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Somebody had to start this thread.

Missing my 11th game in 32 years.  Thanks to Mike For letting me enjoy two of my grandchildren birthdays.

Let's run these guys out of the gym.

from Facebook a few hours ago...

Its with heavy hearts that we say good bye to our long-time Regional Radio Sports Network and Indiana Football Digest teammate Dave Miller who passed away this morning. Dave was a fiercely loyal and devoted teammate. Dave has played a pivotal role at RRSN/IFD for two decades. We are going to miss him greatly! Our love, thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Penny, son Josh and daughter Courtney, brother Gene and their family. RIP BOOMER!!!!!
=================
and from his daughter:
David M Miller, age 70, of Dyer, IN, passed away surrounded by his family on Monday, May 28, 2018.

He was born on September 23, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois to Leo and Ruth (Cantor) Miller. He had a passion for everything sports and radio.

David is survived by his loving wife of 39 years, Penny; two children, Joshua (Ashley) Miller of South Bend, IN, and Courtney (Matt) Oney of Brownsburg, IN; and his brother, Gene Miller of Munster, IN. He had 4 grandchildren, Rayne, Adelle and Vera Miller, and Benjamin Oney.

Friends May visit with the family on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at Burns-Kish Funeral Home, 8415 Calumet Ave, Munster, IN 46321 from 10:00AM to 11:00AM. A service will immediately follow at the funeral home at 11:00AM. Friends and family are also welcome at the burial service to take place at 2:30PM at Beth El Portage Cemetery in Portage, IN.
==========================
He will be missed in the Media room at the ARC.

Helen Steinbrecher, beloved wife of retired AD Bill Steinbrecher passed away on Wednesday after a lengthy illness.   Here is the full obituary.  You'll appreciate the love for Valparaiso University this couple shares...

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nwitimes/obituary.aspx?n=helen-mary-steinbrecher&pid=188520438

[Nobody else feels the hot hand and I am ice cold in recent attempts so no way will I kick this thing off.]

Nobody else feels the hot hand and I am ice cold in recent attempts so no way will I kick this thing off.


OK... I'll get back in the saddle.  We're at home.  We're 7-1 at the friendly confines.  It's going to be a relatively warm Sunday afternoon. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbF29c_FpV8


oh, we're playing a pretty good Loyola (15-4, 5-2) team... RPI 65.

Three of their 4 losses have been on the road (Boise State, Milwaukee and Missouri State)... lost at the Gentile to Indiana State

Some really good wins, like @Florida by 6, @ Illinois State by 7.

Valpo Versus Loyola
All-time series: Loyola leads 34-15
At Valpo: Loyola leads 17-6
At Loyola: Loyola leads 17-7
At unknown site: Valpo leads 2-0
Current streak: Valpo W1
Current streak at Valpo: Loyola W1
Current streak at Loyola: Valpo W4
Last 10 meetings: Valpo leads 7-3

12-13 season... they beat us in the ARC 63-54; then we beat them at the Gentile 85-76
11-12 season... we beat them 69-48 there, then we clinched the conference championship at the ARC with a 66-62 win.
10-11 season... we beat them 66-55 there, then they CLOBBERED us at home 68-48

They have Custer, Jackson, Ingram and Townes all averaging in double figures, and Krutwig at 9.5.

Date Opponent Score Attendance.
11/10/17 WRIGHT STATE W 84-80 2814
11/12/17 EUREKA W 96-69 1135
11/16/17 at UMKC W 66-56 1482
11/19/17 SAMFORD W 88-67 1289
11/21/17 MISSISSIPPI VALLEY W 63-50 1133
11/24/17 vs UNCW W 102-78 485
11/25/17 vs Kent State W 75-60 547
11/28/17 at Boise State L 53-87 3738
12/02/17 UIC W 85-61 3024
12/06/17 at Florida W 65-59 9012
12/09/17 NORFOLK STATE W 80-52 1904
12/16/17 at Milwaukee L 56-73 1705
* 12/22/17 at Missouri State L 59-64 4583
* 12/30/17 EVANSVILLE W 66-59 1914
* 01/03/18 INDIANA STATE L 57-61 1501
* 01/07/18 at UNI W 56-50 3765
* 01/10/18 at Illinois State W 68-61 4466
* 01/13/18 BRADLEY W 81-65 2814
* 01/17/18 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS W 79-65 2439

They are averaging 1,997 for the home games...

oh, they shoot free-throws, don't they.   72.2%  (74.6 in conference play)
oh, they shoot 3-pointers, don't they.   40.8%, 6 players shooting over 35%

Krutwig, Townes and Ingram have started all 7 of their MVC games,

They were at home last night to the Salukis
==========================
In Short
Donte Ingram scored a season-high 25 points and Cameron Krutwig added 18 points to power Loyola University Chicago (15-4, 5-2 MVC) to a 79-65 victory over Southern Illinois (11-9, 3-4 MVC) tonight at Gentile Arena. The win gives the Ramblers their longest winning streak in conference play – four games – since the 2006-07 season, when it was a member of the Horizon League.

Porter Moser's Thoughts
"Southern Illinois is one of the most physical teams we have played all year. They don't quit. I'm proud of our guys to grind it out in a tough, physical game."

How It Happened
Loyola came out of the starting blocks on fire and raced out to a 19-6 lead, forcing six Southern Illinois turnovers during that stretch. The Salukis answered right back, ripping off 12 unanswered points to close within a single tally (19-18) before a Ben Richardson three-pointer slowed the SIU momentum and opened a stretch of seven straight Loyola points.

Richardson's trey was the first basket in a 16-5, half-closing Loyola spurt that was punctuated by a Clayton Custer layup just before the halftime buzzer that sent the Ramblers into the locker room on top, 35-23.

The Ramblers, who overcame 11 turnovers of their own in the first half alone, shot 51.9 percent (14-for-27) from the field and limited the Salukis to 30 percent (9-for-30), including just 1 of 9 from three-point territory in the opening 20 minutes.

Kavion Pippen's dunk with 13:46 remaining in the game brought Southern Illinois within 10 points (47-37), but Ingram drained a pair of threes as part of an 11-4 run that pushed Loyola's lead to 58-41, matching its largest of the evening, and at least temporarily gave the Ramblers some breathing room.

Southern Illinois wouldn't go away quietly and make a late charge, cutting Loyola's lead down to 10 points (65-55) one last time on Armon Fletcher's layup with a little over three and a half minutes remaining. Once again, the Ramblers had an answer, this time, it was Krutwig scoring to spark an 8-2 surge that culminated with a three-pointer and then a free throw from Ingram, for a comfortable 73-57 advantage.

A Look At The Numbers
Ingram's 25 points are his most since dropping 25 on UNI on January 4, 2017, and he also pitched in seven rebounds, three steals, an assist and a block, while hitting 5-of-8 attempts from three-point land.
Krutwig fell one rebound shy of recording his second straight double-double, finishing with nine boards, while Custer pitched in 12 points.
Sean Lloyd scored 21 points to lead Southern Illinois.

Pre-Season favorite Bears come to the ARC...

Bears looking for Revenge.
Crusaders looking for Respect.

The New Era begins... 9-4 entering conference play.  All-Time against the Sycamores, Valpo is 31-50

The Sycamores have one more non-con game with Elon on Friday.  They have an RPI of 220, with an SOS of 116, against D1 teams, they are 2-1 at home, 1-2 on the road and 0-3 Neutral site games.  They are 0-4 against top 100 RPI, with obviously their top win being against Archie and the Gang 90-69 in the opener.  Their worst loss is to #227 Ohio in 4-Overtimes.  Like UCR, the Sycs beat Air Force.... playing in the MVC/MWC Challenge game.

## Player gp-gs min avg fg-fga fg% 3fg-fga 3fg% ft-fta ft% off def tot avg pf dq a to blk stl pts avg
02 Barnes, Jordan 11-11 372 33.8 55-126 . 4 3 7 45-88 . 5 1 1 32-38 . 8 4 2 3 36 39 3.5 28 2 45 31 1 9 187 17.0
04 Scott, Brenton 11-11 339 30.8 53-138 . 3 8 4 21-63 . 3 3 3 19-30 . 6 3 3 5 57 62 5.6 23 0 23 24 3 16 146 13.3
25 Davis, Qiydar 11-6 302 27.5 45-97 . 4 6 4 9-28 . 3 2 1 24-31 . 7 7 4 17 42 59 5.4 25 1 14 19 7 17 123 11.2
11 Key, Tyreke 11-5 308 28.0 34-87 . 3 9 1 8-30 . 2 6 7 27-38 . 7 1 1 4 35 39 3.5 24 1 16 26 2 14 103 9.4
34 Murphy, Brandon 11-10 201 18.3 25-41 . 6 1 0 0-0 . 0 0 0 30-43 . 6 9 8 20 20 40 3.6 23 1 8 15 7 8 80 7.3
35 Thomas, Devin 8-6 136 17.0 9-25 . 3 6 0 5-11 . 4 5 5 21-26 . 8 0 8 6 15 21 2.6 13 0 4 17 6 0 44 5.5
41 Rickman, Emondre 11-1 169 15.4 18-45 . 4 0 0 0-0 . 0 0 0 13-26 . 5 0 0 18 36 54 4.9 22 0 6 9 12 2 49 4.5
05 Kessinger, Bronson 11-5 185 16.8 14-29 . 4 8 3 3-10 . 3 0 0 3-6 . 5 0 0 12 17 29 2.6 20 0 9 8 5 5 34 3.1
13 Hughes, Clayton 11-0 128 11.6 11-20 . 5 5 0 5-11 . 4 5 5 6-6 1.000 1 6 7 0.6 22 1 4 12 3 7 33 3.0
01 Ojinnaka, Demonte 11-0 103 9.4 7-23 . 3 0 4 5-15 . 3 3 3 0-0 . 0 0 0 0 6 6 0.5 14 0 4 5 0 1 19 1.7
20 Huenermann, Daniel 5-0 8 1.6 1-3 . 3 3 3 0-1 . 0 0 0 2-4 . 5 0 0 1 1 2 0.4 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.8
03 Knight III, Trey 8-0 48 6.0 1-2 . 5 0 0 0-0 . 0 0 0 4-7 . 5 7 1 1 3 4 0.5 6 0 1 5 1 1 6 0.8
24 Deady, Matt 6-0 20 3.3 1-3 . 3 3 3 0-1 . 0 0 0 1-3 . 3 3 3 2 4 6 1.0 3 0 0 1 0 0 3 0.5
10 Claycomb, Ethan 3-0 6 2.0 0-1 . 0 0 0 0-1 . 0 0 0 0-0 . 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
Team 17 18 35 6
Total.......... 11 2325 274-640 . 4 2 8 101-259 . 3 9 0 182-258 . 7 0 5 107 297 404 36.7 225 6 134 178 47 80 831 75.5
Opponents...... 11 2325 277-641 . 4 3 2 72-224 . 3 2 1 197-269 . 7 3 2 104 299 403 36.6 230 5 137 165 42 74 823 74.8

Cavernous Hulman Center (Capacity 10,200) has not seen big turnouts...

