Final Drive To St. Louis

(St. Louis, MO) – The standings in the Missouri Valley Conference will be much clearer by Thursday morning. Every midweek game pits teams against their closest competitors in the league standings.

Starting with Tuesday night when the two last place teams meet, and through to Wednesday night’s collision of the league’s top two squads, every game has legitimate meaning.

UNI (13-15, 5-11) @ Valparaiso (14-15, 5-11) – Tuesday 8 pm – CBS Sports Net

You might be asking “why does this game matter?” We have continued to say that Northern Iowa could be a threat in St. Louis, and Valpo is playing its best basketball in recent weeks. By-the-way, who wants to finish in last place?

This is more than a battle of pride. The Panthers have split their last four games playing well in two road losses and winning a pair of home contests. The Crusaders have won two of their last three and have won three straight at home.

Both of these teams are looking to build some momentum heading into Arch Madness.

The other four games are Wednesday.

Evansville (16-13, 6-10) @ Indiana State (11-17, 6-10) – 6 pm – ESPN3

Both of these teams are attempting to play themselves out of Arch Madness’ Thursday night bracket. The Purple Aces still have a chance to climb as high as fifth, while the Sycamores could reach sixth place in the Valley race.

The loser is doomed to a play-in round game in St. Louis.

Individually, ISU senior Brenton Scott is closing in on Michael Menser’s school record for three-point baskets and Evansville’s Ryan Taylor is trying to become the fourth Ace to lead the Valley in scoring over the past seven seasons and give Evansville its fifth straight scoring champion.

He currently leads second leading scorer, Drake’s Reed Timmer 21.6 to 19.1.

Bradley (18-11, 8-8) @ Missouri State (17-12, 7-9) – 7 pm – ESPN3

Missouri State has lost seven of their last nine games, and the preseason conference favorite is still looking for answers for their struggling offense. Bradley has been virtually unstoppable at home and anemic on the road. During league play the Braves are 7-1 at home and 1-7 on the road.

Still Bradley has won one more conference game than last season and five more overall. With one more victory the Bears will also have eclipsed their totals from last season.

The Braves could reach as high as fourth in the final standings, the Bears can reach as high as fifth and could slide to a play-in round seventh place.

Drake (16-13, 10-6) @ Illinois State (15-13, 9-7) – 7 pm – MVC TV Network

Either of these teams could finish as high as second in the league, so this showdown has massive ramifications. Drake, picked to finish last in the Valley, has split its first eight road challenges and they visit a wounded Redbird team that is still expected to play without forward Phil Fayne.

Illinois State is the league’s defending co-champion and both of these teams are led by ‘Player of the Year’ candidates in Drake’s Timmer and ILS’ Milik Yarbrough. Drake defeated Illinois State by 25 points in early January.

Loyola (23-5, 13-3) @ SIU (19-10, 11-5) – 7 pm – ESPN3

Barry Hinson’s banged up Salukis still have a chance to tie for the league title, but they must use their home court advantage and defeat the Ramblers at SIU Arena, to keep the dream alive. They lost by 14 points at Gentile Arena.

These are the two hottest teams in the Valley. Loyola has won five games in-a-row and 12 of their last 13 contests. SIU has won three straight and eight of their last nine games. These are the MVC’s two best shooting (by percentage) teams and while the Ramblers lead the league in assists, the Salukis are tops in steals.

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