Missouri Valley First Place Battles – The Big Four

Part One – Missouri State at Loyola Chicago

(St. Louis, MO) – The big four are finally facing off in the Missouri Valley Conference! A Saturday (television) double header will go a long way to sorting out the top four Valley teams. Drake, Loyola Chicago, Northern Iowa and Missouri State were picked one-through-four in the preseason poll.

While Missouri State has played both Drake and Northern Iowa at home, none of the other ‘big four’ have met and Saturday they face off with so much at stake. After a busy week of battling other Valley foes the ‘main-events’ take place on Saturday.

Three of the ‘big four’ have won the last three conference titles. Drake and Loyola shared the title in 2019, Northern Iowa was victorious in 2020 and the Ramblers repeated in 2021. The Bears were third place finishers in 2019 and in 2021.

These teams boast of veteran players with true star power. Each has a ‘Player of the Year’ candidate leading the way and some impressive non-conference victories on their record. Six times in the first ten weeks of the season, a player from one of these teams has been the league’s ‘Player of the Week’.

It was clear from day one of preseason practice that these four teams would be battling for the title.

Missouri State @ Loyola Chicago – 2:30 PM – CBS SN

Loyola (14-2, 5-0) has won ten straight games and their only losses have come by two points to Michigan State and by nine to second ranked Auburn. They are the Valley team to beat. Despite recent problems of falling behind early in games, the Ramblers have been outstanding.

Missouri State (14-6, 5-2) has won three straight and six of its last seven games. The only loss in that time was a one-point defeat to Northern Iowa. These teams are hot. They are the Valley’s top two KenPom rated squads (LUC 20 & MSU 64) and the league’s top two in the National Evaluation Tool rankings (LUC 18 & MSU 79).

A Closer Look at the Ramblers

LUC has won 30 straight games at Gentile Arena and were undefeated at home in Valley play last season. The Bears are 4-2 on the road this year and 2-1 in road conference opportunities.

Loyola’s strength has always been depth, defense and efficient offense. Their depth is far superior to any MVC team. Drew Valentine has eight players averaging over 15 minutes per game and seven that average 7.7 or more points-per-game.

If they have a ‘star’ player, it is grad student Lucas Williamson. He leads the team in scoring, rebounding and steals. The 6’4 Chicago native is the defending MVC ‘Defensive Player of the Year’ and leads the team in three-point field goals. He is the team’s emotional leader. His teammates feed off both his play and his passion.

Defensively they can shut people down. Valentine is still looking for his team to defend like past Rambler squads, but this edition is second in the Valley in points allowed, defensive field goal percentage and in three-point defense. While their points allowed (61.9 per game) are almost six points higher than last season, they are tied with Valparaiso for most steals per game.

They have fallen behind early in games routinely this season. During two recent games they held Valpo and Indiana State to 25 and 23 points respectively in the second halves of those games. Tuesday, they held Evansville to 48 total points. LUC gets stops when the game is on the line.

A Closer Look at the Bears

Missouri State has firepower, and they can do damage in a lot of ways. The Bears lead the league in scoring (79.1 ppg), in 3-point percentage and are second in field goal percentage (.486 to Loyola’s .496). They are the only Division 1 team with three players with as many as forty, three-point baskets.

Oh, and they have one of the hottest scorers in the nation. Isiaih Mosley is averaging 20.2 points per game, but that doesn’t tell the full story. He tallied 108 points during his three contests before Wednesday’s 24-point night. After scoring 17 and the game winner against Bradley, he went for 43, 33 and 34. The last MSU player to record three-straight 30-point games did so in 1978.

The Bears are deep too. Four players are averaging double figure scoring for Dana Ford’s team and two more average 6.8 or above. The trio of long-distance bombers make life miserable for defending opponents. Mosley’s 44 triples are third on the team. Ja’Monta Black (56) and transfer Jaylen Minnett (48) join Mosley in converting more than 41% of their shots from distance.

While his numbers are down, the Valley’s best center is Gaige Prim. The 6’8 Prim is an interior intimidator. He scores easily around the basket (13.9 ppg), is second in the Valley in rebounding (8.2) and is a rim protector.

This game could come down to Loyola’s Lucas Williamson’s ability to slow down Mosley, and if he is able to do that, how do the Ramblers hinder Prim and the other outside bombers? If LUC gets behind to the Bears, they could be in trouble.

MSU needs to be on the lookout for Marquise Kennedy and Chris Knight. Kennedy has been slowly starting to assert himself on the offensive end and Knight has the uncanny ability to get open down low and finish around the rim. His .757 shooting percentage dwarfs all other Valley players.

Big Four – Game One Evaluation

Contrasting styles and personalities will be on display in Rogers Park on Saturday. Both like to play fast, but Loyola has more of a pattern to their offensive scheme. The Bears do more one-on-one action than most Valley teams. LUC’s defense is predicated on team assignments and MSU’s more on aggressive man-to-man techniques.

LUC won last year’s two games between the teams (in Springfield) by a combined 46 points. For the Bears who went 1-and-5 against the other members of the big four last year, this is a pivotal contest.

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