Missouri St.Louis 2,612
Ball State 3,274
Air Force 3,797
Indianapolis 3,491
Green Bay 2,924

This is Game #14.  We've won the last 3 times, losing at Central Florida.  Overall, we are 19-12 in the past 31 seasons in Games #14 of the season.

Time to bounce back.

the Cats are 5-4, ...with Chicago State looming on Monday Night...   

the last Mid Major at the Rosemont Allstate Arena was Sacred Heart... only 5,216 in attendance.

Nolan Predictor
Valparaiso (6-2) Score 69 -1.0 Odds 54%  Betting Money to win 3% 

Northwestern (5-4) Score 68 +1.0 Odds 46%  Betting money to win 97%

Before the Boiler Up game finished, Valpo is an 8-point favorite on Nolan, with a 68% probability of winning.

Will they be celebrating their Irish win?

They have two home wins, #276 Stony Brook and #315 IUPUI; Their losses are to Dayton, Oklahoma, Oregon and Bucknell all on the road and road wins over Indiana State and ND.

## Player gp-gs min avg fg-fga fg% 3fg-fga 3fg% ft-fta ft% off def tot avg pf dq a to blk stl pts avg
02 PERSONS, Tayler 9-9 257 28.6 57-107 . 5 3 3 7-20 . 3 5 0 25-31 . 8 0 6 3 25 28 3.1 26 0 39 30 2 10 146 16.2
14 MALLERS, Kyle 9-9 222 24.7 29-63 .460 13-37 .351 33-37 .892 18 25 43 4.8 23 1 7 17 6 5 104 11.6
25 TEAGUE, Tahjai 9-9 190 21.1 40-62 . 6 4 5 1-4 . 2 5 0 19-27 . 7 0 4 17 52 69 7.7 27 2 5 11 9 13 100 11.1
34 SELLERS, Sean 9-8 224 24.9 24-54 .444 16-45 .356 15-15 1.000 4 21 25 2.8 14 0 10 5 1 1 79 8.8
01 WALKER, Jontrell 9-4 208 23.1 25-56 . 4 4 6 13-30 . 4 3 3 15-17 . 8 8 2 2 8 10 1.1 15 0 20 14 2 6 78 8.7
24 MOSES, Trey 9-0 166 18.4 19-37 .514 0-0 .000 18-31 .581 15 36 51 5.7 17 0 7 12 6 4 56 6.2
15 GUNN, Zach 9-0 138 15.3 19-47 . 4 0 4 7-25 . 2 8 0 10-13 . 7 6 9 4 26 30 3.3 18 0 8 10 3 2 55 6.1
05 EL-AMIN, Ishmael 9-0 169 18.8 18-53 .340 6-22 .273 10-14 .714 2 19 21 2.3 10 0 20 13 0 5 52 5.8
00 KIAPWAY, Francis 8-6 163 20.4 10-37 . 2 7 0 10-34 . 2 9 4 7-9 . 7 7 8 2 7 9 1.1 12 0 3 8 1 2 37 4.6
22 TYLER, Jeremie 4-0 46 11.5 5-15 .333 4-10 .400 2-4 .500 1 3 4 1.0 8 1 1 2 0 2 16 4.0
03 THOMPSON, Josh 2-0 16 8.0 0-2 . 0 0 0 0-1 . 0 0 0 1-2 . 5 0 0 0 2 2 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.5
11 LEEDY, Tyler 1-0 1 1.0 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0-0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0
Team 12 14 26 1
Total.......... 9 1800 246-533 .462 77-228 .338 155-200 .775 80 238 318 35.3 170 4 120 123 30 50 724 80.4
Opponents...... 9 1800 255-556 . 4 5 9 72-204 . 3 5 3 145-194 . 7 4 7 90 233 323 35.9 175 - 143 115 33 68 727 80.8

the story of the BSU win over the Irish
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Ball State men's basketball team went into the Joyce Center and knocked off No. 8 Notre Dame, 80-77, Tuesday night for the program's first victory over a ranked opponent since 2001.
 
Junior point guard Tayler Persons scored 24 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds as Ball State handed Notre Dame its first non-conference home loss in four years.
 
The Cardinals led the majority of the night until Notre Dame's Matt Farrell hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 77 with 21 seconds left. Ball State had a timeout left but did not call it. Persons kept the ball, went around a screen at the top of the key and buried the game-winner.
 
Ball State (5-4) defeated a ranked opponent for the first time since defeating No. 3 Kansas and No. 4 UCLA on back-to-back days at the 2001 Maui Invitational.
 
"I'm just so proud of our guys," Ball State head coach James Whitford said. "What a great win. We've come a long way. You think about where we started. To get to this point where we can beat a team like this on the road is amazing."
 
Tahjai Teague finished with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds for Ball State, while Sean Sellers scored 11 points and pulled down seven big boards. Trey Moses scored nine points as the Cardinals went to him often down the stretch, while Kyle Mallers and Jeremie Tyler added eight each.
 
Ball State took a 34-29 lead into halftime after a Mallers jumper at the buzzer. The Cardinals held Notre Dame (7-2) to 37 percent shooting and just 2-for-10 from 3-point range over the opening 20 minutes.
 
BSU led despite not having a great offensive half itself, making only 39 percent, but the defense was what had the Cardinals on top.
 
"Defensively we were outstanding, and that's why we were in that position," Whitford said. "It's not a fluke thing. We could feel it. We could sense we had a chance to win this game."
 
Notre Dame came out hot in the second half, hitting its first six shots to take the lead, but the Cardinals stood their ground.
 
Ball State eventually built a lead as big as nine points in the second half at 67-58 with 6:45 to play. Notre Dame went on a 9-2 run to trim the lead to two, but Moses hit a pair of free throws and Sellers came up with a huge tip-in to push the lead to 73-67 with 3:02 left.
 
"Sean made all the gritty plays tonight, and I couldn't be prouder of him," Whitford said. "He did everything right for 40 minutes. He was unbelievable because of all the hustle plays. He was excellent defensively on Rex Pflueger. His growth in this game was incredible."
 
Notre Dame did not go away. The Irish still trailed 75-69 after Sellers found Moses for a lay-up inside of two minutes but stormed back with eight of the next 10 points to tie things on Farrell's 3-pointer before the Cardinals' late heroics.
 
Preseason All-American Bonzie Colson led Notre Dame with 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting, while Farrell finished with 14 points and eight assists.
 
Ball State will now return to Muncie for a six-game home stand starting Saturday with a 2 p.m. contest against Valparaiso on Toys for Tots Military & Public Safety Appreciation Day.

I'm sure many of us OLD alumni will remember the large map on the wall in the old union where you could pick up a ride or pick up a rider to go somewhere sometime... thought I'd try this out here.

I like to plan ahead... looking to see who's interested in going to the SIU game in Carbondale on Saturday 2/3.  Plan is to make a FULL day of it.  8:30am train out of Homewood, IL... hang out with dinner in C'Dale and go to the game and catch the "City of New Orleans" train back... which leave C'dale at 3:15am, gets back to Homewood about 7:45am  As of now, the round trip Amtrak tickets are about $61.   so... anyone interested?   also looking for dinner suggestions.

Time to put on our big boy pants... We get a long time to rest up, practice our 3-point shooting, and watch them play two games on national TV.

Purdue 105-SIUE 74
Purdue 111 Chicago State 42 - Battle for Atlantis
Purdue 86 Marquette 71 - Gavitt Games - in Milwaukee
Purdue 106 Fairfield 64
Tennessee 78 Purdue 75 - Battle for Atlantis
Western Kentucky 77 Purdue 73 - Battle for Atlantis
Purdue 89 Arizona 64 - 7th place game Battle for Atlantis
Purdue 66 Louisville 57

and coming up...
Friday, 12/1, Purdue at Maryland - Big10 network 6pm central
Sunday, 12/3, Northwestern at Purdue - Big10 network 3pm central

Us on 12/7

and 12/10 they host IUPUI... maybe we can catch them looking ahead ?

A lot of us will be hanging our hat on the anomaly that was the Western Kentucky game... so here's a link to that Box Score...

http://statbroadcast.com/events/archived.php?id=199199

WKY won the rebounding battle 36-33 (both teams with 11 OR)
WKY  was 5-12 from 3pt; PU was 8-27
WKY was 16-24 from the line, PU was 17-20
WKY had 12 TOs, PU had 13

this may have been the big stat...
PU's starters played, 32, 35,35, 29 and 20 minutes; one guy (Matt Haarms)  off the bench scored 4 points in 11 minutes...
WKY's starters played 32,34,35,35 and 14; with two guys off the bench playing 24 and 21, scoring 19 points, 7 Rebs and 2 TOs

Points in the paint:  WKY 38, PU 26

Thought this deserved it's own thread...for historical references...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_West%E2%80%93Missouri_Valley_Challenge

The Mountain West – Missouri Valley Challenge is an in-season NCAA college basketball series, matching up teams from the Mountain West Conference (MW) and the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). The series began in November 2009 and featured all of the MW teams against most of the MVC teams.[1][2]

The first challenge was held in 2009. The conferences agreed to a four-year deal, extending the challenge through 2012.[3] The challenge was not extended beyond its original term and ended after 2012.[4] However, it was announced on April 2, 2015 that the conferences would renew the series in 2015.[5] Since the Mountain West now has 11 members to the MVC's 10, all Missouri Valley members are competing in the renewed series, with one MW team sitting out.

