(St. Louis, MO) – Two teams picked to finish first and second in the Missouri Valley Conference race survived the ‘play in’ round of the conference tournament. Preseason favorite Missouri State and Northern Iowa (picked second), struggled mightily in the regular season and ended up eighth and ninth in the postseason seedings.
Northern Iowa (16-15) 60 – Evansville (17-15) 50
In a typical UNI v. UE defensive struggle, the Panthers prevailed by shutting down the league’s leading scorer and receiving balanced scoring, as four players contributed between eight and 15 points. The star of the game was sophomore Isaiah Brown. Tasked with being the primary defender on Evansville’s Ryan Tayor, the 6’5 Texas native (and his teammates) held Brown to a season low two points.
Head coach Ben Jacobson said Brown took his role seriously and personally.
Ben Jacobson – unipanthers.com
“After having played them twice, I think Isaiah knew that he had to do a better job,” said Jacobson. “He’s a terrific young guy. He really gets it, no matter what we’re talking about — offense, defense, set plays, doesn’t matter. He understands it and he gets it. In this case, really without us making a huge deal out of it, he knew and took it personal that he was going to have to do a good job. He’s just that kind of young man.”
Jacobson has never posted a losing record and is assured of keeping that streak in tact. With about 18 hours rest between games, the Panthers take on top seeded Loyola (25-5) at noon.
Missouri State (18-14) 83 – Valparaiso (15-17) 79
Seniors went to war and the Bears prevailed. Senior Alize Johnson recorded his twentieth double-double and nearly achieved his second 20/20 of the season with a 22 point/19 rebound performance. Fellow senior Jarrid Rhodes added 20 points on four, three-pointers and four clutch free throws.
Valparaiso senior Tevonn Walker struggled through the first half. After scoring three points in the opening session, Canadian native simply willed his team back from a 17 point deficit. His 22 second-half points were birthed on sheer willpower.
Missouri State dominated the glass, out rebounding the Crusaders 45 to 29 and Johnson said the seniors sought to motivate their younger teammates.
“We talked to the guys before the game started, and we just said like, you know, we don’t want this to be our last one,” said Johnson. “They all looked at us, and they listened, and they were ready to go like it was their last game too.”
The Bears take on long-time rival and second seeded Southern Illinois (19-12) tonight at 6:00 pm.
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