Giant Killers Once Again

(St. Louis, MO) – Valley schools (MVC & OVC) are making waves and making those RPI computers work over time.  Indiana State’s (MVC) road win at Number 21 Notre Dame and Belmont’s (OVC) triumph at eleventh ranked North Carolina awakened visions of Larry Bird and “The Little Engine That Could.”

When you add in Illinois State’s win at Northwestern you might quote Isaiah 40 when it says “let every VALLEY will be lifted up and every mountain and (Chapel) hill be made low.”

Sparking the Bruins of Belmont to their mountain top win was J.J. Mann. His 28 points, including the game winning three earned him the National Player of the Week honors by both CBS Sports and NBC Sports. Coach Rick Byrd’s team knocked off fellow dragon slayer Indiana State just three days earlier in a 96-95 thriller.

Mann scored 23 points in the win over Indiana State. Belmont’s upset of North Carolina provided the program with it’s first win over a ranked team in almost 10 years.

After the tough loss to Belmont, the Sycamores bounced the Fighting Irish and ended ND’s 48 game November home winning streak. This is the third straight year the Trees have defeated a top 25 team.

Khristian Smith scored 28 points in the Belmont loss and 15 in the Notre Dame win and was named the MVC’s Player of the Week.

Illinois State’s win at Northwestern was the Redbirds first win against a Big Ten team since 2004.

MVC teams have started the season winning 19 of their first 30 games. OVC teams are 20 and 25. Nine of the Missouri Valley’s 10 teams rank in the top 200 in the national RPI.  According to CBSSports.com RPI, Wichita State (55), Missouri State (56), Southern Illinois Carbondale (58) and Indiana State (98) are in the top 100.

Only Belmont (34) and Morehead State (54) are in the top 100 from the OVC, while Southeast Missouri (156), Eastern Kentucky (183), Tennessee Tech (179) and Southern Illinois Edwardsville (197) are the OVC teams in the top 200.

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