The MW–MVC Challenge occurs from late November through December. The games are hosted by each of the schools. The first two series had nine games played each year, leaving one team from the 10-team MVC without an opponent. In 2011, only eight games were played, leaving two MVC teams without an opponent. With changes to the conference schools, each Challenge since the renewal of the series in 2015 has featured 10 games.

The MW leads the series with three wins, one loss, and two ties. New Mexico and Wichita State have the best records at 5–1 each. However, Wichita State will not participate in any further Challenges since the school joined the American Athletic Conference on July 1, 2017.[6]

Missouri Valley Conference (1–3–2)

Institution  Win  Loss

Bradley Braves 0 5
Creighton Bluejays* 1 3
Drake Bulldogs 2 4
Evansville Purple Aces 2 3
Illinois State Redbirds 2 3
Indiana State Sycamores 3 3
Loyola Chicago Ramblers 1 1
Missouri State Bears 1 4
Northern Iowa Panthers 3 3
Southern Illinois Salukis 2 3
Valparaiso Crusaders 0 0
Wichita State Shockers* 5 1

Overall  22  33

*School that has since left the MVC.

Notice this is not a Home-Home arrangement, every year they re-bracket, so we are not guaranteed a return trip to Utah State next year.  Last year, Indiana State beat UTState 62-61 in Logan.

2017


Nov 28 6:00 PM Valparaiso Utah State  Athletics–Recreation Center • Valparaiso, IN   
Nov 28 6:00 PM Missouri State Colorado State  JQH Arena • Springfield, MO ESPN3   
Nov 28 7:00 PM Loyola–Chicago Boise State  Taco Bell Arena • Boise, ID   
Nov 29 5:00 PM Indiana State Air Force  Hulman Center • Terre Haute, IN ESPN3   
Nov 29 6:00 PM Northern Iowa UNLV  McLeod Center • Cedar Falls, IA ESPN3   
Nov 29 7:00 PM Evansville New Mexico  Dreamstyle Arena • Albuquerque, NM AT&T   
Nov 29 8:00 PM Illinois State Nevada  Lawlor Events Center • Reno, NV Stadium   
Dec 2  2:00 PM Southern Illinois San Jose State  SIU Arena • Carbondale, IL ESPN3   
Dec 2  4:00 PM Drake Wyoming  Arena-Auditorium • Laramie, WY   
Dec 3  4:00 PM Bradley San Diego State  Viejas Arena • San Diego, CA Stadium   

]Game Times in MST[/b].
Fresno State will not participate in the 2017 Challenge.
San Jose State will participate in the Challenge for the first time.


2016

(The last set of numbers is the running tally as the day went on)
You will see the attendance figures posted

Dec 3 12:00 PM Evansville Boise State 72–67 Ford Center • Evansville, IN ESPN3 3,773 MVC 1–0
1:00 PM Northern Iowa Wyoming 81–73 Arena-Auditorium • Laramie, WY MWN 5,539 TIE 1–1
1:00 PM Drake Fresno State 78–76 OT Knapp Center • Des Moines, IA MC22 2,633 MW 2–1
2:00 PM Loyola–Chicago San Diego State 65–59 Joseph J. Gentile Arena • Chicago, IL ESPN3 2,189 TIE 2–2
3:00 PM Wichita State Colorado State 82–67 Moby Arena • Fort Collins, CO CBSSN 6,918 MVC 3–2
7:00 PM Indiana State Utah State 62–61 Smith Spectrum • Logan, UT  7,064 MVC 4–2
6:00 PM Bradley Nevada 91–69 Carver Arena • Peoria, IL CSN+ 5,384 MVC 4–3
6:00 PM Illinois State New Mexico 79–74 Redbird Arena • Normal, IL CSN Chicago+ 6,056 MVC 5–3
7:00 PM Missouri State Air Force 83–70 Clune Arena • Colorado Springs, CO  1,986 MVC 5–4
Dec. 19 8:00 PM Southern Illinois UNLV 68–61 Thomas & Mack Center • Paradise, NV  11,758 TIE 5–5
Game Times in MST.
San Jose State did not participate in the 2016 Challenge.

For starters... Samford is in Birmingham, Alabama.  who knew.

We played them in the ARC under Scott Drew in 2002 and Crusaders won 87-79

We Played them in the UAB Classic (played in Birmingham in 1983, but across town from their campus)... and the Bulldogs won 75-69.

Not sure how good this team is.

11/10 - Lost to Arkansas  95-56
11/13 - beat Alabama A&M  87-68
11/16 - Lost to LSU 105-86

Sagarin #204 this morning. (Valpo is #98)

They will be playing Loyola on Sunday at 2pm also part of the Savannah Invitational.

They have three guys in double-figures

22  Densel-Dyson  6-5 Senior starter 12.3
  2  Coleman 5-10 Junior off the bench with 11.3
20 Thompson 6-8 Senior starter with 10.3
00 Cunningham 6-2 Senior starter with 7.7
3 Sharkey 5-10 Sophomore starter with 6.7
33 Walker 6-9 Junior Starter with 9.0

#55 - Alex Peters - Has scored 8 points on the season, and has missed all four free throw attempts.

and they have a 7-0 Senior  Center from Spain... who has not played this year... don't know why.
====================
the LSU story:

BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Samford University basketball team played even in the second half with the homestanding LSU Tigers on Thursday, 58-58, but couldn't overcome a lackluster opening period of action in a 105-86 non-conference setback held at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Samford (1-2) shot a sizzling 61.1 percent from 3-point range (11-of-18) in the second half. The Bulldogs finished the contest with 15 baskets from beyond the arc, including a season-high five 3-pointers from junior guard Justin Coleman.

Coleman scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and added a pair of assists. Senior guard Demetrius Denzel-Dyson led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-16 attempts, including five rebounds and four 3-point baskets.

Samford's senior forward Alex Thompson also scored in double figures with 10 points, but only played a total of 16 minutes before fouling out. Fellow senior Eric Adams logged 32 minutes for the Bulldogs and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. He also led the team with four steals and dropped in seven points.

Samford got off to a slow start against LSU. The Bulldogs committed 11 turnovers in the first half and only shot 39.3 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of action.

Head Coach Scott Padgett's squad looked more relaxed in the second half and only committed four turnovers in the final 20 minutes of play. Samford also shot the ball much better and knocked down 57.1 percent of its attempts from the floor.
================
Yes, THAT Scott Padgett...
Scott Padgett, the former collegiate standout at the University of Kentucky, NCAA champion and first-round NBA draft pick, is in the midst of his fourth season as head coach of the Samford Bulldogs and his sixth as a member of the program. On June 6, 2014, he was officially named the 28th head basketball coach at Samford University.

As one of the top up-and-coming young coaches in the nation, Padgett has quickly transformed the Bulldogs' basketball team into a Southern Conference championship competitor and rapidly revamped Samford's recruiting efforts; turning the beautiful, head-turning Southern university to a destination campus.

On July 3, Padgett signed a five-year contract extension that protracted his deal to now last throughout the 2021-22 campaign.

"I'm thrilled to announce a five-year extension for Coach Padgett," said Samford Director of Athletics Martin Newton. "Scott has brought a tremendous work ethic, passion and winning culture to our basketball program. He is a proven winner and has done so at every stage of his college and NBA playing career, and now in his coaching career. Scott is a tremendous asset to our university and community. He exemplifies the mission of this great university. He is a players-first coach and an outstanding role model for our student-athletes."

Last season, Samford concluded the 2016-17 campaign with its most victories in 11 years (20), as well as the Bulldogs' first winning season since 2005-06. Samford also set a number of school records last year, including points, field-goal attempts, free throws and assists.

The Bulldogs accumulated a school-record 2,834 points and shattered the previous record of 2,335, which was set during the 1970-71 campaign.

I know you'll want to know that last year, VU scored 2.408 points, the year before we scored 2,782 in 37 games... both of those were school records.  We have been over 2,300 in each of the past 8 years.

[ACTUAL: 94-69 - w]

thought it might be fun to see how this progresses through the season.  Before the SIUE game, Valpo's RPI was 337, SIUE was 49.

11-15   at  SIU Edwardsville   0-1 (0-0) 49  77-69 W - Scouting    ACTUAL:  94-69 - w
  11-19     SE Louisiana   0-1 (0-0) 72  83-65 W - Scouting   
  11-21     Samford   1-1 (0-0) 175  80-69 W - Scouting   
  11-24   vs  Kent St.   1-0 (0-0) 251  74-73 W - Scouting   
  11-25   vs  N.C. Wilmington   0-1 (0-0) 138  73-78 L - Scouting   
  11-28     Utah St.   1-1 (0-0) 131  80-68 W - Scouting   
  12-07   at  Purdue   3-0 (0-0) 44  65-89 L - Scouting   
  12-09   at  Ball St.   0-1 (0-0) 350  71-77 L - Scouting   
  12-14   at  Northwestern   2-0 (0-0) 130  65-80 L - Scouting   
  12-18   at  Santa Clara   0-0 (0-0) 324  73-75 L - Scouting   
  12-20   at  UC Riverside   1-0 (0-0) 10  76-70 W - Scouting   
  12-28   at  Indiana St.   1-0 (0-0) 14  73-74 L - Scouting   
  12-31     Missouri St.   1-0 (0-0) 278  80-68 W - Scouting   
  01-03   at  Bradley   2-0 (0-0) 31  73-75 L - Scouting   
  01-06     Southern Ill.   1-0 (0-0) 210  79-70 W - Scouting   
  01-10     Drake   0-0 (0-0) 314  86-61 W - Scouting   
  01-13   at  Northern Iowa   1-1 (0-0) 233  72-76 L - Scouting   
  01-17   at  Missouri St.   1-0 (0-0) 278  72-76 L - Scouting   
  01-21     Loyola Chicago   1-0 (0-0) 203  79-69 W - Scouting   
  01-24     Evansville   2-0 (0-0) 40  80-69 W - Scouting   
  01-27   at  Illinois St.   0-1 (0-0) 125  64-76 L - Scouting   
  01-31     Indiana St.   1-0 (0-0) 14  82-66 W - Scouting   
  02-03   at  Southern Ill.   1-0 (0-0) 210  71-78 L - Scouting   
  02-07   at  Evansville   2-0 (0-0) 40  72-77 L - Scouting   
  02-11     Illinois St.   0-1 (0-0) 125  72-67 W - Scouting   
  02-14   at  Loyola Chicago   1-0 (0-0) 203  71-77 L - Scouting   
  02-17     Bradley   2-0 (0-0) 31  81-67 W - Scouting   
  02-20     Northern Iowa   1-1 (0-0) 233  80-68 W - Scouting   
  02-24   at  Drake   0-0 (0-0) 314  77-69 W - Scouting   


that's 16-13 overall, 10-8 in the Valley

after our game tonight... something to review before Sunday...It's "Social media Day"... bring your cell phones and FB or tweet or instagram pictures from the game and win "prizes".
======================================================

SELA Lions... so far this year:

Two exhibition games, the Jackton State game was a "Hurricane Relief" game, they won 57-51 at Jackson State; and Hosted William Carey College and won 80-71 at home.

