5 times for the season WAY OVER

[Sunday, Oct. 30 at NCAA Division II Findlay.]

Toledo started their schedule with an exhibition game on Saturday...

The Toledo men's basketball team opened its 2022-23 season with a 100-59 exhibition victory over NCAA Division II foe Hillsdale on Saturday in Savage Arena.  Senior JT Shumate topped the Rockets with 19 points, while junior RayJ Dennis tallied 16 points.

"I thought we played hard and played with discipline," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We played against a team that is tremendous in motion offense and certainly got us on a few occasions. I think overall it was a great start to our season.

Toledo took control of the game with a 19-0 run to take a 27-16 lead with 7:32 remaining in the first half.  The Rockets held a 40-25 advantage at the break.  UT put together another big spurt by outscoring the Chargers by a 24-2 margin over a six-minute stretch to assume a 75-42 cushion with 7:26 to play.

Toledo will play one more exhibition contest on Sunday, Oct. 30 at NCAA Division II Findlay. Tipoff time vs. the Oilers is set for 3:00 p.m.  NOTICE:  They are playing a ROAD Exhibition game at Findlay...now THAT's scheduling!

Illinois state has announced they will buy out the remaining two years on his contract.  He will coach the redbirds through arch madness.

500,000 per year on the buyout

Just wanted to throw up a tribute to my favorite professor of my mid-70s days here ...

https://www.farrisfuneralservice.com/obituaries/James-Everett-Combs?obId=21335409#/obituaryInfo

From the Obituary:
Jim was an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War and attained his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Missouri. Jim spent his entire teaching career in the political science department at Valparaiso University, where he influenced the lives of countless students, many of whom kept in touch with him for the rest of his life.

Indeed. 

see you there.  will be a good test. 

just wanted to start thread

As bad as Tuesday was for the valley.. Wednesday was good.  5 wins, including 2 power-5 wins, Kansas State and South Carolina...  and mid major wins over Murray State and old Dominion.

[SAT 23 at Central Michigan Final L, 106-60]

the "Lick our wounds and allow any multi-game suspensions to happen in mid-season" game.

Looking back over the past 34 years... in the 8th game of the year, this has been an achilles game for us.  Our record is 15-18; one of only a handful where we do not have a winning record, however, we've had recent success in game#8... wins over UC Riverside, Utah State, Rhode Island in the last three years.

The Trolls have already played 10 games...and play Tuesday night before we see them on Wednesday.

SAT OCT 26, vs Wright State-Lake Campus Final W 95-73
SAT 02 vs Evangel  Final W, 88-85
WED 06 at St. Ambrose Final L, 79-59
FRI 08 vs Cornerstone Final L, 78-69
SAT 09 vs Lawrence Tech Final L, 79-76
WED 13 vs Saint Xavier Final L, 67-53
THU 14 at Moody Bible Final W, 89-64
SAT 16 vs St. Francis Final L, 75-57
WED 20 at Calumet Final L, 71-56
THU 21 at Crown College Final W, 105-86
SAT 23 at Central Michigan Final L, 106-60
TUE 26 vs Indiana South Bend   7:30 PM 

We played them 2 years ago, 83-46 in the second game of the season.
We played them 3 years ago, 89-75 in the second game of the season.
We played them 4 years ago, 89-42, in the 5th game of the season

They have two Indiana Resident Students on their team... Jared Jonkman  JR, 6-4 Fwd from Gary and Collin Flipse, SO 6-2 Guard from St. John; both attended Illiana Christian High School.  They have 22 players on their roster, 18 of them have at least 1 minute of game time.

James Pennington 13.0 ppg SOPH 6-3
John Shannon 10.9 ppg SR 6-1 put 14 on Central Michigan
Deantre DeYoung 10.6 ppg  SR  6-1 put 17 on Central Michigan

They are somewhat vertically challenged... The tallest team they can put on the court:

6-7 Freshman Harris - has not played
6-6 Senior TenDolle 1.2 ppg
6-6 Junior Decker 10.4 ppg started in 8 games
6-5 Junior Keys 1.5 ppg
6-5 Freshman Overway 8.9 ppg started in 5 games

CMU Outrebounded them 52-31, including 17 offensive rebounds.... and CMU only shot 4-23 from 3pt range!.. 18-24 from the line.

Just caught the end of his post game interview with the guard from THAT school who won't play us... After he was the color commentator on ESPNU.  In a few minutes he'll be on ESPN2 with the second game... Stanford - Oklahoma.

OK, perhaps jumping the gun... Wolfpack up 15 with 15 to play over an undefeated Fordham team.

https://basketballtravelers.com/documents/2019/5/13/2019_paradise_jam_mens_brackets.pdf

Nevada is about to be 3-3.  Coached by some guy named Steve Alford...

