Crazy Covid Season Has Begun

What Did Valley Teams Learn?

(St. Louis, MO) – Six Missouri Valley Conference teams have begun their seasons. Four are still in quarantine. So what have we learned so far? Coronavirus is winning battles, but college basketball hopes to win the war.

The on-court results were mixed, but the biggest headline is that 13 games were played and even though league favorite Northern Iowa lost all three of their games, there were some notable accomplishments.

Drake’s Strong Start

Drake was the league’s most impressive team with wins over the Big Twelve’s Kansas State and and Summit Conference power South Dakota. While K-State is rebuilding any win over a ‘power 7’ school is good for the Bulldogs and for the league. South Dakota won 20 games last year.

Drake showed great depth and balance. Seven players averaged at least 5.5 points and ten averaged at least ten minutes for coach Darian DeVries. Garrett Sturtz led the way accumulating 28 points and 15 rebounds. Newcomer Shanquan Hemphill scored in double figures in each game and the Bulldogs totaled 17 assists in each contest.

Drake battles another Summit foe Omaha on Thursday.

Bradley’s Solid Beginning

After a narrow win (over Toledo) and loss (to Xavier) the Braves handled Oakland and at 2-1 Bradley looks like a solid threat to contend for the Valley title. With better free-throw shooting, the Braves would be 3-0.

Brian Wardle’s team played stingy defense, allowing just 59, 51 and 60 points and landed two players on Sports Center’s Top Ten. As expected, Elijah Childs was Bradley’s best player, but newcomers Terry Nolan Junior and Sean East stood out. It was Nolan’s game-winning runner that pushed BU to their narrow win over Toledo. East averaged 5 assists over the three games and rookie Darrius Hannah not only landed on #SCTop10, but was one of eight Braves to accumulate at least 12 points during the weekend.

 

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🅱️🏀 is 🔝🔟

For the second time in the season’s first three days, the Braves land on SportCenter’s Top 10 as Darius Hannah is introduced to fans with the #⃣3⃣ play of the day! pic.twitter.com/NPZLePDjqX

— Bradley Basketball (@bradleyumbb) November 28, 2020

Bradley returns to Carver Arena Tuesday for a game with (NAIA) Judson.

UNI Great Offense – Struggling Defense

Northern Iowa had three shots at a quality win and came up empty. The Panthers played three very good teams and their defense wasn’t up to the task. The normally suffocating UNI defense allowed 80.3 points per game and their three opponents accumulated a .446 shooting percentage. When they did get Western Kentucky, St. Mary’s and Utah State to miss, the Panthers were out rebounded by almost nine per game.

Those are things Ben Jacobson will remedy with his squad. Another remedy will be getting Trae Berhow back in the lineup. The senior sharp shooter missed all three games with covid-related issues.

There were some high-lights. Freshman Bowen Born proved that he belongs on the Division 1 stage. The 5’10 Born connected on 10 of 21 three point attempts, did a lot of the ballhandling and only registered two turn-overs. Noah Carter scored 28 points in the opener and James Betz exploded for 17 points against Utah State.

Look for Austin Phyfe to get more involved and more offensive looks. The all-conference center took just 15 shots and grabbed only nine rebounds for the weekend.

UNI plays Atlantic Ten favorite Richmond on Wednesday.

Valpo, Illinois State and Evansville

These three teams were competitive against ‘power seven’ teams and showed promise. Valparaiso gave Vanderbilt plenty and while Illinois State fell behind early against Ohio State, the Redbirds grew throughout their loss to the Buckeyes and then defeated Lowell UMASS on Sunday. Evansville’s experiences in Louisville will help them this season. Losing to the host Cardinals by 35 was difficult but the Aces competed well against Prairie View.

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