Looking For Momentum

First Week of MVC Action

(St. Louis, MO) – Missouri Valley Conference teams are looking for momentum heading into week two of the basketball season. Valley teams went 14-10, but won just five of ten against Division 1 teams.

Drake and Illinois Chicago had the best weeks as the Flames earned an impressive win over Yale and the Bulldogs continued a long home winning streak. Ben McCollum’s team handled York, but then took care of business against a good Stephen F. Austin team.

McCollum’s Northwest Missouri State transfers were central to the team’s success.

UIC defeated their sub-D1 opponent easily and then defeated mid-major top 25 Yale. The Flames are 2-0 and Rob Ehsan’s newcomers have jelled nicely.

Northern Iowa picked up a solid win over Milwaukee, but then turned around and lost to UC Irvine. Both games were in Cedar Falls against mid-major top-25 teams UNI (2-1) is one of the Valley’s most experienced teams.

League favorite Bradley won its opener with Southeast Missouri, but foul trouble and the loss of Demarion Burch led to a loss at Washington State. Braves (1-1) three-point-shooters were great at home, but not sharp on the road.

Looking for Momentum

Seven Valley teams are yet to win against a Division 1 opponent. Belmont, Evansville, Indiana State, Murray State, Southern Illinois and Valparaiso have each defeated a sub-D1 opponent but lost to their one D1 challenger.

Missouri State (0-1) lost at Butler.

Illinois State (1-1) lost at home to UT Martin but bounced back with a win at North Dakota State.

After Missouri State’s Monday game with D2 Missouri Southern, there is a full week of challenging opportunities for Valley teams to make their mark.

Four squads host games on Tuesday night and intriguing matchups abound. The home Tuesday engagements include Indiana State hosting Southern Illinois Edwardsville, while Illinois State entertains Ohio. Bradley looks to bounce back with a home game against Texas San Antonio and Cleveland State visits Valparaiso

Regional rivalries show up Tuesday. UIC takes the short bus trip to Northwestern and Belmont does the same by visiting Lipscomb. This will be the 151^st edition of the ‘Battle of the Boulevard’.

Evansville, UNI, SIU and Belmont are all on the road later in the week. Wednesday, the Purple Aces travel to Middle Tennessee. Thursday, the Panthers rekindle an old rivalry with former MVC member Wichita State and the Salukis head to Oklahoma State.

Friday’s only game finds Belmont on the road at Air Force.

Saturday Opportunities

Six solid mid-major challenges await the Saturday schedule. While Drake puts its 23-game home winning streak on the line against Florida Gulf Coast, Tulsa visits Missouri State, Radford travels to Evansville, and Northern Illinois has a short jaunt to Bradley.

Indiana State stays in the Hoosier State to face Ball State, Murray State follows Evansville into Murpreesboro, Tennesee for a game with MTSU’s Blue Raiders. Saturday and Sunday, both UIC and Illinois State host sub-D1 teams.

It’s early, but through the opening week, seven league members are averaging over 80 points per game. Evansville freshman Gabriel Pozzatto leads the conference with a 23 point scoring average and Valpo’s Cooper Schwieger is the top rebounder (10.0).

Indiana State set a home opener attendance record. The Sycamores drew 6,381 to their home opener with Eureka.

After this week’s action, we will have a much better grasp on the trajectory of this Missouri Valley Conference season. MVC teams are looking for momentum and this would be a good week to find it.

Do Good

 

Editor: Cover photo of Gabriel Pozzato courtesy of gopurpleaces.com.