Lost at home to Utah 79-74
Beat Loyola Marymount 72-67
Beat TX-Arlington 80-73
Lost at home to Southern Cal 76-66
Lost at Davidson on their way to the Islands 91-71, Going into the game today, their meaningless RPI is 259, which is 9th in the Mountain West.
(Nevada now up 17 with 13:00 to play)...

They are led by
Jazz Johnson 18.2 ppg  5-10 Sr
Lindsey Drew  17.4 ppg  6.2 rpg  6-4 Sr
Jalen Harris 11.5 ppg  6.3 rpg  6-5 Jr
Misre ZouZoua 10.0 ppg  6-3 Sr

Robby Robinson 6.6 rpg  6-8 soph

Here's the saga of their game with Davidson...

Game Notes:

Nevada (2-3) is now 2-3 after falling 91-71 at Davidson (2-2) in the first road game of the season for the Wolf Pack.

The Pack continues its 10-day road swing with three games in the Paradise Jam in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands starting on Friday at 12:15 p.m. PT versus Fordham (3-0). 

The games will be streamed on FloHoops.   

Alex Margulies will call the games on 94.5 FM in northern Nevada and online the broadcast can be heard at TuneIn.com.

The series with the Davidson Wildcats is tied at 1-1.  The Pack won the first meeting 81-68 in Reno on Nov. 21, 2017.

Nevada shot a season-high 56 percent from the field and outrebounded the Wildcats 30-24.

For the first time this season the Pack had four players score in double figures with Lindsey Drew leading the way with 14 points. It was the third time in five games that Drew topped the Pack in scoring.

Jazz Johnson, Jalen Harris and Nizré Zouzoua all netted 13 points in the game.

Harris was a rebound shy of his first double-double grabbing a team-high nine boards to go along with his 13 points.

Tonight marked the first game that Nevada did not have the leading scorer in the game as Davidson's Kellan Grady scored a game-high 24 points.

First-year Nevada head coach Steve Alford is 589-301 in 29 years as a college head coach and is 11 wins from 600.

Eight of the nine players that saw action for the Pack scored.

For the second game in a row the Pack's bench outscored its opponent, 18-11 tonight at Davidson.

Nevada committed a season-high 21 turnovers that led to 34 points for the Wildcats.

[Pack up 65-41 with 9:41 to play... I'm feeling safe posting this]
Jalen Harris has 20 pts on 6-9 (4-6 from 3pt)
Jazz Johnson has 17 pts on 5-10 (4-7 from 3pt)
They have 14 assists on 21 baskets.   
12 of 24 from 3pt range
7-10 from the line as a team

Game matchups and start times for the 2019 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam was released Monday, May 13, 2019. The announcement includes bracketing and official tipoff times for all 24 games of the men's and women's tournaments at the 20th annual Paradise Jam, held Nov. 22-30, 2019 at the University of the Virgin Islands' Sports and Fitness Center in St. Thomas. All games for the upcoming 2019 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam will stream online at FloHoops.com.

The men's Paradise Jam will tipoff Friday, Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. AST (1 p.m. EST) as the Valparaiso University Crusaders face the Grand Canyon Antelopes. Fordham University and Nevada will face off at 4:15 p.m., followed by Illinois State and Cincinnati at 6:45 p.m. The opening round concludes with a 9 p.m. tipoff between Bowling Green and Western Kentucky.

Losing teams will compete in their second game the following day, Saturday, Nov. 23 with tipoffs scheduled at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Winning teams will have a one-day respite, before facing off in the semifinals, Sunday, Nov. 24. The first semifinal will begin at 6:30 p.m., followed by the second semifinal at 8:30 p.m. All teams will return to the UVI Sports and Fitness Center on Monday for the final days of competition. The seventh-place game will begin at 2 p.m., followed by the fourth-place game at 4:15 p.m., third-place game at 6:45 p.m., and the men's championship game at 9 p.m.

https://basketballtravelers.com/calendar.aspx?path=paradise

The other game in the bracket is Nevada - Fordham.

Back to Grand Canyon....

The Lopes are 1-3, with one game to go before heading to the Islands...

Dan Majerle, a former NBA All-Star and Olympian, is in his seventh year at the helm of GCU men's basketball in 2019-20 after taking over the program on March 18, 2013, as the 13th head coach in Lopes history.

It has been quite an impressive run in the Valley for the former Phoenix Suns star, broadcaster and assistant coach. In six years at GCU, Majerle has amassed 123 wins and five postseason berths on the sideline.

They Lost to "Davenport" 82-73.
Then got Illinois to go to Phoenix, with the Illini willing 83-71, then they went to San Diego and lost to the Aztecs 86-61; then they played (0-3) Arkansas-Pine Bluff at home on Saturday and beat 'em 67-54.