Opened with a win over the Gents of Centenary at home 99-67

Centenary           40   27   67     0-1
Southeastern La.   53   46   99   1-0

Southeastern Louisiana had five players in double figures in scoring its most points in a season opener in eight years in a 99-67 victory over Centenary Friday night in the University Center.

    The Lions matched the 99 points they scored in a 99-50 win over the University of Science and Arts to open the 2009-10 campaign.

    Senior guard Eddy Polanco led Southeastern (1-0) with 18 points. Junior guard Marlain Veal tossed in 17 points and had six assists while senior forward Jordan Capps, seeing his first action in nearly a year, added 14 points. Senior guard Jabbar Singleton contributed 12 points and senior forward James Currington 10. Junior forward Moses Greenwood had a game-high nine rebounds for the Lions who shot 53.7 percent from the field and out-rebounded Centenary 36-25. Southeastern was also 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) on 3-pointers and 31-of-39 (79.5 percent) from the line.

    The game counted as an exhibition for Centenary. Cedric Harris had a game-high 21 points for the Gents. Travion Kirkendoll added 12 points and Neil Hawkins 10. Centenary shot 47.1 percent overall.

    Polanco scored 16 points as Southeastern took a 53-40 lead into the half. Centenary continued to hang around in the opening minutes of the second half with a 3-pointer by Harris cutting the deficit to 62-51 with 12:42 left. But a 3-pointer by junior guard D'Angelo West started a 20-0 run for Southeastern at the 10:06 mark. Currington scored six straight points, redshirt freshman Brandon Gonzalez knocked down a 3 and Capps capped the run with a dunk and a layup to give the Lions an 82-51 lead with 6:10 remaining.

    Southeastern got out to a 13-5 lead on Singleton's 3 with 17:36 left in the opening half. Centenary countered with an 11-2 run to take its only lead at 16-15 on a Harris jumper at the 16:33 mark. A pair of Currington free throws started a 6-0 run for the Lions with two free throws by Polanco making it 22-16 with 15:11 left.

    Veal lofted a pass to Greenwood for a dunk to give Southeastern a 27-18 lead with 12:43 remaining. Harris trimmed the margin to 29-26 with a 3 with 10:28 left. Another 3 by Kirkendoll made it 35-33 at the 5:27 mark. Polanco responded with eight straight points and Capps added two free throws to push the Lions' lead up to 45-35 with 2:44 left. West knocked down a 3 for his first points as a Lion to make it 51-37 with 37 seconds remaining.

NOTES:
Southeastern defeated Centenary for the first time since 1997 and got its first home win over the Gents since an 89-77 win in 1996. Centenary leads the series 24-20.

Southeastern won its second straight opener, the first time the Lions have done so since the 2009-10 and '10-11 seasons. Southeastern is now 35-35 in openers.

The Lions won their 12th straight home opener.

Capps saw his first action since Nov. 14, 2016 at Tulane. Charleston, who played in both of the Lions' exhibitions, played in his first regular season game since Dec. 4, 2015 against Southern.

West, Gonzalez and senior guard Quinton Thomas all made their regular season debuts for Southeastern.

QUOTES:
Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner:
On pulling away in the second half:
   "I thought as we began to settle down in the last four minutes of the first half, we finally began to get into a rhythm offensively. We were forcing things too much those first 16 minutes. Once we settled down there and as the game went on, our defensive pressure just wore them down and they began to turn the basketball over kind of in some flurries that we were able to take in and convert and bust the game open. I was proud of the way we played in the second half compared to the last game (the exhibition against William Carey)."

On getting contributions throughout the lineup...
   "I was very encouraged by some guys who got some minutes. Brandon Gonzalez, D'Angelo West, Quinton Thomas - I thought those guys came in and played well. As we go through the basketball season, it's such a marathon, so having good quality depth is important. It was good having Jordan back. It's his first action in almost a year. I thought that first time through he was really rusty but basketball takes time and as the game went on, I thought he began to look more like himself."
==============================

Southeastern La.   36   30   66   1-1
Tulane              44    45    89     2-0

Then on Monday, they traveled to Tulane and the wave beat them like a drum 89-66.  Tulane shot 59.6 percent from the field, including 61.5 percent in the first half, in taking an 89-66 non-conference victory over Southeastern Louisiana Monday night in Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

    Junior guard Marlain Veal led the Lions (1-1) with 26 points, three assists and four steals. Junior forward Moses Greenwood had a team-high nine rebounds while adding nine points. Senior forward Jordan Capps tossed in eight points and senior guard Jabbar Singleton seven. Southeastern shot 35.4 percent (23-of-65) while grabbing 39 rebounds.

    Melvin Frazier had a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds for Tulane (2-0), which won its third straight over Southeastern. Ray Ona Embo (14 points), Cameron Reynolds (13) and Blake Paul (10) were also in double figures for the Green Wave, who made 31 of their 52 shots and had 41 rebounds.

    Tulane made 16 of its 26 shots in the first half to take a 44-36 lead at the break. The Green Wave then opened the second half on a 14-4 run, taking a 58-40 advantage on Ona Embo jumper at the 16:43 mark. Senior guard Quinton Thomas buried a 3 from the right side for his first points as a Lion to make it 60-44 with 13:45 left. But Reynolds answered with a 3 to extend the Wave lead to 65-45 with 12:30 remaining. A Colin Slater layup gave Tulane its biggest lead at 85-61 with 4:09 left.

    Tulane jumped out to a 16-6 lead at the 13:55 mark behind dunks by Ona Embo and Frazier. Veal drained a 3 to cut the deficit to 16-9 with 13:14 left.

    A three-point play following a Reynolds layup gave Tulane its biggest lead of the half at 33-18 with 6:17 remaining. Southeastern responded with a 9-2 run to get to within 35-27 with 3:34 left on a Singleton 3. Tulane pushed the lead back to 39-28 on a 3 by Caleb Daniels at the 2:27 mark. Senior forward James Currington drove in for a layup to cut the margin to five but Frazier hit a 3 with 2 seconds left to give the Wave the 44-36 halftime lead.

NOTES:
   Tulane now leads the series 10-2.

   Veal was 11-of-21 from the field, tying a career high for field goals. He also had 11 against Central Arkansas on Feb. 22.

QUOTES:
Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner:
   "I thought we did a good job of hanging in there. We cut the deficit to five and then we gave up a wide-open 3 at the end of the half. But credit Tulane. They have a good basketball team."

On the defensive effort...
   "Our defense has to set the tone for us and I thought that was one of the weakest defensive efforts we've had in a long time. We didn't play with any energy. It was very disappointing."
==========

Four of the players have started both games:

0 - Veal - 5-9 145 Guard  (Third Team All-Southland Conference Player last year)
5 - Singleton - 5-11 190 Guard
10- Polanco - 6-3 195
24- Charleston 6-8

21 Capps started the Tulane game, was first off the bench vs. Centenary, 6-7
23 Currington started the Centenary Game, was first off the bench vs. Tulane, 6-8

Oddity:  They have no numbers on their roster higher than 24.

Sagarin:   271, going into their game on Thursday at UL-Monroe.
RealTime RPI has them at #72...

They are in the Savannah Tournament... and will get 3 road games for their efforts in the tourney, after Valpo, they head to Kent State on Tuesday 11/21 and then to Birmingham for the Savannah Tournament bottom bracket against Samford on Friday 11/24... ending with a game with Mississippi Valley State on 11/25.

Let's #govalpo! Alumni pre-game dinner for Valpo vs. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville! Register at http://ow.ly/mOcb30eEARl  (I put the FAQ on the event at the end of this post)

Originally opened December 5, 1984, the Sam M. Vadalabene Center lends itself to the students, faculty, staff and alumni of SIUE for the purposes of education, health, recreation and wellness. The facility is the home to SIUE men's and women's basketball, volleyball and wrestling, and has a capacity of slightly above 4,000. It also serves as the indoor practice facility for baseball and track.

Following spring commencement exercises in 2008, the facility underwent a $6 million renovation, nearly tripling the number of chair back seats as well as adding new locker room, class room and office space. A new playing floor was also installed. The facility was officially "rededicated" February 7, 2009.

The largest crowd at the Vadalabene Center post-renovation was 4,157 on Jan. 21, 2012, against Murray State University, a game televised nationally on ESPNU.

In 2010 new locker rooms opened for men's basketball, women's basketball, wrestling, and volleyball.

================
Three SIUE players scored in double figures and SIUE won the rebounding battle, but No. 20 Purdue proved too much for the Cougars. The Boilermakers earned a 105-74 win in the season opener for both teams Friday at Mackey Arena.

"Our guys fought tonight," Third-year SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "We talk about the '50-50 balls.' We won a lot of those. That part was good to see. There are definitely some positive takeaways from the game."

Redshirt-sophomore Julian Torres led the Cougars in his SIUE debut. Torres, who sat out last season after transferring from UIC, scored a game-high 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting. He was 4 for 4 from three-point range.

