(St. Louis, MO) – Injuries could play a major role in this year’s State Farm, Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Teams like Southern Illinois and Illinois State have been battling injuries all season and several players come to St. Louis as ‘the walking wounded.’
What affect will injuries have on the 28th edition of Arch Madness?
Bradley was dealt a potentially deadly blow with a final weekend ankle injury to leading scorer and point guard Darrell Brown. The third-team all conference Brown was 13th in the league in scoring, third in assists and led the Braves in minutes played. He is irreplaceable.
Head coach Brian Wardle says he believes Brown is out for at least Bradley’s quarterfinal game against Drake.
Dru Smith – gopurpleaces.com
Evansville sophomore Dru Smith has been outstanding when he’s been healthy enough to play. The 6’3 guard averages over 13 points per game, is second in the league in assists and fifth in field goal percentage and leads the conference in steals. The problem is he has missed ten games. He rejoined the Purple Aces for their final game of the season and appears ready to go, but Evansville fans have their fingers crossed that the UE training staff can keep him on the floor.
Illinois State is getting healthy at the right time, but how healthy are the limping Redbirds? Starting point guard Keyshawn Evans (15.6 points per game) and leading rebounder Phil Fayne (15.3 ppg & 7.1 rebounds per game) have missed significant time in recent weeks, but both are back in the lineup, recreating the ‘The Big 3’ with all conference forward Milik Yarbrough.
If Evans and Fayne are truly up to speed, but Redbirds are an extremely dangerous team.
Missouri State has been missing ‘MVC All-Bench’ performer Reggie Scurry for the past ten games. The Bears have lost eight of those games. Scurry and Abdul Fofana ware injured during a whole body cryotherapy treatment that created massive blistering on their bodies, particularly on their feet. Neither player has played since the therapy caused the problems.
In recent weeks, head coach Paul Lusk has pointed to the Valley tournament as a possible return time for Scurry. The 6’5 forward is tied for third on the Bears’ team scoring 8.9 points per game and third in rebounding. His return could greatly enhance MSU’s chances. The preseason favorites were 15-6 when he went down.
Breaking! ValleyHoopsInsider.com has learned that Scurry will not play in tonight’s game!
Juwan McCloud – unipanthers.com
Late season injuries are clouding the Northern Iowa hopes of climbing out of the play-in round at Arch Madness. Leading scorer Bennett Koch sustained an ankle injury and did not play in the season finale. Head coach Ben Jacobson expects Koch in the lineup Thursday night, but the back injury to guard Juwan McCloud is a different story. I am told that McCloud, who leads the team in assists and steals, will not play in Thursday’s contest with Evansville.
Southern Illinois has played all season without shot blocker Thik Bol and they lost Eric McGill 20 games ago. Jonathan Wiley’s recent return after missing ten games has been a shot in the arm, but he is not 100% yet. So, for the wounded Salukis, it is ‘status quo’ with roughly six players carrying 90% of the minutes.
The only issue for Valparaiso is the status of sophomore guard Micah Bradford who was suspended for two games due to a marijuana-related issue. Bradford has played in 30 of 31 of the Crusaders’ games, averaging five points per game.
Do Good
Twitter Feed
.@SEMOMBB wins at home and is 2-0, tied with @MSUEaglesMBB atop the @OVCSports. Our prayers are with the @LRTrojans after the death of one of their managers Josh Claxton. Their game with EIU was postponed today.
Good officiating in the @SEMOMBB/@SIUEMBB in a little late game dust up.
BTW, @LindenwoodWBB is 2-0. @CoachAmyEagan has that program headed the right direction.
With @SkyhawkHoops winning on the road and @LUMensBball winning at home, right now, 5 @OVCSports teams are 1-1.