They host Montana State on Tuesday.

For the year, they are 19-78 from 3 pt range, (25%)
They are being out-rebounded by 9 per game.
They are committing only 12.5 TOs per game
They have 2 blocks as a team

Led by Allesandro Lever (6'10" Jr from Italy- 11.5ppg) and Carlos Johnson (6'4" SR Guard 13.5ppg) and Isiah Brown a transfer from Northwestern, 12.8 ppg.

OK, I started the SIUE thread....and Valpo won it 89-76.  Clobbering the Spread and the OU.

UND will be hard to scout.  Blew out a DII and got schooled by Gonzaga in their two games. 

Coming off that "WOWSER" game against SIUE, JFL with 30 and 13, Robinson with 19 and 8, Kiser 8 and 7 and generally in the way of the Cougars...

Sunday afternoon game on FREE TV ESPN3.  Bring out the CROWD!

1   Stewart, Marlon   G   Sr.   6-3   209   Rock Island, Ill. / North Scott   
2   Ramsey Jr., Carlos   G   Fr.   6-5   180   Milwaukee, Wis. / Arizona Compass Prep   
3   Brown, Billy   G   Sr.   6-3   195   Spirit Lake, Iowa / Spirit Lake   
4   Atelbauers, Davids   G   So.   6-1   177   Ogre, Latvia /   BK Ogre
5   Saddler, Zac   F   Jr.   6-7   207   New Braunfels, Texas / New Braunfels   Western Texas College
10   Moody, Aanen   G   So.   6-3   175   Dickinson, N.D. / Dickinson   
11   Panoam, Bentiu   G   Jr.   6-2   160   Anchorage, Alaska / Bartlett   Northwest Kansas Technical College
12   Rebraca, Filip   F   So.   6-9   220   Sombor, Serbia / Williston Northampton   
13   Coudreau, Marko   F   So.   6-9   230   Marseille, France / Lycee Marcelin Berthelot   INSEP
15   Danielson, Brady   F   Fr.   6-4   197   York, Neb. / York   
21   Igbanugo, Ethan   G   So.   6-2   187   Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville North   
23   Walter, Kienan   F   Sr.   6-9   205   Vancouver, Wash. / King's Way Christian   
24   Hazekamp, Elijah   F   So.   6-6   206   Sioux City, Iowa / Bishop Heelan Catholic   
32   Urbonavicius, Gertautas   F   Fr.   6-7   227   Vilnius, Lithuania / Cardinal Gibbons   
34   Allen-Eikens, De'Sean   G   R-Fr.   6-6   212   Williston, N.D. / Aspire Academy   

Since the game is tomorrow, thought I'd start this one.  Wish me luck.

SIUE was handled by Iowa 87-60 in their D1-opener.  They beat Quincy College by 9.  Their RealTimeWorthlessRPI is 299.

Here's the link to Valpo's Game notes:
http://cdn.streamlinetechnologies.com/valpoathletics/E7D8985D-530B-464F-8824-9002F2447573/MBBGameNotes_111219_SIUE.pdf


Here's the SIUE box score with Iowa.   10-player rotation.  Free Throws were a bit of a conundrum... Iowa 27 of 32.  SIUE 4 of 4.
https://www.siuecougars.com/sports/m-baskbl/2019-20/boxscores/20191108_2qxd.xml?view=boxscore

and here's their recap:
https://www.siuecougars.com/sports/m-baskbl/2019-20/releases/2019110913fm9l

This marks the third consecutive year these two teams have faced off after Valpo's appearance at the Valdabene Center on Nov. 15, 2017 marked the first all-time meeting. The Brown & Gold prevailed 94-69 in that trip to Edwardsville, before escaping with a 75-70 overtime victory on Nov. 21, 2018. All three Valpo games so far this season have come in all-time series where the most recent meeting either went to overtime or ended on a buzzer-beater. Last year's game with the Cougars saw all five Valpo starters finish the evening in double figures after the hosts outscored the guests 7-2 in the extra session.

Our cracker-jack SID office has dug up this:

Cam Williams (6'2" SO Guard) is the team's top scorer through two games at 13.5 per contest, while Anselm Uzuegbunem (6'7" SR Fwd) has a team-best rebounding average of 6.0.

Went 10-21 last season including a 6-12 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference and a 7-8 home record.

Picked to finish 11th of 12 in the OVC Preseason Media Poll and 10th by the SIDs and head coaches.

Under the direction of first-year head coach Brian Barone, who was an assistant on staff for the last two seasons. Barone has worked against Valpo in the past as an assistant, including his five-year stint on Brian Wardle's staff at Green Bay. He was on the opposing bench for Ryan Broekhoff's buzzer-beater in the 2013 Horizon League semifinals at the ARC.