"Julian is a capable guy," Harris said. He did some really nice things and it's good to see him have some success."

Daniel Kinchen and Justin Benton also turned in double-digit scoring performances for the Cougars. Kinchen, also making his SIUE debut, scored 17 points. He was 7 for 17 from the field and added four three-pointers of his own. Benton scored 15 points. He was 7 for 13 from the floor.

Overall the Cougars were 31-81 (38.3) combined from the field, including knocking down 10 of 31 three-point attempts. The 10 three-pointers made were the most for a Cougar team since the 2015 season.

"Overall, I was disappointed in our offense," Harris said. "I don't think we moved at the level that we're capable of. We got a little stagnant. (Purdue) is a good defensive team but we have to be better than we were."

The Cougars outrebounded Purdue 40-39, which included a 25-17 advantage in the first half.

"Rebounding is a mindset," Harris said. "If that's one thing we can bottle up and take with us the rest of the way then we'll have a chance to do some things this year."

Purdue connected on 59 percent (36-61) of its shots. The Boilermakers were nine for 19 from three-point range.

"That team is hard to guard," Harris said. "They don't make a lot of mistakes."

Purdue was led by Dakota Mathias, who scored 18 points. He was 5 for 8 from the field. He was 6 for 6 at the free throw line. The Boilermakers were 24-32 as a team from the free throw line.

Here's the box score link:

http://www.siuecougars.com/sports/m-baskbl/2017-18/boxscores/20171110_vb07.xml?view=boxscore


Their starters are: 
6'9"-255 So
6'6"-210 Sr, Keenen Simmons from Michigan City, IN
6'3"-155-Jr
6'2"-190-So
6'4"-180-Jr
and first guy off the bench is 6'4"-195-So

About Jon Harris, the head coach:   He came to SIUE having been an assistant coach at the University of California-Berkeley under Cuonzo Martin. He spent seven seasons on Martin's staff, first at Missouri State for three seasons and then three seasons at Tennessee. Harris joined Martin at Cal, where he spent one season before getting the SIUE head coaching position. The Bears finished the 2014-15 season with an 18-15 record. Cal defeated Washington in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament before falling to No. 5 Arizona.

In three seasons at Tennessee, Harris oversaw an extremely successful frontcourt. Under Harris' tutelage, Jarnell Stokes and Jeronne Maymon earned All-SEC honors for the Vols. Tennessee ranked near the top of the SEC in defensive rebounding and rebounding margin during three seasons under Harris.

In three seasons on staff at Missouri State, the Bears averaged more than 20 victories and captured the program's first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship. MSU improved from 11 wins in 2008-09 to a 24-12 record and the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament title in 2009-10.

Harris, who played four seasons at Marquette, including three for Head Coach Tom Crean, served on the staff at his alma mater for the 2002-03 season

Valpo Alumni Event Details:  (There are already 40 people signed up to attend !)

For ease of getting to the game, we are holding the event on SIUE's campus at the Morris University Center. Adult tickets will include a the game ticket, a delightful buffet, wine, and beer for $30. Children's tickets can be purchased for $20. Game tickets alone will be $5.00 per ticket.

DATE: Wednesday, November 15, 2017
EVENT TIME: 4:00 to 6:00 PM (CST)
GAME TIME: 7:00 PM (CST)
Go Crusaders!

Contact Information
Primary Contact
Alumni Engagement
1100 S. Campus Drive
Valparaiso , IN 46383
219-464-5142
alumni@valpo.edu

The second cupcake to absorb the Sorolla / Burton sit-em games... With a win in this game, Valpo will have a 10-game home winning streak. 
As of Thursday night, the Trolls have played three games:  Our Friday night opponent has not played yet. 

@ Silver Lake College - 98-59 Win
Calvin College 71-63 Win
Siena Heights 65-74 Loss

They are hosting the "Troll Classic" this weekend; Playing Wilberforce on Friday night and Grace Bible on Saturday night

Roster:

3   Juozas Balciunas   SR   G   6-2   Downers Grove, IL
10   Terrance Lacey   FR   G   6-1   Chicago, IL
15   Nate Hurt   FR   G   5-9   Moline, IL
21   Christian Cantu   SR   G   5-9   Corpus Christi, TX
22   Caleb Jonkman   SR   G   6-4   Gary, IN
23   Josh Olson   SO   G   5-9   Kalamazoo, MI
24   Jalyn Clark   FR   F   6-3   South Holland, IL
30   Aaron Johnson   SR   G   6-1   Holland, MI
32   Ben Brinks   SR   C   6-8   Hudsonville, MI
34   Oleksandr Dolishniy   FR   G   6-4   Willow Springs, IL
35   Zack Austell   SR   F   6-7   Manteno, IL
40   Jared Jonkman   FR   F   6-3   Gary, IN
45   Josh Decker   FR   F   6-6   Palos Heights, IL
50   Nari Garrett   SR   C   6-8   Calumet City, IL


season stats


                                       |---TOTAL---| |---3-PTS---|               |----REBOUNDS----|
## Player              GP-GS  Min--Avg  FG-FGA   Pct 3FG-FGA   Pct  FT-FTA   Pct  Off Def  Tot  Avg  PF FO   A  TO Blk Stl  Pts  Avg
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
03 Balciunas, Juozas..  3-3    89 29.7  16-29   .552   4-10   .400   9-12   .750    0  11   11  3.7   5  0   5   9   0   2   45 15.0
10 Lacey, Terrance....  3-0    61 20.3   6-14   .429   2-5    .400   3-4    .750    2   4    6  2.0   5  0   3   4   0   4   17  5.7
15 Hurt, Nate.........  3-3    92 30.7   7-24   .292   6-12   .500   4-6    .667    1   7    8  2.7   6  0  10   4   0   5   24  8.0
22 Jonkman, Caleb.....  3-3   103 34.3  20-45   .444  10-24   .417   8-8   1.000    1  14   15  5.0   3  0   9   7   1   5   58 19.3
24 Clark, Jalyn.......  3-0    42 14.0   1-4    .250   0-0    .000   1-2    .500    1   4    5  1.7   5  0   1   1   0   2    3  1.0
30 Johnson, Aaron.....  2-0    51 25.5   2-5    .400   2-5    .400   0-0    .000    0   1    1  0.5   5  0   1   1   0   4    6  3.0
32 Brinks, Ben........  3-3    60 20.0  12-14   .857   1-1   1.000   5-6    .833    7  11   18  6.0   7  0   0   3   4   1   30 10.0
34 Dolishniy, Oleksand  1-0     7  7.0   0-1    .000   0-1    .000   0-1    .000    0   1    1  1.0   0  0   0   0   0   0    0  0.0
40 Jonkman, Jared.....  2-0     7  3.5   0-1    .000   0-0    .000   1-2    .500    2   2    4  2.0   2  0   0   0   0   0    1  0.5
45 Decker, Josh.......  1-0    14 14.0   0-0    .000   0-0    .000   2-2   1.000    2   5    7  7.0   1  0   2   2   0   0    2  2.0
50 Garrett, Nari......  3-3    74 24.7  22-34   .647   0-0    .000   4-12   .333    9  13   22  7.3  11  1   8   9   5   1   48 16.0
   TEAM...............                                                              4   7   11  3.7   0          1            0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Total..............  3     600       86-171  .503  25-58   .431  37-55   .673   29  80  109 36.3  50  1  39  41  10  24  234 78.0
   Opponents..........  3     600       72-181  .398  24-88   .273  28-46   .609   39  66  105 35.0  50  -  45  45   6  24  196 65.3



Their head coach - Brandon Nicol:  As a collegiate athlete Nicol played for Iowa State University from 1999-2002. At Iowa State he was a part of two Big 12 Championships and an Elite Eight appearance. He earned the Team Hustle Award in his freshman year, the Brian Pearson Inspiration Award in 2001-02, and scholar-athlete honors for three seasons.  He played his final collegiate season (2002-03) at Dakota State University and went on to compete with the Kansas City Knights (ABA) in 2004-05 and the Des Moines Heat (IBL) in 2005. He also participated in a fall and overseas tour with Athletes in Action in 2005.

Trinity Christian Box score from their last game

Total   3-point      Rebounds
##   Player   p   fgm-fga   fgm-fga   ftm-fta   off-def   tot   pf   tp   a   to   blk   stl   min
32    Brinks, Ben    c    3-3    1-1    0-0    0-2    2    3    7    0    1    1    0    19
50    Garrett, Nari    c    8-10    0-0    1-4    4-5    9    5    17    1    5    2    1    27
03    Balciunas, Juozas    g    6-10    3-4    2-2    0-2    2    1    17    1    4    0    1    33
15    Hurt, Nate    g    3-6    3-5    0-0    0-4    4    1    9    2    4    0    1    34
22    Jonkman, Caleb    g    4-15    2-9    0-0    0-2    2    1    10    4    4    0    0    38
10    Lacey, Terrance    -    1-3    0-1    0-0    0-1    1    1    2    1    0    0    0    16
24    Clark, Jalyn    -    0-1    0-0    0-0    0-0    0    2    0    0    0    0    0    5
30    Johnson, Aaron    -    1-1    1-1    0-0    0-0    0    3    3    0    1    0    1    27
40    Jonkman, Jared    -    0-0    0-0    0-0    0-0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1
TM    TEAM    -    -    -    -    1-1    2    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
   Totals..............    -    26-49    10-21    3-6    5-17    22    17    65    9    19    3    4    200
53.1%    47.6%    50.0%

The Trolls suffered their first loss of the season in a game at Siena Heights University (Adrian, Michigan). Trinity struggled in the first half and was down by 16 points, 36-20, at the break. The Trolls made up ground in the second period and closed the gap to as little as four points. However they could not gain the top spot and ended in a 74-65 loss.  The team is 2-1 at the start of their season.

Early in the game the Trolls fell behind at 8-4, but that gap soon increased to 17-8. The deficit continued to grow throughout the period and Trinity trailed by as many as 19 points. At the intermission the difference was 16 points as the Trolls had only 20 points on the board.