Hometown Tour: A homecoming weekend of sorts continues for Valpo freshman Donovan Clay with Tuesday's matchup. The Alton, Ill. native played in front of about 20 friends and family members on Saturday night at Saint Louiswhich is located approximately 25 miles from his hometown.  Edwardsville is even closer at approximately 15 miles from Alton.  Clay saw 18 minutes of action and accrued three points, three rebounds and two steals in the game against the Billikens. 

===============
and the 800lb gorilla in the room... What about Fazekas?

This is NOT the Central Michigan game thread...

Some of you may remember the coach a few coaches ago... we will have a special recognition after his induction in the Hall of Fame.

Tip off is 1:30.  Most of the recognition program will occur PRE-GAME

Get your tickets early... there will probably be a crowd at this game.

So only time will tell the impact of the excitement that was the "Duneland Chamber of Commerce Night" at the ARC (thus explaining the Chesterton Band, Chesterton Choirs, Chesterton Middle-school boys team... and the 1,000+ tickets sold ...

but hopefully, the lasting residue will be more tickets sold for future games...

Todd and Aaron were having a twitter-chat about Buzzer Beaters by Valpo over the years...

Shawn Huff - 3-pointers to force OT against Oral Roberts - Feb 1, 2007 - Valpo 70-ORU 67
Shawn Huff - 3-point play in OT against Wright State - March 1, 2008 - Valpo 75-Wright State 73
Brandon McPherson - Steal and Layup vs Milwaukee - New Years Eve 2009 - Valpo 55- UWM 54
Eric Buggs - Coast to Coast Layup vs Detroit at Calihan - January 6, 2012 - Valpo 73 - UDM 71
Ryan Broeckhoff - 3-pointer in HL SemiFinals vs Green Bay - March 9, 2013 - Valpo 70 - GBay 69
Shane Hammink - 3-pointer to win at Green Bay - February 28, 2016 - Valpo 70 - GBay 68

Todd added these...
OH, Mr. Drew, March 13, 1998.... but I digress
Todd listed Drew over Buffalo... not sure which close game this was...January 17, 1998 - VU 82-80 or January 28, 1995, 64-63.
Craig Brunes 3-pointer to win at Central Connecticut State January 13, 1996, Valpo 79-CCSU 76
Jamie Sykes 3-pointer to win against Pacific in the 3rd place game at the Big Island Classic November 30, 1997 Valpo 75- Pacific 73
Lubos Barton 3-pointer to win at IUPUI January 24, 2002 Valpo 74-IUPUI 73 in Overtime
Greg Tonagel from 65-feet to beat Belmont, January 11, 1999 Valpo 71-Belmont 68

As Todd said... this program has had an amazing amount of magic.

According to RPI, this is the toughest game on the schedule.

With late-day action on Saturday, the Cardinals fall to #50... the Crusaders are #256.  RealTime Predictor has BSU with a 1-point win...

No students on campus.  Opposite the Saints / Panthers on MNF.

It's half-price ticket night... $10 chairbacks, $5 GA

Long week of finals ... coming off a decent shooting night.

BSU is currently on a 5-game winning streak, with Evansville on Sunday.  (BSU has already beaten Evansville once this year 82-72) .  AND they have beaten two other MVC teams, Indiana State 86-69 in the opener and @ Loyola 75-69.  Their three losses are to P5's  Purdue (by 9), VT (by 9)and Bama (by 18).

We owe them big time after what they did last year in Muncie.

In the rematch of the NIT title game a few years ago...

For a "WarmUP" game for GW, they get Towson State tonight....

It's 1-5 Towson vs 1-7 GW tonight.

NOV 6  TUE  #91  Stony Brook 6-1 L 74 - 77
Basketball Hall Of Fame Tip-Off - Campus Game - Charles E. Smith Center (Washington, DC)
NOV 8 THU  #198  Siena 3-5 L 61 - 69
NOV 11 SUN   @ #30  Virginia 8-0 L 57 - 76
Basketball Hall Of Fame Tip-Off - Mohegan Sun Arena (Uncasville, CT)
NOV 17 AT # 4  Michigan 9-0 L 61 - 84
NOV 18 vs #243  South Carolina 4-3 L 55 - 90
NOV 24 #341  Manhattan 2-5 W 70 - 43
NOV 28 #80  Vermont 5-3 L 53 - 69
DEC 1  @ #320  Princeton 3-2 L 52 - 73

They have only one player who has started all 8 games.
They have three players averaging 10+ per game.  THEIR #13 is leading at 13.4 ppg.

They are losing just about every statistical category, as you would expect.

https://gwsports.com/cumestats.aspx?path=mbball&year=2018

Payback.

76-60 was that final at MSG...