In the opening minutes of the second half the Trolls fell behind by 24 points. With 15 minutes left in the game they were still behind by 20 points. Over the next four minutes Trinity went on a 12-to-0 run to close the gap.

Siena Heights went back ahead by double digits and with 9:30 left the Trolls were down 61-48. Trinity once again rallied and scored the next nine points to pull to within four with six minutes to play. Siena Heights was able to hold the Trolls off and with two minutes to play the gap was nine at 74-65. Neither team scored in the remaining time as the game ended in at nine-point difference. 

The Trolls ended the game with a .531 field goal percentage, but it was the tale of two halves. They more than doubled their score from the first to the second half and went from .333 percent shooting in the first half to .720 percent in the second half. They also made seven of their 10 three-pointers in the second half.  Siena Heights was .467 percent from the field and .300 percent from the arc. The Trolls took in 22 rebounds and the Saints had 35.

Nari Garrett led the team with 17 points, behind 8-of-10 from the field, and nine rebounds. Juozas Balciunas had 17 points with a .600 field goal percentage. Caleb Jonkman had 10 points and four assists.

So, I started another thread with just the MVC games ... I have compiled the composite schedule for all of our D1 opponents...19 games... one push (SIUE and Purdue play each other)... so of the 18 remaining games... how many will our opponents win?  (seems to be a fairly even split about 5-5 or 6-4 for MVC teams... , but now you have to have scouted both SELA and Centenary... I'm going to go with 9

DATE                     VISITOR      HOME   TIME
Friday, November 10, 2017   Indiana State   Indiana   7
Friday, November 10, 2017   Arkansas State   Evansville   7
Friday, November 10, 2017   Southern Illinois    Winthrop   6
Friday, November 10, 2017   Wright State   Loyola   7
Friday, November 10, 2017   Missouri State   Western Kentucky   7
Friday, November 10, 2017   Northern Iowa   North Carolina   6
Friday, November 10, 2017   SIU-Edwardsville   Purdue   7
Friday, November 10, 2017   Samford   Arkansas   7
Friday, November 10, 2017   Centenary   Southeastern Louisiana   7:30
Friday, November 10, 2017   Loyola (MD)   Northwestern         7:30
Friday, November 10, 2017   La Verne   Santa Clara   7
Friday, November 10, 2017   UC Riverside   California   9
Saturday, November 11, 2017   Illinois State   Florida Gulf Coast   noon
Saturday, November 11, 2017   IUPUI   Bradley   1
Saturday, November 11, 2017   Coe College   Drake   2
Saturday, November 11, 2017   Youngstown State   Kent State   9  (Game at AKRON)
Saturday, November 11, 2017   NC-Wesleyan   UNC-Wilmington   7
Sunday, November 12, 2017   Eureka   Loyola   2
Sunday, November 12, 2017   Chicago State   Purdue   4

So... how will the MVC fare this weekend?  (the number after the game is Central Time tip-off)

Friday, November 10, 2017   Indiana State   Indiana   7   
Friday, November 10, 2017   Arkansas State   Evansville   7   
Friday, November 10, 2017   Southern Illinois    Winthrop   6   
Friday, November 10, 2017   Wright State   Loyola   7   
Friday, November 10, 2017   Missouri State   Western Kentucky   7   
Friday, November 10, 2017   Northern Iowa   North Carolina   6   

Saturday, November 11, 2017   Illinois State   Florida Gulf Coast   noon   
Saturday, November 11, 2017   IUPUI   Bradley   1   
Saturday, November 11, 2017   Coe College   Drake   2   

Sunday, November 12, 2017   Eureka   Loyola   2   

Here's the last line of the North Park Athletics last game summary from last year...

North Park (18-8, 11-5) will now await the possibility of an at-large bid to the NCAA National Tournament when the selections are released early next week.   (Led by three different players in double-figure scoring, Augustana shocked North Park 86-70 in the semifinals of the CCIW tournament Friday night at Tarble Arena on the campus of Carthage College.)

They have not played any games... in fact their schedule does not include the Valpo game, and opening night is 11/17 for the Vikings. 

Junior Jordan Robinson (Not on Current Roster)  added 13 and both Colin Lake and Joe Biko (Not on Current roster) tallied 11 points each.

2017-18 Men's Basketball Roster

0 Toby Marek G 6-0 175 Fr. Austin, TX / 
1 Matt Szuba F 6-6 210 Fr. Arlington Heights, IL / 
2 Jack Gurvey G 6-1 160 Jr. Deerfield, Ill. / Deerfield
3 Mirsad Mackic G 5-11 160 Fr. Lincolnwood, IL / 
4 Colin Lake G 5-7 145 Sr. Temperance, Mich. / Whiteford Agricultural
5 Aaron Reed G 6-2 160 Fr. Indianapolis, IN / 
10 Quinn Williams G 5-8 160 So. Fishers, IN / 
11 Antonio Gardner G 5-9 160 Fr. Arlington Heights, IL / 
12 Denzel Irving C 6-6 225 Sr. Plainfield, IL / 
13 Jason Hines F 6-4 236 Sr. Evergreen Park, Ill. / Evergreen Park
14 Jelani Sankey G 5-11 150 Jr. Chicago, Ill. / Kenwood
15 Matt Mohr F 6-6 190 Fr. McHenry, IL / 
20 Nicolai Lujan Foss G 6-0 185 Fr. Olso, Norway / 
21 Vegard Tangen F 6-6 210 So. Oslo, Norway / Norway
22 Isaiah Webster G 5-7 135 So. Plainfield, IL / 
23 Billy Kirby G 6-3 190 Jr. Libertyville, Ill. / Carmel
24 Raysean Jones G 6-3 190 Jr. Indianapolis, IN / 
25 Scott Olsen F 6-5 180 Fr. Plainfield, IL / 
30 Dyron Woods C 6-6 257 Sr. Chicago, IL / 
31 Jon Pol Baltero G 5-9 140 Fr. Lanai, HI / 
32 Khalen Davis F 6-5 218 Jr. Chicago, IL / 
35 Dantryll Pearson G 5-8 150 So. Chicago, Ill. / Hales Fransciscan

Returning from last year:... games played, started, minutes, ....  ending with points per game... they are returning 20ppg of 80ppg

02 Gurvey, Jack....... 15-0    58  3.9   1-9    .111   1-9    .111   0-0    .000    1   0    1  0.1   7  0   5   4   0   3    3  0.2
04 Lake, Colin........ 26-26  906 34.8 114-274  .416  68-171  .398  36-45   .800   10  49   59  2.3  47  0  79  30   0  32  332 12.8
13 Hines, Jason.......  7-0    29  4.1   3-8    .375   0-0    .000   1-2    .500    2   3    5  0.7   6  0   1   2   0   1    7  1.0
14 Sankey, Jelani.....  2-0     3  1.5   0-0    .000   0-0    .000   0-0    .000    0   1    1  0.5   0  0   0   0   0   0    0  0.0
21 Tangen, Vegard.....  5-0    12  2.4   0-1    .000   0-0    .000   0-0    .000    0   1    1  0.2   6  0   0   0   0   0    0  0.0
23 Kirby, Billy....... 26-4   546 21.0  54-113  .478  26-58   .448  20-27   .741   10  27   37  1.4  45  0  34  22   0   9  154  5.9
30 Woods, Dyron....... 14-0    50  3.6  12-23   .522   0-0    .000   0-0    .000    2   9   11  0.8  10  0   0   0   2   0   24  1.7



This is Mark LaBarbera's alma mater.

No complacency, let's run... the offense.   Every possession in the front court with more than 24 seconds left on the shot clock...

oh, and when Bakari has the ball... be ready for the pass!

These will take some getting used to !!   but don't take it out on the scorer's table crew... please !!
==============================================================
Thanks to our crackerjack SID team for sending this out... I'm posting this to keep the yelling down...
==============================================================

- When the game clock is at 59.9 seconds or less nearing the end of a period, if the ball is legally inbounded and touched and the official immediately whistles to stop the clock, a minimum of 0.3 seconds must run off the clock.

- Media timeouts are now to be taken at or under the 16, 12, 8 and 4 minute marks - i.e., a whistle at 16:00 will now result in a media timeout  (It used to be "UNDER" ...)

- A player who exits the game may re-enter the game with no time running off the clock if the opponents commit a violation or a foul in between  (We've had this happen a few times...)

Shot Clock will RESET to 20 seconds or the time remaining on the shot clock, whichever is greater, when:
1. There is a personal foul against the defensive team and the ball is to be inbounded by the offense
in the front court.
2. There is a technical foul committed by the defensive team and the ball is to be inbounded in the
front court by the offense.
3. There is a kicked or fisted ball by the defensive team and the ball is to be inbounded in the front
court by the offense.

A defensive foul in the backcourt or any offensive foul will still result in a 30-second reset.

I guess it's time to start talking about reality...  the only Exhibition game coming up against the Eagles.  They actually start on 11/1 in Peoria against Mr. Wardle and Bradley...

Here is the RMU stuff... but the question for the board... NAME THE STARTERS.

Last Year:
Conf.  Pct. Overall   Pct   Streak   Home   Away   Neutral
18-2   .900     27-7   .794   Lost 1   17-1    10-2    0-4

Their Roster:  (Not showing any Freshmen ... this is 1/2 of the number of players on last year's team)  They graduated their top 4 scorers (62ppg out of 91)

Othyus Jeffers - Head Coach - 1st season

Othyus Jeffers (born August 5, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Jeffers played college basketball with the University of Illinois at Chicago for two years, before transferring to Robert Morris University for his senior season. He then started his professional career with the Iowa Energy of the NBA D-League, a minor league basketball organization owned and run by the NBA. He has had stints with three prior NBA teams: the Utah Jazz, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Washington Wizards. He has also spent a short stint in Italy with NGC Cantù.

#   Name   Cl.   Pos.   Ht.   Wt.   Hometown   Previous School
2   Omarr Gilbert   JR   G   5-9       Chicago, Ill.   Lyons Township HS   5.8ppg, started 5 games
10   Greg Carter   SR   G   5-10       Berwyn, Ill.   Morton HS/Triton College  5.6ppg started 4 games
11   Dallis Flowers   SO   G   6-3       Oak Park, Ill.   Oak Park HS   6.8ppg  started 8 games
20   Dorian McCraney   JR   G   5-10       Homewood, Ill.   Homewood-Flossmoor HS  .4 ppg  no starts
22   Kyle Ward   SR   G   6-2       Joliet, Ill.   Lockport HS/Moraine Valley C.C.  6.5ppg  16 starts
23   Blake McElroy   JR   G   5-11       Richton Park, Ill.   Rich South HS/Rock Valley C.C.   3.4 ppg no starts
32   Drew Hardville   SR   G   6-0       Racine, Wis.   Horlick HS/McHenry C.C.  1.7ppg no starts
33   Brian Young   SO   F   6-6       Chicago, Ill.   Juarez HS   4.6 ppg no starts
42   Kyle Longfield   JR   F   6-5       Worth, Ill.   Shepard HS  .4 ppg no starts
44   Tywan Jones   JR   G   5-10       Chicago, Ill.   Kenwood HS/Kenndy-King College  4ppg no starts

More On the head coach...

Community college and Illinois-Chicago[edit]
Jeffers, who did not qualify academically for a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I scholarship, opted to attend Los Angeles Southwest College, a community college near the city of Los Angeles. He starred and averaged 22.3 points and 10.7 rebounds as a freshman. However, after a year, he returned home to Chicago and transferred to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He reportedly rejected offers from Big East and Big 12 conference schools and chose to attend Illinois-Chicago in order to be close with his family who lived near the school. He started his college career with the UIC Flames in 2005, after sitting out the 2004–05 season while establishing academic eligibility.

In the 2005–06 season, Jeffers played in all 31 games, 30 as a starter. He led the Flames in rebounding (7.6 rebounds per game) and assists (3.0 assists per game) and also ranked second in scoring with 11.6 points per game. He won the Horizon League Newcomer of The Year awards for his debut season with the Flames. He improved his performance in his junior season by averaging 15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in 32 games, all as a starter. He recorded a career-high 27 points and 14 rebounds at the University of Pennsylvania on December 21, 2005. He led the team in both scoring and rebounding and was named in the All-Horizon League First Team. However, he had a difficult relationship and frequently clashed with head coach Jimmy Collins.  [VALPO Did not play UIC in 2005-06 season]

Shooting incident
A few weeks after his junior season finished, Jeffers was shot in the leg while trying to defend his sister from Andre Childs, his sister's boyfriend. His sister earlier called Jeffers for help in a dispute against Childs. Jeffers came to his sister's defense and confronted Childs. After a fight, Childs allegedly pulled a gun fired several shots. Two bullets hit both Jeffers and his sister. Jeffers was shot in the left thigh and his sister was hit in the left calf. Jeffers and his sister survived and Childs was later arrested and charged with attempted murder.
Jeffers was fortunate that the bullet went through his thigh without hitting any major arteries. He left the hospital that night after getting treatment, even though the doctor wanted him to stay overnight for further observation. Jeffers, who wanted to play basketball as soon as possible, was supposed to use crutches for three weeks but he only used them for three days. He then began to play basketball again in less than a month.

Robert Morris University
After the shooting incident, combined with his conflict with coach Collins, Jeffers transferred schools once again.[1] He transferred to Robert Morris University who played in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). By transferring from an NCAA school to an NAIA school, Jeffers did not have to sit out another season. He also switched his major from psychology/sociology to business major. He concluded his college career there by averaging 24.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as a senior. He led the RMU Eagles to a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) championship and was named as the CCAC Player of the Year. He then played in the NAIA Basketball Tournament, leading the Eagles to the Final Four, where they were defeated by the Concordia University. Despite failing to win the championship, Jeffers was named as NAIA Player of the Year by The Sporting News and as co-Player of the Year the Basketball Times.

I found a Vu Connection:   On April 24, 2014, Jeffers and Ron Howard were named the co-MVPs of the NBA D-League for the 2013–14 season.

He has never coached at any level prior to this assignment.

We don't have AP, They don't have a head coach

It's ours for the taking.  Great team win Friday.  One more time!

OK... if you can read this and not laugh out loud... you are on the wrong forum.

PS.  This came as a forward from my 85-year-old mother, so I'm not sure of the original source.

PPS.  If you want to truly enjoy this... everytime a team is mentioned, replace that team with 'Butler.'
================================================================

"Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble the football" - John Heisman       

"I make my practices real hard because if a player is a quitter, I want him to quit in practice, not in a game." – Bear Bryant / Alabama

"It isn't necessary to see a good tackle, you can hear it!" - Knute Rockne / Notre Dame   

"At Georgia Southern, we don't cheat. That costs money, and we don't have any." – Erik Russell / Georgia Southern

"The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it."  -  Lou Holtz / Arkansas - Notre Dame

"When you win, nothing hurts."  -  Joe Namath / Alabama

"A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall."  -  Frank Leahy / Notre Dame

"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."  -  Woody Hayes / Ohio State

"I don't expect to win enough games to be put on NCAA probation.  I just want to win enough to warrant an investigation."  -  Bob Devaney / Nebraska   

"In Alabama , an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in Bear Bryant."  -  Wally Butts / Georgia

"I never graduated from Iowa.  But I was only there for two terms - Truman's and Eisenhower's."  –  Alex Karras / Iowa

"My advice to defensive players is to take the shortest route to the ball, and arrive in a bad humor."  -  Bowden Wyatt / Tennessee

"I could have been a Rhodes Scholar except for my grades."  - Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State

"Always remember Goliath was a 40 point favorite over David."  -  Shug Jordan / Auburn   

"I asked Darrell Royal, the coach of the Texas Longhorns, why he didn't recruit me ."   He said, "Well, Walt, we took a look at you, and you weren't any good."  -  Walt Garrison / Oklahoma State

"Son, you've got a good engine, but your hands aren't on the steering wheel."  -  Bobby Bowden / Florida State

"Football is NOT a contact sport, it is a collision sport.  Dancing IS a contact sport."  -  Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State

After USC lost 51-0 to Notre Dame, his post-game message to his team was, "All those who need showers, take them."  -  John McKay / USC

"If lessons are learned in defeat, our team is getting a great education."  -  Murray Warmath / Minnesota

"The only qualifications for a lineman are to be big and dumb.  To be a back, you only have to be dumb."   -  Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

"We live one day at a time and scratch where it itches."   -  Darrell Royal / Texas   

"We didn't tackle well today, but we made up for it by not  blocking."   -  John McKay / USC

"I've found that prayers work best when you have big players."   -  Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

Ohio State 's Urban Meyer on one of his players: "He doesn't know the meaning of the word fear. In fact, I just saw his grades and he doesn't know the meaning of a lot of words."

Why do Texas fans wear orange? So they can dress that way for the game on Saturday, go hunting on Sunday, and pick up trash on Monday.

What does the average Alabama player get on his SATs? Drool.

How many Michigan State freshmen football players does it take to change a light bulb? None. That's a sophomore course.

Two Texas A&M football players were walking in the woods. One of them said, "Look, a dead bird. "The other looked up in the sky and said, "Where?"

If three Rutgers football players are in the same car, who is driving? The police officer.

University of Michigan Coach Jim Harbaugh is only going to dress half of his players for the game this week; the other half will have to dress themselves.

How is the Kansas football team like an opossum? They play dead at home and get killed on the road.

Why did the OSU linebacker steal a police car? He saw "911" on the side and thought it was a Porsche.

How do you get a former Illinois football player off your porch? Pay him for the pizza.

Senior Night. Two Years ago, the engagement; Last year, the Pregnancy... what's up this year?

(Oh, we'll probably win the game handily...as if that will be the focus of the evening.)

Panther Nation has lost 6 straight.
=======================from the UDM Recap======================
The Crusaders (22-6, 12-3 Horizon) maintained their one-game lead in the Horizon League standings with the win and return home for the regular season home finale on Tuesday evening at the ARC. It will be Senior Night at the ARC, as – along with senior team managers, band members, cheerleaders and Crusaderettes – Peters, Hammink, Jubril Adekoya, Nick Davidson and Jason Karys will be honored in a pregame ceremony.

Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m., but be sure to arrive early to catch the Senior Night ceremony. As always, the game can be seen live on ESPN3, WatchESPN and the ESPN app, and heard live on the Valpo Sports Network (WVUR, 95.1 FM, Valparaiso; WVLP, 103.1 FM, Valparaiso). Links for the live coverage will be available via ValpoAthletics.com.

We have a 2 game lead.  Lets make it 3.  Payback is fun, let's control the tie-breaker.

5 games left, 4 on the road.  We need to avenge the worst loss of the season.

Well, that was fun.  Karys with the only Centier Bank 3-pointer of the second half!  Up next the Barton/Porsche/Moore game... Time to pack the ARC for the last Saturday game of the year.

From Thursday's action:

Youngstown State
(8-16, 4-9 Horizon League) 49 32 81

Illinois-Chicago
(11-12, 6-6 Horizon League) 49 35 84


Lets see... who to guard... who to guard... so, why not check out the box score from this game...

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400918560

Cameron Morse... 18 of 38 (6-15 from 3)  from the field, 44 points to go with 3 rebounds.

Total of 16 assists on 32 baskets; 10 steals.... 21 offensive and 21 defensive rebounds.

Hey, how about that Milwaukee game last Thursday?


A cure for what ails you may be Cleveland State.   Here's the box score from their "game" against Oakland Today (Saturday)

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400918491  32% FG and 4-22 from 3; out rebounded 49-30.  The only part that is trouble-some is the 12 steals (10 from starters).

Here's the box from our first game with them.  Alec with 30-9... spending most of the evening at the free throw line, with both AP and TW MAKING 10 FTs each.

OK, the Panther game was a nice way to get the cobwebs out...with the 18 point win.  The Phoenix struggled all night with the Flames, winning by 4.

Here's that box.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400918527

Interesting stat, 8 different players had at least one steal for GB.  Warren Jones with 18 off the bench. 

I'm heading up there on Saturday for the game.  Anyone else?

So the Panthers had a chance to do something special on Sunday at the ORena; Wichmann misses three free throws with 6 seconds on the clock in a tie-game.   ... and they lose to Oakland in Overtime.

Your first place Crusaders head in with a 7-game winning streak.  This CANNOT BE A TRAP GAME!!

Here's the Panther box score from Oakland:

http://mkepanthers.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=7368

They are 8-15, 5-3 at home.  Best win was neutral court over #153 UCIrvine; Their other wins are over #289, #260, #161 (NoKy), 253 (ClevSt), 249 (Yst), 275 (UDM)... and a non-D1.

Keep the pedal to the metal.  Another record for Alec?  Free Throws.  One of the oldest records on the books could be toppled.

OK, I know ...I Know... BUT I put this out because the on-line schedule was just changed to reflect the START time for the Wright State Game on the 27th.  This has been a "Flex" game... and we are flexed into 7pm.  NO other posting comments about the Donlon-less raiders until after the dust settles from the Flame-out on Sunday the 22nd.

Your First Place Crusaders; with Alec Peters needing 6 points for the 2nd career record in two games.

Great watching the crowd react to Alec's rebounds against GB... when he got to 14... then 15 for the tie...and finally... the spontaneous standing ovation when he got #911.

Quick Turn around... and big minutes for most of the starters at Cleveland State.   Students are back, playing for first place in the Conference.  The ARC should be ROCKIN' on Monday night.

Phoenix Roster:
http://www.greenbayphoenix.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPID=13663&SPSID=110000

Stats:  six players averaging 9+ points
https://admin.xosn.com/pdf9/5079420.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=22500&

They are 6-1 at home and 5-0 in conference.

Nice team win over the hapless 'guins.   Moving on down the road and changing venues with the Crusader Women.

Here's the Viking box score from their 59-54 loss to UIC
http://www.csuvikings.com/sports/m-baskbl/2016-17/boxscores/20170112_nk0j.xml

Cleveland State 39% from the field and 46% from the line.

They packed in 1393 at the Wolstein Center.

One of their starters (Anthony Wright) only played 7 minutes... gotta be a story there.

Let's reconnect as a team and sweep Northeast Ohio.  Three games in five days.

Let's take out the frustration on the Titans!

We MUST Hold our own at the ARC.  Period.

Grizz have an RPI of 132 and a strength of schedule at  262

They are 1-1 on the road against D1, Beating Robert Morris and losing the Michigan State.

They only have one win over a team ranked in the top 180... their blowout of Wright State on Thursday night.

OK, 10-3 is a nice place to be... means nothing starting Friday at the Pavilion.  National TV audience.  Time to get off on the right foot.  Our RPI fell 12 points PLAYING Chicago State.   The Flames RPI is #254, Chicago State is #252.

Here's the Roster
http://www.uicflames.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball

Here's the .pdf version of their stats.
http://sidearm.sites.s3.amazonaws.com/uicflames.com/documents/2016/11/12/UIC_1617.pdf

#189 DePaul is their best win so far...

There must be at least one, either Valpo or UIC will be undefeated.

Those two games in the ORena will be something to watch... Wright and NoKy coming in; and GBay/Panthers making the always tough Northeast Ohio road swing.

I thought about naming this thread AP2K ... but I don't want to distract from the that this team needs to rebound, RPI plummeted to 61 after the Thursday game, now back up to 60 slipping past the Badgers last night.

Going up against a Chicago State team that has yet to play a D1 game at home in that new arena they have, 2-10 with wins over #340 Western Illinois and #320 Southeast Missouri State; lost to # 196 Troy State by 18 on Friday night

Nolan has us favored by 23.


Here's the link to the cougar roster:
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/roster/_/id/2130/chicago-state-cougars

and their stats:
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/stats/_/id/2130/chicago-state-cougars

game plan:  Fred Sims doesn't score and Trayvon Palmer doesn't get to the boards...and we start a new home winning streak.

Merry Christmas everyone!

[Valparaiso 9]

As a refresher...with their RPI ratings

Others receiving votes:

Florida #4  8-3  SOS #2  Beat #181 Charlotte 87-46
Wichita St #68 8-3  SOS 91 Lost at home to #44 OKState 93-76
Virginia Tech #47  9-1   SOS #151 Beat #203 Citadel 113-71
Maryland #25  10-1   SOS 76  Beat #170 Jxnville State 92-66
Valparaiso 9, #36 8-2   SOS 88  dismantled #145 Indiana State 89-71
TCU #30  8-1   SOS 114  hosts 4-7 #67 Texas Southern today, no other games this week
Middle Tennessee #6  9-2    SOS 9  lost last night @ VCU
Miami #79  8-2   SOS 182  Beat #251 FAU 76-56
Minnesota #10  11-1   SOS 42  Beat #141 LIU 76-66
Kansas State #76  10-1  SOS 266 Beat #114 Colorado State 89-70, in Denver
UCF #61  7-3 SOS 79 - Lost to #104 Penn and #126 GWU this week...ta ta UCF.
Syracuse #183  6-4  SOS185 Lost at home to #65 Georgetown 78-71
Ohio State #87 8-3   SOS 119 Lost in Vegas to #15 UCLA 86-73
Pittsburgh #37 9-2   SOS 60  Beat #158 Rice 83-73
Michigan State #81 7-4  SOS 69 Hosts #198 Northeastern only game this week
Iowa State #110 7-3   SOS 163, Beat Winless #338 Drake 97-80 in the Big 4 Classic
Clemson #78 7-2   SOS 132 Beat #142 SoCarSt 93-65, plays in Tuscaloosa today @143 Tide
Loyola (CHI) #118, 8-2   SOS 284  Beat #246 UIC 81-75

Might pick up some of the Wichita State votes from the Mid-Major Pundits...

From here on out... we are playing teams deep in the RPI rankings... Starting with a Santa Clara team from the West Coast Conference with a #317 RPI, Sagarin is #210

So far this year, the Broncos record:

W  #325 2-9 Northern Arizona 65-61
L   #282 4-6 UC Davis 63-58
L   #64   7-2 Tennessee State  69-61
W  #213 1-7 Northern Colorado 88-72 
W  #277 5-6 Sacred Heart 84-74  OK FINE, I fixed it, yes they are Marshall's twin.
L   #31   10-2 Arizona 69-61
L   #85   6-5  VanderBryce  76-66  and Yeh, at FULL STRENGTH, I think we give the Commodores a "whatfor"
L   #143 4-7  UC Irvine  58-55
L   #169 3-4 San Jose State  55-40 (first true road game of year)
W  ------ --- Cal State East Bay 75-50
W  #312 0-6 Cal State Riverside  77-53
L   #194 5-5 Washington State 69-68

They are 0-6 against the top 200 RPI teams
They are 0-4 away from the Bay area.

Jerry Palm posted this link... looking at their biggest-ever win over the Hoosiers a few weeks back... and now this completely unconnected event.

http://news-sentinel.com/news/local/University-presidents--state-senator-detail-IPFW-realignment--tempers-flare?platform=hootsuite

Going for 11 in a row in the ARC... Good luck on Finals...and let's get another W

About the Syc's...

4-4 overall... Nolan RPI is 110. realTime RPI is 112, Sagarin 103
2-0 at home:  Northern Illinois and Buttler
2-1 away - Wins at Ball State and Utah State; loss to NIU (Played 'em twice)
0-3 Neutral... Iowa State, Stanford and Quinnipiac

Play at Home Sunday against #305 Western Kentucky at 3:30CT

Here's their roster
http://gosycamores.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball

and here's their stat sheet
http://gosycamores.com/cumestats.aspx?path=mbball

12/10/2016   Southern Utah    Cal State Fullerton    at Fullerton, Calif. 
12/10/2016   Coppin State    Buffalo    Buffalo
12/10/2016   Ball State    Eastern Kentucky    Muncie
12/10/2016   Rhode Island    Houston    Houston
12/10/2016   Santa Clara    Cal State - East Bay    Santa Clara
12/10/2016   Chicago State    Bradley    Peoria
12/10/2016   Colorado    BYU    Provo
12/11/2016   Indiana State    Western Kentucky    Terre Haute
12/11/2016   Kentucky    Hofstra    Lexington
12/11/2016   Chicago State    Saint Louis    St Louis

and this one doesn't count:

12/11/2016   Oregon    Alabama    Eugene (PUSH)

Valpo is undefeated in games-played-after-loss.  Let's keep the string going.  Bears are undefeated at home, coming off a 79-71 win over #269 SEMO on the road Wednesday night.

12/03/16 @ #200 Air Force  L83-70
11/27/16 vs #140 No Dakota St W64-50
11/23/16 @ #117 DePaul L68-66
11/13/16 vs #163 Jacksonville State  W91-65
11/11/16 vs #350 (0-7) Alabama A&M 96-62

Here's their roster:
http://www.missouristatebears.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball

Here's their stat sheet through the SEMO game:
http://missouristate_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2016-2017/MBBOverall.pdf?path=mbball

"Back on Track"

Here is the 11/28 poll results for the after-25.

Others receiving votes: Maryland 126, Notre Dame 85, Cincinnati 49, Michigan State 28, Ohio State 22, Michigan 13, Temple 8, USC 7, Houston 6, Florida State 5, VCU 5, California 3, Tennessee State 2, Virginia Tech 1, Arkansas State 1, San Diego State 1, Colorado 1, Minnesota 1, Rutgers 1

What will the Valpo "Vote Total" be?

While the echoes of the Victory Bell ring in our hearts...and we gather for Christmas Carols and light the Valpo Tree on Thursday... we begin to think... We are the only team with a chance to beat the #1 team in the country on their home court on Wednesday December 7th.

I'll update the rankings on URI after the polls come out on Monday.  Thought #1:  4-17 from 3-point range will not create a W.  17 Steals might create a W.

URi with wins over Marist 107-65 (H), Dartmouth 84-61(H), Brown 79-72 (H), Cincinnati 76-71 (N), Belmont 82-73 (H), one loss is to Duke, 75-65 (N).

Here's their Roster

http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/2016-17/roster

and here's their stat sheet... 4 starters averaging over 10 points/game

http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/2016-17/teams/rhodeisland?view=profile&r=0&pos=sh